Anyone who likes gardens will love Old Salem. Just about everywhere you go you will find the most incredible gardens you can imagine.
While strolling down Main and Salt Streets, Karen and I were surprised to see the gate of a private house open. It was the John Siewer house (c. 1844). This is now a private resident.
But there was a note on the fence inviting you to come in and enjoy their garden! And what was found was nothing less than magnificent. This small backyard had such an incredible flower garden inside the gates. As we continued to stroll, we noticed other private residents allowing visitors to enjoy their gardens. And most of the houses on the tours have incredible gardens in the back.
Most of these gardens have been designed and recreated to show what the Moravians would have grown at various times from the 18th and 19th centuries. These gardens would have been earlier referred to as "family gardens." While the gardens were utilitarian, they were also designed to be pleasing to the eye by incorporating flowers in with vegetables and herbs.
The gardens were a source of food and home medicinal remedies for these early inhabitants. Families planted rows of vegetables for cooking and herbs for cooking and home remedies. Many families also had "outlots," which were larger plots of land on the outskirts of Salem where they could keep livestock and grow bigger crops, such as corn and potatoes.
Once restoration of the village was underway, the gardens of the times were painstaking researched. Even today in the gardens on display, a great deal of care goes into keeping these gardens accurate and enjoyable for the thousands of visitors who pass through each year. They are often adapted to change with the season, offering incredible flowers from spring until well into the fall.
Please don’t automatically assume you can go through every garden. If there is a sign inviting you in to enjoy the garden of a private home, please be respectful of their kind invitation. Please don’t trample or pick the flowers. If you would like your own flowers to grow, then duck into any of the local shops - they carry seeds so that you can grow your own beautiful garden. Again, there is no charge in most cases to simply walk in the back of the houses and enjoy the gardens.