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February 2002
Issue 93
JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR. LIBRARY
COLONIAL WILLIAMSBURG FOUNDATION
P. 0. Box 1776
Williamsburg, Virginia 23187
GEDDY GARDEN NEWS
Afarmer who works intelligently is the civilised man"
Van Gogh
It's pea planting time in the Geddy Garden. We take green peas for granted today,
just as we take almost all our vegetables for granted, but at one time peas were worth their weight in
silver.
The pea originated in Afghanistan, Ethiopia, and India about 1, 000 years ago. They
were darker than what we think of as the green pea. It was after the Norman Conquest when we
hear of the pea that is familiar to us. The Normans noted that there were " green peas for Lent"
stored at the Barking Nunnery. By 1536 green peas became popular in France and were very
expensive because of their scarcity. By 1696 the royal court in France reported, " This subject of peas
continues to absorb all others. Some ladies, even after having supped at the royal table, and well
supped too, returning to their homes, at the risk of suffering indigestion, will again, eat before going
to bed. It is both a fashion and a madness."
We know that Thomas Jefferson claimed that the pea was his favorite vegetable, but
that is not surprising knowing his affinity for all things French. Some consider peas the nobility of
A, B,,
the vegetable families. They are rich in nutrition, containing vitamins
B2, niacin, vitamin C,
protein and carbohydrates, and rich in taste and flavor as well.
Lent is early this year. Lent began on Ash Wednesday, which was February 13`h. The
day before is known as Shrove Tuesday. Because it is the custom to consume rich foods on this day,
it has become known as Fat Tuesday, although the word " Shrove" is derived from the custom of the
confessing or shrivening sins. It is also called Confession Tuesday.
The word Lent is from the Anglo- Saxon word Lencton, which refers to the time and
season when the days grow longer. Lent is forty days and ends on Easter Sunday. In the Christian
church it is a time of self denial, fasting, almsgiving, spiritual growth, and preparation for the
celebration of Easter.
There is a 400- year- old practice that takes place even today in parts of England that
repeats the custom of pancake races. Women run a course with a frying pan, tossing and catching
pancakes. I guess the one with the
most pancakes wins.
�We know that Samuel Pepys observed fasting because he wrote in his diary that in
1663 in England he had only sugar-sopps and fish for dinner, " it being Good Friday."
Landon Carter also observed the Lenten customs. In 1774, on Wednesday, February
16th, his diary records, " Yesterday being Shrove Tuesday Robin and his son went to eat pancakes at
old Beales."
Again in 1777 he wrote, "
This it seems is Shrove Tuesday and though far from being a
good day parents, children, and all must go to old Beale' s to eat pancakes."
There are many references to Lenten dishes found in the cookbooks used in the
colonies in the 18th century.
The Frugal Colonial Housewife by Susannah Carter, 1772, has some receipts for rich
soups in Lent or for Fast Days. Among the receipts offered are some for crawfish soup, oyster soup,
eel soup, brown soup, white soup, rice soup, turnip soup, and soup -meagre. Soup seems to be the
main fare. Mary Randolph' s cookbook adds more soups, including a green pea soup. It also includes
Tansy pudding, which was associated with the Easter season. Tansies, as they were often called, were
a dish which varied from herb omelets to quiche to bread puddings. They all contained the hard -to -
digest herb, tansy. One receipt calls for the yolks of eight or ten eggs and the whites of three or four,
tansy, fever few, parsley and violets mixed with vinegar, sugar and salt all fried together. There are
some other receipts for tansy pudding that include roses, bread, and brandy. Some call for
strawberry leaves, and then there is apple tansy. Tansy pancakes were a favorite Lenten fare in
England.
An interesting Lenten receipt for pea soup came from the Receipt Book of John
Nott in 1773. It contained such things as Marigolds, Borage, sorrel, artichokes, blanched and boiled
chestnuts, and other vegetables and, of course, egg yokes.
How many colonial Virginians practiced fast and abstinence during Lent we cannot
say, but if they were pious and practicing the teachings of what is written in the Book of Common
Prayer for the established church of the colony of Virginia, then some of these dishes were being
eaten during this season.
Janet Guthrie
�
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
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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. 93, February, 2002
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