4-H Heirloom Garden at Dr. Wright Home Museum in Altamont

Feeding and Growing in Our Community is a 4-H program being promoted by Effingham County Youth Ambassadors.

It's estimated that one in five Illinois children, more than 745,000 under the age of 18, face hunger and food insecurity on a recurring basis. To respond to the reality, Illinois 4-H is continuing to address the hunger challenge through the 4-H Feeding and Growing Our Communities program.

Illinois 4-H club members were encouraged this growing season to accept the challenge of addressing hunger in their communities. In response, 4-H members enrolled in vegetable gardening were asked to Plant a Row for the Hungry and pledge to donate their extra produce to local food pantries and organizations serving families in need.

To increase hunger awareness, Youth Ambassadors Allison Schmidt and Ryan Tillman started an heirloom garden at the Dr. Charles M. Wright House Museum in Altamont. The Wright family had a large vegetable garden in the location of the current garden. As shown on the labels, many seeds and plants used date back to when the 1889 house was built. Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce has been popular for over 150 years. Bloomsdale Spinach was introduced in 1826. Heirloom tomato Brandywine is an 1865 Amish variety. Other heirloom tomatoes in the garden are Old German and Valencia. An heirloom variety, Detroit Dark Red Beet, was introduced in 1892. The heirloom radish, Sparkler White Tip, was introduced to American gardens in 1899. Early Flat Dutch Cabbage is an heirloom variety good for making kraut. The Black Beauty Zucchini was first listed in US seed catalogs in the 1930s. Schmidt and Tillman are donating all of the produce to a local food pantry.

The heirloom vegetable garden at the Wright House Museum is open for tours from 2 to 4pm on Sundays through October. Tours on other days can be arranged by phoning 618-483-6397. Admission is $5 for adults and $1 for students. The tour tells about the three generations of the Wright family who lived in the stately home. The 18 rooms are a time capsule showing life in 1889, the 1940s and the 1980s. The home remains as it did when the third Charles M Wright lived there. Besides the home and the heirloom garden, the five-acre property includes the barn, coal shed, and summer kitchen.

For more information, go to www.wrightmansion.org.