Sunday, January 4, 2009


Welcome to the Jarvis House & Garden.
The Jarvis House was built in 1838 by Ebenezer Jarvis for his new wife. It is known as a bride's house because talismans for good luck were placed in the walls while they were being constructed, including three rusty sabers placed in the chimneys to keep witches out.





This is one of the two old barns in the backyard, which was moved from a street nearby.












The garden is almost an acre in size, and it is as God has given it to us, with three feet of topsoil to plant in. The lay of the land is low and it contains plenty of water which makes everything planted develop to very large proportions. There are many old Ash trees and swamp maples, with Hostas and ferns everywhere.









Everything grows well in this garden. You just poke a hole in the soil, throw a handful of triple phosphate in and plant or transplant shrubs like Azaleas, or Hollies, flowering plants like Hostas, or Japanese Iris, or as in this picture, Strawberries.

5 comments:

Elizabeth said...

Bravo!
An excellent beginning!

Unknown said...

The photos are very nice. Good job!

Tess Kincaid said...

What a lovely, lovely place!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for visiting my blog and leaving such a nice comment. I really enjoyed your blog and will try that applesauce this week. WE have the food mill just like yours. My husband uses it when he makes gumbo. I love the view of your garden. I think I will do that. I used to live in Brooklyn and it also is Zone 7. There are two big differences here in NC...it doesn't get as cold for as long a time and we have this clay soil that is very difficult to work whereas in Long Island the soil is very workable. Upstate NY is hard too with all the rocks, but ironically the city is much better. Have you visited Brooklyn Botanic Garden? I worked there for 15 years.

All the best. Ellen

this is my patch said...

Thanks for commenting on my blog. You have a lovely home, and so interesting to know of its history. I would love the space you have to garden in! Keep up with the blog, I really enjoy updating my two, when I can find the time? The camera I use is a relatively low-cost digital with a zoom, a Panasonic Lumix DMC-TZ3, an older model, but a more updated version would be available. I am glad to have met another enthusiastic gardener like myself, and will keep up with your blog when I can. x