Monticello Gardener, Author To Visit

Professional gardener, author, and historic landscape authority Peter J. Hatch will visit Leelanau County next month. Hatch served as director of gardens and grounds at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello for 35 years and has written four books on Monticello’s botanic legacy. The events begin with a 7pm lecture Wednesday, Oct. 1, on “Thomas Jefferson, Gardener.” He will discuss the fruits, flowers and vegetables Jefferson grew and how the gardens at Monticello were restored, followed by a reception and book signing.

On Oct. 2 at 9am, Hatch will present “Monticello’s Revolutionary Garden: an Ellis Island of Fruits and Vegetables.” Jefferson’s 1,000-foot-long garden laboratory inspired a new American cuisine and in large part sparked the farm to table movement prevalent today. Following lunch and a walk along the Crystal River will be a cooking demonstration with The Homestead’s Chef John Piombo.

The program concludes Friday morning with a trip with Hatch to Kilcherman’s Christmas Cove Farm in Northport. Owner John Kilcherman has made it his life’s work to cultivate antique varieties of apple trees that date to the early 1600s, from England, Europe and Colonial America. The events take place or begin at the Homestead Resort in Glen Arbor. For additional information, including costs, call the Homestead at (231) 334-5100.