The land at Mount Vernon is more than a setting for the story of George Washington’s life. It’s a character with an enduring role—just as the nation’s first president intended it.

Visitors can observe the sprawling acreage and witness his intelligent land management and conservation practices. Washington’s love of the land led to an ongoing narrative of sustainability, experimentation and respect for the soil.

Set against the backdrop of the Potomac River, George Washington’s Mount Vernon is open year-round. Guests can tour the Pioneer Farm area, where tobacco, wheat, hemp, flax and vegetables are still grown in demonstration plots, representing a few of the 104 crop varieties once grown on site.

Also on the farm is Washington’s innovative 16-side threshing barn, which was designed with just enough space between floorboards to allow horse-tread grains to slip through for easy collection.

“You can’t work for a better boss than George Washington,” said Mount Vernon Horticulturist Dean Norton, who has worked at the site for 50 years. “His desire to have all farmers improve on their practices, and the time he devoted to the improvement of the soil and protection of trees—I think we can all learn a lesson from that.”

Mount Vernon’s five 18th-century farms were comprised of 8,000 acres, of which 3,650 were cultivated by enslaved field hands. Washington’s experimental approach to conservation set the stage for other farmers to foster a sustainable relationship with the environment. He wrote the script on innovative land management practices like composting, growing unusual crops and rotating crops.

“He was of the opinion that the land needed to rest, bringing utility back to the soil—not necessarily trying to reap more money from it and make the soil worse,” Norton said.

Today, guests can peruse the estate gardens, including the Fruit Garden and Nursery, Upper and Lower gardens and the Botanical Garden. Each site is still a showcase of Washington’s agricultural philosophy—natural, yet thoughtfully designed.

“When visitors enter the garden enclosures, they are strolling the same gravel and brick paths that George and Martha Washington did 250 years ago,” Norton said.

In 1785, Washington wowed his guests with the harmonious integration of necessity and beauty in the Upper Garden. That’s where he grew fruits and nuts, and eventually incorporated wide borders of fragrant flowers and ornamental plants. The Lower Garden was a kitchen garden, mostly managed by Martha Washington, and still produces the same greens, vegetables and herbs. Washington experimented with new and unusual species in the Botanical Garden.

His writings often were dedicated to agriculture and landscape.

“He was so in awe of the beauty of the natural resources the country had to offer,” Norton said. “He had this great feeling of wanting to protect that.”