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Today in the gardens and on our tables are a wealth of foods - all native to these lands in their roots. This is a short look at the plants that came from the Americas.
Pumpkins and winter squash are being picked, corn is getting heated, and the last of the summer garden is being gathered in for winter. Many of the wonderful gifts of the garden that we take for granted were unknown to the east before the conquest of the land now called the Americas.
The native people from the Americas had a wonderful and healthy variety of foods to consume, many of them unknown to the rest of the world. Plants like the sunflower had traveled from the American southwest to provide seeds in winter. Dahlias were grown in Mexico and the tubers eaten. Avocados, pineapples, guava, and papaws were all natives that the rest of the world had yet to taste.
Some foods like the potato, which went on to be the major food source for Ireland, were unknown to Europe just a few hundred years before. The wonders of corn were born out ofMayan legend and were eaten from the Inca north into areas ofNew England. The food was hardly primitive in many areas if the people settled down and planted. Many times, even if the people moved about, they still planted and cared for the land about them.
From the terraced heights of the Inca highlands, to the floating gardens of the Aztecs, to the three sister’s gardens in the west and the corn rows in the east, vegetable gardens played a major role among the native peoples. Each garden was a master work in growing that people are still using the patterns from today.
Even the most humble tomato and chili peppers all started on the Native American shores. With such a huge part of the American diet coming from plants native to the Americas, I cannot fathom a world before the Europeans “discovered” this one with all its tasty treasures.
I have left out the best and most wonderful treasure of all – chocolate! The chocolate fruit was used by the native cultures in Mexico and Central America for religious reasons. It was drunk in something like hot chocolate today, but extra spicy with chili peppers. This drink made it from something only the holy and powerful could drink to something every child looks for once the cold winds blow. The simple treasure of the chocolate bar was something unknown before the fusing of the worlds.
No matter where you are in the world today, the variety of foods you may choose to eat is owed to the faithful gardeners of the Americas. The simple gifts on the Thanksgiving table-- the sweet potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie-- all have their roots in the wonderful agricultural heritage of the Americas.
About M Fitzgerald
I am a pentecostal preacher, gardener,husband, and a father. I love natives, daylilies, iris, and roses. I love teaching others, be they children or adults, about the garden and plants.
Posted by phicks (from Lakeland, FL) on November 13, 2007 at 9:03 AM:
Great Article Mitch Paul
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Posted by frostweed (from Arlington, TX) on November 13, 2007 at 9:18 AM:
Very nice article Mitch, and at a very appropriate time. We do have many wonderful foods to be grateful for.
Josephine.
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Posted by LouC (from Desoto, TX) on November 13, 2007 at 9:48 AM:
Love the surprise ending. My neighbor is from Monterey Mexico. Last Christmas she shared their traditional chocolate drink. They add masa flour and it is very thick and of course, Mexican cocoa and vanilla. Would be an acquired taste for me.
LouC
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Posted by Eufaula (from Eatonton, GA) on November 13, 2007 at 10:30 AM:
Wonderful article Mitch! You reminded us that so much of our inherited blessings were always here. We are able to enjoy these wonderful agricultural gifts due to the labor and love of our Ancestors. Who knew how to cultivate and harvest then prepare nurishment for everyone, from sources growing in our Native land. Thank You. E.
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Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on November 13, 2007 at 10:41 AM:
Lovely article, with subjects close to my heart. Great presentation of the material!
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Posted by lilygardener (from Marietta, GA) on November 13, 2007 at 10:50 AM:
Mitch,
Thank you for the article that reminds us we were not the first here. I have a friend who works for the CDC in Atlanta and travels extensively in the Northwest and sometimes the Southwest visiting native American areas to teach about diabetes.
One of her native American friends gave her 6 Hubbard squash seeds which she plans to plant next spring. Strangely, when my friend talks about the seeds, the native American view of the sacredness of the land and its produce is evident in her voice; an attitude she communicates in a wonderous hushed tone that I conclude was the same as in the one's voice who gave her the seeds.
My friend is almost anxious that she succeed in getting a crop from the seeds. She plans to send some back to her Native American friend's daughter. It is in homage to the gift of legacy.
Lily
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Posted by broncbuster (from Waxahachie, TX) on November 13, 2007 at 12:46 PM:
I'm hungry, now! Thanks, Mitch! (~;
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Posted by MitchF (from Oklahoma City, OK) on November 13, 2007 at 6:32 PM:
Thank you all!
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Posted by escambiaguy (from Atmore, AL) on November 14, 2007 at 1:54 AM:
I sure couldn't survive without my beans and cornbread! My great grandmother was Cherokee and passed down several methods of cooking with native foods.
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Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on November 19, 2007 at 12:58 PM:
Mitch, as you know, I am traveling. I checked in briefly to see what was happening in my beloved Garden, and was rewarded with this wonderful article. Thoughtful, and thought provoking...you made Thanksgiving mean just a little bit more than before I read it. Beautifully done.
