You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
Login
If you don't have an account yet, visit the registration page to sign up.
This is just a wild theory,and I've done no research on it...but as I've been working with several plants adding them to the PDB,I've read some of their history.I've known it all along,but for some reason,today an another possibility sprang to mind.
The popular idea among so many historians,is that certain plants were brought to the 'New World' by slaves. Cowpeas and okra to name a couple. Now,this seems a little far fetched in my book,as I doubt that the evil men who captured Africans let them go back to their homes and collect belongings to take with them into captivity.And the conditions on the ships were so intolerable,I doubt that there was any consideration given as to feeding them foods that they were used to.
My theory is that there was intercontinental commerce long before the era of slavery. I've read a little about the North Africans and they were a bold and fearless bunch of travelers.Trading among the Native peoples of Central America,South America and Mexico isn't beyond comprehension.
If you look,there are similar things among both sides of the Atlantic.I would guess that these veggies were traded along with other things.
Even tomatoes may have been taken to the area before Columbus 'discovered' them.He certianly took credit for discovering things that many peoples took for granted.
What do ya'll think? Do you think an earlier introduction is possible? The Cowpeas and Okra came from Africa.This seems to be accepted as to where they originated,but there are unexplained cultivars on both continents.
Maybe the mysterious Lost Continent of Atlantis has the answers..hehehe!
There are 12 replies. The replies of posts in this forum are viewable only by paid subscribers of Dave's Garden, and only subscribers can post new replies. We are a member supported website.
