KITCHEN GARDENS 



IN early times, when the Norman influence was still 

 felt in England, gardens were practically what we 

 call " orchards." Fruit-trees were predominant, and 

 between them were vegetables and the few flowers then 

 known. These were what grew in the wattled enclosure 

 divided off from fields, which was used to supply the 

 kitchen with delicacies. This piece of ground went by 

 the name of " Pomarium," and later was called " Apple 

 Garden," which, like " Shadow House" and " Orange 

 Garden," are quaint names that might well be revived. 



Any information we have about old gardens is derived 

 chiefly from MS. calendars, in which are glittering gold 

 and many-coloured illuminations showing the things that 

 industrious monks cherished most in their orchard-gardens. 

 It is curious that the early spring months of the year are 

 those in which we find most records of horticultural 

 matters. Was this because winter days seemed very 

 short at that time, through scarcity of artificial light, and 

 because the windows were small ? Or was it that the old 

 fellows, like all true gardeners, were busy in the autumn 

 and early winter at work upon the land, preparing ground 

 for the crops which later were to go in, and therefore they 



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