Have you ever thought about what you would have taken on a tiny, crowded ship traveling over a vast, unknown ocean to a new land about which you knew nothing? I hadn’t thought about this scenario, either, until I began research for a presentation about herbs grown and used by early English settlers in Colonial America. I developed a list of necessary items that the voyagers would need for the voyage: a few articles of clothing and bedding; a cook pot and utensils; tools to build shelters and weapons to fight off wild animals and potential enemies; and the seeds, dried roots, flowers, bark, and leaves to flavor their food and help combat pain, fever, illness, and injury. The gardens of most early Virginia colonists likely resembled the typical kitchen gardens they had left behind in England. Stylized European and Elizabethan-type gardens were developed later in Virginia by prosperous planters and merchants as communication and trade between the New World and Europe increased. The aptly ...