A Garden and a Refuge

George and Katherine Marshall took great pleasure in working their 4-acre property.  In contrast to the previous owners of Dodona, the Marshalls had only a passing interest in houses and furnishings. Their eyes turned to the life in bloom outside the house.    

In gardening the Marshalls found relaxation from their busy lives. They loved to dig in the dirt, prune, nurture and create. Both were gardeners from early days. General Marshall had shown an interest throughout his career in landscaping, especially when in charge of military posts. A stickler for maintenance, he wanted his premises to look superb. He ordered trees and shrubbery planted, lawns mowed and general improvements made – all of which he believed helped the morale of soldiers and their families. At his own quarters, he often had a vegetable plot, for his own food, for gifts and as an escape from his stressful profession.     

The Marshalls purchased Dodona Manor in May 1941. At that time, their primary residence was Quarters One at Fort Myer Army Base in Arlington, VA. Dodona was to be their retirement home. Due to the US entry into World War II, General Marshall was not able to retire from the Army until November 1945. During the war, the Marshalls enjoyed Dodona as a weekend getaway home.   

Following the war’s end until 1959, the Marshalls would spend 5-6 months of the year at Dodona. They spent the winter months in Pinehurst NC where they owned a second home. As custodians of historic Dodona Manor, it was very important to them to care and nurture the grounds at Dodona year-round, including the vegetable garden, rose garden and flower beds.  

General Marshall created the first vegetable garden in May 1942. The current garden is 2,160 square feet. During Marshall’s time at Dodona, his garden was considerably larger. In fact, his garden and compost piles covered the bulk of the yard that was bordered from the garage to the back eastern border and the boxwood hedge to Edward’s Ferry Road!   

General Marshall would plant from seeds purchased from the Burpee Seed Company. Typically, in March, he would place a seed order for vegetables and flowers. Over time, his relationship grew with Burpee, including testing new seeds for them. In 1942, George wrote to David Burpee: “The business of seeds and flowers tantalizes me because I have been an amateur gardener, both flowers and vegetables, since a boy of ten. There is nothing I would so much prefer to do this spring as to turn my mind to the wholesome business of gardening rather than the terrible problems and tragedies of war.” In 2006, the Burpee Foundation made a generous financial donation that funded the re-creation of the garden you see today.   

General Marshall grew a large variety of vegetables and fruit including:

In terms of gardening, General Marshall was an innovator. He liked to experiment by trying new seeds, using black plastic for mulch and using different ingredients to improve his compost. 

In 1949 BigBoy tomatoes were introduced, and General Marshall quickly ordered them for his garden. Tomatoes had long been Marshall’s favorite. He considered them his specialty and served them at every summer meal. His preference was for them to be served slightly salted.  Katherine Marshall was known to box up tomatoes and corn and send them to General Marshall when he was on extended trips abroad in Europe or to their Quarters One home in Arlington.   

Katherine wrote in her memoir, “Together, Annuals of an Army Wife”: 

“In July 1945, President Truman, Secretary Byrnes, and the military leaders left for the Potsdam Conference in Berlin. This was the first conference where the Chiefs of Staff of the Red Army, the British and the United States Armies met.

My husband did not know how long he would be away but judged it would be for some weeks. Molly, the children, and I were to stay at Leesburg.

The week General Marshalls plane left, the corn became ripe, and I was determined that George should have at least a taste of his labor, so I got up early one morning and packed a dozen ears of corn, with the dew still on them, in a small carton together with a half-dozen large tomatoes from our garden. I sent them to the War Department and asked if the package could be put in that day’s pouch to Potsdam.

George wrote me that the vegetables arrived as fresh as when picked and that the fresh corn and tomatoes caused a great stir when brought unexpectedly into his mess. They were a treat beyond words, and he was a proud farmer among diplomats and military commanders.”

Corn was another important crop to General Marshall. He had developed a friendly relationship with FDR’s third Vice President, Henry A. Wallace. Wallace was an agriculturist by education and training, and he would send General Marshall special corn seeds each spring.  Wallace’s corn seeds were a new variety that resulted in corn stalks that were shorter than traditional corn.  A picture of General Marshall hoeing his corn generated some negative feedback from farmers in Iowa who felt the General didn’t know how to grow corn due to the short stalks. In truth, this was how sweet corn came about. With the short stalks, the energy is focused on the corn ear and not in growing a large stalk. Corn grown as animal feed benefits from the large stalks.   

The vegetable garden remained the Marshalls’ abiding interest for their entire time at Dodona Manor. After 1956, General Marshall at age 76 rarely worked in the vegetable garden, but he insisted that it be tilled and planted all the same.

The Garden Today

Our goal in restoring the vegetable garden is to maintain a garden that follows the spirit and appearance as during the years General Marshall lived at Dodona Manor. Today the Marshall vegetable garden is home to over 25 different vegetables. We plant and harvest crops in each season, with some vegetables producing only in spring and summer crops. For example, peas are a spring crop as they do not produce well in the heat of summer. As a result, after harvesting peas, we change to cucumbers as they do well in summer. We also plant garlic in the fall as it does very well at that time.   

Most of the harvested crops are donated to Loudoun Hunger Relief. Over the past five years we have donated between 500 and 700 pounds annually.  

Our head gardener, Jacqueline Ellis, designs a new garden layout each year in February. This is designed to rotate crops to maximize our harvests. 

The photo below shows the vegetable garden in early spring. The garden beds have been prepared for planting. This included weeding, light tilling with compost, and a balanced fertilizer. You can see the compost bins in the background.

Seeds versus Plants

We plant using a combination of seeds and plants. We currently try to use organic seeds when available.  We try to plant the same vegetables that General Marshall grew, but we don’t restrict ourselves to only his vegetables. For early spring plantings, we use plants, whereas for later plantings we use seeds. 

Flowers planted in the vegetable garden:

Staffing and Routine Maintenance

The Dodona Garden is led by Jaqueline Ellis, with a team of five volunteers. The season typically begins in mid-March and ends with the first hard frost in November. In the spring, we do light tilling of the soil to prepare for planting. Some of our seed-based vegetables are started early indoors by some of the volunteers.

We begin planting in April, of course, depending on the weather. As the season progresses, the weekly tasks will change. Tasks include the full spectrum from planting, weeding, pruning and harvesting. Depending on the weather, we will water as needed. In late fall, we will add compost to the soil. We always hope for a cold winter to kill any weed seeds that are in the compost.

Pesticides and Fertilizer

We do not use pesticides in the garden. To prevent and reduce damage from animals and insects, we cover plants with cages and cloths. We plant flowers on the borders such as Hollyhocks, Marigolds and Nasturtiums. The Marigolds are wonderful for repealing insects and Nasturtiums will attract aphids.  

We periodically test our soil through the Virginia Tech Extension Service and make any adjustments as needed. Historically, the PH level of the garden soil is neutral. In general, we use a balanced fertilizer (10-10-10) for the vegetables. For tomatoes, we use a tomato fertilizer. In the fall, we add compost to our soil to enrich it. We also will use side dressing for some plants as we plant them.   

We maintain three compost bins. General Marshall was a huge fan of composting and would delight in sharing his experiences and soliciting advise from others. Today, our compost consists of grass clippings, cuttings from the garden, leaves and to a small degree non-meat kitchen scraps. On occasion, we will get bags of used coffee grounds from our local coffee shops and spread these on the compost pile. Of course, turning the piles is an important element. Since we are dependent on our small staff of volunteers, we can always use help in that task.