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Establishing 'MARGRETHES KITCHENGARDEN' at Kringsminde museum

By Louise Windfeldt

Kringsminde in Egeskov village is an open-air museum placed in original buildings from the 18. Century. It is part of Fredericia Museum in Jutland and owned by the municipality since 1975. The old farmhouse and the surrounding garden and fields are exhibiting items and plants, and hosting activities illustrating agricultural history from 1850 to 1950. Examples are teaching children (5 years old) life on a Danish farm from 1920 to 1940, school gardens (4H) for children up to 15 years, and a one-week cooking school during summer (4H) for children 8 to 12 years. 
The museum has more than 100 volunteers working with historic clothes, food, farm animals, brewing, gardening, etc., and they have collaborated with the Danish Seed Savers for some years on e.g. seed markets and courses in seed saving.

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Project manager Charlotte Snebæk Poulsen and other local members of the Danish Seed Savers have established a kitchen garden from the garden consultant Margrethe Hvid's ideas. As the first female garden consultant she taught and communicated about gardening for the Danish housewife in the 1930ies and during Second World War. She was a very special woman. She smoked cigar and rode a motorbike ... while instructing Danish housewives in gardening, self sufficiency and empowerment. In 1943 she wrote a book about gardening and and healthy food from garden vegetables.

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In 'Margrethes Kitchengarden' at Kringsminde Museum the Danish Seed Savers grow varieties of vegetables from the book and show boards that explain about Danish varieties from the 1940ies, the history of Margrethe Hvid and her garden work, and the Danish Seed Savers. 

See infoboards from the project (in Danish).

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Two courses were part of the project. Read about the courses in English here:

  • A course in seed saving for museum co-workers, volunteers, and others interested with Seed Saver Vivi Logan on 5. Marts 2022.

  • A talk about the background for the project, Margrethe Hvid's book from 1943, her work as a garden consultant, and the varieties in the kitchengarden with Seed Saver Svend Erik Nielsen on 27. April 2022.

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