BY JANET HARTIN -

Dear UCCE San Bernardino County Master Gardeners,

While many of you are still exercising off some extra Thanksgiving calories, I thought you might like an excuse to take five or six minutes off to read about the fare at the original harvest festival at Plymouth Colony. It only mildly resembles our modern Thanksgiving menu!

While both the Wampanoag and Plymouth colonists were known to hunt and eat wild turkey, there is no proof that turkey was actually served at the 'First Thanksgiving.' The original description penned by Edward Winslow reported that “four men went hunting and brought back large amounts of fowl” which could have been ducks or geese rather than turkey. He also mentioned that in addition to fowl the Wampanoag presented venison to key Englishmen. (Note: Edward Winslow (October 18, 1595 – May 8, 1655) was a senior leader on the Mayflower and at Plymouth Colony where he served as governor. He authored many important documents including Good Newes from New England and co-wrote Mourt's Relation which ends with an account of the First Thanksgiving and the abundance of the New World.)

But what about the rest of our typical Thanksgiving menu? Were other foods we feast on nowadays even available way back then? We are on the right track with stuffing since the Wampanoag and English were known to stuff both birds and fish with herbs and oats. Cranberries were available but not prepared with sugar like today’s traditional sweetened sauce but were used to add tartness to various dishes. What about white potatoes and sweet potatoes? They had not yet made it into the Wampanoag diet. The white potato was not well known to Englishmen aside from a handful of botanist and gardeners. The sweet potato originated in the Caribbean and some years after was grown in Spain and finally imported in England. However, it was largely available only to wealthy aristocrats who believed rumors of its aphrodisiac properties.

Indian corn was most certainly part of the original celebration and was a staple for the Wampanoag. The story goes that the English helped themselves to their first seed corn from a Native storage pit on one of their early trips to Cape Cod. (They later paid up for the “borrowed” corn.) One colonist described use of Indian corn as follows: “Our Indian corn, even the coarsest, maketh as pleasant a meat as rice.” Apparently, corn was added to traditional English dishes including porridge, pancakes and later bread. In September and October, a variety of both dried and fresh vegetables were available. The produce from New Plymouth gardens included what referred to as “herbs:” parsnips, collards, carrots, parsley, turnips, spinach, cabbages, sage, thyme, marjoram and onions. Very likely dried cultivated beans, dried wild blueberries, cranberries, pumpkins, grapes and nuts were also widely available. 

What else did Mr. Winslow hunt, grow and gather back then? By his own account: “Our bay is full of lobsters all the summer and affordeth variety of other fish; in September we can take a hogshead of eels in a night, with small labor, and can dig them out of their beds all the winter. We have mussels ... at our doors. Oysters we have none near, but we can have them brought by the Indians when we will; all the spring-time the earth sendeth forth naturally very good sallet herbs. Here are grapes, white and red, and very sweet and strong also. Strawberries, gooseberries, raspas, etc. Plums of tree sorts, with black and red, being almost as good as a damson; abundance of roses, white, red, and damask; single, but very sweet indeed.”

In actuality, today’s traditional Thanksgiving dinner came to be in the early to mid 1800’s rather than 1621. While many elements of our modern holiday Thanksgiving menu scarcely resemble the foods eaten in 1621, the bounty of the New England harvest then and now played a central role.

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I could still use 2 or 3 additional volunteers on Wednesday, December 11 at the annual Turf and landscape Institute held at Etiwanda Gardens Conference Center in Rancho Cucamonga from 7am-noon or 1-5pm to help hand out name badges and sell UC ANR books. Volunteers are welcome to attend one of the three sessions (Arboriculture, Sustainable Landscapes, or IPM (presented in Spanish) and join us for an onsite buffet lunch from 12noon – 1pm as well. A copy of the day’s agenda is attached. Please email me directly or sign up on VMS if you haven’t already and can help out.

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Please check out all the wonderful changes and improvements MG Coordinators Joseph and Dona have made to our website!  http://cesanbernardino.ucdavis.edu/.

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Remember that beginning classes resume again Saturday Dec. 7 at 2000 Founders Drive in Chino Hills at 1:15.  Yvonne Savio will be our speaker; she is a real expert on vegetable and herb gardening and I'm sure you will enjoy her practical and informative talk.  And, a gentle kick in the seat of the pants:  If you haven't turned in your botanic garden write-up or paid your tuition you're late.  Please do so immediately.  Your first take-home open notes test is due by 1pm this Saturday as well.  I know, I'm such a nag :)

Happy Gardening!

Janet