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Heirloom Gardens
Written By: Mary Jane McCall | Issue: 2017/06 - June
The Cashiers Historical Society invites you to two events celebrating heirloom gardens on June 21, at the Cashiers Historical Society on the Zachary-Tolbert grounds.
Heirloom gardens harken to our forefathers’ collection of plants for use and for delight. Plants to cure family illnesses, provide food for the table, and produce were vital to families during hungry months of late winter. These early American gardens were treasure troves of native and cultivated herbs, shrubs, flowers, fruit trees, and vegetables, historically known as “kitchen gardens.”
From 9:00 A.M. until 1:00 P.M. join them for “The Heirloom Gardener Symposium: Plants for Use and for Delight.” Tickets are $45 and include a tasty luncheon prepared from heirloom and wildcrafted items.
This morning symposium presents three nationally recognized experts speaking about the types of heirloom plants cultivated in Western North Carolina, the design of gardens in which they were grown and how our great-grandparents prepared delicious wildcrafted and cultivated meals. Speakers are Eric Jackson, horticulturist and head gardener of the Horticulture Program at Old Salem Museum and Gardens; Ila Hatter, a wildcrafting expert, featured in “Women of the Smokies” as “our lady of the woods;” and Mary Palmer Dargan, landscape architect and botanist, and the author of two books on early kitchen gardens.
To participate, purchase a symposium ticket and stroll the Zachary-Tolbert Grounds while visiting lecture venues located in Colonel John’s Cabin, Pavilion and Kitchen. From 10-10:45 A.M., 10:45-11:30 A.M. and 11:30 A.M.-12:15 P.M., you can skim the surface, or go deeply into a topic.
The afternoon session, Heritage Gardening Crafts, Demonstrations and Plant Swap, from 1:00 P.M. until 4:00 P.M. is free.
Visit vendors with heirloom plants and hand-crafted herbal products for sale, as well as drink-making demonstrations at the Apple Grove next to CJ Cabin, and a plant and seed swap. The plant swap is a great opportunity to swap plants, bulbs, and cuttings with your friends and neighbors. Items for sale are not permitted at the swap. It’s all about the fun of sharing your gardens with your community and neighbors.
