Photo: Margaret Wachholz
A perfect complement to Woodbury’s Heritage House is the garden just outside the front door. This was part of the European tradition the settlers brought with them. Much of Woodbury’s history revolved around gardening and work on the land. The early apple orchards, truck farms, grain crops, family vegetable plots, and the flowers were, and are, very important to the human spirit.
The Heritage Garden has several themes: local heirloom plants, trees, and vegetable and butterfly gardens. Vital to our garden is our commitment to the use of natural methods both for growing and for reducing plant pests, avoiding chemicals as much as possible.
We realized that it was important to preserve the garden plants, which grew on our early farms. We asked members and friends to donate a plant slip or a plant that had been grown for years on their land. Many people have been excited to share their plants, which were traditions in early gardens, making our garden a living museum of Woodbury’s past.
In our efforts to return to an 1870s era with our garden, we have planted heirloom seeds that represent many of the crops that would have been grown by Woodbury’s earliest settlers. Sunflowers, corn, barley, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkins and cucumbers are some of the recent garden crops.
Patty (Stutzman) Paulus and Margaret Wachholz are with the Woodbury Heritage Society. Discover more at woodburyheritage.org.
