“I have often thought that if heaven had given me a choice of my position and calling, it would have been on a rich spot of earth … No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.” – Thomas Jefferson, 1811 

My name is Cristina Ramirez and I am a third year Environmental Thought and Practice major. For this blog post of the Edible Trees and Plants group I will be talking about the current established gardens on Grounds and their importance to student and community life.

All of these gardens fulfill Jefferson’s intentions of having a botanical garden added to the Academical Village. He understood what spending time outdoors and with nature could do for one’s mental and physical health, as well as the importance of having a proper scientific understanding of plants. His visions have taken form in a variety of ways on Grounds, from being primarily ornamental and a place for relaxation to areas where students can grow their own food and study plant life. Here are just a few of the gardens that you can find in the UVa community:

UVa Community Garden

The UVa Community Garden has a mission to provide a space for the University and Charlottesville communities to learn more about organic farming. Not only is this a important education resource for students and faculty, but it is an opportunity for connections to be made between the community and school. They have successfully grown Asparagus, Rainbow Chard, Arugula, Herbs (Rosemary, Thyme, Basil, Flat-leaf Parsley), Bulls Blood Beets, Golden Beets, China Rose Winter Radish, Florence Fennel, Carrots, Peruvian Zinnias, French-Stripe Marigolds, Sunflowers, and Strawberries.

Hereford Heritage Gardens

The Hereford Heritage Garden is student run and allows them to learn about where their food comes from. Among their plants they have grown tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, lettuces, cabbage, kale, turnips, and herbs.

The gardens at UVa are not just on Grounds. They extend to the surrounding Charlottesville area and showcase the other ways gardens can contribute to one’s daily life.

Blandy Experimental Farm

These 700 acres in the Shenandoah Valley are used as a field station and base for experimental projects and programs. Research is done by UVa faculty and students on plant pollination, plant-animal interactions, and deforestation caused by the gypsy moth. Education and Public Programs offer workshops, lectures, and tours to learn about environmental issues and the history of gardening. Finally, the State Arboretum of Virginia holds over 5000 living trees, and herb garden, and the Virginia Native Plant Trail. Many of their public events run from March to May, you can find out more about what they offer on their website: http://blandy.virginia.edu/public-programs.

Morven Farm

Donated to the University in 2001, it has since been used for academic and educational purposes. The 7,379 acre piece of land consists of 11 farms and gardens. In 1930 landscape architect Annette Hoyt Flanders restored the gardens. The gardens included extensive planning of various types of shrubs and flowers of all colors. Today the area has public outreach programs where community members can come visit the formal gardens and observe the farms. Students and faculty participate in the Morven Kitchen Garden during the year and can attend the Morven Summer Institute in the summer: http://www.uvafoundation.com/morven/morven-programs/.

Sources used:

http://uvagarden.wordpress.com/

http://www.hereford.virginia.edu/minifarm

http://herefordgardens.wordpress.com/

http://www.virginia.edu/uvatours/gardens/gardensOther.html

Post by Cristina Ramirez, Third-Year, Environmental Thought and Practice

“No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden.”¹

From his Bedford County residence at Poplar Forest, Mr. Jefferson wrote to his friend and fellow naturalist, Charles W. Peale.  He likened the climate of central Virginia to that of southern France, where he served as a diplomat for years.  Like France, he found Virginia “exaggerates the summer warmth, tempers the winter cold, and captures an abundant wealth of crop-ripening sunshine.”²

His home was a testament to his love of the outdoors.  “The proportion of exotic plants which Jefferson possessed at Monticello was truly remarkable, for only a man extremely interested in horticulture would have gone to so much trouble and expense to possess them.”¹  Mr. Jefferson is responsible for the introduction of flat rice, olives, figs and mulberry plants to southern plantations with the assistance of the South Carolina Society for Promoting and Improving Agriculture – perhaps today, he would be proud of the commercial nature each has taken on in the wake of his influence.

The building of Central College – now known as the University of Virginia – soon occupied the majority of his time.  “Our Virginia University is now my sole occupation,” he wrote to Henry Dearborn in 1822.³

Three short years later, the University opened its doors to students.  Jefferson was ailing in health, but relieved to see the doors open to his Academical Village.  However, the completion of the vision he had for his university was not yet realized.

In the August of 1826, Jefferson penned a letter to University proctor A. S. Brokenbrough, requesting that his hope of a botanical garden “be pursued at all spare time.”³  Jefferson ceded his plans to Dr. John P. Emmett, professor of natural history.  He described the vision he had for the gardens – four acres of exotic plants, two of trees, built onto terraces and enclosed by the ever-familiar brick serpentine walls as funds would allow.³  He described all of these plans in a late-April letter to Emmett.  Jefferson passed on July 4, 1826, and unfortunately, his dreams of a botany school here at the University of Virginia never came to fruition.

“The greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add an useful plant to its culture.”¹  The fondness Jefferson had for the outdoors was defining of his image, and continues to influence Monticello, the University of Virginia, the White House and all of their respective constituents today.  “The Jefferson legacy in gardening and good is not a mere historical curiosity, but is a compelling force in the movement toward a more sustainable agricultural future.”²

¹ Glass, Powell.  “Jefferson and Plant Introduction.” The National Horticulture Magazine. July 1944.

² Hatch, Peter J. “Thomas Jefferson’s Legacy in Gardening and Food.” 2010. http://www.monticello.org/site/house-and-gardens/thomas-jeffersons-legacy-gardening-and-food

³ Betts, Edwin Morris. “Thomas Jefferson’s Garden Book.” American Philosophical Society. 1999.

 

Post by Margaret W. Eastham, Second-Year, Foreign Affairs