Saturday, June 15, 2013
 
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Gardening author Peter Hatch to give presentations on historic gardens

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[June 15, 2013]  SPRINGFIELD -- Central Illinois welcomes Peter J. Hatch for two separate presentations next week on the historic gardens at Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello.

Hatch is a professional gardener and historian with 38 years of experience in the restoration, care and interpretation of historic landscapes. A celebrated author of four books on the gardens of Monticello, where he served as director of gardens and grounds for 35 years, he has lectured in 36 states on Jefferson and the history of garden plants. Presently, he gardens and botanizes from his home on Lickinghole Creek in Crozet, Va.; travels extensively to promote his latest work, "‘A Rich Spot of Earth': Thomas Jefferson's Revolutionary Garden at Monticello"; and consults on the installation and maintenance of both public gardens and private estate landscapes.

Hatch will present "Thomas Jefferson, Gardener" on Thursday at 6 p.m. in Brookens Auditorium at the University of Illinois Springfield. This presentation is free and is part of the UIS ECCE Speaker Series. Seating is first-come, first-served. Following the presentation, he will sign copies of "A Rich Spot of Earth." Books will be available for purchase.

Hatch will discuss the various themes that defined Jefferson's passion for gardening and the natural world. Jefferson wrote that "the greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add a useful plant to its culture." Monticello was an experimental garden laboratory. Hatch will review the restorations of Monticello's flower, fruit and vegetable gardens, as well as the Grove or ornamental forest, over the last 50 years. Finally he will show how the fruits, flowers and vegetables Jefferson grew at Monticello have evolved over the last two centuries.

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On Friday, Hatch will discuss his new book, "A Rich Spot of Earth," in a presentation at 5:30 p.m. at the executive mansion in Springfield. Registration will begin at 4:45 p.m., with hors d'oeuvres during a reception with the author. The cost is $10 and includes hors d'oeuvres and presentation. Advance registration is required by visiting the University of Illinois Extension Logan-Menard-Sangamon website at http://web.extension.illinois.edu/lms/.

Jefferson believed that useful plants could transform the culture of the young United States, and Monticello's 1,000-foot-long, terraced vegetable garden was an Ellis Island of new and unusual vegetable novelties from the around the globe. Jefferson wrote that he ate meat only as a condiment to his meals, and his revolutionary garden inspired a revolutionary cuisine in the kitchen at Monticello. Restored in 1984, the garden and the Jefferson legacy continue to inspire the farm-to-table movement today.

The presentations are sponsored by University of Illinois at Springfield ECCE Speaker Series, University of Illinois Extension and the Illinois Executive Mansion.

[Text from file received from Jennifer Fishburn,  University of Illinois Extension, Logan-Menard-Sangamon Unit]

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