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National Colonial Farm | Animals | Museum Garden

Museum Garden

The Museum Garden is an educational garden designed for learning about the crops of Maryland, and how these crops relate to both the natural environment and the people of many cultures. In this small garden, there are hundreds of different vegetables and herbs. Some were garden plants brought here from cool areas of Europe and were treasured by the English settlers. Others originated in Africa and were known to African-Americans who played a large part in the agricultural history of Maryland, sometimes as slaves and then as farmers and farm laborers.


The Museum Garden in full bloom Summer 2007

There are a number of interesting points to be considered by the visitor:

  1. Heirloom crop varieties are grown and their seed is saved to preserve priceless genetic diversity.
  2. In some places, modern varieties of crops are grown adjacent to heirloom varieties to demonstrate plant biodiversity and how people have selected and developed crop varieties to fit the changing needs of farmers and consumers.
  3. The main part of the garden is divided into three sections: "Crops of the Americas," "Crops Brought from Europe" and "Crops Brought from Africa." There are also smaller beds planted in groupings of specialty herbs and flowers, medicinal, and culinary and plants used for dye and sundry purposes.
  4. The crops in each of the larger plots are cultivated differently, to suggest variations in cultivation practices that may have been used by the different peoples who originally grew the crops. The crops of the Americas are grown in hills as the native peoples of this region grew their crops. The crops from Europe are grown in raised beds in straight rows to note gardening trends in that part of the world. The crops of Africa are grown in different patterns including a circle, as is done in some parts of Africa to this day.

For a source list of the heirloom seed catalogs used most often for the Museum Garden, please call 301-283-2113, ext. 26, or email the Foundation's Horticulturist, Alexia Savold.