This past week was one of those weeks. Nothing went as planned. Busy, but accomplished hardly anything. The to-do list got longer instead of shorter.
Have you ever had one of those weeks?
Did not set foot in the garden the whole week even though there are tons of cleaning up and other chores to do. Of course there was no harvest. But instead of skipping Harvest Monday, I decided to write about Locust Grove Heritage Vegetable Garden, especially since I have mentioned the garden in so many of my posts. Unfortunately I do not have any photos of the hardscapes and not many photos of the various crops grown in the gardens especially the Montgomery garden.
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All the veggies and herbs in the above display are from the LGHVG
LGHVG consists of 4 different gardens representing the 4 families that lived at Locust Grove for over 200 years.
The Livingston Garden (1771-1828)
*Raised bed used
*Perennial crops, such as culinary and medicinal herbs, interplanted with annual vegetable crops *Long storing vegetables emphasized
*Rustic trellises constructed by lashing branches together
*Crops allowed to go to seed to be collected and planted the following year
Sunchoke (photo top right), peanuts (photo right), cheese pumpkin (photo above), sweet potatoes, parsnips (photo below), lettuce, comfrey, chamomile, thyme, oregano, strawberry, currant, gooseberry are some of the crops grown in the Livingston Garden.
The Montgomery Garden (1830-1847)
*Raised beds and rustic trellises still commonly used
*More space allotted for vegetables that must be eaten fresh
Asparagus (photo right), rhubarb, potatoes, cabbages are some of the crops grown in the Montgomery garden
The Morse Garden (1847-1872)
*Small garden plows eliminate raised beds and interplanting of perennial crops with annuals
*Commercially available medicines reduce the use of medicinal herbs
*Innovative trellising techniques explored
This garden showcases Samuel Morse, inventor of the telegraph, spirit of ingenuity and experimentation and awareness of other cultures and cuisines through his travels.
Celeriac (photo top left), moon and star watermelon (photo top right), artichoke (photo bottom right) these plus different variety of peppers and eggplants (photo below), tomatoes, leeks, fennel, kale, beets, grapes are some of the crops grown in the Morse Garden.
The Young Garden (1895-1946)
*The use of plows and straight rows continues
*Chicken wire is used for trellising
The Young Garden is recreated from the Young’s actual seed orders placed from 1897-1917.
Radishes (photo top), carrots (photo top right), okra (bottom right), tomatoes, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, beets, peas, beans, spinach, cauliflower, squash, lettuce are some of the crops grown in the Young garden.
The LGHVG is open to the public. If this is your first visit, head to the kiosk, pick up the garden brochure and the Garden Map. Using the map as a guide, begin with the Livingston garden and end with the Young garden. After the tour, keep the brochure but return the Garden Map to the kiosk for the next visitor’s self-guided tour.
Now, if you want to see action, visit on a Thursday morning, between 9-12 a.m. Garden volunteers are hard at work, planting, weeding, harvesting, mulching, socializing (yes, we do that too). We will stop and visit with you (may put you to work). Both horticulturists are on hand and they are always happy to answer any gardening questions you have.
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Copyright © by Norma Chang. All Rights Reserved. Do not use/repost any photos and/or articles without permission.
Visit Daphne’s Dandelions http://daphnesdandelions.blogspot.com/ for more Harvest Mondays
Garden to Wok 
Looks like you’ve got plenty of pictures. It’s so nice to see our hard work so beautifully illustrated. 🙂
Hello FC,
After reading your comments I went back to the post and added a paragraph about the volunteers. Let me know if I am still missing any info.
Sorry to hear about your week, Norma. But I’ve had similar weeks where you just go, go, go, go, go and never feel like you’re getting anywhere. It’s quite frustrating getting exhausted but not feeling like the effort got you anywhere. I hope this coming week is better for you xx
Hello Charlie,
I am sure this is going to be a better week, it has to be.
It is interesting that they grew peanuts and okra in upstate NY. I think of them as southern crops. Though plenty of people do grow okra here. I always find the change over time of what is popular to grow and eat fascinating. Some things go out of fashion (like gooseberries in the US because of the white pine rust and fear of losing our white pines). And what comes into fashion. Some foods that are imported take off, some don’t. Even my garden changes from year to year as certain foods go out of fashion with me. I barely ate any of the lettuce I grew this year. I’m guessing I won’t plant much next year. I always seem to plant something new each year. I wonder what next year will bring.
Hello Daphne,
We have to start the okra and peanuts in the greenhouse. I too plant something new every year, not always successful but it is always fun to try new things.
That is like a living history of gardening. It must be really lovely to spend time in them and compare the differences. Which of the four are your favorite?
Hello Laura,
It is a living history garden. I do look forward to spending Thursday mornings with my garden friends, we have a great time together. My favorite is the Livingston garden.
I’ve never seen watermelon grow well up there but that one looks great. What a nifty group! I’m so glad you shared it with us.
Hello Maureen,
Yes, we are a nifty group. We do need to start the watermelon seedlings in the greenhouse.
Now that’s a harvest, Norma. I am going to get some more parsnips from our small market this week. I love them a lot.
Hello Angie,
Parsnip has such a unique flavor and now that we had frost it will be tastier.
I absolutely understand You 100 %! Didn´t have ½ of the time I wanted myself for the garden the last week and most definitely not in the weekend – at all! I t was a really interesting report though! Really enjoyed it! Hope You have a really nice week this one! 🙂 Mia
Hello Mia,
Glad you enjoyed the post. This should definitely be a better week.
Your harvest seems to be coming along beautifully my friend 🙂
As exhausted as you must be in sure seeing your results makes it better!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Hello Uru
Oh yes, seeing a harvest from the garden always make me happy.
Maybe next week will be better for you. It’s doubly frustrating not to have time to do something not that fun, like garden clean up. It’s best to just get those things over with if you can. I wish I were close enough to tour those gardens.
Hello Katie,
Any week has to be a better week. How nice if I could spend just one day and get all the garden cleaning chores completed.
What a great set of gardens! So good to see them still in good use and with such great care. I hope this week is better for you, Norma.
Hello John,
Thanks, this week has to be a better week. Yes, touring the gardens and listening to the horticulturists is like going back in time, really fun place to volunteer.
What is it the past week? Am in the middle of ‘one of those weeks’ myself and have not managed to get into the garden either. However absolutely love your today’s photo series, and am putting the same aside for a thorough perusal later – thanks heaps 🙂 !
Hello Eha,
Sorry to hear about your week, but good to know I had company, hahaha! Hope this and the coming weeks are better for both of us.
Thanks for the tour Norma. I love the little cheese pumpkin — it looks like it’s straight out of a fairytale! I have many weeks where the to-do list only gets longer, instead of shorter…so unfortunately, I can relate! Hey, there’s always next week! Have a good one.
Hello Barb,
The cheese pumpkin is not little, weighs more than 10 pounds. It is cute but I personally do not like the cooked texture. Yep, there is always next week and whatever did not get done will still be there, not going anywhere.
These vegetables are so beautiful and they are all gift of nature. Thank you for sharing all of these garden gems. Have a good week, Norma!
Hello Ray,
These gift of nature are not only beautiful they are delicious also. There is nothing like freshly harvested vegetables. A good week to you too.
Thanks Norma, nice little plug for all us hard working volunteers!
What an incredible rage of beautiful produce; I’d love to come down and be put to work!
Here in Ontario they have converted old tobacco farms to peanut farms! Who would have thought.
Hello Eva,
Come on down, we will put you to work.
Didn’t know peanuts would grow in Ontario. Where in Ontario? Wonder what variety is planted.
Hi Norma, I think it’s mainly Tillsonburg (south east of London ON). There is a shop in Niagara on the Lake called Picard’s Peanuts and they use Valencia Ontario peanuts. I was also quite surprised as I thought that they needed a warmer climate.
Hello Eva,
Googled Valencia Ontario peanuts and this is part of the info:
“Varieties licensed for use in Ontario are OAC Garroy, OAC Ruby and OAC Tango. These are Valencia type that mature a little earlier and are higher yielding than U.S. varieties such as McRan. Valencia A and Valencia C.”
Learned something new about peanuts, thanks.
And it makes sense too, since the US grows their peanuts in a warmer climate so maturing earlier is the only way to go. The area that they grow in Ontario is in the Snow Belt! Thanks for the info.
Hello Eva,
You just gave me an idea. Our growing season is not much longer than yours, so I am going to pass along this peanut variety to Locust Grove’s horticulturists to do some research and hopefully seeds are available then we can plant this variety at LG side by side with our current variety to make comparison. Thanks.
How exciting, Norma. Pickards also sell on line and they do sell peanuts for planting (not sure if you would be able to bring them over the boarder though). I checked and the planting nuts are not on line, but you could call them to see if they can and will ship.
https://www.picardspeanuts.com/
Hello Eva,
I am just going to pass on the info to the horticulturists. If they decide to plant, I am sure they will find a solution. Yes, this is exciting, never know where a blog’s post will lead you.
Great photos!
What beautiful crops and a lovely selection. As for having weeks where nothing goes to plan I seem to be having more and more of those at the moment. Hope this week is progressing better for you than last week did.
Hello Liz,
Thanks. This is starting off as a better week.
Love hearing about gardens being presented as living history! We have something similar nearby at Strawbery Banke Museum that maintains a wealth of knowledge through their historical gardens.
Hello Leduesorelle,
Yes, this is really living history. Period appropriate plants are selected for the different gardens within the Heritage Vegetable Garden.
I would love to see these gardens.. there is such a rich history here. The fact that those seeds are the same ones from years ago is so remarkable!
Hello Barbara,
If you ever have the opportunity to visit the Hudson Valley, drop me a note and I will personally arrange a tour for you.
That’s so sweet of you, Norma, thank you, I will keep that in mind!
Same with me this month, nothing went as planned.
Its always interesting to visit other garden. There are never the same garden in the whole wide world. Keep Warm.
Hello Diane,
What is it with October, many are having the same issues as I have.
There are a few historical gardens around and yes always interesting to visit, one learns so much about the plants and history.
uwaaah… very nice photos…. the cheese pumpkin looks very interesting…. wonder how it taste like…
Hello Lrong,
Thanks. The cheese pumpkin taste like regular pumpkin, but I did not like the texture, I found it to be somewhat “stringy”.
what a plethora of beautiful vegetables. And Christmas is here soon and no parsnips available. Adore parsnip mash with roast.
Hello Anyone4curry,
Thanks for visiting. Parsnip mash with roast, I am drooling. Hopefully parsnips will show up in your market soon. The ones in my garden have sized up pretty good.
I did have a week like this few monts ago and I couldn’t understand what’s going on. It’s ok when we have a bad day, but a week is a bit too long… 🙂
Hello Marta,
At lest we both got over it and all is well and normal again.