Coloringbook

Brainbuster

Museum Homepage

Kids Page

	Frontier Gardens Settlers on the frontiers of America planted gardens to provide food for their family's needs. Many of the foods planted were native to North America, other foods were brought over from their countries of origin. By the time people were settling frontier areas like Lowndes County, many foods like potatoes, introduced from South America, were consumed in Europe and spread throughout the world. Since frontier settlements were European in origin, flowers were also planted. People wanted their homes in the New World to be like those they came from. Flower and herb gardens were planted soon after food crops to beautify surroundings and supply flavor for foods.
Native American Gardens When European explorers arrived in the New World, they found people different from themselves growing plants they had never seen before. These plants had been domesticated from wild varieties over hundreds of years. Native Americans were growing corn, beans, squash, and sunflowers. The gardens lookes very different. Corn was grown on a mound of earth with the beans planted unter it; the beans climbed the corn. Sunflowers were grown in fields, but Indian fileds were usually planted in clusters of mounds not rows. Squash was planted separatelty to make sure it got enough sun.
	Victorian Gardens The Victorian period, during which Valdosta was settled, represented gardens much like those we see today. Foods were still grown, as were herbs, but formal flower gardens were popular.
Colonial Gardens It didn't take European explorers and settlers long to establish gardens of foods they were familiar with. The Spaniards wanted wheat, grapes, and olives. In fact, the people with Columbus on his second trip to the New World brought seeds and cuttings including wheat, peas, melons, onions, salad greens, grapes, sugar cane, and fruit. They introduced oranges, lemons, and figs. Did you know that daisies and dandelions were brought over with explorers? Bananas were brought from the Canary Islands in 1516. Sometimes plants were introduced, but not in gardens; many seeds came over in cargo and stuck to people's shoes.