Farming throughout the American colonies relied mainly on two things: meat production and crop production. Proved to be vital to colonial farmers was the kitchen gardens. These gardens would be the families year around food supply. Often said to be as important as a farmers house, the kitchen garden was one of the very first things a family made when settling in a new place. The garden had to be properly situated to maximize productivity. Set on a level area, the garden would be a vast amount of space with pear, plum, cherry, and even apple trees surrounding it. The gardeners obsessed about the soils quality, added manure liberally to ensure quality. The caretakers of the garden was the women and children of the household. The garden was looked at as a women's job, while working in the fields was the mans job.