Ray City History Blog

In 1820s and 1830s when pioneer families first came to settle in old Berrien County, GA , they made their farms as best they could.

The woodlands of the South were covered with a variety of trees and undergrowth. Among the trees, were to be found the majestic pine, the sturdy oak, the sweet maple, the lovely dogwood, and the fruitful and useful hickory. When a piece of woodland was cleared up, and made ready for planting, it was called “new ground.” In clearing up new ground, the undergrowth was grubbed up and burned; the oaks, maples, dogwood, and hickories were cut down, split up, and hauled to the house for firewood; and the pines were belted or cut round, and left to die.

These dead pines would stand for years, their heartwood slowly hardening to fat lighter while the farmer plowed around them to make a crop.

After these pines had died and partially decayed, the winter’s storms, from year to year, would blow them down: hence the necessity for the annual log-rolling. These log-rollings usually took place in the spring of the year. They formed an important part of the preparations for the new crop.

In addition to the field crops, kitchen gardens were essential for feeding pioneer families. Newspaper mentions of Georgia kitchen gardens pre-date the American Revolution.

An 1818 treatise advertised in Georgia was titled, “The American Gardener: Containing Ample Directions for Working a Kitchen Garden Every Month in the Year, and Copious Instructions for the Cultivation of Flower Gardens, Vineyards, Nurseries, Hop Yards, Green Houses and Hot Houses.“

The American Gardener – an 1818 guide to cultivating a kitchen garden.

In addition to staples such as corn, sweet potatoes, turnips, collards and okra, a host of vegetable seed was available from suppliers in Savannah, Augusta, Macon and Darien, GA.

In Savannah, GA in the Spring of 1799, H. Murphey opened a dry goods store on  Duke Street (now Congress Street) at Market Square (now Ellis Square). His advertisement in the March 5, 1799 edition of the Columbian Museum & Savannah Advertiser, Savannah’s largest newspaper, featured a list of 113 kitchen garden seed varieties available in his store.

H. Murphey advertises garden seed at his new store in Savannah, GA. Columbian Museum & Savannah Advertiser. March 05, 1799

Among those advertising garden seed in Georgia newspapers were  P. McDermott and the drug store of August G. Oemler, Savannah, GA; Ellis, Shotwell & Co., Macon, GA.

1825 Garden Seed advertisement, Savannah Republican, Savannah, GA

A   seed list compiled from Georgia newspaper advertisements from1799-1835 was quite varied:

• Globe Artichoke; seed; grown by George Washington at Mount Vernon; seed was advertised in Savannah in 1822. The Frugal Housewife, an English cookbook available in Milledgeville, GA stores of that period, included the following two recipes:
  Fricasseed Artichokes – To fricafee Artichoke bottoms, take them either dried or pickled; if dried you muft lay them in warm water for three or four hours, fhifting the water two or three times; then have ready a little cream and a piece of frefh butter, ftir it together one way over the fire till it is melted, then put in the artichokes, and when they are hot difh them up.
  Artichoke Pie -Take artichoke bottoms, season them with a little mace and cinnamon fliced, eight ounces of candied lemon and citron fliced, eringo-roots, and prunellas, a flit of each, two ounces of barberries, eight ounces of marrow, eight ounces of raisins of the fun ftoned, and two ounces of fugar; butter the bottom of the pie, put these in mixed together, adding eight ounces of butter on the top lid, bake it, and then put on a lear, made as for the chicken pie.
• Asparagus
  • Fine Dutch Asparagus; considered synonymous with Gravesend Asparagus and Battersea Asparagus; seeds were advertised in Savannah by 1799 and Landreth’s advertised asparagus roots for sale in 1832 when articles began to appear on the cultivation of asparagus. The Frugal Housewife gave the following recipe for Asparagus Soup:
    Take five or fix pounds of lean beef cut in lumps, and rolled in flour; put it in your ftew-pan, with two or three flices of fat bacon at the bottom; then put it over a flow fire, and cover it clofe, ftirring it now and then till the gravy is drawn; then put it in two quarts of water and half pint of ale. Cover it clofe, and let it ftew gently for an hour, with fome whole pepper, and falt to your mind; then ftrain of the liquor, and take off the fat; put in the leaves of white beets, fome fpinach, fome cabbage lettuce, a little mint, fome forrel, and a little fweet marjoram powdered; let thefe boil up in your liquor, then put in the green tops of afparagus cut fmall, and let them boil till all is tender. Serve it up hot, with a French roll in the middle.
•  Beans
  • Early Six Week dwarf beans [1825]
  • Early bunch beans [1825]
  • China dwarf Beans
  • China Red Eye Beans
  • Early Yellow Beans
  • Lima Beans
  • Red French Beans [1825]
  • Superior White Pole Beans
  • White Kidney Beans
  • China Beans
  • Refugee Beans
• Beets
  Beets were not a particularly common crop among the pioneers of old Berrien County, GA, but they were a favorite of Lucinda Guthrie.
  • Early Blood Turnip Beet; Early Blood Turnip-rooted Beet was introduced c. 1820; seed were advertised in Savannah in 1825; grown by Thomas Jefferson at Monticello;  in Field and Garden Vegetables of America (1863), Fearing Burr noted its deep blood-red, “remarkably sweet and tender” flesh, its rapid growth, and popularity among market-gardeners. The Early Blood Turnip is one of the oldest surviving varieties from that period [1800s]. Furthermore, it was also one of the most popular with early American gardeners, because it did well in a wide variety of climates… The skin is violet-red, the flesh red with paler red rings. The leaves are almost black … Its name is due to the fact that when cooked, the beet exudes a thick juice, similar in consistency to blood. This rich texture was particularly well liked by colonial cooks, especially the Pennsylvania Dutch. Christopher Sauer’s herbal, in the installment for 1774, dealt with the blood beet as prepared among the Germans in Pennsylvania and Maryland: cooked in red wine and honey, pickled by baking gently in crocks of vinegar, and served as salads with oil and vinegar. -Mother Earth
  • Long Red Beet, or  ‘Crapaudine’;  seed were advertised in Savannah in 1799.
    (Beta vulgaris ) The variety whose name comes from the French word for a female toad, is thought to be the oldest beet cultivar still in existence, dating back possibly 1000 years to the time of Charlemagne. It has a wild appearance, large bronze-red leaves and long gnarled carrot-like roots with a thick, wrinkly, bark-like skin and abundant fine root hairs. Crapaudine is beet royalty and still beloved in French markets and kitchens today. Classically it is roasted whole over a charcoal fire after which the skin easily slips off revealing the bright red flesh. It has some of the deepest, savory flavor of any beet we’ve ever roasted. – Uprising Seeds
  • Mangel Wurtzel Beet; By 1817 Georgia newspapers touted Mangelwurtzel beets as rivaling the rutabaga for winter cattle forage; its cultivation was promoted in the Georgia legislature in 1827; seed was advertised in Georgia newspapers by 1833;
    The fodder beet first appeared in Germany’s Lower Rhineland about 1561, where the soil is ideal for their cultivation. They became widespread as a farm crop during the following century under the general name Mangelwurtzel – Mother Earth.
    Harvest this delectable beet for the dinner table when young, or allow it to grow … to 40 pounds and 6 feet long…A popular livestock feed in the 1800s, this makes a great fodder crop for the homestead. The giant roots are also used for a game called “mangold hurling.” Dating to the 11th century, the sport is still played in the UK today. Harvest the roots when small and tender; they can be sliced thin and eaten raw or cooked. – Rareseeds.com
    
  • Orange Turnip Beet; seed advertised in Ft Hawkins, GA newspapers by 1830
    Boston seedsman John B. Russell listed the Orange Turnip Rooted as one of the most popular varieties of beet in his 1828 catalog; a yellow form of the blood beet. It is sold today under the name Golden Beet. Its leaves are yellow-green, with yellow ribs and veins. The flesh is dense and sweet. I prefer it to many red beets, even though its brilliant color fades to a dull yellow when cooked. It is excellent pickled with strips of lemon rind, fresh bay leaves, and garlic. Vinegar seems to restore some of the intense color and enhance the sweet flavor of the beet.  – Mother Earth
  • White Beet; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
• Broccoli
  • Broccoli, fine green; seeds were advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Broccoli, fine white; (seeds were advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799; grown by Presidents James Madison and Thomas Jefferson
  • Broccoli, fine purple; seeds were advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799; grown by President James Madison and Thomas Jefferson
  • Cape Brocoli; (seeds); grown by Presidents James Madison

African-Americans Harvesting Cabbage, 1889. In many Southern States cabbage is cut and loading in carts driven ahead of the cutters. Farmers’ Bulletin, Issue 1423.

• Brussels Sprouts
• Burdock; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
•  Carrots
  The 1796 Frugal Housewife gives this recipe for  Carrot Pudding
  You muft take a raw carrot, frape it very clean, and grate it; take half a pound of grated carrot, and a pound of grated bread; beat up eight eggs, leave out half the whites, and mix the eggs with half a pint of cream; then ftir in the bread and carrot, half a pound of frefh butter melted, half pint of fack, three fpoonfuls of orange flower water, and a nutmeg grated. Sweeten to your palate. Mix all well together; and if it is not thin enough, ftir in a little new milk or cream. Let it be of moderate thicknefs: lay a puff-pafte all over the difh, and pour in the ingredients. Bake it, which will take an hour. It may also be boiled. If fo, ferve it up with melted butter, white wine, and fugar.
  The World Carrot Museum gives additional heirloom recipes for Carrot Pecan Cake, Carrot Jam, Carrot Pudding, Carrot Pie, Stewed Carrots, and Vegetable Curry with Carrots . In the antebellum period cattle farmers frequently intercropped carrots with mangel wurtzel…
  • Blood Carrot; seeds advertised in Ft. Hawkins, GA newspapers by 1830;
  • Cattle Carrot; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799, probably any one of number of immensely large carrots grown as fodder for livestock.
  • Early Horn Carrot or Early Short Carrot; considered synonymous with Early Scarlet Horn Carrot; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    The Early Horn carrot is an eighteenth-century variety from Holland that has been perennially popular with American gardeners. In fact, it was one of the carrot varieties consistently promoted by the Shakers and listed in their Gardener’s Manual (1843, 12). James Seymour, kitchen gardener to the countess of Bridgewater, was also a great promoter of the carrot in England. In an 1841 article on it, he recommended Early Horn over all others for table use due to its size and keeping qualities. Its size is important. Measuring 6 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter, this cylindrically shaped carrot does not taper to a point and can therefore be grown in shallow soils where other carrots will not succeed. Seymour recommended pulling it when it is young and tender, advice as good today as in the 1840s. Its culinary qualities are superb, for it is not given to a tough core, and the bright orange-red skin presents a handsome visual effect in the kitchen.  -Mother Earth
  • Large Red Carrot; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    The Large Red Carrot is cultivated in fields as food for cattle, which are extremely fond of it, and to whom it is very nourishing, whether horse, cattle, sheep, or swine. Deer are fed upon the carrot in severe seasons, and it is recommended as excellent food for dogs. It is also used by farmers as a material for giving a fine yellow colour to butter. -Cassell’s Educator for the Young, 1865
  • Long Orange Carrot; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    The Long Orange is an American variety from the early nineteenth century [developed from varieties brought to America by Dutch Menonites]… It is one of those narrow, spindle-shaped carrots that can only be grown successfully as a table crop in loose, sandy soil. Seed was sold nationwide by the Shakers, but the carrot was mostly used as a fodder crop for livestock, and therefore its shape, color, and other salient features were never considered as important as its keeping qualities. This was the carrot fed to cattle to make the milk yellow for butter production, one reason why whole milk years ago was so rich in beta-carotene. – Mother Earth
  • Long Deep Orange Carrot
  • Orange Carrot
  • Purple Carrot
  • Long Yellow Carrot ; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;  In the 1796 American Cookery, the very first American cookbook, Amelia Simmons prefers yellow carrots “The Yellow are better than the orange or red middling siz’d that is, a foot long and two inches at the top end are better than overgrown ones. They are cultivated best with onions, sowed very thin and mixed with other seeds. While young or six weeks after sown, they are good with veal cookery, rich in soups, excellent with hash.”; by 1811, Thomas Jefferson grew yellow carrots in the gardens at Monticello;
• Cauliflower
  • Fine White Cauliflower; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Early London Cauliflower; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Early Cauliflower
  • Globe Headed Cauliflower; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Late Cauliflower
• Celery [1825]
  • Red Solid Cellery
    Avium graveolens var. dulce Red celery has been grown in this country since the eighteenth century but limited to the gardens of the well-to-do, for it was always considered a gentleman’s vegetable. Why this was so, I do not know; it is one of the easiest celeries to cultivate, and in Pennsylvania it winters over with no more protection than a thick covering of salt hay. Yet Peter Henderson remarked in Garden and Field Topics (1884, 163) that “the red [celery] is as yet but little used in this country, though the flavor is better and the plant altogether hardier than the white.” Red celeries are indeed well known among connoisseurs for their rich walnut flavor, but if they are not banked up, or if they are raised under the intense sunlight of the Deep South, this delightful quality can turn to bitterness. Red celeries are creatures of cool, moist weather…The following recipe takes advantage of the robust taste of old-time celery. It comes from Mary Brotherton’s Vegetable Cookery (1833, 46), a vegetarian cookbook issued for the use of the Bible Christians, an English sect that established its headquarters in Philadelphia in 1816:Celery Porridge Recipe
    Gut some celery and endive small, and stew them well in some vegetable broth; when quite tender, add a little butter browned, and a little flour if requisite; stew them ten minutes longer, and serve it up with fried sippets of bread, or a slice of toast laid at the bottom of the dish. – Mother Earth
  • White Solid Celery
• Silverbeet or Leakoil Beet (Chard); seed
  The Silver Beet or Sea Kale Beet (the chard of America) is mentioned by John Parkinson in his Paradisus (1629). This is a variety of chard with a thick white stem. As I have already mentioned, this type of beet has been known since classical antiquity, and its ancient name, cicla, is of Punic (Phoenician) origin. In old garden books it is often referred to as a “white beet,” … Richard Bradley, in his Country Housewife and Lady’s Director (1732, 2:110), called chards beet chards, which appears to be the usage that came to America. Under the beet chard, Bradly supplied a recipe for a pie consisting of one-third part chopped chard, one-third part chopped spinach (orach may be substituted), and one-third part chopped French (round-leafed) sorrel. This was made sweet with sugar very much like the old Pennsylvania Dutch sorrel pies of the last century. Many cooks in this country (and in France) still throw away the chard leaves, using only the stems. This is because most chards, especially the red varieties, turn black after they are cooked, one reason, I think, why the Pennsylvania Dutch used dark brown sugar in their chard-and-sorrel pies. This discoloration can be avoided altogether by resorting to a little kitchen secret called a blanching stock (blanc). For a typical recipe serving four to six persons, the chard should be blanched in 3 quarts of well-salted water into which about 4 tablespoons of flour has been sifted. This is whisked smooth to remove all lumps and then gradually brought to a boil. Once it is boiling, the heat is reduced, and lemon juice or vinegar is added. Then add the chard and cook uncovered only long enough to tenderize it (10 to 15 minutes). Drain immediately and use in casseroles, in microwave recipes, or with mixed vegetables. Due to a chemical reaction it undergoes in the starchy water, the chard will retain its color and not blacken after cooking.  – Mother Earth
• Cabbage
  • Battersea Cabbage, or “London Battersea Cabbage“; grown by President James Madison; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    The 1748 Gardener’s Dictionary noted “The early Batterfea and Sugarloaf Cabbages are commonly fown for summer ufe and are what the Gardeners about London commonly call Michaelmas Cabbages…The early Batterfea being the firft, we should chufe to plant the fewer of them, and a greater quantity of the Sugarloaf kind, which comes after them; for the Batterfea kind will not fupply you long, they generally cabbaging apace when they begin, and as foon grow hard, and burft open; but the Sugarloaf kind is longer before it comes ans is as flow in its cabbaging; and being of a hollow kind will continue for a long time.”
  • Large Bergen Cabbage
    The 1850 Working Farmer called the Bergen the best keeping cabbage and appraised, “No cabbage makes as good sauer kraut as the Bergen.”
  • Brown Cabbage, seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Colewort; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    Thomas Mawe (1778) described it thus, “The common open green Colewort, which though of eftimation on account of its hardinefs, in being proof against froft, yet, as table-greens, are apt to be tough and rank-tafted, and greatly inferior to [cabbage].“
    Collard is the closest available approximation to the colewort, the primitive cultivated cabbage of the Middle Ages. The tight, heading cabbages we know today were developed from the colewort. – The Cloisters Museum & Garden
  • Large Cow Cabbage, or Anjou Cabbage or Jersey Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    The young leaves are quite tender and can be cooked like collards. In the spring, the stalks send off side shoots that are particularly tender. On the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, farmers make a stew with it called soup à choux or soupe à la graisse  [Fat Soup], which is composed of the cabbage, a piece of slab bacon, and potatoes. Parsnips or turnips sometimes take the place of the potatoes. The cow cabbage makes a good stewing cabbage, and the heart or small leaf head at the top is by far the most delicate part. – Mother Earth
     In Anjou, when these cabbages are entirely run up, they gene rally grow to the height of seven or eight feet; sometimes they reach to eight feet and a half, or nine feet; nay, some have even been seen of a greater height. From the month of June, when these cabbages begin to be fit for use, their leaves are gathered from time to time, and they shoot out again. They are large, excellent food, and so tender that they are dressed with a moment’s boiling. They never occasion any flatulencies or uneasiness in the stomach ; and are also very good for cattle, which eat them greedily. They likewise greatly increase the milk of cows. – The Farmer’s and Planter’s Encylopaedia for Rural Affairs
  • Drumhead Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Early Flat Dutch Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
    Thomas Mawe described the Flat-top’d Cabbage as, “A very large fpreading Cabbage, generally cabbaging very broad, and flat at top, and pretty clofe and firm, is in perfection in September, and will continue till Christmas. Cabbage is a staple of much traditional Pennsylvania German and Amish cooking – PA Dutch Cabbage Roll recipe.  Does well in southern and coastal areas thanks to its heat resistance. Excellent sauerkraut variety and the best variety for storage. Large, flat heads, 6-10 lbs, average 11 in. with medium core and few outside leaves. – southernexposure.com
  • Green Glazed Cabbage (Collards ‘Cascade Glaze’, seeds)
  • Green Globe Cabbage
  • Landreth’s Large Cabbage
  • Penton Cabbage, or Paignton flat-pole cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799; frequently growing from 20 to 28 pounds.
    Sow the seed of Penton Cabbage, which is deservedly a favorite in other countries, for soup; if sown now [April] it comes in for autumn and winter use. It branches like Scotch kale or borecole, is smooth and soft in the leaves, bears frost well, and grows to a height of three or four feet. – Agricultural Class Book.  [Paignton, England] is also the birthplace of the Paignton , or, as gardeners have agreed to call it, the Penton Cabbage, an I will here observe that in no district of England are finer Cabbages grown. They are large and vigorous in every cottager’s garden; but those brought to market – an a cartload had passed whilst I am writing – are models in form and size. No one who has tasted the Paignton Cabbage only in the vicinity of London is able to appreciate its merits. Grown here by the seaside its large compact white heart and the very large prominent midribs of its outer leaves are, in my opinion, superior to Seakale, being sweeter, nearly as tender, and with rather more flavor  –The Journal of Horticulture, Cottage Gardener, and Home Farmer. Horticulturalist John Abercrombie described it as “large round head, leaves white and fleshy, wrinkled like the Savoy – very delicate and fine; in perfection during the later summer months, when other cabbages are of strong flavor – Abercrombie’s Practical Gardener.
  • Philadephia Cabbage
  • Red Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Red Dutch Cabbage, or Red Pickling Cabbage (Cabbage, Red Dutch seeds); grown by President James Madison
  • Ruffian Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    The 1748 Gardener’s Dictionary noted, “The Ruffian Cabbage was formerly in much greater Efteem than at prefent, it being now only to be found in particular Gentlemens Gardens, who cultivate it for their own ufe, and is rarely ever brought to the Market. This muft be fown in the Spring of the Year…it is but a very fmall hard Cabbage. Thefe will be fit for Ufe in July or August, but will not continue long before they will break, and run up to Seed.”
  • Savoy Cabbage or Curled Savoy Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799; grown by President James Madison
    Savoy cabbage is also known as curly cabbage. With ruffled, lacy, deeply ridged leaves, Savoy cabbages are perhaps the prettiest cabbages around. The leaves are more loosely layered and less tightly packed than green or red cabbage, although its uses are similar.
  • Dwarf Screw Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Sugar Loaf Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Early Yorkshire Cabbage (or “York Cabbage”); seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;  (grown by President James Madison)
    from The Saturday magazine, Volume 24, (1844), p47
    “Early York. This cabbage was introduced more than a hundred years ago, by a private soldier named Telford, who brought it with him from Flanders. On his return to this country he settled as a seedsman in Yorkshire, [England] where the cabbage became celebrated, and received the name of the county in which it was first grown. It is of small growth, so that a great many can be planted in a moderate compass. It is still esteemed on account of its delicate flavour.”
  • White Scotch Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799; This may be the “Common Round White Cabbage” described by Thomas Mawe in 1778 – “A middle-fize, roundifh, very white Cabbage; is in perfection in Auguft and September, gradually acquires a degree of hardnefs, and is hardy to endure winter.”
  • Large Winter Cattle Cabbage; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
• Cress; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
• Cucumber
  I have found this advice from the Farmer’s Almanac for 1864 to be quite helpful: To Preserve Vines from Bugs The best remedy we have tried is to plant onion seed with the cucumber — and after the plants are up, to sprinkle ashes on every hill just before a fall of rain, which makes a ley and kills the bugs almost instantaneously; the smell of the onion when up will keep the flies off. We have adapted this method for a number of years, not only on our vines, but on vegetables such as beets, parsnips, etc. It promotes their growth and loosens the earth around the roots.
  • Early Chester Cucumber
  • Early Cluster Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    A Pickling Cucumber. In colonial America the cucumber did very well. Our hot summers appeal to its subtropical temperament, and many of the soils along our eastern coast are of the loose, sandy kind that cucumbers like. Thus, while the cucumber was for a long time a symbol of the gentleman’s kitchen garden in England, in this country it quickly became as common as the watermelon. In fact, the two were sometimes grown together in the same patch. When we look at the lists of cucumbers grown in colonial America, names like Long Green Turkey and Long Roman seem baffling because it is difficult to equate them with many of the heirlooms we know today. The Early Cluster has survived more or less intact…In his American Home Garden (1859, 139), Alexander Watson cited Early Cluster, Short Green, Long Green (white spined), Early Frame, Extra Long, and White Turkey as the best varieties for the kitchen garden.
  • Early Frame Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Long Green Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    Thomas Jefferson included “early long green cucumber” in his list of “objects for the garden” in 1794.  Long Green Improved Cucumber was introduced in 1842.  This is a popular cucumber for pickling and slicing, growing to 12 inches long and 3 inches in diameter.  Flesh is crisp and very white.
  • Long Green Roman Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Prickly Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    the Round Prickly Cucumber, now more commonly known as the West India Burr Gherkin. The burr gherkin belongs to a different species than the true cucumber. – Mother Earth
    Grown at Monticello by Thomas Jefferson –the West Indian Gherkin (Cucumis anguria), a native of Africa brought to the Caribbean through the slave trade, then reputedly introduced from Jamaica in 1792 by Richmond seed merchant Minton Collins.
  • Southgate Cucumber; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Table Cucumber
• Egg Plant
  • Purple Egg Plant
  • White Egg Plant
• Endive
  • Green Curled Endive ; seed; grown by President James Madison
    endive in America has been a rare bird on the vegetable market; in the days of Thomas Jefferson, it was only the gentleman farmer who could point them out in his garden…Dr. William Darlington (1837, 440) noted that endive was cultivated in the vicinity of Philadelphia as a luxury food, which for that period made sense, given the large number of French restaurants and French caterers working in the city. I think it is fair to suggest that Americans have always associated endive with foreign cookery, and still do.
  • Turkey Rheubarb [1825]
  • Solid Celery [1825]
  • Summer Savoy [1825]
• Kale
  • Borecole or Dwarf German Kale; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    A vegetable with a long history in the United States, Dwarf German Kale first arrived here with Pennsylvania Dutch settlers in the early eighteenth century. – Mother Earth
  • Brown Kale; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    “Brown Cole,” …also known as Deep Purple Kale… from Germany, where the varieties were known as … Braunkohl.  – Mother Earth
    One of the first types of cabbage cultivated was the so-called “tall kale” or “cow cabbage”, the leaves of which grow violet to brownish, thus giving it the name Braunkohl. Cow cabbage grew as tall as a man. The lower leaves were used as cattle feed, while the top was reserved for human consumption. – City of Braunschweig
  • Red Kale;  seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Yellow Kale; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Scotch Kail, or Tall Green Curled Kale; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Branching Knotted Kale, or Thousand Head Kale; seed  offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    a Multi-branching type that also goes by the name “branching borecole.” Vilmorin also noted that the variety originally hailed from western France…  Thousand head kale was long appreciated in the UK as a fodder crop, but it has been rediscovered as a tasty culinary variety. -rareseeds.com
• Lettuce
  • Early Curled Lettuce [1825]
  • Large Egyptian Green Coss Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Early Silesa Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Large Greenhead Lettuce
  • White Cabbage Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Brown Dutch Lettuce
  • Cabbage Head Lettuce
  • Frankford Lettuce [1825]
  • Green Coy Lettuce
  • Head Curled Lettuce
  • Ice Lettuce [1825]
  • Ice Coss Lettuce
  • Ice Head Lettuce
  • Imperial Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Imperial Sugarloaf Lettuce
  • Leek Lettuce [1825]
  • Large Mogul Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Royal Cabbage Lettuce [1825]
  • Royal Grand Admiral Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Speckled Lettuce [1825]
  • White Coss Lettuce; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • White Coy Lettuce
  • White Head Lettuce
• Melon
  • Citron Melon
  • Watermelon [1825]
  • Muskmelon [1825]
  • Nutmeg Melon [1825]
  • Cantaloupe Melon
  • Persian Citron Melon
  • Fino Nutmeg Melon
• Mustard
  • Brown Mustard
  • White Mustard; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
• Okra
  • Long White Okra
• Onion
  • Blood Red Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    The Blood-red Onion is of a flat shape, and middling size, and of a deep red colour, sufficiently distinguishing it from all the others. It is very hardy, keeps remarkably well, and on account of its strong flavour, is much grown for medicinal purposes – Annals of Horticulture
  • Brown Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Deptford Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
    The Deptford Onion is of a globular shape, medium size, colour pale brown, and skin smooth and thin. It is a hardy sort, mild in flavor, and keeps well. -Annals of Horticulture
  • White Onion [1825]
  • Yellow Onion [1825]
  • Red Onion [1825]
  • Red-Streaked Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Leek [1825]
  • Flag Leek; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Spanish Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Silver Skin Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • White Portugal Onion; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Wethersfield Onion; seed; Unfortunately for Wiregrass gardeners, the Wethersfield is a long day onion which do not perform well in southern states.
    The bulb of this onion, originally known as Large Red, grows 6 to 8 inches in diameter. It is oblate in shape, slightly flat on top and bottom. The skin is  purple-red, the flesh purple-white, and stronger flavored than most yellow onions. It was used extensively in pickling red cabbage in the nineteenth century. It is a good storage onion. Thomas DeVoe noted in his Market Assistant (1866, 339) that prior to the 1830s red onions were “principally sold, fastened on a wisp of straw about the size of a man’s thumb, which were called a ‘string’ or ‘rope of onions.’” Garlics are often tied up and sold this way today. – Mother Earth
• Parsnip
  English cook books in the 1820s gave a recipe for Parsnip Wine.
  In the late 1800s the Vegetarian Society of America gave this recipe for Parsnip Croquettes:
  Boil and mash parsnips fine. Then to each pint of them add a teaspoonful of salt, two tablespoonfuls of melted butter, a dash of pepper, two tablespoonfuls of milk. Mix well over the fire and when smoking hot add a thoroughly beaten fresh egg. Spread the mixture in a dish to cool, and take the nut of an English walnut, an almond or a pinenut, and roll around it the parsnip pulp until you have a good-sized nut. Roll in egg and cracker dust, fry a light brown, in plenty of butter, and serve hot.
  • Parsnip; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Sugar Parsnip; said by some to be synonymous with Hollow Crown Parsnip (seed).
    Hollow Crown variety became popular in England in the 1820s. George Lindley (1831, 565) listed it among the varieties recommended for kitchen gardens, and it appeared on many American seed lists during the nineteenth century. The variety distinguishes itself by a sunken crown where the leaves are attached to the root. It was considered one of the best of the very long-rooted varieties, but needs deep sandy soil to develop roots true to type. – Mother Earth 
  • Large London Parsnip; seed offered for sale in Savannah, GA by 1799
• Peas
  • Early June Peas [1825]
  • Early Golden Hotspur Peas [1825]
  • Early Peas [1825]
  • Early Charlton Peas
  • Dwarf Imperial Peas
  • Green Dwarf Marrowfat Peas [1825]
  • Late Peas [1825]
  • Landreth’s Extra Early Peas
  • White Marrowfat Peas [1825]
  • Strawberry Dwarf Peas[1825]
• Potatoes
  • Irish potatoes [1825]
  • Belfast Potatoes [1825]
  • Sweet Potatoes [1825]
•  Raddish
  • London Short-top Radish; seed advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
  • Long Scarlet Radish, or Scarlet Short Top Radish, or Scarlet Radish; seeds;
  • Long Salmon Radish; grown by President James Madison
    Seeds of this variety have been received from English, Dutch, and French seedsmen under the following names: Salmon, Early Salmon, Early short-topped Salmon, Long Salmon, Rave Rose or Saumonee… The neck of the root rises about an inch above the ground like that of the Scarlet, but it is a paler red, and this colour gradually becomes lighter towards the middle, where it is a pale pink, or salmon colour; from the middle the colour grows paler downwards, and the extremity of the root is almost white. In shape and size, this Radish does not differ from the Scarlet, neither does it appear to be earlier, or to possess any qualities superior to the Scarlet Radish. –Transactions of the Horticultural Society of London, 1805
  • Early Purple Radish; grown by President James Madison; seeds not available in 2020 – substitute Royal Purple Radish
    This is the round or top-shaped violet version of the common red radish, and was mentioned as a good hardy sort by cookbook author Amelia Simmons (1796, 13). The advantage of the turnip-shaped varieties, as they were called, was that they overwintered well, especially when covered with straw or when raised in cold frames—a vital source of vitamin C not overlooked in colonial times. This radish was also popular due to its intense color, beautifully depicted in the Album Vilmorin (1863, 14) – William Woys Weaver, Mother Earth
  • Black Spanish Radish; seeds; grown by President James Madison;
    The Shakers distributed seed for this radish through their vast seed network in the nineteenth century. This was one winter radish every American farmer could rely upon, and since it was well known since the seventeenth century, its merits needed no recommendation. What this radish lacked in physical beauty — it has the appearance of old rubbed tar — it far exceeded in practicality. It is so hardy that in Pennsylvania it is only necessary to throw some straw over it to protect it during the winter. Parsnips and Black Spanish radish were the first root vegetables of early spring among the eighteenth-century farmers – William Woys Weaver, Mother Earth
  • Yellow Turnip Radish, or Jaune hatif Radish; grown by President James Madison; seeds not available in 2020 – substitute Zlata Radish
    jaune hatif, as it is known in France. The Abbé Rozier (1785, 534) noted that this round yellow radish was one of the most commonly raised varieties in Dauphin, Savoy, and in the vicinity of Lyon… From a genetic standpoint, the yellows are the product of a pigment mutation in the red varieties, just as with tomatoes. Thus, the yellow radishes may be viewed as red radishes with missing genes. This natural deficiency is counterbalanced by a greater resistance to heat, allowing the yellow sorts to be planted late in the spring and enjoyed through the early summer — the reason for the hatif in the French name. In terms of flavor, this variety is not ranked as high as the white and red sorts…the very reason the yellow sort was popular in the hotter sections of France also made it popular in colonial America. The round yellow variety was well known in this country as early as 1800, and it seems to have been a consistently listed type throughout the nineteenth century, not just for its ability to withstand our sultry summers but also because its color was quite striking at table… – William Woys Weaver, Mother Earth
  • White Spanish Radish; grown by President James Madison; seed not available in 2020 – substitute White Icicle
• Rape; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
• Roquette (Arugula)
• Rutabaga [1825]
  • Rutabaga
  • Yellow Rutabaga
  • White Rutabaga
• Salsify
  • Vegetable Oyster [1825]
• Spinach
  • Roan Spinage [1825]
  • E. Prickly Spinage [1825]
  • Round Spinach; seeds were advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799
• Squash
  • Crookneck Summer Squash [1825]
  • Crookneck Winter Squash [1825]
  • Dutch Summer Squash [1825]
  • Early Bush Squash
  • Long Green Squash
• Tomatoes, Large
• Turnip
  • Aberdeen Turnip
  • French Turnip [1825]
  • Early Turnips [1825]
  • Late Turnips [1825]
  • Early Dutch Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Early Hardy Stone Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Early Spring Flat Turnip
  • Garden Turnip
  • Green Top Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Guernsey Turnip
  • Norfolk Flat Turnip
  • Oblong Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Red Top Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • Scotch Yellow Turnip
  • Swedish Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;
  • White Round Turnip; seeds advertised in Savannah, GA by 1799;

Garden seeds available to pioneers of Wiregrass Georgia. 1825 Garden Seed advertisement, Savannah Georgian, Savannah, GA.

1827 kitchen garden seed advertised in Fort Hawkins, Georgia. Ft. Hawkins Messenger, Feb 14, 1827.