Book Review: Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way by Wesley Greene
Colonial Williamsburg is one of my favorite places to visit. If I could, I’d just move there and take
myself back to 18th century Virginian life. When I got the chance to review an advanced copy of a new book, Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way by Wesley Greene, I jumped at it.
The Gardens of Colonial Williamsburg are some of the most beautiful I’ve ever seen. Greene, the author of the book, founded the Colonial Garden in Colonial Williamsburg’s Historic Area in 1996. As with everything about Williamsburg, the gardens were painstakingly researched for authenticity. The subtitle of the book is 18th Century Methods for Today’s Organic Gardeners because, in the Colonial era, organic gardening was the only way of growing a garden. For those interested growing veggies organically, the methods used by our Forebearers is still relevant.
I’m not sure if any of my readers know about historic plants but most of our seeds today are hybrids, which were “invented” by combining different plant species into one seed. If you save the seeds from a hybrid plant and plant it next year, you won’t get a plant true to the original. Historic, or heirloom plants, produce seeds which can be saved and used again because the offspring will be true to the original.
Many people are dedicated to preserving these heirloom varieties and Colonial Gardening the Williamsburg Way discusses 50 of these colonial heirloom vegetable varieties, including historical commentary and complete growing instructions, and seed saving techniques.
Whether you’re a history buff or a gardening buff (I’m both), you’ll enjoy Greene’s book. The introduction offers background information on the colonists, who arrived in Virginia in 1607. In those days, of course, if a person wanted to eat and feed their family, they had a garden. Early Americans, such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, were very interested in researching and raising vegetables and herbs.
Reading Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way is like getting a personal tour from Greene himself. The book is divided into chapters such as Beans and Peas, Salad Greens, Squash, Pumpkins and Gourds, and Tomatoes, Peppers and Eggplants. Historical background is given and the Gardener’s Assistant explains how each is raised in Colonial Williamsburg, with photos and explanations of the techniques used.
Colonial gardeners made and used compost, much as we do today. Besides explanations for growing plants, there are also instructions in the book for building “hot beds” used as composting containers and cold frames for new seedlings.
The photos are terrific as each gardener is in historical garb and all implements used are historical as well. At the end of each chapter contains the names of heirloom varieties mentioned in 18th century literature and which ones are still available today.
One thing I loved reading about were Colonial “pest” solutions. In many gardens today, people sprinkle
pesticides around their vegetable plants to kill caterpillars, which also destroys butterflies. Butterflies are very sensitive to pesticides. In Williamsburg, parsley is loved by the caterpillar of the black swallowtail butterfly and a plant will quickly disappear when the caterpillars attack. Instead of killing them off, our Colonial gardener suggests planting parsnip nearby and placing the caterpillars on the foliage. The caterpillars will eat the greens from the parsnips instead, without harming the edible portion of the plant.
The gardener is rewarded with beautiful black swallowtail butterflies later on.
I also loved the historical tidbits. Did you know that asparagus, celery and artichokes were only found in a
“gentleman’s garden” and were thought to be only for the wealthy, partly because they required special techniques to grow. There are also lots of quotes from the gardening books of the day, such as James Garton’s The Practical Gardener and Gentleman’s Dictionary, published in 1770.
The vegetables produced with Colonial gardening methods are huge, healthy looking and no doubt contain many more nutrients than any commercially grown variety. I grow Swiss chard each spring and my plants are about half the size of those grown in Williamsburg, if the photos are evidence.
If you’re interested in reading more about the Colonial Gardens at Williamsburg, they have a wonderful website and blog about the Colonial Nursery. If you’re interested in purchasing heirloom seeds, visit Rare Seeds.com
For those who have never visited Colonial Williamsburg, it is a 301 acre historic area where you leave the 21st century behind and enter the world of America in the Revolutionary War period. The restoration began in 1932 and since then, over 100 million people have visited the gardens and restored homes. I used to live in Virginia and went to Williamsburg many times. More recently a couple of years ago, I had the chance to return.
One tip, if you plan to visit and you are a veteran, go on Veteran’s Day weekend. Veterans get free entrance into the Williamsburg, Jamestown and Yorktown historic areas, which make up the Historic Triangle.
Vegetable Gardening the Colonial Williamsburg Way will be available February 14, 2012 and is available for preorder on Amazon.com.
My thanks to Rodale Books for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book for review.


















