The Village Garden

By Elizabeth King

Yesterday marks the beginning of new life for 2014 in the Village – we ordered our seeds for the gardens!

Every year the Village orders vegetable and flower seeds from The Cottage Gardener Heirloom Seedhouse, a nursery in Newtonville, Ontario (www.cottagegardener.com). We love their seeds – as they offer heritage varieties of vegetables and flowers that haven’t been contaminated by modern agricultural science. They are a perfect fit, for our historical gardens.

Here is just a sampling of what you will see in our gardens this year:

• Long Island Cheese Winter Squash 
• Table Queen Bush Acorn Squash
• Black Valentine Bean
• Country Gentleman Sweet Corn
• Purple Top White Globe Turnip
• Small Sugar Pumpkin
• Oak Leaf Green Lettuce
• Scarlet Nantes Carrot
• Bull’s Blood Beet

• Morning Glory – “Grandpa Ott”
• Sweet Pea “Old Spice Mix”
• Sunflower “Heirloom Mix”

   

 

 

Above: Small Sugar Pumpkins, Turnips and Scarlet Nantes Carrots

Seasonal staff member Carol, as well as a small group of volunteers, oversee the gardens, and ensure that we have a fresh vegetable supply to sample throughout the season, flowers to use in our natural dye pots and a plentiful harvest in the fall. Many of our harvest vegetables go into a delicious soup that is served to our volunteers at our fall events!

    

 

 

 

Above: Images of the gardens in progress at Lang Pioneer Village Museum

If you want to get involved – planting, watering, weeding or harvesting – give us a call for more information. We would love the help!

I don’t know about you – but I can’t wait to get my hands in the dirt!

Elizabeth King is the Administrative/Volunteer Coordinator at Lang Pioneer Village Museum.  She has been working at the Village since May of 2009.  Elizabeth is passionate about history, costuming, reading, vegan culinary crusades and environmental pursuits. When she isn’t in the middle of a project at Lang, she is 
often found with her head in the clouds.