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At the Historic Village at Allaire we have several gardens representative of the different components of a typical 19th Century four square garden and comprised of the different types of plants our ladies in 1836 would have found useful. At the Foreman's Cottage one of the very first stops when enering the Historic Village visitors can see a is a small, fenced area that is used as a medicinal herb garden. A few plants there, such as mints or marigolds are found in many home gardens today. However, there are a few unfamiliar, and maybe even unfriendly plants as well. For instance, why would anyone plant stinging nettle? The young shoots have been boiled and eaten as a remedy for scurvy. It is made into a medicine for diarrhea. In eastern European countries people pick nettles bare-handed to ease arthritis pain. By the way, do be careful, they will give you quite a sting.

Rue is a beautiful plant with dainty three lobed leaves. It is a very bitter herb, used for gas pains and colic, and was added to poison antidotes over 2000 years ago! Rue was tied with stems of rosemary and southernwood to protect the wearer from typhoid. The plant, or water in which it was boiled, was used as a household flea repellent.

Sage is a familiar, comfortable herb used at least once a year nowadays to add flavor to stuffing. In 1836, it was gargled for sore throats, and drank to help with ladies' complaints. It was believed to help with many digestive disorders. To assure good health, the English toasted with "He that would live for Aye, must eat Sage in May."

Comfrey was brought to America by early settlers. The fresh leaves were used to poultice sprains. Its root aids in healing skin, and setting bones. A plaster made of the leaves would be used for relief of pulmonary and throat disorders.

Our garden has several mints. They make tasty teas and would be valued for settling upset stomachs.

Violets have been used for many centuries. The flowers can be candied and the leaves are used to flavor wine. Liniments of violets and vinegar relieved gout and liver ailments. Our ladies probably enjoyed violet cough syrup and used violet water as a cool compress for headaches.

The garden at the Manager's House boasts fresh kitchen herbs, many of which can also be found in the medicinal garden. Among them sage and onions were popular seasonings as well as being used for medicinal purposes. Dill, another herb in the Manager's garden, was grown in great quantities in the 19th Century. Used primarily in pickling, dill was an important herb for seasoning as well as a preservative in a time when refrigeration was lacking.

Of course maintenance of the 19th Century garden was no easy task and our interpreters take their chores to heart. Water is carried from the Mill Pond twice a day using a shoulder yoke and wooden buckets to water the gardens. Weeding is a weekly chore and ground preparation and planting itself is done using period methods and tools

So you see, our ladies would have grown many different plants for medicinal, as well as culinary reasons. Doctors were few and far between and prepared remedies were not always what they were cracked up to be. Often, the wisdom of those old wives tales was the best advice.

Plans for future gardens include a vegetable garden at the Gardener's Cottage and a flower garden at the Allaire Home. The Historic Village at Allaire has only taken on the task of planting Historic Gardens with-in the past three years, however we are extremely proud of how our gardens have developed and of our future plans. *2