The Coxhall Kitchen Garden is a one-acre enclosure that was originally built in 1774 by Brigadier General Timothy Ruggles. Enclosed kitchen gardens were all the rage in Britain at the time. The tall stone walls kept unwanted critters out and created micro-climates to grow a wide variety of fruits and vegetables. The wall enclosure was finished, but the area likely was never used as a kitchen garden because lots of stones – large and small – are scattered around the enclosure.
Several years ago we removed most of the trees growing inside the kitchen garden, about 50 of them. At the same time the northwest corner of the wall was rebuilt after falling apart over time. The long-term goal is to maintain about half of the area in grass so that visitors can walk around the inside of the kitchen garden – and envision what it was supposed to look like over 200 years ago.
Thanks to Harrison, Linda, Rod, Jeff, Lucinda, Tom and Cynthia for their hard work cutting the vegetation back today.
We will continue working to clear the large brush and rocks from the front half of the kitchen garden to make it possible to brush hog that section regularly. Each year we will need to use hand tools to clear the rest of the area. Come join us on our next work day!