In the 1700s, kitchen gardens played a crucial role in feeding, healing, and clothing early American families. The 18th-century “huswife” was skilled in a wide range of essential tasks, including “physicke, cookery, distillation, perfumery, the making of wool, hemp, flax, dairies, brewing, baking,” and, of course, gardening. These women cultivated both Native American plants and those from their homelands, transforming their soup pots into the “melting pot” that would become America. They embodied the best qualities of both plantswomen and patriots.

Join a captivating presentation by lecturer and historian Lesley Parness on the daily lives of New Jersey’s colonial women and their kitchen gardens. This program is available both in-person at the library and virtually via Zoom. Registration is required for either format.

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This presentation is made possible by a grant from the New Jersey Council on the Humanities.