Vintage landscape: O cabbage gardens

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cabbage garden, FBJohnson collection, Library of CongressCabbages in the vegetable garden of Chelmsford, Greenwich, Connecticut, ca. 1914, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Alaska cabbage garden, via Library of CongressA cottage garden in Alaska, between 1909-1920. By National Photo Company, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Puerto Rico cabbage garden, ca. 1941, J. Delano, Library of CongressWoman in her garden, Puerto Rico, Winter 1941/42, by Jack Delano, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

cabbage garden, Maxey Hse, Paris TX, flickrThe vegetable garden and cold frames of the Maxey House, Paris, Texas, undated, from the Samuel Bell Maxey Collection, via Texas State Archives Commons on flickr.

Norris gardenMrs. Jim Norris with homegrown cabbage, Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940, by Russell Lee, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

eternity swallows up time
                        O cabbage gardens
summer’s elegy
                        sunset survived

— Susan Howe, from “Cabbage Gardens”

Life in gardens: coleslaw, anyone?

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cabbage, Library New Zealand“A cook holding up a giant cabbage at a camp in Wairarapa[, New Zealand],” ca. 1890s, photographer unknown, via National Library of New Zealand.

One of my favorite coleslaws is made by tossing shredded cabbage, a chopped apple or underripe mango, and some chopped peanuts with the dressing part of Vietnamese green papaya salad (recipe here).

At Samoa, hardly unpacked, I commenced planting. . .
I plant cabbage by moonlight, set out more cacao.
The heart of a death’s-head moth beats a tattoo in my hand.

— Carolyn Kizer, from “Fanny“

Wordless Wednesday: flagstone path

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Rockland, Leesburg, Va.Rockland, near Leesburg, Virginia, 1929, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Life in gardens: Dunedin, New Zealand

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Baby in bucket, by W. Williams, via ShorpyEdgar Williams in a playpen tub, Dunedin, New Zealand, ca. 1892-93, by William Williams. Part of the National Library of New Zealand collection, via Shorpy.

Another possible garden use for a galvanized farm tank.

William Williams (1859-1948) was a talented amateur photographer who worked for the New Zealand Railways Department.

Below is another (more formal) Williams photo of Edgar in the garden, via the National Library of New Zealand.

Williams baby on chair, by W. Williams, via Natl Library New Zealand

Edgar lived to be over 90, by the way. He was also a photographer and bequeathed thousands of his father’s and his own black and white negatives to the National Library.

The Sunday porch: the collector

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Farm House, Crowell’s Cross Road, Halifax County, North Carolina, between 1935 and 1938, by Frances Benjamin Johnston, via Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division.

Still, as I went about my potting on a glorious afternoon, one small treasure after another, the world of nature that is so terrible and so beautiful appeared only in its sweetest aspect.

— Henry Mitchell, On Gardening