Heirloom Names Needed

17 years ago

I am in Ontario, Canada, and am not looking to trade seeds, as this is not allowed.

I was hired by a living history museum site last year, to correct the period gardens that they have, and create new gardens. Lang Century Village is located in Keene, Ontario, a few short kilometers from the small city I live in, Peterborough. As you can tell from the names, this area was settled mostly by British, more Scots and Irish. The era I am recreating is 1825 to 1890, in Upper Canada. In the early 19th century, although the rest of the world was getting quite settled, this area was wild woods. Immigrants had to carve their fields out of thick boreal forest, braving severe winters and social isolation. The first period garden is called the Fife Cabin, circa 1825. David Fife bred the famous Red Fife Wheat from a handful of mixed types sent to him from Scotland. The next garden is 1840, with a house belonging to the Fitzpatrick family, representing a more established farm's kitchen and herbal garden.

I've done much research so far, but what I am looking for remains elusive. I've went through Thomas Etty Esquire's seed lists that state the first written entries about certain varieties. I have dug deeply into Canada's Seeds of Diversity, looking for exact names and descriptions for plants from each period, that originate or were in use in Britain.

I have all the Early Jersey Wakefield cabbages and Irish Cobbler spuds that I need, but these are widely available in heirloom seed catalogues, here. What I am wanting is the names of the plants your emigrants were leaving home with seeds of, going across the Atlantic with the hopes of growing them in their own fields, here. I can check the names against my current research and attempt to track down any that are missing, in Canada. I have very limited access with any American sources, and can't afford the exchange rate anyway!

If anyone can help me, or can tell me where to look for this information next, please let me know. I am more often on Rodale's Organic Gardening's website than here. I am known as "loamy" there. But I will check this thread often to see if there's any information. Thank you!

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Comments (4)

Pond
17 years ago
Wow! What an exciting project. The only place I can think of that might be of use to you is the HDRA, now know as Garden Organic, www.gardenorganic.org.uk. You may have tried them already. They have a seed bank and tons of information. Even if they can't help you directly, I'm sure they will be able to point you to someone who can. Good luck, and let us know how you get on.
ontario70
Original Author
17 years ago
Yes, I've found the Henry Doubleday Research, Irish Seedsavers, along with heritage seed companies. Frustratingly, not alot of companies put an introduction date with the variety name, which is always a good start for what I'm trying to do. Still, the information that is there is good. It's just trying to get the historical and horticultural numbers to match up, I end up going through three to six different sources to get them. Of 10 varieties that start out sounding pretty close, maybe 1 ends up being an exact match.
I suppose with a history as long as the United Kingdom has it would be madness to try to keep track of all the heirlooms and where they are now. You'd think in a country as young as Canada, it wouldn't be so complex, yet people have little time to do this anymore.
I think one of the most rewarding moments last year came when a youngster asked what the heck a plant was in the Fitzpatrick garden. When I answered "Leeks", he told me there was no such thing. After trying a bit of it, he admitted he recognized the taste - onion, but didn't know they grew in the ground! Sad, that kids don't know where or how their food comes to them these days, but I'm doing my part to correct that in my corner of the world!
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Pond
17 years ago
It's sad, isn't it? My allotment neighbour brought his youngest daughter and her friend down to do a bit of vegetable gardening and the friend didn't realise that potatoes grow underground!
You may like to try the Kitchen Garden forum at www.kitchengarden.co.uk/forum. There are some wise old heads there who may be able to offer some help.
eibren
17 years ago
You might try checking with some of the people at the recreated villages in Sturbridge Village, Massachusetts or Williamsburg, PA in the US, since they are into historical accuracy. It is posible some of them have come across historical sources relevent to your area while doing their own searches.

Sturbridge Village sells packages of quite a few old seed varieties for about $4 each; don't know if you would be allowed to import them or not.

The University of Massachusetts also published a three-volume set of books on plants of different periods in early gardening in the US; the author is Ann Leighton. She unfortunately died in 1985, but her books have good bibliographies. She covered the whole East coast, though, so not as much about the Northern states as you might hope for. Also, UMass has an excellent horticultural department, and there could be an old prof there who had an interest in such matters... Have you checked with the various agricultural schools in Britain?

I assume you've already culled whatever leads you could from Sturtevant.

It sounds as if it would be not that difficult, but when you start looking into the old books they are way too general....

Are there any British or Canadian horticulturists similar to Bartram in the US? (Showing my ignorance.)