HERB - gardens, mowers, and tomatos

[RAISYA@aol.com]

Jasmine, 

Sorry, things are still nuts here.  I don't know if you know her, but there 
is a Midrealm laurel named Alysoun de Ros who was on here for a while and 
gave me some help.  I don't know if she's near you, but she got her laurel 
for village life and agriculture.  

Besides the sources listed below, I've found an article in BRITISH 
ARCHAEOLOGY on Bronze age amending of almost pure sand with, I believe, 
manure, turf, and seaweed to produce soil that's still in use (can't find my 
notes on this right now, don't hold me to details :)).  You can garner a 
certain amount of information from miniatures and illuminations. Generally, I 
believe that manure, crop residues, chalk, and seaweed were all in use, 
probably wood ash and something called "marl" as well.

Here are a few sources for you, I omit herbals, figure you've got more than I 
do :) - hope this helps - Raisya

1 - THE COUNTRYSIDE OF MEDIEVAL ENGLAND, Astill, Grenville and Grant, Annie, 
1988, Oxford:  Blackwell Publishers ---- This is a collection of material 
from specialists, a very scholarly book with lots of tables and charts. 

2 - THE MEDIEVAL GARDEN, Landsberg, Sylvia, (can't find the date) New York:  
Thames and Hudson --- An excellent starting point, it emphasizes English 
gardens.

3 - THE ARTE OF GARDENING, Hill, Thomas, 1978, Norwood:Walter Johnson, Inc. 
---  This was first published in about 1580, I think.  It covers topics like 
siting a garden, access to water, the quality of the soil, dunging, fencing, 
laying out the garden, and so on.  This is a wonderful source of techniques.

4 - HORTULUS, Strabo, Walahfrid, translated by Raef Payne, 1966, Pittsburgh:  
The Hunt Botanical Library - 9th century gardening, it covers preparing the 
ground.

5 - FIVE HUNDRED POINTS OF GOOD HUSBANDRY,  Tusser, Thomas, (1580) 1984, 
Oxford:  Oxford University Press - This is all done in rhyme, and is 
something of a calender of a farmer's year.

6 - A MEDIEVAL HOME COMPANION, Bayard, Tania, 1991, New York:  HarperCollins 
Publishers, Inc. - A translation of excerts of a 14th century French 
manuscript, it includes a chapter on gardening.




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