Sowing Young Minds

A teacher plants a garden inspired by George Washington’s to teach history

The sun was setting as I walked through the blooming gardens at Mount Vernon. I imagined myself as a guest there more than 200 years earlier, taking in the glorious sights and scents of flowers from around the world, the landscape designed by Washington himself. I recalled the words of Rev. John Latta, a visitor to these gardens in 1799; his description matching exactly what I was experiencing, “The garden is very handsomely laid out in squares and flower knots, and contains a great variety of trees, flowers, and plants ... collected from almost every part of the world.”

Like this garden, my middle school American History classroom is beautiful, with students from many parts of the world. My class is composed entirely of ESL (English as a Second Language) students. Arriving from Turkey, Italy, Brazil, Colombia, India, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic, these students will grow and flourish in entirely different soil. How could I make a meaningful connection between Washington’s 18th-century world and their lives in the 21st?

Due to the pandemic, students were sometimes in the classroom and sometimes attended class virtually. Searching for ways to create community amid these circumstances, I looked out the classroom window into the courtyard and spied a rectangle of land, perfectly sized for a garden. What if we cultivated some of the plants familiar to Washington, as a way to learn about his life in the 18th century?

The idea was for students to physically tend to the garden when possible, and otherwise participate virtually. First, I called upon members of my school’s wonderful support network. Our media specialist photographed the courtyard’s path of sunlight throughout the day and taught me about zones for planting. A science teacher offered resources on starting school gardens. Our excitement grew, but would the students be as engaged by the project as we were?

They were. Frustrated at being cooped up indoors, my sixth, seventh, and eighth graders were thrilled at the prospect of creating a Mount Vernon–inspired garden. They pored over the offerings at the Mount Vernon shop website, and we purchased seeds that would grow in our northern climate, including okra, cayenne peppers, broomcorn, larkspur, and blackberry lily.

We learned that even when Washington was busy serving the country as a general, then as president, he maintained an active interest in planting. And that he looked forward to retirement so that he could make his “political pursuits yield to the more rational amusement of cultivating the earth.” I shared how surprised I was, while studying at Mount Vernon, to find Washington’s shelves filled with book after book on plant science. The students felt an instant kinship to the first American president; this man tended a personal garden, just as many people they knew did.

Every student shared a memory connected to gardening in their countries of origin. One student told of growing maracuja (passionfruit) in Brazil, and making juice with the ripe fruit. Others spoke of how generations of relatives joined in the work of gardening together for relaxation, and the pleasures of the harvest. A sixth grader from Turkey said, “In our country, almost every person at least grows flowers. If it is their first time trying to grow something, they will ask their neighbors for some seeds. My neighbor gave me my first flower seeds.” Researching the gardens on the Mount Vernon website, we learned that the situation was quite similar for George Washington: “Foreign governments, friends, admirers and even strangers supplied him with a steady stream of seeds ... from all over the world.” His past and our present were clearly linked.

My students are themselves gardeners hailing from many nations, establishing a decidedly American historical garden experience. I hope this endeavor will bring them closer to creating meaning in American history for themselves through the study of Washington’s world. Like Washington returning to his home after his presidency, we do not know what the future holds. Yet, as history has shown, through gardening we can derive comfort and satisfaction despite the challenges beyond our patch of soil.