Cherokee Garden Library: Peter Hatch: "A Rich Spot of Earth:" Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello

Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third president of the United States of America, was a revolutionary gardener. Today, the vegetables and herbs Jefferson favored are thriving in the 1,000-foot terraced vegetable garden at his home Monticello. Extensively and painstakingly restored under Peter J. Hatch’s brilliant direction, Jefferson’s unique vegetable garden now boasts the same medley of plants he enthusiastically cultivated in the early nineteenth century. The garden is a living expression of Jefferson’s genius and his distinctly American attitudes. Its impact on the culinary, garden and landscape history of the United States continues to the present day.