The Importance Of Corn To The Colonists

Equally important for the colonists to survive was to learn how to use available resources and ingredients. The first colonists relied on the supplies they brought. The colonists brought plants and seeds from England, but they had a hard time getting them to grow. The Native Americans came to the colonist rescue. If not for the American Indians showing the colonist native plants and how to cook them along with planting and harvesting them, the colonist would have all died. The colonists came with English and French cook books. They did not have, or could not afford some luxuries like wheat flour, yeast, and sugar, that were called for in the cookbooks, so they had to learn to substitute. Above all was the saving crop: corn. The Indians called …show more content…
They would plant the seed with beans planted right next to them. Governor Bradford of Plymouth stated “In April of the first year they began to plant their corne, in which Squanto stood them in great stead, showing them both ye manner how to set it, and after, how to dress and tend it.” The reason the corn and beans were planted together was so that the beans could grow up onto the corn stalk making it easier to pick, and it also helped to decrease the amount of weeds growing between plants. Corn was so important to the colonists that they had a corn dish served with every …show more content…
One of the oldest ways of preserving food was to sun dry it. For meat this requires all of the bones being taken out, and the fat trimmed. Then the meat is cut into thin strips and laid flat in sun to dry. The Indians showed the colonists how to cook meat until well done then cut it into thin strips, salt it, and then hang it in the sun to dry, making jerky. Meat could stay good like this for up to a year. Another way to preserve meat was by salting. Salting involved meat or fish being rubbed with salt and seasoning on both sides then placed in a salt barrel for one week. The meat did not need to have the fat trimmed. An advantage of salting meats is that it kept the insects and bugs away, and the salt killed most bacteria and fungi which drying the meat did not. The salted meat would be stored in vinegar, salt, and water. In order to eat or cook the meat later, the salt needed to be washed off first. According to Catherine Beecher,

To preserve one hundred pounds of beef, you will need four quarts of rock salt, pounded fine; four ounces of saltpeter, pounded fine; and four pounds of brown sugar. Mix these well. Put a layer of meat in the bottom of a barrel, with a thin layer of the mixture under it. Pack the meat into the barrel in layers, and between each layer put proportions of the mixture, allowing a little more to the top layer. Then, pour in brine till the barrel