Tufton Farm, located in

Albemarle County, Virginia Albemarle County is a county located in the Piedmont region of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Its county seat is Charlottesville, which is an independent city and enclave entirely surrounded by the county. Albemarle County is part of the Char ...

, borders the

Monticello Monticello ( ) was the primary plantation of Founding Father Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, who began designing Monticello after inheriting land from his father at age 26. Located just outside Charlottesville, V ...

plantation. The farm was passed down from

Peter Jefferson Peter Jefferson (February 29, 1708 – August 17, 1757) was a planter, cartographer and politician in colonial Virginia best known for being the father of the third president of the United States, Thomas Jefferson. The "Fry-Jefferson Map", creat ...

to his son

Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson (April 13, 1743 – July 4, 1826) was an American statesman, diplomat, lawyer, architect, philosopher, and Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father who served as the third president of the United States from 18 ...

, whose grandson

Thomas Jefferson Randolph Thomas Jefferson Randolph (September 12, 1792 – October 7, 1875) of Albemarle County was a Virginia planter, soldier and politician who served multiple terms in the Virginia House of Delegates, as rector of the University of Virginia, an ...

inherited the property. Thomas Jefferson experimented with plants and sustainable farming. It is now the site of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants.

History

The land for the farm was patented in two separate tracts of 150 acres each by

in 1740 and 1755. After he had the forest land cleared by enslaved people, he grew tobacco. When he died, the property passed to his son,

. The farm was part of the original 5,000 acres that Jefferson owned. It was a quarter farm, located about from Monticello's main house gates. The property was named for Lady Caroline Tufton ( Tufton, Pembrokeshire § Name) by

Martha Jefferson Randolph Martha "Patsy" Randolph ( ''née'' Jefferson; September 27, 1772 – October 10, 1836) was the eldest daughter of Thomas Jefferson, the third president of the United States, and his wife, Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson. She was born at Monticel ...

, Tufton was her schoolmate in Paris. During Thomas Jefferson's lifetime, the farm's overseer lived in a clapboard-sheathed log cabin. Jefferson primarily raised wheat. He also enjoyed novelties and experimented with plants from Africa and the Americas, rather than relying exclusively on cold season European vegetables. Jefferson's farm raised tomatos, okra, peppers, eggplant, squash that are now common in the American diet. The farm provided corn, wheat, rye, and barley for the Monticello plantation. While he was president (1801–1809), Jefferson leased the farm to John Craven, who grew tobacco. Jefferson's grandson,

, managed the farm beginning in 1817. That year, Randolph added a stone wing to the log cabin. After January 1, 1818, Randolph leased Tufton Farm with its 31 enslaved farmer workers and stock. In 1826, following Jefferson's death, Randolph moved to Edge Hill. By 1833, Thomas P. Macon owned the farm and he built a four square stone house in front of and attached to the brick addition of the overseer's house. Macon is believed to have grown wheat when he owned the farm. The log cabin portion of the overseer's house was torn down about 1949. A brick terrace was built between the main house and Randolph's stone addition, the latter of which became a carpentry workshop. The farm was owned by Charles Granquist by 1984.

Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants

Tufton Farm is now owned by the

Thomas Jefferson Foundation The Thomas Jefferson Foundation, originally known as the Thomas Jefferson Memorial Foundation, is a private, nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation founded in 1923 to purchase and maintain Monticello, the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third ...

and is the site of the Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants, which "collects, preserves, and distributes historic and native plant varieties." It produces the ''Twinleaf'' journal. Vigna Caracalla 2

The 650-acre farm operates a one-acre organic vegetable garden that produces 39 varieties of vegetables. It supplies food for a Monticello cafe, an example of a

farm-to-table Farm-to-table (or farm-to-fork, and in some cases farm-to-school) is a social movement which promotes serving local food at restaurants and school cafeterias, preferably through direct acquisition from the producer (which might be a winery, brewer ...

operation. The garden raises corn, okra, lima beans, and eggplants. In addition to perennial and woody plants, like the snailflower, the farm's nursery produces heirloom seeds for flower and vegetable plants. The farm is also a prototype of

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

, including 25 beehives with an estimated number of a million or more pollinating bees.

Notes

References

External links

Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants
Monticello
Map of Monticello with Lego, Shadd, and Tufton farm

Tufton Farms Aerial
{{Thomas Jefferson Thomas Jefferson Museums in Albemarle County, Virginia Farms in Virginia Plantation houses in Virginia Houses in Albemarle County, Virginia Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area 1740 establishments in Virginia

History

Thomas Jefferson Center for Historic Plants

See also

Notes

References

External links