In the beginning was a garden with natural water sources. Garden of creation. And life was good. All plants were natives. The food was pure and abundant. Predators and prey were in balance (which is not to say they are equal).
Then people got involved and introduced concrete fountains and many other things. They brought with them their desire for order and control, and a robust curiosity fed by experimentation. Soon the land was plowed into furrows and crops planted in rows. The best specimens were selected for breeding.
However, even after farmers began to grow food for entire communities, and pharmacists took over mass production of medicine, people continued to tend gardens. For sustenance, yes, but also to create beauty, maintain a connection with nature and enjoy the simple pleasure of digging into the ground. Artificial stone sources were a means to bring water to the gardens.
For nearly … Well … forever, gardeners and farmers grew plants using common sense, careful observation, and the nature of resources provided. Today, we call that approach “organic.” However, this term became necessary only to distinguish tactics of time-tested practices imposed myopic chemistry to the public in the name of progress in the last century. The garden was and always will be, our connection with the land. The garden may be the true fountain of youth.
7,000 BC barley, millet, and lentils are cultivated in Thessaly, one of the Greeks islands.
5000 a. C. The staples of Native American cuisine, corn (maize) and common beans are grown in the Western Hemisphere.
4.0000 BC Hello, Variety: The Indus Valley people (what is now Pakistan and Afghanistan) are raising wheat, barley, peas, sesame seeds, mangoes, and dates on irrigated fields, wine and bananas, citrus and grapes in smaller plots.
3000 BC C. Potatoes are grown and harvested in the Andes.
2,700 BC The Egyptians already know and grow 500 plants medicinally.
2,700 BC Olive trees are raised in Crete.
2000 BC Watermelon is grown in Africa, figs were cultivated in Arabia, tea and bananas in India, and apples in the Indus Valley.
1900 BC The Egyptian pharaoh Ramses III commissions of more than 500 public gardens.
600 BC The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, are built by King Nebuchadnezzar II (with help, no doubt, a few thousand slaves). The gardens are arranged in a brick terrace about 400 square meters and 75 meters above ground. Screws are designed to draw irrigation water from the river Euphrates to the gardens.
301 A. C. The History of Plants and Theoretical Botany, Theophrastus (considered the father of botany), describes plant diseases such as rusts and mildews, and explains how figs are pollinated by hand to maximize productivity.
149 BC Cato the Elder, in the Agriculture urged farmers to plant grapes and olives (because they draw moisture and nutrients from the subsoil) instead of a wheat susceptible to drought.
900 AD Tofu becomes a staple in the diet Porcelain.
Ruralium Commodorum Opus 1305, by Bolognese Crescentiis farmer Petrus is the first book on farming to appear in Europe since the second century.
1354 The Alhambra, built by the Moors in Spain, has been completed. The Islamic courts closed characteristic style garden surrounded by arcades, planted with trees and shrubs and improved tile, fountains, and pools.
Sunflowers of the Americas 1510 was introduced to Europe by the Spanish. In many countries become a crop of oilseeds more important. In others, are food for birds.
1528 Sweet potatoes and beans, cocoa and vanilla beans are introduced to Spain by Hernan Cortes who presented some of the beans to Pope Clement VII. Until then, the beans were the only beans known to Europeans.
1540 A potato South America reached Pope Paul III via Spain. The Pope gives the tuber to a Frenchman, introduced in France as an ornamental plant. Stay tuned for French fries.
Gardening continued to evolve with the incorporation of wall fountains of water, new vegetables, fruits, flowers and bulbs from around the world. For a distinctive water wall fountain idea visit http://www.garden-fountains.com/Detail.bok?no=66. Machinery and chemicals have also been developed as the demand for power the world has increased. Today, we face the overuse of synthetic nitrogen by About the Author:
Elizabeth Jean is an outdoor gardening writer and frequent contributor to Garden-Fountains.com , a popular internet destination for water fountains and garden statuary.
Article Source: ArticlesBase.com – History Of The Early Gardens
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