The History of American Food

Listen to "023 Deer and Venison - What a Difference a Flint Makes" on Spreaker. Link to the Episode: Episode 23 Deer & Venison – What a Difference a Flint Makes When the first colonists arrived, they were startled to find deer just there.  Many of them had likely never seen a deer that wasn't painted into a coat of arms.   And if they had seen a deer -  it was a roe deer   or a fallow deer.  (I can never get over those antlers) The white tail of the pre-colonial east coast  (they don't care about your fences) wandering up to and around their struggling gardens must have looked like a cross between giant marauders and a tempting dinner just out of reach. That is - until the flint-lock arrived  my photos from the Betsey Ross house in Philly Photos of an 18thC flintlock - with ball, powder and assembled cartridge. At the Betsey Ross house in Philadelphia Her main job was Upholsterer. Turns out one of her side gigs - besides sewing flags, was making lead balls for t

Listen to "022 Bread - From Ashen Corn Cakes to Wheaten Loaves" on Spreaker.   Link to the Episode: Episode 22 Bread – From Ashen Corn Cakes to Wheaten Loaves When the colonists arrived they were used to cross hatching fields with a harrow  to turn up fresh dirt, and then broadcast seeds onto the disturbed earth: A single row harrow.  Usually attached to a long handle. Looks like a wide toothed rake. A square harrow.  These were usually pulled behind an ox or mule. While broadcast seeding is mostly out of use in American Farming - it is still in use on small farms world-wide. This Pakistani farmer is broadcasting the seeds from a basket onto the field that tractor in the background just harrowed. When the corn/maize the colonists got from the local tribes was sown this way - they had frustratingly low yield.  Especially since the corn was used to being planted individually in mounds, and not alone. For more information on the Companion Planting practices used with pre-colon