The Italian Garden

Mother Lode residents, isolated from major population centers, were dependent on local market gardeners and ranchers for their foodstuffs. Many Italians, attracted by mining, turned to market gardening and farming to meet the demands of the local population for fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy products, grain and wine. By the 1860s, many Italians in the Mother Lode were operating these agricultural  enterprises. By 1880, around 1200 commercial market gardens were being operated in California by an estimated 10,000 people from the region around Genoa, Italy, who dominated the industry. The picture to the left is a Italian Garden at Mokelumne Hill.

The Italian Gardens involved the entire Italian family. Women as well as men worked raising  the vegetables. The plowing and cultivating was done with horses while the hoeing and cultivating of small plants was done by hand with a zappa, a short-handled Italian hoe.

Italian Gardens were operated throughout the Mother Lode. Some of the most prominent were the upper and lower "Italian Gardens" at Mokelume Hill. Another, The Italian "Pa-ta-ta" Ranch at Bald Mountain was started in 1862 as a cooperative garden by six young Italian miners. The ranch was referred to as "Little Genoa" because of the large number of Italian  families that lived there and their use of the Genovese dialect.

Some of the other well-known Italian Gardens were the Volponi Gardens in Sonora, the Podesta Gardens in Columbia, The Gardella Gardens in Mokelumne Hill, the Sanguinetti Gardens in Vallecito, the Costa Gardens in Calaveritas, the Cavalero Gardens at Sonora and the Palemone Gardens in Tuolumne.

The Italians also played an important role in developing the early Olive Oil industry in the foothills. The Orsi family in Roseville was a major producer of olive oil until the mid 20^th century. The rolling hills of the Gold Country, which resemble the Mediterranean hills of Liguria, are dotted with the remnants of the early Italian olive tree orchards and with new  orchards reflecting the rebirth of this ancient tradition from Italy.