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Read what Monticello staff members and guest authors have to say about Jefferson, Monticello, and how they experience Jefferson's experiment every day.

September 28, 2012

Archaeological Fieldwork Update: The Kitchen Road

by Fraser D. Neiman

Monticello archaeologists are excavating 5-foot quadrats in the area marked

On Monday September 17, the archaeology department began the final phase of excavation required to support the Foundation’s exciting plans to restore Jefferson’s Kitchen Road.more »

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September 18, 2012

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly: A Look at Penmanship

by Andrea Gray

Here at the Papers of Thomas Jefferson: Retirement Series, we spend most of our days reading Jefferson’s two-hundred-year-old mail. Jefferson wrote approximately 19,000 letters during his lifetime, so you can imagine how many more letters he also received! And that means we have a lot of different handwriting to navigate.more »

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August 29, 2012

New to the HHF! Starr Hill Craft Beer Garden

by Monticello

What could make the Heritage Harvest Festival even more special? Locally brewed craft beers!more »

Posted in: Food and drink, Visiting Monticello Add a comment Share

August 23, 2012

Marian Burros speaks to Dave DeWitt in "Thomas Jefferson, 'Founding Foodie'"

by Monticello

“All the stuff Jefferson was doing at Monticello is just having a rebirth now,” said David DeWitt, a food historian and the author of Founding Foodies: How Washington, Jefferson and Franklin Revolutionized American Food.more »

Posted in: Food and drink Comments (1) Share

August 21, 2012

Listen up: Student Podcasts!

by Jacqueline Langholtz

The podcast crew with Miller School VP Bradley Bodager & teacher Kelly Wink.

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August 13, 2012

An Attempt to Eat Locally

by Katy Woods

Today, we take for granted the varieties of foods we can buy anytime of the year at our local super market. We can buy Madagascar vanilla in Virginia. Bananas, once exotic, are now seen as an everyday fruit on the breakfast table. It seems like we have no limit to what food we can purchase whenever we want it. But what would happen if we had to eat locally? Meals especially desserts would take much more time.more »

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August 2, 2012

Joel Salatin on American Agrarianism

by Joel Salatin

Polyface Farm is a multi-generational, multi-speciated, multi-enterprised farm located in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley, across the Blue Ridge and a mere 40 miles from Monticello. In Thomas Jefferson's day, that would have been a long, hard day's riding, but today it's a mere one-hour jaunt.more »

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August 1, 2012

Garden Explorers, Family Style

by Cindy Hersman

Our inaugural Garden Explorers Family Program on July 14 was a resounding success for a wonderful family of four from Indiana. We measured, sketched, and observed on a Veggie Quest through the vegetable garden. We planted West Indian Gherkin seeds and Cushaw Squash seeds in two garden squares.more »

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July 25, 2012

TJ in Indy? Didn’t happen in history, but what if…?

by Linnea Grim

While we don’t see as many school groups visiting Monticello during the summer as we do in the spring and fall, we love it when a group makes a special effort to visit us. Today, I had the pleasure of working with a high school group that’s part of the Shepherd Community Center in Indianapolis. After looking at a map of where Thomas Jefferson had traveled in his lifetime, we could tell he never made it far enough west to reach Indiana. So I issued a challenge to the group.more »

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July 20, 2012

Incorporating ornamental vegetables into your flower garden

by Lily Fox-Bruguiere

Vegetable gardens are sprouting up everywhere, thanks to a renewed interest in fresh, locally-grown food that is sweeping across America. From First Lady Michelle Obama’s Kitchen Garden at the White House, to gardens in schoolyards and backyards, Americans are experiencing the pleasure, hard work, and rewards of growing their own food.more »

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