Four Native North American Crops to Try This Season
Emily Ellis
As many families come together over beloved generational recipes this holiday season, it is a particularly significant time to explore the rich histories of the food we eat.
Oak Spring’s Biocultural Conservation Farm cultivates heirloom crops rooted in the culture and traditions of Appalachia and the Virginia piedmont, many of which are native to North America. Some of the crops that are most culturally and historically important to our area, such as Candy Roaster squash and sunchokes, have been cultivated by Native Americans for centuries. If you live in the U.S. and celebrate Thanksgiving, incorporating native North American heirloom crops into your meal is a great way to try something new and tasty, support local farms, and open up discussions about the true history and meaning of the holiday. Scroll down to read the fascinating histories of four North American crops grown at the BCCF.
North Georgia Candy Roaster Squash
Photo by Christine Harris
This rich, creamy squash was first bred by the Cherokee people of Western North Carolina, Northern Georgia, and Eastern Tennessee in the 1800s. It stayed in those communities until around 1925, when the seeds first appeared for sale through a North Carolina Chamber of Commerce. In many Appalachian households in the 20th century, the squash was used as a replacement for pumpkin in holiday pies, so sweet on its own that it didn’t necessarily need the addition of sugar.
Candy Roasters come in different shapes and colors (Jim Veteto, the director of Southern Seed Legacy, estimates there are 40 varieties in North Carolina alone) but all share the same vibrant orange flesh. While the squash must be carefully grown due to the fact that they are open-pollinated (meaning it can cross pollinate with other Cucurbita maxima within a distance of up to one mile), it is hardy, long-lasting and sweetens with age, making it ideal to store throughout a long winter. Most growers of this squash, including the BCCF, use the traditional Three Sisters method, in which squash, corn, and beans are grown together to prevent weeds and retain soil moisture.
“This past year, we planted Jimmy Red Corn, North Georgia Candy Roaster Squash, and a variety of heirloom beans in the Three Sister planting style,” wrote BCCF manager Christine Harris. “Since beans only need 6' of space in between varieties to save 'true seed', we were able to grow five different varieties that we left to dry on the vine. We will be able to use some of this seed for replanting next year, as well as for cooking dry beans in the winter months.” Christine recommends checking out this article from Native Seeds to learn more about the Three Sisters technique.
While North Georgia Candy Roaster seeds can be purchased online today, they were far less common a few years ago; ongoing efforts by farmers, researchers, and organizations such as the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank and The Center for Cherokee Plants have helped conserve the crop and the stories and traditions that go along with it. Earlier this year, Candy Roaster seeds were among those that the Cherokee Nation sent to be preserved in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which safeguards the seeds of the world’s most significant and essential food crops.
Sunchokes
Despite the name, sunchokes or Jerusalem artichokes are members of the sunflower family, as anyone who has seen their tall yellow flowers will not be surprised to learn. It’s the underground portion that you want, however: sunchoke roots are soft, nutty and slightly sweet when cooked, and can be prepared much like potatoes.
The fast-growing, resilient plant is native to much of eastern North America and was cultivated by Native American Tribes, who also planted them among frequently traveled trails to ensure a food supply on journeys, helping to extend the range of the plant throughout the country. Sunchokes were first brought to Europe in the 17th century, after French explorer Samuel de Champlain encountered them growing in a Native garden on what is now Cape Cod and decided that they tasted like artichokes. They would go on to be widely cultivated in Europe as food for humans and livestock, where they took on the name “Jerusalem artichoke” (likely a corruption of the Italian word for sunflower, “girasole”).
For those of us who grew up in the Appalachian region, sunchoke relish or pickles were likely a feature in many pantries. However, the roots have experienced a revival in the wider restaurant scene in recent years, thanks in part to the efforts of Native chefs who are working to revive indigenous crops and food traditions.
Click on the image to watch a cooking video from BCCF Chef and Organic Farm Assistant Saskia Poulos, who demonstrates how to make two recipes using North Georgia Candy Roaster Squash and sunchokes.
Seminole Pumpkins
Photo by Caitlin Etherton
Pumpkins are one of the oldest crops cultivated in North America; archaeologists have dated seeds found in Mexico to nearly 10,000 years ago. The Seminole pumpkin is one of the most interesting varieties grown at the BCCF. While the squash takes its name from the Seminole Tribe, it was also widely cultivated by the Miccosukee, Creek, and other Tribes of what is now Florida. The Miccosukee people called it “Chassa Howitska” or “hanging pumpkin,” since growers used tree trunks as trellises for the pumpkin vines to keep them above the marshy earth (although they can be grown on the ground too).
The pumpkin played a role in what were known as the Seminole Wars, which began after the passage of the Indian Removal Act in 1830, an attempt by the U.S. government to forcibly relocate Native American Tribes in the southeast. One of the tactics utilized by the U.S. Army during this time was to destroy their winter food sources. While people in other parts of the country buried their food supplies as a way to hide them, the ground in Florida was too wet, so the Seminole people planted caches of the long-lasting hanging pumpkins. The pumpkins were still subject to attack if soldiers encountered them; while unsuccessfully searching for the Seminole Chief Chekika, a lieutenant colonel wrote of shooting down the hanging pumpkins in an empty Seminole campsite.
While many squash species cross-pollinate with each other, the Seminole is unique in that it reseeds itself every year, resulting in a fruit largely unchanged from what first sprouted in the Florida Everglades hundreds of years ago. Nearly all parts of the pumpkin are edible; the flesh can be used in pies and bread, the shoots and leaves can be cooked like greens, and the flowers can be fried in fritters.
Jimmy Red Corn
Photo by Christine Harris
The origins of Jimmy Red corn, which is primarily known today as a “hooch corn”, are a little murky. All corn is native to the Americas, where many varieties were cultivated and traded for thousands of years before colonization. Jimmy Red, an open-pollinated dent corn, was likely first grown by Native Americans in the southeast (by which Tribe is unknown), probably crossbred from other colorful varieties.
Named for James Island in South Carolina, the flavorful corn was used to make moonshine in Appalachia and other parts of the south before it began to disappear from plots in the late 20th century. After one of the last known bootleggers in South Carolina passed away, two surviving ears of the corn were rescued from his garden and brought to farmer and seed saver Ted Chewning. Along with other growers and chefs, Chewning helped bring the crop back from the brink of extinction in the early 2000s. Meal and grits from the corn now find their way into many Southeastern restaurants, and it’s still used to make a mean whiskey.
The BCCF recently brought 50 pounds of their Jimmy Red kernels to be ground at the Burwell-Morgan Mill in Millwood, VA, which opened in around 1782. They also saved 100 pounds of the historic kernels to be planted next year and shared with others.
Interested in learning about Native American foodways? Check out these great resources:
Organizations:
Native Seeds SEARCH A non-profit based in Tucson, AZ which seeks to find, protect and preserve the seeds of the people of the Greater Southwest so that these arid adapted crops may benefit all peoples and nourish a changing world.
Seeding Sovereignty An Indigenous-led collective that works to radicalize and disrupt colonized spaces through land, body, and food sovereignty work, community building, and cultural preservation.
Sierra Seeds and the Indigenous Seedkeepers Network
North American Traditional Indigenous Food Systems A nonprofit dedicated to addressing the economic and health crises affecting Native communities by re-establishing Native foodways.
The Sioux Chef provides a wonderful list of Indigenous owned and operated food producers that you can support.
Books to read:
Buffalo Bird Woman's Garden by Gilbert Livingstone Wilson ( published in 1917)
Braiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Tending the Wild by Kat Anderson
The Sioux Chef's Indigenous Kitchen by Sean Sherman