Annual Taste of Heritage Garden event coming up in Iowa City

IOWA CITY — The annual Taste of Heritage Garden event in Iowa City will celebrate Iowa’s history, agriculture and food on July 12.

Johnson County Master Gardeners is holding the event from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at the historic Plum Grove home at 1030 Carroll St. in Iowa City.

A donation of $6 is suggested to help cover the costs of food and activities.

Volunteers organize the event’s menu around heirloom and organic vegetables that Friendly Lucas might have grown and served. Annual favorites are Dane’s Dairy ice cream and rhubarb punch. Attendees can buy a recipe cookbook with all the recipes served this year.

The Old Post Office Brass Band will perform during the event.

Plum Grove was built in 1844 and was the home of Robert and Friendly Lucas, according to the news release. Robert Lucas served as the first governor of the Territory of Iowa from 1838 to 1841 before Iowa became a state in 1846.

Master Gardener Betty Kelly, who died in 2022, organized annual efforts for the gardens and the taste event for more than 20 years. Several master gardeners now help with the annual activities.

The event requires nearly 50 volunteers, according to Beth Fisher, Master Gardener social event coordinator, in the news release.

Johnson County Historical Society cares for the state-owned property and the local Master Gardener group maintains the flower and vegetable gardens.

Kelly founded the first garden more than 20 years ago. She read Friendly's diaries and letters for clues to what was in the original garden and scoured newspapers of the day for clues to what people were eating, studying advertisements to see what vegetables were for sale.

Plum Grove has four gardens, including a vegetable garden, flower garden, wildflower garden and rose garden. The gardens are part of the Smithsonian Archives of American Gardens.

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The gardens are laid out in an 1850s style, which means there are four sections and rows of vegetables planted in a north-south direction, according to the release.

Johnson County Master Gardeners was organized in 1982, and the volunteer program is sponsored by Iowa State University and Johnson County Extension and Outreach. The group provides current, research-based home horticulture information and education to Iowa residents by hosting various programs and projects.

If severe weather requires the Taste of Heritage event be moved indoors, it will be held at the Johnson County Extension Office at the county fairgrounds, 3109 Old Hwy. 218 South in Iowa City.

Comments: (319) 339-3155; izabela.zaluska@thegazette.com