The vision, the hilltop, the curiosity, the gardens, the traveling and creation of a home filled with curiosities not known in the area at that time, the taste for French food and wine that led to seven failed efforts to create a vineyard in Virginia - that now has found the key to flourishing vineyards throughout the state. Of course, in his time, the transit of grapevines from France to Virginia took a little longer. But since his time, following his plan, there is a vineyard at Monticello. Tour guides noted that many of his efforts in gardening failed since he was more interested in seeing what could grow than only planting those things that he knew would grow.
It was a few men that took the lead in the American Revolution, Jefferson was among them. Thirty-three years old when he wrote the draft, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." It was another fifty years that found him holding on the last few days of his life, fifty years later after a life full of investigations, explorations and public service, that he said his final words, "Is it the 4th of July?"
Jefferson's eighty-three years were full of scientific inquiry, construction and a commitment to the betterment of life for the human condition.
For more: for I do not want to repeat what is so easily accessed these days: Alas, falling down on the inspiration of a man who worked tirelessly throughout this life. Click here Thomas Jefferson.
Monticello offered a look into Jefferson's world but what I have long wanted to see has been his gardens.
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| Fringe Tree, totally hysterical tree with these funny fringes and such a sweet scent. |
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| This scraggly Red Cedar is the only tree on the property that is actually surviving from Jefferson's time frame. Many of the trees he planted were not suitable for the Virginia landscape, some have struggled and survived - it was more important to him to try growing them in Virginia than succeeding in growing them. |
Jefferson did not do the physical work of growing his plants, but his garden notes talk about the plantings, the seeds he grew to share on overseas travels and the seeds that he brought back. The garden was for nourishment and medicinal. As the head of the estate he was responsible for keeping the people healty that were at Monticello. The enslaved people had quarters on the property, some included in the main house at the lower level and others that lived closer to the river below. Often in dry seasons, the household had to purchase food from the enslaved people that lived by the river because the mountain top was so dry in the summer. Sometimes the wells dried up for years. There were two long patios that had water containment systems built into them.
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| I've had large vegetable gardens, about 125 x 30 feet but this was 1000 x 80 feet. This was part of the mountaintop that Jefferson had cut away to make this level garden. Being cut away like this prevented frost from settling in this location and he had a much longer growing season than his neighbors. A ten foot fence surrounded the garden in lifetime. They manage deer and the other munchers by have dogs roam the area at night. But what happens at times is that the dogs and deer become friends. They plant the gardens with the anticipation of a certain amount of wild creature munching. |
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| There are remains of the footprints of some of the utilitarian buildings along the garden edge and some like the nail house have been recreated. |
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| Footprint of one of the washhouses with a grave in the center. Jefferson and his family are buried a bit lower on the mountaintop. |
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| Wondering how the garden in Maine is looking, should be onions, garlic and maybe a bit of spinach. Ready to be home and planting. The garden was divided into large beds separated by 2-3' wide rows of grass. Now - something else - the fog on the Blue Ridge. Wow. Signs warned us but in the morning, from Waynesboro, the mountains were covered. |
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| There are mountains behind those clouds. |
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