Reflections on 2014

This has been a great year for gardens and learning about gardening! In 2014, Eden By The Bay made a deep dive into gardening history by looking at ancient practices of the early Americans – botanical gardens, soil building, and terraced farming. We also studied four of Linnaeus’s "Apostles," who traveled with expeditions in the 1700s, collecting botanical information and specimens. Plants were on the move in the seventeenth through nineteenth centuries as they were collected for gardens, and commerce. Many of the world’s cuisines benefited from this exchange.

Legacy trees	Drought tolerant ground covers
Plants (and people) on the move	Leaf peeping in Vermont

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Closer to home, we found more great places to view legacy trees here in the San Francisco Bay Area. We also learned more about drought-tolerant plants (especially for clay soil), viewed beautiful flowers in the desert and chaparral of Southern California (despite the drought), and looked for good examples of low-water landscaping. My husband and I visited historic gardens in Massachusetts and Vermont, and enjoyed leaf peeping.

Swedish Christmas Carol

The tree is decorated; the Christmas boxes have been sent to Alaska and Oregon; and the pantry and refrigerator are full of special ingredients. Everything is ready, but my husband and I are feeling a little blue. This is our first Christmas without our son, who is in Southeast Alaska with his bride (recall our pleasure last year, when they visited from University of Alaska, and announced their engagement)! We are also grieving the loss of a family member who recently succumbed to a rare blood cancer.

On the bright side, we just met my second cousin’s fiancé and like him very much; and we are grateful for friends and family, health, and Emmanuel (Hebrew for "God with us"), in the form of a baby in a manger.

After spending the year researching four of Carl Linnaeus’s “apostles” (Pehr Löfling, Pehr Kalm, Carl Peter Von Thunberg, and Daniel Solander), I wanted to learn more about how Christmas might have been celebrated in eighteenth century Sweden. What would these guys have been thinking about while on expedition over the Christmas holidays? What would they be missing, while their families missed them?

"Lucia-13.12.06" by Claudia Gründer
(Creative Commons)

Sweden would have been celebrating Santa Lucia and the festival of lights. When monks brought Christianity to Sweden, they brought the story of Saint Lucy who delivered food and supplies to Christians hiding in the Roman catacombs during the 300s. She wore a wreath of candles on her head, to light her path and keep her hands free for carrying supplies. Swedes merged the story with their traditional winter solstice celebration.

Today, Swedes celebrate Santa Lucia’s Day during advent. A young girl is chosen to play Saint Lucia. She wears a white dress with a red sash and a Lingonberry wreath of candles on her head; and leads a procession of children, or anyone who wants to join. They sing songs about Santa Lucia, and hand out holiday treats. To get a flavor of what our intrepid eighteenth century botanists might have been missing: http://youtu.be/Mk0FyZqNp5Q

Merry Christmas everyone!

Holiday Cooking – Bay Leaves

What could be homier than the fragrance of bay leaves wafting from the kitchen at Christmas? Bay leaves enhance broth and gravy, lace roast turkey and chicken, and add a rich flavor to stove top bread stuffing. A few bay leaves added to stew or soup provides a warm, pungent flavor.

Laurus nobilis (bay leaves) are used in marinades; and in bouquet garni (with parsley and thyme) to flavor bouillons, sauces and soups. Laurel belongs to the plant family Lauraceae, which includes the spices cinnamon and cassia. A native version, Umbellularia californica, grows in California and Oregon, and can also be used for cooking.

Botanical illustration of Laurus nobilis from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and public domain in the United States.

According to J.O. Swahn, in The Lore of Spices, laurel originated in the Mediterranean (Greece and Syria). Its berries and leaves were included in the Roman cookbook Apicius in the first century A.D. The laurel was exported to northern Europe in the Middle Ages and used for healing, and by 1652 was included as a cooking spice in François-Pierre de la Varenne's cookbook, Le Cuisinier Français. He may have learned about it in Italy at the Medici court.

Laurel is eternally green, starts as a pyramidal bush, and grows into a tree up to 40 feet tall. Leaves are dark-green and glossy, with lighter undersides, lanceolate to elliptic to four inches long, aromatic, and fairly hard. The leaves are used in cooking, and yield an essential oil used in perfume and medicine. Bark is soft, olive green or reddish. Flowers are small, yellow or greenish-white. Both male and female flowers grow from the tree's leaf folds. Fruit is a shiny, drupe about the size of a small grape or cherry, and may be green, dark purple, or black.

Holiday Cooking – Red Peppers

Another tasty flavor for Christmas is red pepper, which can take the form of bell peppers, spicy chili peppers, and a host of varieties in between. Tasty holiday recipes include red pepper jelly, sweet chili sauce on cream cheese and crackers, chili con carne, and spicy salsa for chips. Whether you desire sweet or heat, the range of flavors spices up any holiday spread.

Capsicum annuum (bell pepper, chili pepper) is in the Solanaceae, or nightshade, family. Capsaicin is the active component that causes the burning sensation for humans and other mammals. Birds are not affected, so are effective sowers of the seeds. Heat is measured in Scoville heat units (SHU), ranging from 0 for bell peppers to over 2,000,000 for the Caroline Reaper cultivar.



Botanical illustration of Capsicum annuum from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and public domain in the United States.

Red peppers originated in Central and South America, and the Caribbean, and records show they have been cultivated since 3,000 B.C. According to J.O. Swahn in The Lore of Spices, Christopher Columbus’s physician brought peppers back to Spain, where they became popular ornamental, and then culinary, plants. Peppers spread throughout the Mediterranean and in countries further east, such as India, Southeast Asia, and China. They are now an important ingredient for spicy, regional cuisines all over the world.

Red peppers grow to 30 inches high; and are perennial, but often treated as annuals. They may be glabrous or pubescent. Leaves are lanceolate, one – five inches long. Flowers are solitary, rarely two at a node; calyx is rotate, five-toothed; corolla is white, five-lobed to ½ inch across. The fruit varies in shape, size, color, and pungency. Five main groups of peppers are included in C. annuum: (1) Cerasiforme (cherry peppers), (2) Conoides (cone peppers), (3) Fasciculatum (red cone peppers), (4) Grossum (bell or sweet peppers), and (5) Longum (chili or cayenne peppers).

Holiday Cooking – Mustard

Every Christmas I like to survey a few of the spices and flavorings that go into Christmas holiday meals, and learn about their origins and histories. Jan-Öjvind Swahn’s book, Lore of Spices, helps frame our research. It’s been a fun project, and, after this year’s theme of “plants on the move,” the project takes on even more meaning. Many of the ingredients we love and associate with holiday cooking and baking, actually originated somewhere else. This year I’m looking at some of the flavorings used in the savory dishes we love to serve and eat this time of year, starting with mustard!

Brassica nigra (or black mustard) is in the Brassicaceae family (formerly Cruciferae), which includes mustard, cabbage, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. Mustard adds flavor to honey-mustard glaze on ham, deviled eggs, savory dipping sauces, and sandwiches and hot dogs. Mustard seeds are tiny. In fact, Jesus compares the Kingdom of God to a mustard seed in one of his parables – from its tiny form, comes a large, life-giving plant (Mathew 13:31-32). When you grind mustard seeds into a powder and add vinegar, you create a delicious condiment. The mustard seeds can be finely or coarsely ground.

Botanical illustration of Brassica nigra from Koehler's Medicinal Plants.
Published before 1923 and public domain in the United States.

 

According to Swahn, mustard originated in Mediterranean countries, and was initially regarded as a medicinal plant. In the sixth century B.C., Pythagoras prescribed mustard as a cure for scorpion bites. Later, in the first century, the Roman cookbook Apicius includes mustard sauce recipes for game, sausage, and fish dishes. Mustard reached France in the ninth century A.D., and became an important crop in Dijon. It reached Germany and England in the twelfth century, and became widely used in cooking throughout Europe. Mustard plasters have also been used to treat respiratory ailments and toothaches (ouch).

Mustard plants are annual herbs. They are dicots, erect, tall to 6 feet high, many-branched, and glaucous. Leaves are small, pinnate, dentate, petioled, and often covered with short hairs. They have many one inch, yellow flowers, with four petals configured in many short racemes. Fruit is a silique, pressed close to the rachis, with multiple seeds in a chamber. The seeds are small, dark, and without aroma until crushed.

Plants on the Move: Wrap Up

Learn about ancient American gardening practices, the Linnaeus apostles who traveled the world collecting botanical specimens, and the movement of plants around the globe.

Ships transported seeds, dried plants, and live seedlings all over the world

Getting Started

Plants have always been on the move, whether hitching a ride on fur, feathers, water or air; or being transported by humans for trade, commerce, or sustenance.

Garden History – Plants on the Move

Linnaeus Apostles

The Linnaeus Apostles traveled the world in the 1700s, collecting botanical specimens, and categorizing and naming them using the binomial system.

The Linnaeus Apostles
Linnaeus Apostle: Pehr Lofling
Linnaeus Apostle: Pehr Kalm
Linnaeus Apostle: Carl Peter Thunberg
Linnaeus Apostle: Daniel Solander
Linnaeus Apostles: Search for Dyes (Mar 2019)

Interesting History

Botanical discoveries in the Americas had a world-wide influence, and we can still learn from them.

Garden History – The Americas
Early Botanical Gardens in the Americas
Terrace Farming in the Americas
Soil Building in the Americas
Sir Joseph Banks
Transporting Plants

Herbs and Spices

Herbs and spices originate from all over the world, and have influenced and benefitted the cooking of many cultures.

2017: Curry  Saffron  Turmeric
2016: Parsley  Rosemary  Sage
2015: Anise  Hops  Wormwood
2014: Bay Leaves  Red Peppers  Mustard
2013: Cardamom  Poppy Seeds  Sugar Cane
2012: Allspice  Cloves  Ginger
2011: Cacao  Cinnamon  Nutmeg Vanilla

Books and Movies

Learn more about the plants discovered all over the world, and watch films that depict an era of exploration and discovery.

The Story of Gardening
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
The Lore of Spices
Captain James Cook (Jan 2015)
Captain Cook: Obsession and Discovery (Jan 2015)
Mutiny on the Bounty (Jan 2015)

Thankful For

Scrounging through an old scrapbook I made in childhood, I came across Thanksgiving pictures from a family dinner. Living in Alaska, we were far from our extended family, so often celebrated Thanksgiving dinner with our good friends, Tom and Helen Laurent, and their three boys, Tom Jr., Creighton, and Jim. We did travel to Southern California in November a few times, so did celebrate with extended family then. In this snapshot, it looks like our nuclear family celebrated alone.

Thanksgiving dinner with my brother, sister, and mom. Dad is taking the picture.

That year I put together an exhibit of things “I Am Thankful For”. It’s hard to see the details in this old snapshot, but it looks like they include a home (the Lego structure), my family, friends, food, transportation (car and boat), and the land. Many years have passed, but that list still pretty much sums it up for me today.

I am thankful for ...

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends. I'll be thinking about my  family in Alaska, and scattered up and down the West Coast and beyond. Don't forget to thank God for your blessings (even those that don't seem like it yet)!

Expeditions of Daniel Solander

Daniel Solander made two major expeditions, as a botanist and collector, with his friend and colleague, Sir Joseph Banks. This made Solander the greatest traveler of all of Linnaeus’s apostles.

Journies of Daniel Solander – South Seas, Iceland, and Brittain

Around the World (August 25, 1768 – July 12, 1771)

In 1768 Daniel Solander, Joseph Banks, and Bank’s staff of artists, scientists, and botanists joined Captain James Cook’s first expedition aboard the H.M.S Endeavour. Cook’s mission was to travel to the South Seas to view an astronomical event – the transit of Venus across the sun. After that, they were to receive orders for the rest of the expedition. The voyage lasted three years, and included visits to Madeira, Brazil, Argentina, French Polynesia, New Zealand, Australia, Papua New Guinea, Java, South Africa and St. Helena.

Solander did not keep a journal, but you can get a feel of the expedition by reading the journal written by artist Sydney Parkinson (1745-1771). He describes through words and art, the expedition and the scientific team assembled by Banks. On the journey they collected 30,300 plants, from 3,607 species and 110 plant families. They identified 1,400 new species. They also collected samples of birds, fish, mollusks, and shells. Many of these came from Botanist Bay in Australia (later renamed to Botany Bay).

Solandra maxima – photo by Forest Starr and Kim Starr

 

Back in England

Upon return to England in 1771, Solander resumed his post at the British Museum, and became Banks’s secretary and librarian. Solander was presented to King George, and received an honorary Doctorate from Oxford University (he had never finished his degree at Uppsala University). There was talk of Banks and Solander joining Cook's second expedition, but it fell through. From 1772 – 1773, Banks and Solander made several smaller scientific expeditions. Carl Linnaeus and others in the scientific community were dismayed that Solander made these other expeditions before publishing his findings from the first.

• Scotland and Iceland (July 12, 1772 – November 20, 1772) – returned with Icelandic plant species, and lava specimens from Mount Kekla.
• Wales (1773) – collected native plant species

In 1773, Solander was appointed keeper of natural history at the British Museum. He lived with Banks in London amidst the collections in his care, and died on 13 May 1782, of a stroke. Although Linnaeus expressed disappointment in choices that Solander made, it was Solander that cared for Linnaeus’s son in England during an illness. Linnaeus and others expressed disappointment that Solander did not publish more, but, perhaps with his outgoing personality, he favored a more balanced life. I appreciate Bank’s tribute in a letter (from an annotated article by Roy Rauschenberg):

Solander’s mode of living in England you know as well as I. During the brightest part of the day he honored botany; but his proclivity for companionship never allowed him to return to the museum at night. Even if he had sought that action his countless friends would not have allowed it.

Banks goes on to praise Solander’s abilities for description:

He possessed an unusual charming ability to describe the curiosities in the British Museum with taste; so that men as well as ladies attended in those hours when they knew that Solander was responsible for showing the collection. Indeed his tour was so stimulating and pleasing, he was not only sought by learned men, but the King (George III) himself had the graciousness to honor him with his private discussion.

Learn More:

• Journal of artist Sydney Parkinson describing the trip – A Journal of a Voyage to the South Seas, in His Majesty's Ship, The Endeavour. Faithfully transcribed from the Papers of the late Sydney Parkinson, Draughtsman to Joseph Banks, Esq. on his late Expedition with Dr. Solander, round the World: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/A_Journal_of_a_Voyage_to_the_South_Seas,_in_His_Majesty%27s_Ship,_the_Endeavour.
• Plants discovered by Banks, Solander and the scientific team – Illustrations of the Botany of Captain Cook's Voyage Round the World in H.M.S. Endeavour in 1768-71, edited by James Britten and published by the British Museum (London, 1905): http://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/38665#page/1/mode/1up (see Plate 46 for Pleiogynium Solandri).
• Letter from Sir Joseph Banks, describing his friend and colleague annotated in an article by Roy Rauschenberg – A Letter of Sir Joseph Banks Describing the Life of Daniel Solander, Isis, Volume 55, Number 1, March, 1964, p. 66:  http://www.jstor.org/discover/10.2307/227755 (read online version for free, but requires a logon account).

Daniel Solander in England

Daniel Solander arrived in London in June 1760s with letters of recommendation from Carl Linnaeus to John Ellis and Peter Collinson, two leading naturalists of the day. Ellis (1710-1776) was a linen merchant, who also specialized in the study of corals, and imported seeds from America. Collinson (1694-1768) was a plantsman and botanist who imported seeds from America via John Bertram. Solander established himself in London, and set out to learn English. He made two botanical journeys in the south of England:

• December 20, 1760 - early February 1761
• Midsummer 1761 - August 10, 1761

When he was not in the field, Solander enjoyed London society. He was gregarious and well liked. In 1761, Solander received news that Linnaeus's daughter married a young officer (the accounts vary - in some, Solander’s affections waned, in others, she married and Solander was so heartbroken that he became a bachelor). Also in 1761, Solander was offered the chair of botany at the Academy of Sciences, St. Petersburg. On the advice of Collinson and other colleagues, Solander turned down the position, and informed Linnaeus he intended to stay in England. Linnaeus was disappointed that Solander would not succeed him at the University of Uppsala.

Solander box - photo by Marie Brannon

 

From 1761 to 1762 Solander classified and organized material from his journeys in London and southern England. He was assisted by John Ellis. In 1763, driven by the need for a more secure income, Solander accepted a position arranged by Collinson as an assistant librarian at the British Museum. Solander’s task was to catalog the natural history collection. In this position, Solander promoted the Linnaean system of classification, and helped pioneer museum curation (possibly more so than had he accepted the position at University of Uppsala). He developed a storage method for specimens, called the Solander box.

In 1764, Solander became a fellow of the Royal Society. In 1765, he worked on a descriptive catalog for the private museum of the Duchess of Portland. During this time, Solander met Joseph Banks, who traveled in the same circles, both professionally and socially. In 1768, Banks invited Solander to join the team of scientists, botanists, and artists he was assembling to join Captain James Cook’s expedition. Solander accepted the position, and took a leave of absence from the British Museum.

Learn More:

• Bibliographical sketch of Daniel Solander, by L.A. Gilbert: http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/solander-daniel-2677
• The Linnaean Correspondence – search the archives for letters to and from Daniel Solander: http://linnaeus.c18.net/Letters/index.php

Linnaeus Apostle: Daniel Solander

Daniel C. Solander (1733 - 1782) was a Linnaeus apostle who moved from his homeland in Sweden to England, and circumnavigated the world as a botanist with Captain James Cook. Solander was born February 19, 1733 in Piteå, Gammelstad, Norrbotten, Sweden to his father, Vicar Carl Solander, and mother, Magdalena Bostadia. As a boy he attended Piteå trivial school.

In July 1750, at the age of 17, Solander enrolled in Uppsala University, and boarded with his wealthy uncle. He studied language and humanities for two years, and then switched to natural history. Solander continued his studies, and worked with Carl Linnaeus on several projects. Some were botanical, such as making trips to Lapland to collect plants, and editing papers and manuscripts. Other projects had to do with organizing and classifying collections:

• Summer 1752 – Solander and Linnaeus helped organize Queen Lovisa Ulrika's Cabinet of Natural History at Drottningholm's Castle.

• Christmas 1752 – they organized Carl Gustav Tessin's Cabinet of Natural History in Stockholm.

• Summer 1753 – they classified and organized the collections at the Royal Castle at Ulriksdal.

Daniel C. Solander in later years – from a portrait by William Parry (public domain).

 

This was a great training ground for implementing the Linnaeus method of classification. These experiences may have also revealed natural interests and abilities in Solander. During his student years at University, Solander built a significant private library, herbarium, and cabinet of natural history. Linnaeus saw great potential in Solander. He promised Solander his daughter in marriage, and eventually his position at Uppsala University. In 1789, Linnaeus arranged for Solander to travel to England on scholarship to collect plant specimens and further his education.

Learn more:

• The IK Foundation – provides detailed information about natural and cultural history, including Carl Linnaeus and his apostles: http://www.ikfoundation.org/ifacts/danielsolander.php

• The Linnaean Society of London – provides a comprehensive online collection of information, correspondence, specimens, art, and documents: http://www.linnean-online.org/

• Linnaeus The Compleat Naturalist, by Wilfrid Blunt. Princeton University Press, Princeton and Oxford (2004). Chapter 6, “The Apostles,” pages 193 – 194.

Hildene House Hardscaping

A garden is always more than its plants and flowers. Hardscaping provides the structure and bones of the garden or landscaping. Hildene House had a great collection of hardscaping for the property and the garden. Here are some of my favorites.

Grand Entrance

An estate really should have a grand entrance, and this sweeping driveway and covered entry is a perfect. What could be more civilized than to arrive and alight from horse and buggy or car, protected from the elements?

The grand entrance at Hildene House

Observatory

Every estate should have one. Robert Todd Lincoln was an astronomy buff, and built this mini observatory for star gazing. It is still used today.

A private observatory

Fences and Walls

The house is built on a promontory overlooking the valley below. Fences and walls are nicely used to protect visitors from taking a tumble.



Wrought iron fence implanted in the cliff

Stone wall provides a protective barrier to the cliff below

Paths

Paths guide visitors, and provide protection for the land. I liked the variations of brick paths used on the estate. I was also intrigued with the use of marble.

Marble and brick path

Rustic brick path

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Green House

The green house would have been interesting while in use, but it is also interesting as a relic. It looks like some of its former plantings are now taking over.

Weathered frame of a relic greenhouse

Flower Beds

The formal flower beds are contained with clipped hedges, the cutting garden with a weather wooden fence.

Clipped hedges provide the frame for formal flower beds

Marble and clipped hedges

Weathered wood fence of the cutting garden

Arches and Pergolas

The arch leading to the kitchen and cutting garden, and the pergola of the formal garden provide an invitation to roam, and framing for the views.

Arch with seating beckons the visitor to the cutting garden

Pergola provides some shade, and a frame for the landscape
 

Hildene House

Hildene House is located near Manchester, Vermont, in the southwestern corner of the state, and was the summer home of Robert Todd Lincoln and his wife Mary Eunice (Harlan). Robert Lincoln was the only surviving son of President Abraham Lincoln and Mary Todd Lincoln. We visited on a moody, cloudy day that threatened rain.

Sweeping grounds of the Hildene estate

Hildene is a composite of old English words meaning hill and valley with stream, which is a perfect name. The 412 acre estate encompasses a hill overlooking a valley, meadows, and wetlands. The summer estate is now run by the Friends of Hildene. They give tours of the estate, which includes a working farm, a Pullman train car, and the house and garden.

Working farm on the Hildene estate

Lincoln (1843 – 1926) was a lawyer like his father. He was educated at Harvard University and the Old University of Chicago law school, and was admitted to the bar in 1867. He served as Secretary of War (1881 – 1885), and as United States minister to the United Kingdom (1889 – 1893). Later he worked as general counsel of the Pullman Palace Car Company, and then became its president in 1897 after George Pullman died.

Pullman Car - Lincoln was president of the Pullman Palace Car Company in later years

The house is built in the Georgian Revival style, and built on an outcrop overlooking the Battenkill Valley. A sweeping driveway delivers the visitor to the front entry. An antique red car stands at the ready. The front lawn has markings representing the size of the log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln was raised in contrast with the size of his son’s summer estate.



Front entrance of Hildene House - the sign describes the lawn markings outlining the size of Abraham Lincoln's family cabin

We toured the house interior, which is furnished with Lincoln family furniture and possessions. I was impressed with how cozy and comfortable it was. I can see why it would be a destination in the heat of summer.

Hildene House formal garden

Hoyt Formal Garden

Behind the house is the Hoyt Formal Garden. The formal beds are designed to resemble a stained glass window – with clipped hedges demarking the beds of annuals and perennials. From the house and charming garden is a beautiful view of the valley and hills beyond.  Our docent explained that in Lincoln's day, the hills would have been farmland. Over the years, they have reverted to native forest land.

Borrowed view of the valley and hills

The Family Farm

It all started with this picture of a freshly plowed field and a team of horses, with the title “In Vt.” written in the sky. This picture, and Grandma Nina’s fond stories about the World War I years she and Grandpa Lionel spent on the farm in Vermont got me wondering. Could this be the farm? There wasn’t much to go on except that low range of mountains in the background.

In Vermont

I learned that my dad's second cousin, Wesley, and his wife, June, still lived in Vermont, and contacted them via email only the week before we left for Boston. I was thrilled when Wes responded, and we arranged to meet in Vergennes, Vermont for a family tour, and then drive to Essex for a late lunch.

Vergennes, Vermont

Grandpa Lionel was born in 1884, and was raised on the family farm near Vergennes. Grandpa and his siblings swam and fished in Otter Creek, which cut through the farm. He attended Vergennes High School, and claimed to not have been a very good student, but seemed to enjoy playing football.

Grandpa Lionel (first row, far right) and the Vergennes High School football team - 1903

Grandma Nina was born in 1892. Her family owned a store in Halstead Kansas, and then moved to Rialto, California in 1905 for her father’s health. Grandma was 13. Grandpa rode the rails from Vermont to California to visit family, arriving in Rialto the day after Grandma’s family arrived. Grandpa was 21. They both attended the same church in Rialto, and Grandpa became fast friends with Grandma’s older brother, Claude.

When Grandma was 20, Grandpa proposed marriage. “Ask me again in a year,” she said. Grandma confided to me decades later that she was afraid he would forget, and not ask again. During that year, Grandma worked in a store and saved her money, and they continued to see each other in the church youth group. Grandpa didn’t forget. A year later, almost to the day, he proposed again, and this time she said yes.

Grandpa Lionel Harris - she finally said yes!

Grandma Nina - after she accepted Grandpa's proposal

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With great anticipation, my husband and I drove from The Vermont Inn to Vergennes, Vermont, up Highway 7 to meet Wes and June. I recognized Wes immediately. I could see the men of my family etched across his face, especially my Dad’s uncle, Clifford. We parked our rental car and headed off together with Wes and June for a family history tour. Wes is a genealogy and family history buff. He shared stories about the family and his recollection of the folks we share in common, and I pumped him for information (I appreciated the patience of our spouses)!



Wes and June by Otter Creek, near Otter Creek Falls 

We visited the Hawley cemetery where many of the Harris family ancestors are buried (some from the 1700s), and another cemetery where many Harris and Bristol ancestors are buried. I recognized many family names.

The Bristol Family Farm

The Harris Family Farm

Next we drove to the location of the two family farms – the Bristol farm and the Harris farm. What a thrill to see the prosperous silos of the Bristol farm on one side of the road, and the wooden barns and buildings of the Harris farm on the other. I recognized the Harris farm from the picture, with the low range of mountains in the background. Another family owns the land now, and we didn’t trouble them for a tour, but it was a great pleasure to see the farm is still in use. Here is where Grandpa spent his childhood. Here is where Grandma and Grandpa tended the farm during most of World War I, where they worked hard, but enjoyed being their own bosses.
 

Vermont – Home of Freedom and Unity

After a wonderful weekend in Boston, we headed north by rental car toward Killington, Vermont, less than three hours away. I'm always surprised how close together everything seems in the east compared to the west, and how cities actually end and are surrounded by countryside. It didn’t take long for us to leave the bustle of Boston, and find ourselves surrounded by beautiful forests that became more and more colorful as we headed north.

Off-roading in Vermont

We traveled on Interstates 93 and 89, through the southwestern corner of New Hampshire (Live Free or Die), and then into Vermont (Freedom and Unity). The slightest enticement—cemeteries, charming towns, vistas, colorful leaves, a winding road—was all we needed to pull over and explore. Our destination was The Vermont Inn, located mid-state off Highway 4 between Killington and Rutland, at the southern end of the Green Mountains, running like a backbone through the state. Remember Ethan Allen and the Green Mountain Boys?

Freshly cut field

The American illustrator, Norman Rockwell, had a studio in the area, and one of my grandfather’s younger brothers was born nearby. From this central location, we headed out on day trips to explore the state where my paternal grandfather grew up, and where he returned with my grandmother for three happy years on the farm.

Seed pod

Vermont is tiny, by western standards, so you really can go exploring all day at a relaxed pace, and make it back to the inn for a great meal and cozy evening. We spent a whole day driving north on the historic Highway 100 to Newport, close to the Canadian border. Another day we drove south on Highway 7 to visit Hildene House, the summer estate of Abraham Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln. Another day we visited as many covered bridges as we could find, and spent time at the magnificent Quechee Gorge.

Covered bridge in Taftville, Vermont

The weather was perfect for most of the week – warm and temperate by day, with cool temperatures at night. We loved the farm-to-table cuisine, the rolling hills, the forests, and the people. To top it off, our leaf peeping was superb!

Quechee Gorge from the bridge

Hardscaping at Boston Public Garden

Boston Public Garden retains many hardscaping elements from the Victorian era. Hardscaping refers to landscape elements such as paths, fences, structures, and fountains that comprise the bones or structure of the garden. Here are a few of my favorites at Boston Public Garden.

Suspension Bridge

The serpentine lake is central to the garden design, so getting across the lake would require something special. The Victorian-era suspension bridge, added in 1867, is perfect. My only complaint was the continual foot traffic, making it difficult to stop and drink in the view on both sides of the lake!

Busy suspension bridge in Boston Public Garden

Paths

Walking paths meander through the park. Since you never see your ultimate destination, it is easy to slow down and just enjoy the journey. The wrought iron fence posts seem in period, encouraging you to stay on the path.



Winding paths encourage you to slow down and enjoy the garden

Statues

The park boast many statues (including the tribute to Make Way for Ducklings, which we did not see this visit, but I have enjoyed it in my previous trips). This statue of General George Washington on horseback is especially imposing.

General Washington in Boston Common Garden

Fountains

The fountains were turned off for the season during our fall visit, but water is a great addition to the garden. I can just imagine splashing children and feet soaking adults using this shady fountain. I probably relish fountains even more than I have in the past, thanks to the ongoing California drought!

Fountain drained for the fall and winter