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JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR. LIBRARY
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION
P. 0. Box 1776
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
Issue # 64
July 1999
GEDDY
GARDEN
NEWS
Now every field is clothed with grass, and every tree with leaves; now the woods
put forth their blossoms, and the year assumes its gay attire."
Virgil ( 70- 19 B. C.)
Summer is here and we have experienced record breaking high
temperatures already. After a long drought we also had a strong rain storm that caused
the loss of several large limbs from one of our fig trees, but the rain was needed and
appreciated.
The annual Jr. Interpreters picnic took place last week and we all enjoyed
ourselves. I awarded Danielle Banks the prize for naming our new scarecrow. The
winning name was Lazy Daisy.
I' m not sure how well Lazy Daisy is doing her job. I' ve seen quite a few
crows in the garden this year. I recently learned that crows can be taught to repeat
phrases. The regular crow sound we hear from them is their way of marking their
territory but if that sound turns low and guttural the crow is warning other crows of the
nearby danger of hawks or owls. Crows have a bad name and always have from very
early times. Discord and strife was symbolized in hieroglyphic drawings of crows and in
folklore the presence of a crow forewarns death.
Crows are also associated with war and thought to incite armies. The
crow is a thief and a scavenger. He eats everything from corn to frogs and toads. He
robs eggs from bird nests and eats small snakes. The good news is that he also eats
beetles and cutworms and some of the other garden pests. The crow is definitely not
wanted in our garden and therefore we will continue to do our best to eliminate him.
The sweet potatoes in the garden are growing well. They are considered
number one on the list of vegetables containing the beneficial nutrients of vitamin A,
vitamin C, foliate, iron, copper, calcium and fiber. However if one overeats sweet
potatoes he can run the risk of becoming jaundiced from the pigment carotene. Sweet
potatoes should be eaten quickly because they spoil and they should not be refrigerated
but stored for a short time in a cool place.
I have melons growing in the garden. The pocket melon is doing well. It
was one of the three melons that Miller wrote was worth cultivating. It is grown for its
fragrance. I' m also growing some cantaloupe, which is another of the three melons
mentioned by Miller. I' m careful not to grow them in the same bed nor near gourds or
cucumbers because in his treatise on gardening John Randolph warned that " the farina of
one will impregnate
the other, spoil the relish of the fruit, and make them degenerate."
�Probably the most frequently questioned vegetable in my garden this year
was the infrequently seen kohlrabi. It was introduced to China from Europe via the Silk
Road in the Middle Ages. It was eaten in the colonies. It is believed to have developed
from a single mustard ancestor, a wild cabbage. The bulb is the edible part of the plant.
It can be sliced and eaten raw or added to a salad but it is usually steamed. I had never
tried it so I decided to sample it. I found it agreeable. It was similar in taste to a turnip or
rutabaga, but without the bitter taste. It has some nutritional value but is not as beneficial
as broccoli, kale or brussel sprouts. It is high in vitamin C, potassium and bioflavonoids.
It is also high in antioxidants that may reduce the risk of cancer.
The garden has required a lot of weeding this year but that is what
gardening is all about. Women in the 18t century were called " women weeders."
There
is no doubt that gardening is laborious. Rudyard Kipling wrote, " and such gardens are
not made by singing; " Oh how beautiful! And sitting in the Shade."
Janet Guthrie
A
i4
KOHLRABI
�
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Geddy Garden News
Description
An account of the resource
The Geddy Garden News was a monthly newsletter produced by employee Janet Guthrie who worked for many years as a garden interpreter at the James Geddy House. The Library holds a partial run of this newsletter (issues 33-114 with some gaps) for the years 1996-2003. The newsletter ceased publication in 2003 upon Guthrie’s retirement.
Subjects covered most often in the newsletters are 18th century gardens, gardening publications, gardens of the Founding Fathers, plant uses, early and pre-Christian folklore, and seasonal customs. Much good and interesting information is found within these newsletters, but current users should be alert for some now archaic interpretive sources, Latin errors, and cultural generalizations, especially with Native peoples/nations of North America which are often treated as one culture instead of many.
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Guthrie, Janet
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Dublin Core
The Dublin Core metadata element set is common to all Omeka records, including items, files, and collections. For more information see, http://dublincore.org/documents/dces/.
Title
A name given to the resource
Geddy Garden News, no. 64, July, 1999
Creator
An entity primarily responsible for making the resource
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation
Guthrie, Janet
Publisher
An entity responsible for making the resource available
Colonial Williamsburg Foundation