Part 3

„Morkrut, Pestnach, Lattich und Kappes“ are what monks and nuns called carrots, parsnips, lettuce and cabbage in German. They described the appearance, cultivation and uses of these Italian vegetables along with medicinal herbs like lemon balm and lavender.

Classic cloister gardens were divided into an orchard, a culinary and medicinal herb garden and a vegetable garden. The area with a crossway, wattle work and a circular flower bed in the center is the epitome of a typical cottage garden to this day.

Monasteries and imperial estates played a leading role in the advancement of horticulture. In the year 810, Emperor Charlemagne described which crops farmers must plant in their fields and gardens in his “Capitulare de Villis”.thus, high diversity was achieved in fruit and vegetable gardens. Many of these plants, such as salsify, are mostly forgotten today.

In the fields, buckwheat completed the line-up of grain species. Dye plants like woad and madder gained significance.