Ms. Keller's Class Plants in the Jefferson Garden

Last week Ms. Keller's class learned about Thomas Jefferson our 3rd President. Their learning centered around his interest in plants. They learned that he farmed at his plantation in Monticello, Virginia. His vegetable garden was 1,000 feet long and his slaves worked on the plantation. His favorite vegetable was peas and one of his favorite lettuce varieties was tennis ball lettuce. The students planted seeds of Champion of England peas and tennis ball lettuce in their garden bed. We purchased the seeds from Monticello.

We discussed seed saving-Jefferson saved seeds and in fact had Lewis and Clark bring back seeds and plants from their travels. The heirloom seeds that we plant were saved from plants at Monticello. We also discussed the meaning of the term heirloom, eg. something that is saved and passed down.

Jefferson made detailed notes about his planting, his successes and his failures. That's why we know so much about his gardening! Thanks to our scribe for the day for taking notes.

Thanks to Amanda Keston for making Sugar Snap Peas and Pasta from www.epicurious.com. The kids loved it!  Thanks also to Carolyn Hasselkorn and Ms. Evie for helping the kids plant!