Hopewell Furnace National Historic Site Demonstation Garden

This historically inspired tenant garden is a collaboration between the National Parks Service and Master Gardeners.

Master Gardeners at Founders Day Celebration

Hopewell Furnace Tenant Garden

Background:

During its time of operation from 1771-1883, iron production at Hopewell Furnace sustained a self-contained community of 200-300 people in Hopewell Village. Ironworkers often worked 12-hour shifts to keep the furnace operating 24 hours a day, and could not live far from the furnace. Many of these employees lived with their families in tenant housing owned by the ironmaster.

These resident employees kept fenced vegetable gardens, or tenant gardens, to grow much of the food that they ate throughout the year. Records from the Hopewell Office-Store, where tenants bought much of their supplies, show that they bought little food from the company, suggesting instead that they grew their own or traded with other farmers in the area.

Colonial Gardens

European settlers adopted agricultural techniques from Indigenous Americans while also observing the weather and climate and experimenting with new techniques. Plant varieties from 'Old World' Europe were planted in combination with native varieties from the New World. Growers would have relied on imported seeds and seed-saving until the domestic commercial seed industry arose in the early 19th century.

Colonial gardens were primarily designed to be practical, rather than beautiful. The size of a garden was proportional to the size of the family or group of people it would support. Kitchen gardens were often planted near to the house to provide easy access to fresh produce. Gardens were square or rectangular, and planted so that gardeners could cultivate all of the space in the garden. Vegetables, culinary and medicinal herbs, and other useful plants were planted tightly in rows to make use of all available space. Gardens were often protected by fencing or hedging shrubs, and featured paths of soil, gravel, or other available material along each bed.

This guide features some of the plants that would have been grown in tenant gardens at Hopewell Furnace, and how they were used.

Hopewell Furnace Tenant Garden Plants

Three Sisters: Corn, Beans, and Squash
The three sisters companion planting method is attributed to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) League, the indigenous people whose territory extended into northern Pennsylvania. The Haudenosaunee planted corn, beans, and squash together in hills, beginning with the corn. They would mound soil around the young corn plants until the hills were one foot high and two feet wide. Two or three weeks after the corn sprouted, they would plant beans in the same hill. The beans provide habitat for beneficial nitrogen-fixing bacteria that naturally fertilize the soil, and can climb the corn stalks like a trellis. Vining squash plants were also planted in the hills to help shade the soil, moderating soil temperature, retaining moisture, and blocking out weeds.

Indian corn represented about 5% of the value of all grain grown in Chester County, and became a substantial market crop after the Revolutionary War. It could be harvested early at 'green' stage to be cooked and eaten, or grated and prepared as a pudding with eggs and cream. It was also served boiled with beans as succotash, or dried and ground into flour. Colonial grain inventories suggest that Indian corn was more commonly used as animal fodder rather than food for people. All parts of the corn plant could be used: the husk could be braided for rope and coiled into mats, shredded husks could be used to stuff cushions or as kindling, and dried cobs could be used as bottle stoppers or scrub brushes.

Beans were boiled in the husk and served with butter, like edamame, or were baked with pork; they could also be dried and stored for the winter.

Squash and pumpkins were sliced and eaten raw like melon, or stuffed with either sweet or savory ingredients to be baked as a pudding, such as apples or meat and rice. They would also be stored in a dry, cool room for winter use, or could be boiled, sliced, and dried for winter storage.

Root Vegetables
Root vegetables, like beets, carrots, onions, parsnips, potatoes, and turnips, could be baked, boiled, or stewed. They were sometimes mashed and served with butter or cream and salt. Beets, onions, and radishes could also be pickled and eaten as a cold salad. Garlic and onions were added to roasting meats or sauces for flavor. Potatoes were considered one of the easiest vegetables to cultivate because they could be grown from bits of tuber rather than relying on flowering, pollination, and seed harvesting. Carrots were sometimes pulped, mixed with egg and flour, and fried as fritters. Women gathered carrot leaves in winter, when they change color to red or purple, to wear as an accessory pinned in their hair or to a hat or sleeve. Root vegetables were also stored in root cellars for winter use.

Squash and Melons
Cucumbers and watermelon were abundant in colonial Chester County. Watermelon was eaten fresh, and cucumbers were salted and drained of excess water, and then prepared as a fresh salad with vinegar and oil.

Leafy Greens
Collards and other 'winter cabbages' were boiled and served with butter and salt or added to stews. Lettuce was eaten raw and seasoned with vinegar, cream, or sugar, similar to a modern garden salad, but it was also sautéed or stewed and served with gravy.

Peas
Peas were eaten green, or dried and boiled in a broth of meat or meat trimmings and served as a soup.

Herbs
Culinary herbs like basil, dill, parsley, and sage were used to season meats and stews. Monarda, also known as wild bergamot or bee balm, is a native plant that was cultivated in the 17th century and used to flavor beverages and desserts.

Gooseberry
Gooseberry was cultivated for its tart fruit, which was prepared in jams and other preserves. The thorny, spreading stems of this woody perennial can also be trained as a hedge to create a natural protective barrier for the vegetable garden.