Dayton "Dirt" - July 1, 2016

This 4th of July conjures up images of parades, fireworks and other celebrations to do with the founding of the United States. Although our founding fathers were wise politicians, many were farmers and gardeners.  Most notably, Thomas Jefferson, the author of the Declaration of Independence, planted over 1,000 fruit trees on his farm in Virginia.  In addition, when he was President he would spread the plant samples sent by the Lewis and Clark Expedition all over the floor of the White House to view and study them.  Then, in the last year’s of his life, Jefferson sat in  a chair to read as he overlooked and enjoyed his perennial flower garden.  His love of gardening is evident in the letter he wrote in 1811 to his friend Charles Wilson Peale that is reprinted below.

“I have often thought that if heaven had given me a choice of my position and calling, it should have been on a rich spot of earth, well watered, and near a good market for the productions of the garden. No occupation is so delightful to me as the culture of the earth, and no culture comparable to that of the garden! Such a variety of subjects, some one always coming to perfection, the failure of one thing repaired by the success of another, and instead of one harvest, a continued one through the year. Under a total want of demand except for our family table, I am still devoted to the garden.  But though an old man, I am but a young gardener.”

Thomas Jefferson to Charles Wilson Peale
August 20, 1811