The name Garden State called New Jersey can be traced to 1876 when Abraham Browning compared New Jersey with an immense barrel that was filled with a lot of good things to eat and open at the two ends, having the New Yorkers taking hold of it from one end and the Pennsylvanians grabbing from the other. He named New Jersey the Garden State at that time and since then, the name has clung to it. New Jersey’s ties to its nickname might even be more extensive, although it has historical roots tied to gardening.
There are nearly a dozen garden clubs and more than a few state associations with two large community gardens – Greater Newark Conservancy and Deville Community Garden in New Jersey. When you look around, you will discover garden museums, bird sanctuaries, arboretums and a lot of other historical garden sites. Furthermore, there are about 10,000 individual firms spanning nearly 800,000 acres of farmland in New Jersey. These farms are part of those leading the nation in several forms of agricultural production. New Jersey is one of the huge suppliers of corn, hay, tomatoes, blueberries, bell peppers, spinach, peaches, apples, lettuce, soybeans, potatoes and strawberries. In addition, New Jersey is equally popular for their fruit wines and wines with almost three dozen wineries across the state.
With more than 50 percent of the state still wooded, New Jersey is extensively covered in trees and parks. For this reason, New Jersey pushes strongly for the conservation of land as well as the protection of its natural wildlife, resources and trees. One example of the modern way the citizens of New Jersey define themselves by their state nickname, is the pushing for modern greenways by a lot of the local organizations. This greenway dream is nothing but a push for interconnecting systems of trails, parks and protected natural areas, historical places and farmland according to the director of the American Greenways Program – Ed McMahon. It is clear that many modern citizens will continue to identify with the nickname of the state with a future vision of keeping in touch with its traditional roots.
In New Jersey, gardening is an extremely popular hobby. In addition, New Jersey is well-known for its master gardener programs. This particular program has been very beneficial because, it gets many people more interested and excited in landscaping and gardening in the area. This nickname remains as an important symbol that represents what an average person from New Jersey relates apart from the fact that the nickname defines New Jersey from a historical point of view.