Landis Valley Museum is a museum that honors farm and village life of our Pa German Heritage. This living history museum features a village, general store, hotel, leather work, school, blacksmith, and a variety of styles of homes and barns from the 1700's through the 1800's. It is part of our Pennsylvania Historical Commission.
Every year on the Friday and Saturday before Mother's Day, Landis Valley hosts a Herb and Garden Faire with a huge variety of plants and herbal products. In addition to vending at the faire, I always enjoy the opportunity to walk around the museum and explore a different section. This year Angelica, my horse girl, came along so we spent our time not in the village but out on the farm with the horses.
Above is the larger vegetable gardens from the mid-18th Century.
Below is the smaller typical German Four square garden where four large beds were created to grow herbs, medicinals, and vegetables, flowers and berries. The four paths went around the raised beds and the idea is that you can reach into the garden from all directions without having to walk on your beds and then compact the soil.
I've always loved the four square gardens and Linderhof's herb gardens are based on this. But I didn't realize WHY the four square -- but that makes sense -- a lot easier to care for too than a huge expanse of garden as we so often see here in Kansas.
ReplyDeleteBTW, I got your mother's book and am enchanted with it -- it is now one of my favorite garden books and such a fun and knowledgeable read.
If I hadn't ordered your cookbook . . . I would have never known!
The garden beds at Landis Valley look amazing! I'd love to visit there sometime! I think raised beds that you can reach from all sides without ever walking on it is the perfect way to garden!
ReplyDeleteWhat a most enjoyable garden. I can see so many uses in that small patch or "women's garden"
ReplyDeleteI just historic sights such as this. And when they put in historic gardens and farms, even better. What a treat.
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