Foreword

By Kaylin Currie
HIST4P50 #BrockHistoricalGardens

For my garden research project, I have decided to grow a medieval monastic garden. It is based on the ones that Christian monks would grow during the medieval period in Europe. Since the monks would have to be self-sustaining, they would have grown a variety of plant species all with their own purpose. Over the course of this project I would like to understand the process and methods used to grow the many plants without the advances of modern science, as well as understanding the religious meaning of gardens and the plants that the monks grew. Many of  my sources showed that the plants the monks would grow had a significant meaning or use for the monastery, such as religious symbolism or medicinal purposesI am also interested in comparing how the medicinal herbs were used during the time period to how they are used now.

Kaylin Currie’s medieval garden.

Throughout my childhood my parents kept gardens and house plants. My dad grew many different types of vegetables, including corn, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, peas and potatoes, and my mom always grew a variety of flowers. We all pitched in as a family to maintain the gardens by weeding and watering together and were rewarded by nice flowers and fresh vegetables all summer and into the fall. My favourite memory was when my sister and I convicted our parents to grow pumpkins. Even though they took over half the yard with vines, we had our own pumpkins in time for Halloween which was a very fun experience. More recently I have been experimenting with growing citrus trees in my student house. It has been a very exciting experience and as of right now I have four lemon seedlings and two clementine seedlings which are all about four inches tall! I’m looking forward to seeing how they will turn out.

When I saw the poster for this project in the Brock History department I was instantly interested. Having the opportunity to grow a garden of my own while learning about history in a practical way was something I could not pass up. I look forward to seeing how my plants grow over the summer and the experience of the community garden at Brock.

 I began my research by reading Garden History by Gordon Campbell.[1] There was a small section on medieval gardens, and it helped to guide my research going forward. It offered hints about some types of plants that were grown and the spiritual meaning that the gardens held for the Christian monks who grew them. The book also offered some secondary sources \which helped me find more information and especially primary sources on the subject. One of the sources I was especially excited about was the Bulwarke of Defence Against all Sicknes by William Bulleins.[2] This source outlines many plant species that were used as medicines and that were thought to promote good health. This helped me select the plants I wanted to grow and showcased the way medieval people understood health and the body.

One of the first challenges I faced was while researching my garden. Due to the time period I chose, the sources available were few and far between. There were some secondary sources discussing archeological digs and some sources describing recreations of the medieval gardens, however finding primary sources about the plant species that were grown and their purpose was sometimes difficult. In the end I was able to find reliable sources for my garden and am satisfied that the plants I have chosen are accurate to the time period. Another challenge I faced was while finding the plants for my garden. After I had selected the types of plants I wanted to grow, I went to multiple nurseries in search of them. I found many of the plants right away, such as the lilies, peppermint and catmint. It took a lot of driving around to find all the plants I needed and thanks to some very helpful people at Niagara Nurseries I was able to find almost all of my plants. I was unable to find the Agrimony and Feverfew, which is unfortunate because I was very excited to grow them, but I replaced those two plants with yarrow (Image 2) and lemon balm and did a little rearranging to make them all fit in the garden. I am still waiting for the wheat and rye seeds to arrive in the mail as I was unable to find them anywhere in the area.

Yarrow.

Overall it took me about two and a half days to plant the garden. I spent the first day collecting my resources and building the raised bed. Even though it was hard work and I do not consider myself to be very handy, I am very pleased I was able to put together the raised bed by myself, while also managing to make it look nice too! The following day I got garden soil and compost from the store to put in the garden and mix it with the natural soil from the area. After the soil was thoroughly mixed, I planted all my flowers, herbs, and vegetables in their appropriate areas, which took me until about 10:30pm!

This experience of planting a historical garden has taught me that medieval monastic gardens took a lot of time and constant effort to build and maintain. Building my own raised garden bed was a challenge and a lot of work, even with the modern tools and resources I was able to use. The fact that medieval monks would have been able to plant huge gardens spanning multiple acres which contained a variety of plant species all with their own special care needs is astonishing.

I am very excited about watching my plants grow over the summer. Watching the flowers bloom and fill the garden with colour is something I’m really looking forward to. I planted foxglove and poppies (Image 3) which are two of my favourite flowers in this garden I am also excited to grow and harvest the heirloom carrots as well as the peas and leeks. Finally, the overall experience of growing a historic garden has been a project I have been very excited about and I am enjoying taking care of all my plants.

[1] Campbell, Gordon. Garden History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2019.

[2] William Bulleins. Bulwarke of Defence Against all Sicknes (London; John Kyngstin, 1562).

[1] Bond, James. The Medieval Monastery and Its Landscape. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford University Press, 2018.

[2] Holder, Nick, Ian M. Betts, Jens Röhrkasten, Mark Wycliffe Samuel, and Christian Steer. The Friaries of Medieval London : From Foundation to Dissolution. Studies in the History of Medieval Religion: Volume XLVI. The Boydell Press, 2017.

[3] Rawcliffe, Carole. “‘Detectable Sightes and Fragrant Smelles’: Gardens and Health in Late Medieval and Early Modern England.” Garden History 36, no. 1 (Spring 2008).

Bibliography

Bond, James. The Medieval Monastery and Its Landscape. Oxford Handbooks. Oxford

University Press, 2018. doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780198744719.013.25.

Campbell, Gordon. Garden History: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2019.

Holder, Nick, Ian M. Betts, Jens Röhrkasten, Mark Wycliffe Samuel, and Christian Steer. The

Friaries of Medieval London : From Foundation to Dissolution. Studies in the History of Medieval Religion: Volume XLVI. The Boydell Press, 2017. http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.library.brocku.ca/login.aspx?direct=true&db=cat00778a&AN=bu.b3177712&site=eds-live&scope=site.

Rawcliffe, Carole. “‘Detectable Sightes and Fragrant Smelles’: Gardens and Health in Late

Medieval and Early Modern England.” Garden History 36, no. 1 (Spring 2008): 3.

William Bulleins. Bulwarke of Defence Against all Sicknes (London; John Kyngstin, 1562)

By Goran Irandost
Hist4p50 #BrockHistoricalGardens 

This particular photo is one that I personally like as it captures my first experiences with garden, as well as shows the garden itself in its beginning stages.

For my historical garden I am attempting to replicate one of the many so-called ‘Victory Gardens’ that were grown in the northern parts of the United States during the Second World War. The United States encouraged its citizens to plant these gardens as a way to deal with the restrictions placed upon the population as the war continued. More specifically, victory gardens were promoted with the purpose of offsetting the losses felt with the exportation of various fruits and vegetables to American soldiers and its allies fighting abroad.^[1] Although these sorts of restrictions were common during war, it must be noted that American soldiers were considered as one of the most well-fed fighting forces during the war.^[2] This was primarily due to two main reasons: (1) the United States was not fighting a war on its homefront, and (2) the country actually improved economically while the war occurred.^[3] However, despite the lack of any real domestic threat to the American population, the government was still extremely successful in its campaign to promote victory gardens as there existed roughly twenty million gardens throughout the nation during certain points of the war.^[4] This ultimately leads to one of the major questions for the following project; were victory gardens crucial to the war effort, or simply a byproduct of the many governmental plans to promote patriotism during the war?

It must be noted that prior to the following project, gardening was not something that I had done and wasn’t something that I felt I would enjoy. The decision to engage in this course came from a lack of options as I needed the credit to finish my degree in history and this was the only viable option for me during the summer. While these circumstances may be dull, I must confess that I have had one of the most enjoyable experiences preparing for the garden. The decision behind choosing to replicate a victory garden was due to a familiarity with the Second World War itself along with an understanding of American society during this period. The research behind the following project was motivated by questions centered around the impact of the Second World War on American society. Victory gardens are an area that I had not explored previously and provides a truly unique perspective that has helped bring about some interesting information that I had not considered when exploring the Second World War.

While the sources I am using for the following project are similar to the ones I’ve used for other major assignments I have had throughout my history degree (scholarly journals, articles, and books), I have also made an extra effort to explore more primary sources along with documentaries as these mediums are not only more engaging (in my opinion), but also more informative in some respects. The information that can be gained through an analysis of propaganda posters is far different than reading a scholarly article discussing the very same subject. This is primarily the reason why an image and youtube video were used to design the garden itself. The information provided by these two sources provided certain guidelines for the design, while also helping understanding the emotional connection between the garden and the war effort.

One of the important topics of the first blog post was the idea of victory gardens as something patriotic and representative of American values. The following image is one that captures these elements of patriotism and demonstrates the emphasis of victory gardens as part of the fight during the war.

One of the biggest problems that I have encountered has been a lack of time available to tend to the garden. The purpose of the victory garden was to replicate the experience of an American citizen during the time of war. The importance of the victory gardens were heavily emphasized by the American government, thus, it is fair to assume that the average person would have cared greatly for their garden and tended to it on a daily basis. As Char Miller highlights, there existed a great deal of effort in the promotion of victory gardens as an important factor during the war.^[5] Many groups and institutions created connections between these gardens and American notions of freedom to highlight its significance and increase its popularity among the population.^[6] These connections were understandably extremely influential as evident by the sheer number of gardens that had existed. With this in mind, I must make more of an effort moving forward to tend to the garden as a way to simulate the emotional connection Americans felt towards these gardens. What was harvested was considered important and necessary to the war effort; this is a mentality that needs to be adopted further in order to replicate the war-time experience and maximize harvests.

The most important thing that I have learned so far has been in regards to the very nature of gardening itself. The gardening process was far more complicated than I had imagined as each individual plant required its own measurements and planting techniques. Tending to the garden has also been a huge learning experience as what is needed to maximize the harvest (using certain soils, plant foods, etc) must be kept in check in order to stay true to the period that has been chosen. Some shortcuts have been made, but this is an area that will continue to require further research in order to replicate the most realistic experience possible. The installation of fencing around the garden is something that is looked forward to as it will not only protect the plants from external threats, but also allow me to utilize further research to come up with new ways to improve the final product. Additionally, the next step in the research will also be to contextualize the American victory garden in comparison to that of those in Britain. This is an area of research that will expand the scope of discussion and hopefully bring about new ideas that will add to the overall question of the assignment; were victory gardens truly crucial to the United States war effort?

^[1] Lizzie Collingham, The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food (London: Penguin Group. 2012), 417.

^[2] Ibd, 298

^[3] Ibd

^[4] Ibd, 418

^[5] Char, Miller. “In the Sweat of our Brow: Citizenship in American Domestic Practice During          WWII—Victory Gardens”. The Journal of American Culture 26 (3). 397

^[6] Ibd

Bibliography

Collingham, Lizzie. The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food. London: Penguin Group, 2012.

Miller, Char. “In the Sweat of our Brow: Citizenship in American Domestic Practice During WWII—Victory Gardens”. The Journal of American Culture 26 (3): 395-409. doi:10.1111/1542-734X.00100.                                                                                                           http://resolver.scholarsportal.info/resolve/15427331/v26i0003/395_itsoobadpdwg.