World War Two brought with it the introduction of many modern farming techniques. The first selective herbicide, 2, 4D, was developed which could be sprayed on crops to kill weeds without damaging the crops themselves. Insecticides also became available which allowed new crops to grow here that had previously been difficult to cultivate because of insect pressures. Increases in demands for meat meant that production of corn and other grains for livestock increased. Immigration and appreciation for other cultures increased, resulting in a very diverse mix of crops across the Carolinas including everything from Wasabi in the mountains to tea near the coast. In the future, the crops of the Carolinas will continue to grow and change along with its people.
Plants in this section may include:
Collard Greens, Kale
Brassica oleracea var. Acephala
Like many foods that are synonymous with the South, the roots of both collard and mustard greens can be traced back to the trans-Atlantic slave trade from West Africa to the Americas. Greens of many varieties are integral to sub-Saharan African foodways. The tradition continued as enslaved Africans were tasked with growing and preparing food on the plantation and planted their own “slave gardens” to supplement their meager provisions.
Brassica oleracea is a species that encompasses other cruciferous vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, and brussel sprouts. The variety Acephala however, is a group of Brassica oleracea that does not have a central head. Kale is the primary acephala cultivar, but turnip greens, mustard greens, and collards also fall into this variety. All of these leafy greens thrive in cooler weather, often planted in fall for harvest over the winter into early spring. They have steadily gained popularity as “superfoods” for their anticarcinogenic and antioxidant properties.
The pre-1880’s heirloom variety of collard greens thrived in the sand soil of the coastal south. Cultivated for thick, slightly bitter, edible leaves, collards are prepared with other similar green leafy vegetables, such as turnip and mustard greens, and combined with smoked and salted meats. Cornbread is traditionally used to sop up the precious “pot liquor,” or the broth left after the greens are consumed. Often, plantation owners only allowed the enslaved this broth, thinking it was the least desirable part of the dish. Instead, it is the most nutrient-dense part of the meal.
Corn
Zea mays
The evolution of corn, or maize, domestication over its 9,000 year history with humans is one of the most significant processes in history. The crop’s earliest form can be traced back to Mexico, with evidence that it became a domesticated staple crop in Central and South America over 4,000 years ago. Even though they rejected the crop at first, early European colonists eventually learned how to grow and harvest corn from the Native tribes of the eastern North American continent.
While cotton and wheat are often the primary focus as cash-crop drivers of the Civil War, corn is often overlooked for its importance as sustenance for the people and small farmer economy. Because corn did not require processing like other major crops, it was easily produced and consumed right on the farm. It was served as sustenance for families, the enslaved population, and farmed animals alike. Corn pone, hominy, mush, cornbread, and succotash were among the staples that were, and remain, popular. They even began to use it to distill corn whisky as a precursor to bourbon.
In the early to mid19th century, the South was the leading corn producer in the nation. Corn was an ideal complementary crop for cotton because during the growing season, when cotton needed little tending, corn demanded it and vice versa. There was always work for the enslaved.
Modern corn is very different from its origins–a cob is filled with hundreds of kernels completely enshrined in tough outer husks. Unlike its predecessors, it cannot reproduce on its own. It requires purposeful planting and cultivation. Since World War II, corn production has increased with demand. While humans only consume about 40% of the world’s corn yield, many other applications like corn oil, cornstarch, glue, corn syrup, ethanol, and increased demand as animal feed, among other modern staples, have helped to position corn as a major cash crop in the world economy.
Hops
Humulus lupulus
The waxy yellow “lupulin” of the hop flower is a botanical wonder to the millions of Americans who consumed an average of 26 gallons of beer per person in 2020. Even though the hop has been cultivated for over 1,000 years as a key ingredient in the brewing process, the wow factor extends beyond its beer balancing properties.
In the early spring, the rhizomatic hop sprouts unassuming shoots from its underground rootstock and eventually tower up to 25 feet. New plants are often cultivated by chopping off root material from the mother plant and transplanting. It is necessary to plant both a male and female plant to ensure cross pollination. The hop plant does grow in the wild, but because of its extreme bitterness, is not as suitable as a beer balancer as cultivated varieties.
Because of the hop’s transportability, it’s important to the global agricultural economy. By late summer, the magnificent leafy clockwise twisting plant yields papery cone flowers that contain the yellow sticky lupulin oil that. While hops do not provide nutritional value, the citrusy, bitter characteristics of North American hops balances the sweetness of the malt during the brewing process and they also provide the aroma sought out by American IPA drinkers.
Broad uses beyond brewing were the norm in North America before the Civil War. Indigineous people and colonists alike looked to wild hops as an integral part of homesteading: the hop root for its medicinal properties, the plant’s young shoots in early spring were eaten in salad, plant fibers were weaved into textiles as a substitute of flax, stalks were woven into baskets, wax from the tendrils was used as a vegetable dye, and leaves and spent hops were used as food for livestock. The first commercial hop crops intended for brewing were harvested in New England in 1791, but cultivation spread across the northern U.S. for the next century. Currently Washinton state is the nation’s top hop producer, followed by California and Michigan.
Potato
Solanum tuberosum
The potato is a native of South America which has been introduced to North America many times, but these introductions didn’t really stick until the early 18th century when some Scotch-Irish immigrants successfully managed to grow this plant in New Hampshire. From there the potato spread across the United States. The potato persevered, but didn’t really take off until the early 19th century and from there steadily became a more dominant crop as tastes switched to baked potatoes, fries and potato chips. Although the Carolinas are known for producing early season white potatoes, sweet potatoes are more common in the Carolinas than white potatoes.
Potatoes are in the nightshade family along with tomatoes. The potato itself is actually an underground stem called a tuber rather than a root. Potatoes can grow in rocky, relatively nutrient poor soils and so have historically been very important to people living in areas with otherwise marginal cropland. Though potatoes themselves are a wonderful food, the leaves and stems of potatoes are not edible because they contain solanine.
Potatoes are very closely related to other plants in the nightshade family such as tomato. Because of this close relationship they can often be grafted together. One of the more interesting grafts that can be made is to graft a tomato top onto a potato bottom. A commercial combination of this grafted plant is currently available for Totally Tomatoes and is called Ketchup and Fries.
In the Carolinas the most common potatoes grown include the thin-skinned varieties ‘Yukon Gold’, ‘Kennebec’ and ‘Red Pontiac’. Potatoes can handle some frost and so, in the Carolinas, can be planted as early as February.
At the dining table potatoes can and have been used in a variety of ways. From being mixed with meats and placed into hearty soups, stews and pot-pies, to being served alone as baked potatoes, potato chips, fries and tater tots, the potato is one of our most versatile plants.
Sweet Potato
Ipomoea batatas
Sweet potatoes (sometimes mistakenly called yams) are native to South America and were transported to Africa in the 16th Century where they slowly became a popular crop rivaling the yam, which is native to Africa. Sweet potatoes were one of the most plentiful staples aboard the slave ships that crossed the Middle Passage from Africa to the Americas. Like many food items that are synonymous with the South—okra, black-eyed peas, peanuts, etc.—sweet potatoes played a critical role in ensuring the enslaved survived the voyage, sustained on familiar and nutrient-dense foods.
While “sweet potato” and “yam” are used interchangeably, they are different crops and differ slightly in appearance and texture. Sweet potatoes are a New World crop, long and pointy with an orange flesh and are creamier when prepared. Yams are larger with whiter flesh, a rough brown peel, more cylindrical, and starchy rather than creamy when cooked.
A member of the morning glory family, the sweet potato is considered to be one of the most important cash crops in the Carolinas and is North Carolina’s state vegetable. George Washington Carver, the former slave who became one of the United States’ most celebrated agricultural biologists, developed hundreds of uses for sweet potatoes in the late 1800s and early 1900s in an effort to help diversify the southern agricultural economy. Nutrient-dense and easy to grow, sweet potatoes were also critical to the survival of poor tenant farmers for decades during the late 1800’s-early 1900’s.
Sweet potatoes are a root crop, meaning that it’s the underground tubers that are cultivated for consumption. They are grown by planting the potatoes, or slips, side by side in full sun, then covered with a sandy soil. Unless the farmer is trying to produce a new variety, there is no need to collect sweet potato seeds.
Watermelon
Citrullus lanatus
The sweet melon is native to southwest Africa, but remains found more than 5000 years ago suggest that it may have been first domesticated in northeastern Africa and Egypt. It is technically in the Cucurbitaceae, or squash, family, but its distinct leaves and flower formation set it apart from its relatives. It is easily cultivated from seed and its hairy, vining stems can grow up to 10’, winding along the ground. The flowers are largely monoecious, meaning both male and female flowers occurring on the same plant, and are naturally self- and cross-pollinated by bees. During the intense heat of summer, the flowers give way to spherical or oval, often striped, fruits that can weigh between 6 and 50 pounds, depending on the cultivar. Each melon has a tough outer rind and a sweet, juicy edible flesh.
As with many foods that are synonymous with an American South heritage, watermelon was brought to North America through the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Because of their ability to thrive in poor soil and a hot climate, watermelons were often planted by the enslaved in their gardens along with field peas, sweet potato, and sesame. The melon rinds could be preserved in syrup, pickled, and sometimes added with apples to pies.
In the late 1800s and 1900s watermelons were bred for thicker rinds so that they could be more easily shipped. Prior to that watermelons were selected for their sweetness. One of the best known of these thin skinned but super sweet melons was the ‘Bradford’. Many of the watermelons available today are seedless. This is usually accomplished be breeding a triploid watermelon – in other words a regular watermelon is bred with a watermelon whose chromosome number has been doubled. The seeds produced from this type of cross are usually underdeveloped and not viable, but the fruit is produced just as it normally would be.
Yam
Dioscorea spp.
Various species of yams are native to Asia, South America, North America, and Africa, but the yams most commonly eaten are African yams (Dioscorea rotundata). Yams are not a common crop in the Carolinas, but are frequently mistaken for the very common sweet potato. Yams are more nutritious and less sweet than sweet potatoes. The edible thickened roots of this plant are starchy, white, and, texture-wise, are more similar to a white potato than a sweet potato.
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