Gardening for the Pilgrims
Date Modified: 12/10/2009 10:38 AM
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This column was originally published in the Nov. 30, 2006, edition of Agri News.
Gardening for the Pilgrims was a necessity. The garden was mostly utilitarian, which means the plants that were grown were for food and medicine.
They enjoyed tending the land and keeping their gardens and livestock. From what history offers we can tell that the typical garden consisted of raised beds made of stones. The most likely produce they grew was cabbage and leeks, onions and lettuce, carrots, parsnips, asparagus, peas, fennel, spinach, dill, black radish and turnips. There is evidence that they planted hops for beer.
Herbs were a very important part of their culture. They combined food with herbs that were taken as daily prescriptions. Some typical herbs most likely were: lavender, speedwell, St. John\'s wort, comfrey, southernwood, horehound, yarrow, white lily, celandine, marjoram and more.
The Wampanoag Indians planted much differently than the colonists. They enriched the soil by burying whole fish and planting in a circular fashion so the crops were self supporting. Corn would be stakes for the beans and the shortest crops were placed on the outer edge of the circle.
The menu of the Pilgrims was far different than what we all prepare today. They did have access to fish and seafood, venison, perhaps some chicken, grains, nuts and fruits, which were mainly dried berries and grapes. The vegetables would have been peas and squash.
They would have been preparing foods for the winter as well, such as smoked meats or using salt brines.
It was certainly a very trying time for Pilgrims to figure out the ways of growing produce that they were used to. They had to deal with major climate changes and weather-related problems. Many of them did starve. It was a very hard and trying time for many years.
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, even though some were opposed to it. There was not a lot of agreement between the colonies and most did not think just because the Pilgrims endured hardships was a reason to have a day of thanksgiving. Later, President Thomas Jefferson didn\'t like the idea of having a day of thanksgiving, either. It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, who really pushed the effort and that eventually led to the way we have Thanksgiving today.
Finally in 1864 President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November to be a national day of Thanksgiving.
Every president after Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving. The date has changed; the last change was made by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next to last Thursday in order to create a longer shopping season for Christmas. The public wasn\'t happy with this and protested. Two years later it returned to its original date. In 1941, Thanksgiving finally was sanctioned.
Keep those letters and comments coming by sending to Christine Schlueter, 19276 Walden Ave. Hutchinson MN 55350 or e-mail to rcschlueter@yahoo.com