Szotyori-Nagy Ágnes (szerk.): A Magyar Mezőgazdasági Múzeum Közleményei 2013-2015 (Budapest, 2015)
Tanulmányok - Nagy Ágota: Parasztkertektől a gyógynövénykertekig
From peasant gardens to medicinal herb gardens ÁGOTA NAGY The current study was written with respect to the temporary exhibition 'Colours, flavours, scents...’, organised by the Museum of Hungarian Agriculture between September 2013 and March 2014. The study examines Hungarian gardens and horticulture with 20th-21st century contributions. The main question is whether peasant gardens took over the plants from former monastic gardens, or whether the other way round, the plant stock of monastic gardens was established on the basis of peasant gardens. The article points out the fact that common gardens must have been established earlier than monastic ones, and therefore the latter must have taken over the stock of the former. There are relatively few plant inventories surviving from the period of early monastic establishments. No monastic garden plant inventories were found in Hungary, therefore one has to rely on botanical and horticultural expert literature or vocabularies. For example, major European sources are the Carolingian inventory entitled Capitulare de villis, or the ground plan of the monastery of St Gallen. The authenticity of these sources are often disputed by experts, but these claims cannot be verified. The author supports and completes old plant inventories with facts gathered during a horticultural collecting trip to Szatmár County in 1982 as well as conclusions drawn from a survey of front gardens of Hungarian settlements in 2003-2005. As the main conclusion of the study the author claims that no clear boundary can be drawn between the plant stock of various garden types. Gardens established in close proximity will inevitably contain the same plants, only the structure of flower beds or the general layout of the garden will be different. Plants in each garden will vary over time after the garden was planted, until each plant gains its most convenient place and plays its right role. This tendency applies to all garden types where practicality overrules the adherence to strict rules of geometry. 62
