Crops are grown along the Green Path which were typical of the Moselle and Saar regions over the lastpast centuries, but which gradually died out in the course of the changes taking place in agriculture since the 18th century. The three-field system practised for centuries was replaced by crop rotation. Root crops were cultivated more, and soil quality was improved by fertilisation. In this way emmer wheat, spelt and buckwheat gradually vanished from the fields and gave way to rye and wheat.

Cultivation of flax and hemp, two fibre plants indispensable for the manufacture of woven fabrics and cloth for garments and bedclothes fell into oblivion as cheap imports of cotton and rational mechanised manufacture supplanted skilled handicrafts. The cultivation of hops also decreased as beer brewing turned into an industry. Up until the mid-19th century beer, which was usually top-fermented, was home brewed in many taprooms and public houses, and a hop garden was absolutely essential for this.

At the same time new plants arrived which altered the picture of cultivated land. The potato was introduced as early as the 18th century. This was followed later by rapeseed, maize and sunflowers. Nowadays triticale can be found in the fields, a cross between rye and wheat, and if a field of flax in bloom was easily recognised by its blue colour, it is now the yellow of rapeseed or the similarly blue of pacelia, a plant put to good use as honey flora and to increase nitrogen in the soil.

The orchard behind the Green Path stems originates in essence from the time when the Roscheider Hof was still a working farm. The old tree stock is looked after by the museum and has been partly restocked and expanded so that it can be used today as a path for teaching about fruit.

Orchards have become a rarity. In former times they formed a belt around the outside of settlements and provided generations of inhabitants with fruit, not only for eating fresh but also dried and preserved to keep through the winter. It also formed the base for cider (Viez) and fruit schnapps, which the Moselle Franconia area is still known for. The old orchard meadows often had to make way for the new buildings, which were starting to grow up around the old village centres, and thus lost significance as something which lent the countryside its character.

In spring 2020, an inventory of the (initially conspicuous) wild plants in the Museum Gelnde was begun. Photos of these plants can be found here. Wild plants at Roscheider Hof

Next to the museum fields there has been a crossroads for 200 years. Poor harvests, human and animal diseases and often serious accidents have always threatened the existence of the farmers. All the more God's blessing was invoked to avert danger and to ensure the success of the peasant work.

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