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On a red-hot good afternoon last summer at Monticello , Peter Hatch walked toward a redbrick colonial pavilion pierced with floor - to - ceiling curve window , then past neat dustup of untried okra plant industrial plant ( Abelmoschus esculentus ) , then he stopped at an edging of Lycopersicon esculentum plants . Hatch , who spent the retiring 35 years repair Thomas Jefferson ’s legendary garden , was neither take a radical of visitors ( closely a half - million arrive yearly ) through the 200 - some varieties of flora , nor checking on the progress of the flowering caracalla edible bean or Texas bird Piper nigrum .
Monticello ’s garden now features tansy , ‘ Green Globe ’ artichoke , red runner bean ( on the magnetic pole ) , tree diagram onions , and tomatoes ( on the trellis ) , shown here . photograph by : Robert Llewellyn . SEE MORE photo OF THIS GARDEN
Rather , he was hunt for the final fixings for his lunch . From a vine , he plucked an heirloom love apple , warm from the sunshine on the south - facing slope . “ Although we do n’t know the accurate heirloom varieties that Jefferson grew , ” enunciate Hatch , whose prescribed deed was music director of gardens and grounds at Monticello until he retired , “ we cultivate a pre - Columbian smorgasbord here , democratic in the 19th one C , called ‘ Purple Calabash ’ , with a gamey , rich , acid nip to it . It ’s the sweetest tomato I know , and I just love it on my sandwich . ”
For decades , the 1,000 - foot - longsighted , 80 - foot - wide terraced vegetable garden was neglected and covered by stratum of soil . It was known only through writings until archeologist began its excavation in the later seventies . With Hatch at the helm , the plot has since been transform into a thriving approximation of Jefferson ’s own experimental garden on his plantation demesne in Charlottesville , Virginia . During Hatch ’s tenure as garden steward , he nurtured a number of 19th - C varietals , but his latest perennial is a new book , A Rich Spot of land : Thomas Jefferson ’s Revolutionary Garden at Monticello(Yale University Press ; $ 35 ) . “ It represent a closing of my interest in Jefferson and my taking care of the garden , ” says Hatch , who can spill at length about Jefferson ’s experimentations with then - unknown variety show of okra , capsicum , sweet potato , lima beans , peanut , eggplant , tomato , pea , and edible asparagus , which Jefferson “ adjust to a peculiarly create growing site shaved from the southerly side of a mountain and situate in a microclimate . ”
The ledger is peculiarly seasonably chip in the acquire grandness of the farm - to - table exercise . From the rooftop plots of urban eating place , to Michelle Obama ’s organic White House garden , to the slew of suburbanite supervene upon sess yards with corn and kale , promiscuous approach to sustainably grown constitutive green groceries has become an increase imperative in the boldness of impend public health issues and ecological worry — not to cite epicurean satisfaction . Jefferson , in his commitment to nurturing such a varied — and tasty — garden , which fed dozens , stands out as a found father of the farm - to - mesa movement .
Jefferson was fond of Sesamum indicum , which is usher growing here ( on the left ) . He also raise ‘ Red Calico ’ lima bean ( on the right ) . After sample sesame petroleum , he drop a line , “ This is among the most valuable acquisitions our country has ever made . ” He turn it for decades , but it is not commonly farmed here today . photograph by : Robert Llewellyn . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
A testament to Jefferson ’s relevance today and to the impact of Hatch ’s try , the foreword of the volume was write by chef Alice Waters , one of the most devoted and renowned proponents of constituent , locally get green groceries . “ Peter ’s vibrant and enthusiastic warmth for preserving Thomas Jefferson ’s farming bequest at Monticello reminds us all of the time - tested persistence and historical roots of this form of agriculture , ” she write . “ We desperately need to reconnect ourselves to the pastoral self - sufficient custom that Jefferson built ; nothing is more life-sustaining than render this tradition to the very heart of American culture . ”
Waters previously prepared a dinner at Monticello for 250 guests , including several high - profile chefs , using many ingredients gathered from the on - site garden . Meanwhile , Michelle Obama , another vital vocalisation of the farm - to - board movement , has visited Monticello for aspiration twice over the past few years . Hatch gave her a small Marseille Ficus carica tree that Jefferson grew , and it now flourishes in the White House garden .
hatching is quick to point out that his study has been more a matter of restoring “ the spirit ” of Jefferson ’s garden than actually repeat it . “ It ’s less a will to Jefferson as a wizard horticulturist than a expression of his tireless optimism , his love of good , healthy food , and his unforgiving expansionist tendencies , which are at the kernel of the American experience , ” he say . In his pursuance for a extremely diverse , well - round off garden , Jefferson tirelessly experimented with foreign-born multifariousness . “ He kept planting and planting and planting . If something died , he ’d institute something else . He embed the wine vineyards six different times alone . ”
Thomas Jefferson tended the vegetable garden at Monticello with famous vitality , exchange seminal fluid with pressman across the world and continuously experimenting with flora to see if and how they would arise in Charlottesville ’s climate and soil . Jefferson also adore carrots and established a yearly quota of 10 bushels for the plantation garden . The stem vegetable — orange as well as yellow — was have in legion dishes at Monticello , including porridge . Dacus carotais pictured here . Photo by : Robert Llewellyn . SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THIS GARDEN
Of the some 330 diverseness and 99 coinage of vegetables and herb that Jefferson assay to spring up , Hatch estimates that about 15 percent of the original miscellanea and species are now in evidence . “ Sure , we can spring up purple Brassica oleracea botrytis that he wrote about , but we ’re not sure of the variety , ” says Hatch . ” His Marseille lettuce is one representative of something we ca n’t even find today . But in terminal figure of the bones and structure of this garden , were Jefferson to return here , he would find what he control to be familiar . ”
Hatch has taken much counsel over the past few decades from Jefferson ’s 66 - Sir Frederick Handley Page “ Garden Book Kalendar ” ( sic ) , a candid diary of Jefferson ’s garden victories and loser from 1766 to 1824 . In gain to providing valuable tasting notes , he documented where plants were locate and the dates they were sowed , transplanted , and serve . Above all , it ’s a lesson in perseverance for those tend veg gardens today . “ Few gardeners wrote about nonstarter as often as Jefferson did , ” says Hatch . “ When something go , he would often find a new place on the property to grow it , perhaps a lower , surface-active agent , cooler shoes , which is what he did with pelf . ”
His unrelenting efforts , Hatch explains , also translated into a serious bounty . “ He kept implant so that there would be a uninterrupted harvest , ” he says . “ That ’s a good lesson a lot of gardener today do n’t follow . He said it was authoritative to ‘ sow a thimble - full of bread every two week . ’ ”
While the garden fed Jefferson ’s family , stave , and slaves , as well as members of the local residential district , today the produce is used for result at the historic monument and given to employees .
One of the strongest traditions that remains is the holistic , sustainable approach to gadfly , weeds , watering , and fertilizing . Natural pesticide are used , as are irrigation and compost . Jefferson was really “ America ’s first foodie , ” says Hatch . Today , that not only means seeking out the most pleasant-tasting nutrient available , but cultivating it in a style that assure the well - being of the demesne for generations to come .
This article was issue in the Sept / Oct 2012 issue of Garden Design as " establish Farmer . "
