New
Jersey Gardens - An Historical Vignette
An English traveler to the colony of Nova Caesarea writes
excitedly on the custom of using fish- mackerel in the
hills of maize for fertilizer, a practise taught by the
Leni-Lenape Indians.He also remarks that the asparagus
plant is a bothersome weed. "Of the saffron commonly
planted through the southerly part, the drug thereby produced
is reckoned not so good as in England."
Peaches, apples, and cherries were observed as growing
wild along the banks of rivers. There were also wild strawberries
and huckleberries, later hybridized as one of New Jersey's
notable contributions to modern horticulture - and cranberries,
which Native American Indians taught the settlers to eat
with wild turkey.
Bibliography
and Acknowledgments
Shown: Violet ( Viola sororia
)
