Macchione Italian Garden (Sewickley, Pennsylvania)
United States of America -- Pennsylvania -- Allegheny County -- Sewickley
Scope and Contents:
The folder includes worksheets, photocopies of articles, a calendar, a planting list, historical information about the Italian community, and 28 photographic prints of horticultural details.
General:
The Macchione Italian Garden is a working family garden in which the four-tenths of an acre lot is planted with vegetables, herbs, and fruits that produce food for this extended family, following traditional practices. Some of these practices include collecting rainwater from the roofs of the house and garage in two large cisterns, growing bamboo in a corner next to the garage that is used for bean and tomato supports, using old pipes to build a grape arbor, and using plant material such as garlic leaves to tie up vines. Flowers are grown for beauty alongside vegetables and herbs as foundation plantings around the white clapboard house but there are few ornamental trees or shrubs. The working trees include Chinese chestnut and fruit: apple, apricot, cherry, fig, peach, pear, persimmon and plum, which, in addition to the grapes grown on the arbor, will be preserved or made into wine.
There are two large vegetable gardens enriched with compost in which the crops are rotated and planted in succession to maximize production. In May lettuce and broccoli are planted in alternating rows so the lettuce will be shaded as the weather gets warmer; other early season crops included garlic, onions and strawberries grown in pots. In summer the crops include zucchini, many kinds of peppers, cabbages, beans, eggplant and tomatoes. Rapini is planted in the fall while the seeds of the summer vegetables are saved for the next year. A white fig tree is pushed over into a trench each year and covered with boards and leaves so it will survive the winter weather. Chickens are kept in a coop next to the garage and their diet of corn is supplemented with harvested vegetable stalks.
The Macchione Italian Garden is featured in www.theitaliangardenproject.com and participated in a tour of Italian gardens in 2010.
Persons associated with the garden include: Schmitt family (former owners, 1910-1923); Brown family (former owners, 1923-1965); Rosario and Concetta Floro (former owners, 1965-1993); Frank and Dominica Flora (former owners, 1993-1999); Giovanni and Maria Macchione (former owners, 1999- ).
Related Materials:
Macchione Italian Garden related holdings consist of 1 folder (37 digital images; 29 photographic prints)
Collection Restrictions:
Access to original archival materials by appointment only. Researcher must submit request for appointment in writing. Certain items may be restricted and not available to researchers. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Collection Rights:
Archives of American Gardens encourages the use of its archival materials for non-commercial, educational and personal use under the fair use provision of U.S. copyright law. Use or copyright restrictions may exist. It is incumbent upon the researcher to ascertain copyright status and assume responsibility for usage. All requests for duplication and use must be submitted in writing and approved by Archives of American Gardens. Please direct reference inquiries to the Archives of American Gardens: aag@si.edu.
Smithsonian Institution, Archives of American Gardens, The Garden Club of America collection.
Sponsor:
A project to describe images in this finding aid received Federal support from the Smithsonian Collections Care Initiative, administered by the National Collections Program.
