Greenhouses – a means to grow crops out of season or which aren’t
suited to a certain climate
Sometimes we seek to consume food that is not
grown where we live (not too many avocado farms in North Carolina) or items
which are only seasonably available (strawberries come to mind) and this is not
a new phenomenon, though, I hadn’t realized how long humans have been striving
to cultivate what, in theory, mother nature doesn’t allow.
As usual, this was sparked by reading an
article for fun via Atlas Obscura -- The
Search for the World’s Most Enchanting Greenhouses.
The Wikipedia page on
Greenhouses states …
The idea of growing
plants in environmentally controlled areas has existed since Roman times. The
Roman emperor Tiberius ate a cucumber-like[6] vegetable daily. The
Roman gardeners used artificial methods (similar to the greenhouse system) of
growing to have it available for his table every day of the year. Cucumbers
were planted in wheeled carts which were put in the sun daily, then taken
inside to keep them warm at night. The cucumbers were stored under frames or in
cucumber houses glazed with either oiled cloth known as specularia or with
sheets of selenite (a.k.a. lapis specularis), according to the description by
Pliny the Elder.[7][8]
In the 13th century, greenhouses
were built in Italy[9] to house the exotic plants that explorers brought back
from the tropics. They were originally called giardini botanici (botanical
gardens)…
I’ve had ancestors who have “stored” food
through the winter using various methods though I am not aware of any efforts
to create environments where plants could be grown regardless of the weather
outside. I more associate greenhouses
with nurseries and large homes.
I found that Internet
Archive has a collection of various treatises and catalogs with regard to
greenhouses.
The Granger
Historical Picture Archive has a collection of images through time of
greenhouses.
The New York Botanical Garden has manuscript
collections including one for Lord
& Burnham Co – “The Lord & Burnham Company originated when
Frederick Lord began building greenhouses as a sideline to his carpentry
business in Buffalo, New York in 1849”.
What
means of growing herbs or foods out-of-season did your ancestors employ?
Did any
of your ancestors have greenhouses? What is the oldest one you are aware of?
Have an
image of an ancestor’s greenhouse or similar? Please post!
What other resources might genealogists consult to learn more about this topic and/or whether their ancestors participated?
Was there a periodical/magazine that 19th and early 20th greenhouse enthusiasts enjoyed?
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