aunt lou underground railroad story tomato

Okra from the md 19th Century is grown today as is small amounts of cotton for educational purposes. Today everything grown in the garden is an heirloom variety that came from the crops that were of that era, such as Persimmons tomatoes grown by and from Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello garden, Calabash tomatoes, Aunt Lou’s Underground Railroad tomatoes that were transported via the under-ground Railroad. Soil was brought in to fill the garden, thus the recreation of the Period Slave Garden began.ĭuring the summer of 2014 crops grown in the main garden when harvested, the seeds were taken from them and preserved for the 2015 garden start up. Above ground, because being hallowed ground, no digging is allowed on the property to honor the fallen. During that summer a Boy Scout working on one of his merit badges agreed to stack the rocks up to create an above ground garden. This site was never about being an eye-appealing garden, but a food source garden to grow what they could consume. Much research was done to find what and how they maintained their small plot. In 2014 the Battle of Franklin Trust decided to recreate a garden in the same manner that the slaves worked in a small plot next to their living quarters to honor their service and the struggles they encountered. We as Williamson County Master Gardeners are very fortunate and honored to be a part of this Historical Garden and property steeped in so much tradition and history. This garden today is one of the most pristine gardens on a plantation in America currently. The main garden for the McGavock family adjacent to the mansion was planted, maintained, worked and harvested by the slaves. They were housed in the one of only two, two-story slave quarters remaining in existence in the USA. At the peak of production there were 44 Servants working on the plantation. Before, during and after the Civil War the McGavock family maintained an approximately 350-acre plantation raising crops that included cotton. With all the Historical significance associated with the Carnton Plantation, those same traditions are carried on with the Period Slave Garden. The Period Slave Garden at Carnton Plantation

Aunt lou underground railroad story tomato