Yesterday, my wife and I attended The 6th Annual Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello, in Charlottesville, VA. This event was put on by Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. The focus of the event was heirloom gardening, but there was so much more to see and do.
I will start off by saying, in my opinion, this was the perfect event. The location was perfect, the size was perfect, and the event was well-organized. My hats off to the organizers of the event. They did a terrific job putting this event together. If you are in the area next year or can make it to the area, I would highly recommend this event for all types of gardeners.
There was a great combination of free lectures and demonstrations, and paid lectures that could appeal to a wide range of people, from beginners to master gardeners and even non-gardeners. Check out the link below to learn more about the event topics.
I really enjoyed listening to Rodger Winn (www.rodgersheirlooms.com) speak about seed saving and beans, I was opened up to a whole new world of beans. Rodger and his wife also over-saw the seed swap that took place at the festival. Thank you to both of them for supplying a great selection of bean seeds and to all the others that contributed seeds to the swap. I really look forward to seeing this portion of the festival really grow.
Here are a few links to learn more about the sponsors and the event:
Southern Exposure Seed Exchange
Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello
Heritage Harvest Festival At Monticello
Here are some photos from the Heritage Harvest Festival at Monticello:
Main Event Tents
Main Event Tents
The Garden at Monticello
The Garden at Monticello
The Orchard at Monticello
The Garden at Monticello
I hope you enjoyed these photos and I hope you get the chance to tour this historic landmark, it’s a gardeners paradise.
Happy Growing…
The Year Round Harvest 
Hopefully the wife and I can make a trip there sometime. It looks gorgeous but I’d want to try to couple it with this Heritage Harvest Festival. I really want to get into gardening at home once we purchase our home and this sounds like a great place for a learning experience.
Beautiful photos. Few years ago I was in the area and a trip to Monticello was scheduled, unfortunately I got sick on the scheduled date and never made it. Hoping for another opportunity.