Beeton's Garden Management

[ceara]

I found an online free source for the book "Garden Management" by Samuel Beeton (1831-1877).

It's a hefty book, with over 800 pages just on Adobe Reader program. I'm afraid to see the size of the actual book. haha Should not take long to download, even for those with dial-up internet. All the download links are on the left side.

Thought you all might enjoy some Victorian gardening history. The Beetons published many books and Mrs. Beeton authored books on home and kitchen management as well.

www.archive.org/details/bookofgardenmana00beet

Here's another one by Mr. Beeton

Beeton's Dictionary of everyday gardening

www.archive.org/details/beetonsdictionar00beetrich

And finally, Mrs. Beeton's book on household management

www.archive.org/details/mrsbeetonshouse00beetuoft

[americangardener]

Looks like some great books Ceara..

I can't read PDF files on my computer right now. But i did try the full text versions online. Can't get those to load up all the way right now either cause i got too many websites open that are using up my RAM.. but i do intend to go back and read em after i reboot my computer next time. I see lots of interesting topics from what i can get loaded up... basically just the tables of contents.

Thanks for the links though... now we expect a full book report when you're done reading em all

Dave

[ceara]

Book report? hehe

I'm reading the garden management one and it's fascinating. Although I admittedly skipped the parts talking about leveling ground, paths/roads and hard landscaping. lol

There are good diagrams in there on grafting, and instructions on how to generally propagate some plants.

The rich Victorians sure were perfectionists! But I'd rather not have parterres or regimental rows in my garden and will settle for the busy cottage garden look, with stuff everywhere in organized chaos. haha

The household one should be good, but I think I will skip the chapters on managing servants. lol

[bluelacedredhead]

I have Mrs. Beeton's All About Cookery Published 1911 by Ward, Locke & Co. Ltd

It was my Grandmother's book. It has photographs of some elegant meals and a list of Cheeses, many of which I've never heard of in my lifetime.

Here's the list of Vegetables:

Onions, Shallots, Spanish Onions, Turnips, Cauliflower, Colletts, Marrow, Savoy, Asparagus, Mushrooms, Leeks, Parship, Horseradish, Carrot, Seakale, Cucumber, Sorrel, Tarragon, Celery, Mustard, Cress.
The list of ways to prepare veggies includes: Boiled Potatoes, Stuffed Cucumber, Stewed Green Corn, Haricots, Buttered Broad Beans, Cauliflower with White Sauce..

So I'm wondering WHY in fact, my Grandmother owned this ever informative book for more than 66 years of marriage and served Plain Knox Gelatin with chunks of Celery stalk in it as a sidedish salad for Sunday dinner?? Blech!

[ceara]

I really got to try Sea Kale some time.

Well you're lucky you got something so simple from your grandmother. My granny would try and cook with no recipes whatsoever and her cookies were always horrid. Even the birds wouldn't eat them. lol

Mrs. Beeton never cooked as far as I know. And supposedly she never wrote the recipes but just copied them from other sources like Eliza Acton.

Edit: HAHA I came upon another site by accident. Here's a searchable version of Mrs Beeton's book with all the recipes. Good for those who don't want to download from the link above.

www.mrsbeeton.com/

[cff]

Mar 1, 2009 19:33:35 GMT -5 bluelacedredhead said:

I have Mrs. Beeton's All About Cookery Published 1911 by Ward, Locke & Co. Ltd

It was my Grandmother's book. It has photographs of some elegant meals and a list of Cheeses, many of which I've never heard of in my lifetime.

Here's the list of Vegetables:

Onions, Shallots, Spanish Onions, Turnips, Cauliflower, Colletts, Marrow, Savoy, Asparagus, Mushrooms, Leeks, Parship, Horseradish, Carrot, Seakale, Cucumber, Sorrel, Tarragon, Celery, Mustard, Cress.
The list of ways to prepare veggies includes: Boiled Potatoes, Stuffed Cucumber, Stewed Green Corn, Haricots, Buttered Broad Beans, Cauliflower with White Sauce..

So I'm wondering WHY in fact, my Grandmother owned this ever informative book for more than 66 years of marriage and served Plain Knox Gelatin with chunks of Celery stalk in it as a sidedish salad for Sunday dinner?? Blech!

A lot of old timers like my grandparents used Knox Gelatin for arthritis - I don't know if it actually helped or not but I remember my grandmother used it for that reason.

[bluelacedredhead]

Fingernails. To strengthen the damage that scrubbing collars and floors did to a lady's fingernails. Even I used it for that reason as a teen. Made them stronger for chewing, lol

[plantsnobin]

'Remains of the Day' was on a couple of nights ago, and I love that movie so of course had to watch it again. I was saying to my husband, "do you think anyone really lived that way?" I guess if they had chapters on how to manage the servants, at least a few folks did.

[ceara]

Oh that was a great film! Servants' lives were very hard. The ones in later years had it a bit easier because they had more freedom to leave service if they wanted to get married. But long before that, servants barely made any income. Most received room and board because they lived where they worked and the minimum income would only be enough for them to clothe themselves and maybe get a mug of beer once in a while.

There's a really great new BBC drama that I watch online streaming every week called "Lark Rise to Candleford" and it seems almost every show talks about money in some way. A couple of shows ago, a house maid told someone else that she was paid 2 shillings a week to cook and clean but also received room and board. I have no idea what that equates in modern money though. lol

www.bbc.co.uk/larkrise/

[grungy]

2 shillings = about 36 to 40 cents