Sauer says wood ash “ would have been a relatively concentrated nutrient source” that contains calcium, which acts as a liming agent to raise the pH level. The Wampanoag also used wood ash and fish as plant fertilizers. The corn provides the beans a support on which to grow and the squash helps in water retention and with weed control. Beans are nitrogen fixers, pulling nitrogen from the air, and with the help of soil microbes, turning the nitrogen into plant food. The three plants work well together to create fertile soil. The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans – crops known as the “Three Sisters” that make a potent growing team, especially in poor, sandy soil that doesn’t retain nutrients or water. īefore learning the best crops to grow in their new home, the Pilgrims would have probably tried (and failed) to grow rye, barley and wheat and a variety of English garden vegetables, according to Soil scientist Tom Sauer, who is with the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service. Unlike the soil of southern England, which is deep, nutrient-rich, loamy and easy to hand till, the soil in coastal Massachusetts is shallow, sandy and stony, making it hard to work by hand, according to the Soil Science Society of America.
#DID PILGRIMS KILL NATIVES ON THANKSGIVING HOW TO#
These skilled Native American farmers knew how to get the most out of the poor coastal soil and taught the Pilgrims to do the same. Squanto apparently didn’t hold a grudge since he helped forge an alliance between the Pilgrims and a local tribe, the Wampanoag, another way in which he helped prop up the shaky colony. Some folks might not have taken too kindly to the English after such rough treatment. From there, Squanto was able to secure passage back home to Massachusetts in 1619 only to find that his tribe had been decimated by smallpox, tuberculosis, or possibly some other disease contracted through their contact with Europeans (there seems to be some dispute on exactly what killed them). He learned English after being kidnapped with other members of his tribe by an English sea captain named Thomas Hunt in 1614 and sold into slavery in Spain before he was able to make his way to England. Saintly is the only way to describe Squanto. The Wampanoag grew corn, squash, and beans – crops known as the “Three Sisters”. As it was, around half of the passengers and crew died their first winter in the New World. If he hadn’t befriended the Pilgrims it’s possible they would have perished before their first harvest in the fall of 1621.
It’s likely we wouldn’t be celebrating Thanksgiving today at all if not for a saintly Native American named Tisquantum, also called Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who spoke English and taught the colonists how to plant native crops (like corn), tap the maple trees for sap, and fish in the Bay. After arriving in Massachusetts Bay in November 1620 following a harrowing 66-day Atlantic crossing, the 105 Pilgrims (as they are known today) spent the first winter aboard their ship the Mayflower.
0 kommentar(er)
