Plants surround us; but do you know where they originally came from? What follows is only a quick “sampling” of some memorable edible plant immigration to the Western Hemisphere, comment on invasive plants, and discussion of the involvement of immigrants with gardening. People move around and so do plants; often they travel together — both can be immigrants.
Thomas Jefferson: “The Greatest service . . . “
With time, barriers to plant dispersion become more permeable. Although oceans, deserts, and expansive landscapes have been barriers — even in ancient times people and plants traveled together. People disperse plants, sometimes coincidentally, other times purposefully. Plants such as chili peppers, potatoes and tomatoes came to Virginia only through European settlement. About his Monticello vegetable garden Thomas Jefferson wrote in his Notes on the State of Virginia: “The gardens yield musk melons, water melons, tomatoes, okra, pomegranates, figs, and the esculent [edible] plants of Europe.” None are plants native to Virginia. In 1800 Jefferson wrote, “[T]he greatest service which can be rendered any country is to add an useful plant to its culture; especially a bread grain, next in value to bread is oil.”
Early Encounters and Established Staples
Today the natural landscape – as well as our agriculture — is far different from that enjoyed by native peoples. In fact, the landscape they lived in was one they created. As Peter Coates (American Perceptions of Immigrants and Invasive Species, p. 11) notes, we do not know which seeds accompanied them as they “migrated across the Baring land bridge from Siberia some 14,000 years ago [some scholars have pushed the date back to at least 20,000 years ago]. . . whether carried deliberately or stuck to hair, clothes or feet. . . Plants also came up from the south. . . crops cultivated by native peoples first encountered by Europeans colonists were not indigenous to the eastern seaboard. They came from Central America. Corn may not have arrived in southern New England until the eleventh century.” People have always been on the lookout for something good to eat and no amount of prejudice or fear of new things has held appetites in check for long. Seeds are clearly the ultimate software to the ultimate computer – nature. They’re made for traveling!
As children, we learned the foods (plants) the New World gave to the Old. But here we will focus on what was taken from other places and rapidly integrated into our pantries, farms, and gardens. From the start, with Spanish invasion and settlement, Europeans wanted to eat like Europeans. This was the initial reason for wheat, native to the ancient Middle East’s Fertile Crescent, being introduced by the Spanish and preferred to maize (what we call corn). It can all get a little confusing: the Spanish word maiz is an altered version of the native Taino word mahiz. The term “corn” was used in England to refer to the predominant grain in a given location, so “corn” was used for wheat, and oats was “corn” in Scotland and Ireland. Today, most of the world refers to corn as either “maize” or “maiz.”
In addition to wheat, Spanish settlers introduced grape vines, radishes, chickpeas, melons, cabbage, olive trees, and watercress. The Spanish attributed what they judged as savageness among the peoples they encountered as a consequence of what they ate. They sought to preserve their own natures and change those of native peoples through a change of diet. It could go the other way as well, and in the 1680 Pueblo Revolt in New Mexico rebels were told by their leaders to destroy the seeds Spaniards brought and eat the seeds of their ancestors — maize and beans. But adoption of European foods could be swift, and by the 1580s, Andean villagers were consuming a host of European crops. Economy could win the day too, and from the 1580s forward, ships sailing to Spain might be provisioned with bread made from maize or cassava. New England colonists early on made puddings from maize, although they had the same cautions on eating native foods. For the above and more, see Rebecca Earles’s excellent “The Columbian Exchange” in The Oxford Handbook of Food History (2017).
Sugar cane is a native of New Guinea, and coffee, of Yemen. The former was grown and processed on an industrial scale, with enslaved labor, in Brazil and the Caribbean. Also grown with enslaved labor, coffee was originally grown in the Caribbean, primarily on France’s Saint-Domingue (in the area of today’s Haiti), but the Haitian Revolution (1791-1804) compelled its migration to Brazil. Beginning breakfast with a glass of orange juice is a ritual in many American homes, but the orange, and other citrus fruits, came to our shores with Spanish settlement. And the label “as American as apple pie” may lean to an earlier time, but earlier still because the apple is not native to the Americas. It originated in Kazakhstan. Peaches and bananas have other origins as well. Rice is today a standard American food. It was introduced by the British to their colonies in 1685 when a slave ship unloaded a cargo of rice in Charleston, South Carolina. It was already in the Spanish and Portuguese colonies. It reached commercial success in the Carolinas, thanks to the skill and labor of enslaved people who came from rice-growing societies in Africa. Rice was first cultivated in parts of China and then Africa and Eurasia. Also introduced from Africa were yams, watermelons, plantains, okra, and black-eyed peas. Barley is an ancient Fertile Crescent grain originating in parts of Asia. It was brought to Mexico and came to New England in 1602, but prospered only after moving into New York in the 17th century. Rye was cultivated for hundreds of years in Northern Europe before landing in the New World in Nova Scotia in 1606. It appears to have been first cultivated in southwestern Asia. Both owed much to a thirst for alcoholic beverages – beer and whiskey respectively. And while we are not focused on animals, Rebecca Earle observes that there were no goats, sheep, pigs, horses, or mules in the Americas until European settlement (“The Columbian Exchange,” p. 346).
Rebecca Earle also points outs that Old World peoples, shortly after contact, needed help in placing New World foods within their gastronomic system (“The Columbia Exchange,” p. 348). The Spanish compared the new foods to foods they knew, as did the Aztecs. The former likened the avocado to a pear, guava to the apple, and the pineapple to the quince. The Aztecs called black pepper caxtillan chilli or “Castile chile” and wheat, castillan tloalli or caxtillan centli, or “Castile maize.” Almond trees were described as trees from which peanuts grow.
Fears, Suspicions, and Unfortunate Realities
Just as immigrants have not always been warmly accepted, even when their labor is or was needed, there is an element of suspicion of foreign or alien plants. As we know, some plants, not to mention insects, do not “play well” with current residents – even if those resident plants were once themselves immigrants. Non-native plants, though, are not necessarily invasive. To be invasive they must be harmful and uncontrollable. The PlantVirginiaNatives.org (see Plant Virginia Natives) website explains that only 3,000 of the more than 30,000 plant species introduced since European discovery and settlement are naturalized in the U.S. outside of cultivation. About 1,000 of these species have become invasive. Since Jamestown’s settlement more than 600 species have been introduced in Virginia and less than 100 are identified as invasive. For a detailed definition of invasive plants, see the page prepared by the U.S. Forest Service. Weeds are a nuisance; but invasive plants are a threat. To be classified as an invasive, a plant must be non-native to the ecosystem and likely “to cause economic or environmental harm or harm to human health.”
Emily Grebenstein, for the Smithsonian Institution, lists her top six invasives: purple loosestrife, Japanese honeysuckle, Japanese barberry, Norway maple, English ivy, and kudzu. As observed by Peter Coates (American Perceptions of Immigrant and Invasive Species, p. 15), plant paranoia is evident in such films as Day of the Triffids (1963) and Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956). Nonetheless, new plants and crops have been searched for and welcomed. Durum wheat, dates, figs, Japanese rice, mango and other crops are celebrated in government botanist David Fairchild’s 1906 Our Plant Immigrants. Fairchild (1869-1954), for many years manager of the Department of Agriculture’s Office of Seed and Plant Introduction, experienced a personal kudzu nightmare. Kudzu is a native of Japan and southeast China. It debuted in the United States at the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exposition and in 1884 at the New Orleans Exposition. In 1902 Fairchild planted seedlings around his D.C. home. They failed; but then he planted seeds and they thrived. They did so well they smothered plants in their path. By 1938 Fairchild had enough. Nonetheless, kudzu had its day as an officially encouraged control for soil erosion, a cover crop, and inexpensive forage. It was designated as a common weed in the 1970s and in 1998 Congress officially identified kudzu in the Federal Noxious Weed Act. It is no longer on this list, but remains classified as a noxious weed in 13 states and is a plant of concern in Virginia. For further insight into what defines a plant as invasive, visit the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation’s Invasive Plant Species of Virginia. There is a fact sheet for kudzu. Also visit the Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management’s (PRISM) kudzu fact sheet. For another perspective, see Bill Finch’s 2015 Smithsonian Magazine piece.
An entry in EDDMaps notes that “Of our agricultural crops, 98% are not native to the regions where they are grown.” Nevertheless, our major food crops neither displace nor cause harm to the ecosystem or humans. In fact, Invasive.org notes that “only a small percent of introduced species ever become invasive.” Food plants are bred, among other things, for ease of cultivation, taste, and to bear unnaturally large and plentiful fruit or seed. This breeding has occurred across millennia and continues today. However, they prosper because of a diversity of human interventions. They lack the toughness, opportunism, rate of growth and spread, and resiliency of weeds. In addition, crops such as maize (corn), rice, and wheat have lost the ability to drop seeds naturally. Interestingly, undesirable plants can evolve from domestic ancestors. “Crops can go wild” as explained in the 2010 Evolutionary Applications article “Crops Gone Wild: Evolution of Weeds and Invasives from Domesticated Ancestors.” The authors identify 13 incidences of this; among common pests are: artichoke thistle (invasive), semi-wild wheat (weed), California wild radish (invasive/weed), and weedy rice (weed). The names may be unfamiliar, but that this can happen prompts the authors to raise questions at the article’s conclusion. Apparently, domesticated plants are occasionally capable of turning to the dark side. (Beyond the scope of this piece are questions regarding Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) as invasive.)
Setting Down Roots in a New Land
Plants from around the world thrive in our gardens and the gardens of others across the globe. It is said, “Tell me what you eat, and I’ll tell you who you are.” American immigrant gardens have always shown this. Adoption of new foods can be surprisingly quick, but core diets and recipes, especially among newer immigrants, reflect traditional food preferences. Language proficiency is lost more quickly. Food preferences persist for generations. Vegetables common in an Italian garden reflect the diversity the Mediterranean encouraged since ancient times, but there are also newer arrivals from the Americas, notably eggplants, squash, and zucchini. Their presence in Italian American gardens is a homecoming.
In her The Italian American Garden Project, Mary Menniti observes that in their usually small or even tiny backyard gardens, Italian immigrants were quick to plant fig trees. They planted many things and on this site, through text and video, you will learn their gardening stories. The fig, of course, is not native to the New World. In fact, one way of preserving it through northeast winters was to bury it. Often cuttings were brought over hidden in clothing – and this at a time when there was no legal impediment to such introduction. You just couldn’t take chances with something so important! Today she suggests you can visit some neighborhoods, even if Italians have moved on, and see this giveaway of their prior residence.
Immigrant gardens, whether they are in backyards or elsewhere, offer immigrants the opportunity to enjoy food preferences, grow old friends, and try new things. Sometimes the familiar plants they grow are New World plants – a fact that may not be known to them. They offer a level of food security for the gardeners and their families. In fact, through their gardening, they can support and encourage a healthier diet than is prevalent among the wider population. Responsibility for a garden, nurturing and harvesting, can provide a sense of fulfillment and empowerment. These gardens also offer the possibility for nascent entrepreneurship, because an abundance that exceeds needs can be sold. For insight into what these efforts can mean to participants and their descendants, see the Smithsonian Institution’s Community of Gardens project. Browse its entries or use the search option or clickable map provided. Garden photos accompany each “story.” To begin, you might enjoy “My Father’s Garden” and “Four Generations of Gardeners.” For a description of the project’s intent, see “About Community of Gardens.”
The International Rescue Committee’s New Roots Program in Charlottesville
Through its New Roots program, the Charlottesville office of the International Rescue Committee (IRC) promotes agriculture and food security among those it serves. The organization — Charlottesville is one of the twenty-eight U.S. cities where the IRC has an office — was founded in 1933 in response to a plea from Albert Einstein. It is a nonprofit nongovernmental organization. It “provides opportunities for refugees, asylees, victims of human trafficking, survivors of torture, and other immigrants to thrive in America.” Its programs, services and enormous reach are described on its website. The organization-wide New Roots program is explained in a November 2022 flyer. For an excellent introduction to the Charlottesville New Roots program, watch this video. At Albemarle County New Roots locations, new farmers – some with agricultural or gardening experience and some with none – have garden plots whose produce they can grow solely for their own use or sell at Charlottesville’s iX Market. The IRC offers assistance in business aspects of the latter. Workshops and programs are also offered to help participants become better farmers. Volunteers across the area and from Piedmont Master Gardeners offer labor and guidance. “In 2021 the IRC held cooking workshops for refugee and Greek women living on the [Greek] Island of Lesvos [Lesbos].” The cookbook Recipes from Home (click on the image on the right) was developed from this effort. Along with legions of commercially-published cookbooks, it demonstrates that plants transcend continents and borders. Across our area, and in the wider world, ethnic restaurants, markets, and widely available and diverse grocery store choices do the same. They serve new immigrants and associated nationalities and ethnicities; but they also make the world smaller and more interconnected for all of us. New Roots’ efforts will be explored fully in a future Garden Shed article.
Featured Image: Wheat field in Vampula, Finland. Photo: Kallerna, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. The Spanish brought wheat to Mexico in the early 1500s. From there its cultivation spread.
Sources
1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus. By Charles G. Mann. Alfred A Knopf, 2005.
1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created. By Charles G. Mann. Alfred A. Knopf, 2011.
“America’s First ‘Food Spy’ Traveled the World Hunting for Exotic Crops.” By Anna Diamond. Smithsonian Magazine, January 2018.
American Perceptions of Immigrant and Invasive Species: Strangers on the Land. By Peter Coates. University of California Press, 2006. See especially chapter 3, “Plants, Insects, and Other Strangers to the Soil,” pp. 71- 111.
“American Rice: Out of Africa.” By Erik Stokstad. Science. American Association for the Advancement of Science.
“The Columbian Exchange,” pp. 341-357. By Rebecca Earle. The Oxford Handbook of Food History. Edited by Jeffrey M. Pilcher. Oxford University Press, 2017.
The Columbian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. By Alfred W, Crosby, Jr. Greenwood Press, 1972.
Community of Gardens. Smithsonian Gardens. Smithsonian Institution.
“Controlling Kudzu.” PMG News [Piedmont Master Gardeners]. Ask a Master Gardener. July 9, 2020.
“Crops Gone Wild: Evolution of Weeds and Invasives from Domesticated Ancestors.” By Norman C. Ellstrand, Sylvia M. Heredia, Janet A. Leak-Garcia, Joanne M. Heraty, Jutta C. Burger, Li Yao,1 Sahar Nohzadeh-Malakshah and Caroline E. Ridley. Evolutionary Applications 2010 vol. 3,5-6 (2010): 494-504.
“Escape of the invasives: Top six invasive plant species in the United States.” By Emily Grebenstein. Smithsonian Sparks. Smithsonian Institution.
“The Fertile Shore.” By Fen Montaigne. Smithsonian Magazine.
Gardens of New Spain: How Mediterranean Plants and Foods Changed America. By William W, Dunmire. University of Texas Press, 2004.
Green Immigrants: The Plants that Transformed America. By Claire Shaver Haughton. Harcourt Brace, Jovanovich, 1978.
History and Use of Kudzu in the Southeastern United States. By Nancy J, Loewenstein, Stephen F. Enloe, John W, Everest, James H. Miller, Donald M. Ball, and Michael G. Patterson. Alabama Extension, Alabama A & M & Auburn Universities.
Immigrant Gardens and their Impact on the American Terrain. Video presentation. By Wambui Ippoloto. Smithsonian Institution.
“Immigrants of the Plant World Came and Almost Conquered.” The New York Times. 27 June 1982, section 2, page 29.
Invasive Plant Species of Virginia. Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation.
International Rescue Committee (IRC). Specifically its service New Roots. Charlottesville, Virginia.
The Italian Garden Project. See also the “Fig Tree” podcast.
“Jefferson, Thomas and Gardening.” By Peter Hatch. Encyclopedia Virginia. See also Monticello’s Vegetable Garden.
“kudzu.” By Kerry O. Britton, David Orr, and Jianghua Sun. In: Van Driesche, R., et al., 2002. Biological Control of Invasive Plants in the Eastern United States. USDA Forest Service Publication FHTET-2002-04.
Kudzu Fact Sheet. Blue Ridge Partnership for Regional Invasive Species Management.
“Kudzu Is So Much More Than the ‘Vine that Ate the South.” By Richard Solomon. Slate. August 28, 2021.
A Native American Legacy: Domesticated Crops in Virginia. Video presentation. By Tom Klatka. Historical Society of Western Virginia. July 23, 2021. See also complementary text and documentation, Native American Agriculture in Virginia.
Our Plant Immigrants: An Account of Some of the Results of the Work of the Office of Seed and Plant Introduction of the Department of Agriculture and of Some of the Problems in Process of Solution. By David Fairchild. “The substance of an address to the National Geographic Society, February 9, 1906 . . . “
The Oxford Companion to Food. Edited by Alan Davidson. Oxford University Press, 1999. A 2nd edition was published in 2006.
Plant dispersal: Atlantic crossing. By Patricia Cleveland-Peck. Originally published in History Today, vol. 61, iss. 9 (September 2011).
Pueraria montana (Kudzu). North Carolina Extension.
Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum). House & Gardens in Bloom at Monticello.
“The True Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Never Truly Ate the South: A Naturalist cuts through the myths surrounding the invasive plant.” By Bill Finch. Smithsonian Magazine, September 2015.
What is an invasive Species? EDDMaps. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health, University of Georgia.
Why Bury Fig Trees? A Curious Tradition Preserves a Taste of Italy. Audio and text. By Hal Klein. National Public Radio.
“Why does ‘corn’ mean ‘maize’ in American English?” English Language & Usage.
