Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

'Lost crops' could have fed as many as maize
phys.org ^ | 12/23/2019 | by Talia Ogliore, Washington University in St. Louis

Posted on 12/23/2019 7:33:54 PM PST by BenLurkin

Writing in the Journal of Ethnobiology, Natalie Muellert, assistant professor of archaeology in Arts & Sciences, describes how she painstakingly grew and calculated yield estimates for two annual plants that were cultivated in eastern North America for thousands of years—and then abandoned.

Growing goosefoot (Chenopodium, sp.) and erect knotweed (Polygonum erectum) together is more productive than growing either one alone, Mueller discovered. Planted in tandem, along with the other known lost crops, they could have fed thousands.

Archaeologists found the first evidence of the lost crops in rock shelters in Kentucky and Arkansas in the 1930s. Seed caches and dried leaves were their only clues. Over the past 25 years, pioneering research by Gayle Fritz, professor emerita of archaeology at Washington University, helped to establish the fact that a previously unknown crop complex had supported local societies for millennia before maize—a.k.a. corn—was adopted as a staple crop.

The lost crops include a small but diverse group of native grasses, seed plants, squashes and sunflowers—of which only the squashes and sunflowers are still cultivated. For the rest, there is plenty of evidence that the lost crops were purposefully tended—not just harvested from free-living stands in the wild...

Mueller discovered that a polyculture of goosefoot and erect knotweed is more productive than either grown separately as a monoculture. Grown together, the two plants have higher yields than global averages for closely related domesticated crops (think: quinoa and buckwheat), and they are within the range of those for traditionally grown maize.

(Excerpt) Read more at phys.org ...


TOPICS: Food; Gardening; History
KEYWORDS: agriculture; amaranth; animalhusbandry; buckwheat; cahokia; chenopodium; dietandcuisine; erectknotweed; goosefoot; helixmakemineadouble; huntergatherers; knotweed; lostcrops; mississippians; polygonumerectum; quinoa; rockshelters; superfoods; uprightknotweed
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last
To: BenLurkin

When they switched to corn they had problems because corn was missing some vital nutrients these ‘grains’ had formerly provided.


21 posted on 12/23/2019 10:42:20 PM PST by piasa (Attitude adjustments offered here free of charge.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Just because we don’t know the reason they made the change to maize doesn’t mean it wasn’t valid.


22 posted on 12/24/2019 12:46:28 AM PST by Brooklyn Attitude (Presidents can now be impeached for high crimes, misdemeanors or because DemocRATS hate them.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

I think it is a sign.

I hope you didn’t tell this dream before breakfast or it will come true.


23 posted on 12/24/2019 1:01:00 AM PST by Sequoyah101 (We are governed by the consent of the governed and we are fools for allowing it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Ah yes, goose foot and erect knot weed. There is a reason they are no longer cultivated.

Both taste like, well, not good.


24 posted on 12/24/2019 1:02:15 AM PST by Sequoyah101 (We are governed by the consent of the governed and we are fools for allowing it.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Brooklyn Attitude

Amongst other possible problems, goosefoot can cause hayfever like it’s relative ragweed.


25 posted on 12/24/2019 2:14:15 AM PST by Fraxinus (My opinion, worth what you paid.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv

Quinoa

ahh, finally...queeno...a name I at least recognize...

:]


26 posted on 12/24/2019 3:33:58 AM PST by Adder (Mr. Franklin: We are trying to get the Republic back!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: SunkenCiv; BenLurkin
Serious question:

Do the "lost crops" ferment to form alcohol -- as maize (corn) does?

If not, that might explain why they became "lost" -- when corn became available as an alternative...

TXnMA       '-)
  

27 posted on 12/24/2019 6:33:27 AM PST by TXnMA ("Allah": Satan's alias | "Islam": Allah's useful idiots | Brennan & 0b0z0: Islam's useful idiots)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

obviously, the commercial never left yours.


28 posted on 12/24/2019 7:08:50 AM PST by wildbill (The older I get, the less 'life in prison" means to me)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Thanks! Will link it over at the Gardening Thread! :)


29 posted on 12/24/2019 7:17:09 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin; Ellendra

PING!


30 posted on 12/24/2019 7:20:56 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: PGR88

Charles Nelson Reilly! What a way to make a living, LOL!


31 posted on 12/24/2019 7:23:58 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

I never thought of chenopodiums as “lost”. There are several growing wild all over Wisconsin.

I am curious about the other crops mentioned.


32 posted on 12/24/2019 8:29:18 AM PST by Ellendra (A single lie on our side does more damage than a thousand lies on their side.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: TXnMA
That makes the most sense!

33 posted on 12/24/2019 8:38:04 AM PST by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 27 | View Replies]

To: Brooklyn Attitude

I can’t speak for most of the crops listed, but I do have experience with members of the Chenopodium genus. Corn is a lot less work!

The researcher in the article compared yields, but not the man-hours needed to get it from the field to the dinner table. Corn doesn’t need threshing or winnowing, and you’re a lot less likely to end up with a ton of chaff in your lungs.


34 posted on 12/24/2019 8:51:00 AM PST by Ellendra (A single lie on our side does more damage than a thousand lies on their side.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 22 | View Replies]

To: PGR88
Here comes the tricky part...
35 posted on 12/24/2019 9:35:01 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: Diana in Wisconsin

Nope. Not Reilly. James Harder.

https://travsd.wordpress.com/2017/11/19/james-harder-the-man-in-the-fig-costume/


36 posted on 12/24/2019 9:36:26 AM PST by Alas Babylon! (The prisons do not fill themselves. Get moving, Barr!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 31 | View Replies]

To: Alas Babylon!

My bad! CNR was the Bic Banana pen, LOL! Got my fruits mixed up. ;)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wtwlCOOfves


37 posted on 12/24/2019 9:43:51 AM PST by Diana in Wisconsin (I don't have 'hobbies.' I'm developing a robust post-Apocalyptic skill set.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 36 | View Replies]

To: PGR88
I don't remember that one but I do remember this:

Girl in Bee Costume

38 posted on 12/24/2019 12:08:46 PM PST by SamAdams76
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 20 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UyI3IL46yq4

For you viewing pleasure....


39 posted on 12/24/2019 12:11:32 PM PST by PGR88
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 38 | View Replies]

To: SamAdams76
#6 This may be why...
You may want to cut down on drinking any just prior to bed : )

Blnk
I noted your signature.
40 posted on 12/24/2019 11:04:40 PM PST by minnesota_bound (homeless guy. He just has more money....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-4041-43 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson