The Kitchen Garden by sandra46
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Description
In a 18th century kitchen garden most plants were grown in home gardens, either as family heirlooms passed down through generations, or as varieties that were locally traded within the community. The commercial seed trade really did not bloom until the 19th century. Englishmen, it seems, have never been very fond of eating their vegetables. Giacomo Castelvetro was an Italian protestant who was rescued from the Inquisition in Venice by the English ambassador Sir Dudley Carleton in 1611. After settling in England, Castelvetro lamented the scarcity of vegetables in the English diet. In 1614, he published a book titled The Fruit, Herbs & Vegetables of Italy to better acquaint the English with the benefits of eating fruits and vegetables. It seems that the lack of enthusiasm for vegetables was carried to the New World. A typical eighteenth-century kitchen garden was a four square garden:four squares or rectangular planting beds bisected by walkways.
In Italy, the kitchen garden grew much the same vegetables as the English gardens but some of the herbs were different, and the planting and harvesting was done only during specific times of the week and in strict accordance with the phases of the moon. The same cold weather bulbs like onion and potatoes that were in England were also in Italian kitchen gardens, but they had to be both planted and pulled out of the ground during a waning moon. (This is still very much a part of handed down family traditions in Italy today.)
The Jasmin climber, often used for garden walls and fences, once was also used for its supposedly therapeutic virtues. In Italy the Jasminum officinalis was well known to Greeks and Romans, who got it from Persia, but it was first cultivated in Italy (after the fall of Rome) only during the Renaissance by Florence's Granduke Cosimo I de Medici, who forbid its cultivation to everybody else! Jasmin reached Britain from Malabar only in 1730.
This is a collage from San Pelagio Castle and another garden in Padova, to give you an idea of a kitchen garden, but the plants are currently grown more for their aesthetic value than for their therapeutic or culinary ones.
Thank you for your kind comments.
Comments (25)
Amosicho
Fantastic photo Sandra
lyron
Great garden. Excellent picture!!
decie
beautiful mixture and very nice work Sandra
bebert
belle photo
bmac62
Fascinating. I've been through colonial demonstration gardens in Sturbridge, Connecticut that show signs of someone having read Castelvetro's book. Excellent rundown here.
Star4mation
Nice one Sandra :)
flora-crassella
very nice.......
Meowgli
interesting image and fascinating text... personally my family has always cooked fresh, healthy food, and its what I grew up on.. in general though I think that attitude of veggie-dodging among Brits does remain unfortunately.. even to the point that the gov't has taken the initiative to employ a "traffic light" system on foods for those without a clue about what they're actually putting into their systems. I love herb gardens and look forward to cultivating my own when I get my first place =)
allnaydi
Wonderful collage and great variety of plants Sandra!
MOSKETON
son fotos muy especiales, son antiguas y coloreadas o ?? son actuales. ?? pero son preciosas, en su contexto..
Umbetro38
what a wonderful place here
virginiese
love the lemon tree ! excellent shot !
Miska7
Very nice scene. Great shot!
jeroni
Beautiful composition. excellent work
myquad
Fantastic collage!
Radar_rad-dude
A very beautiful collage and scene! Excellent photography in both! A truly marvelous and educational experience! Thanks again for your generosity! Most enlightening!
MrsLubner
Kitchen gardens are still grown quite a bit here. This has a warm and safe feel to it and the composition is great. Wonderful postwork.
Minda
beautiful photo and wonderful collage sandra!!
greensleeves81
Very interesting!
ledwolorz
Fantastic photo.
Richardphotos
the information is so interesting and your composite of the scene is superb
amota99517
This is so well done! Beautiful shots.
Corwin13
Excellent work!
lucindawind
wonderful !
Cosme..D..Churruca
seems you've been very busy... everywhere beautiful pieces. I'll keep an eye on you. regards.