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With Thanksgiving upon us, one chapter holds special interest. In "The Three Sisters: Agriculture," Harris weaves an interesting story of how we got some of our more important garden plants -- corn, squash and beans -- by sharing their history, their effect on the lives of Native Americans and early settlers, and how these plants affect our lives today.
Most of us know little about the early agriculture in this country. Many assume the Hollywood stereotype of Native Americans fighting cowboys. The truth is actually much different, and many groups had highly developed agricultural enterprises.
About 4,500 years ago there were vast plantings of the native sunflower, and the 'Three Sisters' -- corn, squash and beans -- had been introduced into the diets of the peoples living across North America."
These same plants are among the most popular plants in our gardens today. Add the edible plants from Central and South America, and it is easy to see why early settlers to this country embraced so many of these plants.
While we have no firsthand knowledge of all the foods that graced the Pilgrims' tables, we know that corn, the first sister, was a staple. All North Americans are corn people starting with the first people who learned how to nurture corn 1,000 years ago. This continued to the first Pilgrims who were kept alive during the winter of 1621 by a cache of Indian corn, to the modern-day city dweller enjoying the ritual of breakfast cornflakes."
While you might not serve corn at the Thanksgiving table, there are many recipes for cornbread stuffing. Corn is one of the most widely used products in our modern food industry. Corn sweeteners are in virtually all non-diet soft drinks, candies, frostings and baked goods. Many snack foods are also corn-based.
Oil, meal and animal feeds -- including the feed for your Thanksgiving turkey -- all come from corn. Sweet corn grows well in Utah gardens, and Utah farmers grow other types for the above- mentioned purposes.
The second sister, beans, is second-only to grasses (including grains) in importance to humans. These also are favorites for Utah gardeners and many varieties of snap and dry beans grow well here.
Beans are nitrogen fixers, so they were vital to provide that essential plant nutrient for the other sisters in the group. Again, we do not know how beans might have been served at the first Thanksgiving but explorers Jacques Cartier and John Josseyln noted the huge diversity of beans. Josselyn mentions -- white, black, red, yellow, blue and spotted.
The third sister is the squash. While you might not think squash and Thanksgiving dinner have much in common, think again. The Cucurbita genus includes at least three different species -- including the pumpkins from which pumpkin pies are made.
While early Pilgrims might not have baked these into pies, pumpkins and squash were often baked, used as a natural, edible pot for stews and soups, and sometimes made into puddings. In addition, the seeds became one of the original snack foods.
Squash and pumpkins are nutritious, easy-to-grow and easy-to- store vegetables. Dozens of different winter varieties and summer varieties are popular for Utah gardeners, including the infamous and much maligned zucchini.
Cranberries, another Native American crop, were part of the diet of the time. Because they require acidic soil and high rainfall, they are not grown in Utah. They are grown in and harvested from natural or man-made bogs. The bogs are filled with water, which causes the berries to float to the surface where they are skimmed off for harvest and processed for the Thanksgiving table.
Potatoes are another American plant. Potato tubers, discovered in South America, were exported by the Spanish to Europe. They soon constituted the major component of many European diets. Potatoes were not served during the Pilgrims' first dinner but later became one of the important and favorite foods in the American diet.
Tomatoes are also American although the Pilgrims likely did not eat them as they were considered poisonous. Never-the-less, they certainly added some zest to European meals.
Written By: By Larry A. Sagers Extension Horticulture Specialist Utah State University Thanksgiving Point Office
