Historical Re-Creation Programs for Flu Season

7 Comments

I’ve been sick with a virus this last week, hence the lack of posting. As it is hard to do much when you are laid up in bed with the plague, I spent much of my quarantine watching historical re-creation reality shows on YouTube. It began with a re-watch of my favourite show in this genre, Tales From the Green Valley and spiralled into a marathon viewing of every one that I could find online: The 1900 House, The 1940s House, and Coal House at War. I even made my way through the less educational and more socially dramatic American programs Frontier House and Texas Ranch House.

Unfortunately, these shows (other than Tales of the Green Valley) are disappointing in their lack of information, re-creation, or experimentation with historical garden practices. I would have loved to have seen the people of the “Texas Ranch House” using the garden that was provided for them and exploring the wild edible possibilities in the landscape around them. There are a few shows that do delve into gardening and kitchen gardening more specifically. The Victorian Kitchen Garden is one that I have enjoyed in the past. Also in this series are The Victorian Kitchen, The Wartime Kitchen Garden and The Victorian Flower Garden that I am yet to watch in full.

If you’re interested in farming shows that are also educational and along the lines of “Tales of the Green Valley” (including cast members) I’d also recommend The Wartime Farm, The Victorian Farm, and The Edwardian Farm.

Plenty to entertain and educate yourself as you lay on the couch choking up a lung or blowing your brains out through your nostrils this fall and winter season.

Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

Subscribe to get weekly updates from Gayla

7 thoughts on “Historical Re-Creation Programs for Flu Season”

  1. Oh, I loved Victorian Kitchen Garden, and the opening sequence/music. I still have old VHS tapes of episodes from when they aired on TVO.

  2. Have you ever watched River Cottage show from England? It’s a little kooky but it’s more down to earth and educational than most things we have in the US. That show got me really into foraging here in the Pacific Northwest.

  4. There’s a new one starting to show up on YouTube with the same folks from the farm series. It’s called Wartime Farm and looks at the challenges of farming in England during WWII. I’ve only found episodes 1-4, though, as I think it’s currently running on BBC. Feel better!

  5. Thanks for the links, there are a few in there which I haven’t seen and I’m looking forward to watching once gardening winds down.

    You might like Victorian Pharmacy, there is a bit of gardening/foraging with an herbalist in that one too. (Ruth from Tales from the Green Valley/Victorian Farm/Edwardian Farm/Wartime Farm is also in it.)

Comments are closed.