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See a gorgeous heirloom vegetable garden developed by master gardeners at the request of a nearby historical site. All the plants are 1800s heirlooms! Get inspired by their garden plan and photos.
The Heirloom Garden Story
Our garden is located on a 40-acre property in the city of Gladstone, MO, which is surrounded by Kansas City, Missouri.
The property is an old farmstead containing a museum in a two-story log cabin that was built around 1824. This historical site was opened for visitors in 2013 and has been improved on a regular basis.
The garden plan attempts to be similar to one that was on the property in the 1800s when it was an active farm. The museum board came to the greater Kansas City Master Gardeners, asking them to develop an heirloom garden with vegetable varieties all discovered before 1900.
The Master Gardeners maintain all aspects of the garden and use the property to train interning Master Gardeners. Each year, all of the produce is donated to charities in the area, and most years, we donate around 2000 pounds of vegetables!
We also have programs for area children to come through the garden, harvest a few veggies, and learn that potatoes grow under the ground. There is also a program where children plan a menu and travel to the garden. They harvest the crops and return to the Gladstone Community Center to prepare and eat a meal.
I love to work with the Garden Planner each year for crop rotation and spacing of vegetables.
Catherine Boeckmann loves nature, stargazing, and gardening so it’s not surprising that she and The Old Farmer’s Almanac found each other. She leads digital content for the Almanac website, and is also a certified master gardener in the state of Indiana. Read More from Catherine Boeckmann