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The air is filled with the fragrant aroma of ground ivy, released more with each pass of the wheel barrow. It’s a troublesome invasive weed that luckily makes the most delicious tea! I dream of my first cup of the season. The eastern meadowlark and sandhill cranes serenade my labor. As the sun rises, I watch the shadows turn to light along the Welsh Hills, illuminating the spring ephemerals. And as it sets, Romeo & Juliet beam in the last western light.
Indeed, the Riverview Terrace Kitchen Garden is a magical place in a very special valley. The garden serves to teach and honor the legacy of local food production and communal labor and learning, integral components of the early Hillside School, as well as the Wright Fellowship. This year I am honored to be leading a special Grow & Gather series at the Taliesin estate! Learn about companion planting, propagation, and edible weeds right at the Kitchen Garden! Or come discover the magic and basics of foraging with me on the beautiful Welsh Hills or at the iconic Phoebe Point! Check out our Events page for all the info and to register. It’s going to be such a fun season. So come “grow & gather” with me!
In addition to being a beautiful and historic space to teach, the kitchen garden doubles as a provider of seasonal produce for the Riverview Terrace Cafe! This for me is the critical component- being able to bring the food directly from our land to the plate, as it used to be during the prime days of the Fellowship and School of Architecture. So come dine with us and watch for our garden goodies on your plate this season!
Speaking of all that good produce, we will need lots of hands to tend and harvest this year. And of course there will always be weeding! So if you or anyone you know are interested in helping in the kitchen garden, please email me for more information and to apply! We welcome all skill levels and time commitments.
And now for my first garden update! Chives and hardier herbs are coming back nicely in the garden. Luckily, weeds have not crept in much due to heavy mulching last fall. Many seedlings started indoors are getting bigger and will be hardened off for transplant soon. And our first direct sow of early spring crops will begin in the coming week!
One of our most exciting garden crop adventures this year is our participation in Seed Saver’s Seedlinked trials! Seedlinked is a collaboration of ADAPT and USDA seed trial programs offering selected seed varieties to registered participants to grow and monitor for different traits and qualities. For the last six years, this program has been helping growers determine market garden and crop varieties that are best suited for environmental adaptation, stress tolerance, and post harvest value — all key factors in an ever-changing climate and economy. This year we will be growing and monitoring three varieties of Siberian kale, as well as three varieties of marigold. All six varieties started indoors are coming along nicely, and it will be so fun to compare their characteristics over the season. We will also experiment with direct sowing some of these varieties. So watch for this delicious kale or perhaps a marigold bouquet in the cafe!
So, who is this Kitchen Gardener? Well, here’s a little bit about me. I grew up in rural southwest Wisconsin, about a half hour from Taliesin. Playing, working, and foraging on a small farm, I understood the importance of the land and even moreso, the connection to our food. My bachelor’s degree in Geography and Environmental Science only furthered my drive to be part of a better, slower, local, more just food system. I’ve harvested apples, foraged, and worked as an organic regenerative CSA farmhand. But I’ve also been fortunate enough to also be a cook, and it is a gift to be able to transform such fresh, local produce into culinary delights!
This year will be my third season running the kitchen garden at Taliesin, and I am so grateful for the opportunity. I get to dig in the dirt, teach, and further our movement towards a more sustainable food system. I also get to help preserve our precious land here — helping with a recent burn around the lower pond as well as trail maintenance on the Welsh Hills.
I’ll say it again — this valley is so special, in so many ways, and I am joyful to be here in it. I can empathize with what Wright wrote in his piece, “Why I Love Wisconsin” (1930) about feeling his “roots in these hillsides” alongside those of the oak. He goes on to say, “That oak and I understand each other.” And after all the beautiful and magical time I’ve had here, I think I understand them, too.
Until next time..
Keep Growing!
—Abbie Gale Lehman, Kitchen Gardener
