European food crops made their way into New Netherland with the first Walloon settlers brought in by the Dutch West Indian Company and everyone thereafter. By the time Adriaen van der Donck published his famous book, A Description of New Netherland, in 1655, a mix of native and imported food crops were flourishing in the gardens and fields of the colonists and have remained as the mainstay of our kitchen stock to this day.
The imported seeds and fruit trees thrived in the rich soil of the colony. The earliest of colonists quickly adopted native plants like maize and pumpkins and added them to their larders. Native wild grapes, nuts, blueberries, strawberries, blackberries, and others added sweetness and variety to the colonists' diets.
Throughout his book, Van der Donck weaves together a mixture of what was available to be consumed with anecdotes on where they came from, or other tidbits of information. The array of eatables is far greater than what many have available now.
Speaking of the presence of maize, Van der Donck shares,
“There are persons who believe that the Spaniards have been here many years ago, when they found the climate too cold to their liking, and again left the country; and that the maize or Turkish corn, and beans found among the Indians, were left with them by the Spaniards. This opinion or belief is improbable, as we can discover nothing of the kind from the Indians. They say that their corn and beans were received from the southern Indians, who received their seed from a people who resided still farther south, which may well be true, as the Castilians have long since resided in Florida. The maize may have been among the Indians in the warm climate long ago; however, our Indians say that they did eat roots and the bark of trees instead of bread, before the introduction of Indian corn or maize.”[1]
Along with maize, the crops included commonly known European vegetables:
“Various kinds of salads, cabbages, parsnips, carrots, beets, endive, succory, sorrel, dill, spinage, radishes, Spanish radishes, parsley, chervil (or sweet cicely) cresses, onions, leeks, and besides whatever is commonly founding a kitchen garden.”[2]
There are very few plants that do not thrive in the area. However, among the peas and beans, considered field crops, there is one popular bean variety that struggled in the colder mid-Atlantic climate.
“Of beans there are several kinds; but the large Windsor bean, which the farmers call tessen, or house beans, and also the horse-beans, will not fill out their pods.”[3]
By 1767, when an ad was placed in the New York Gazette for a tenant farm located on Philipse Manor lands, the hard work of the early colonists had come to fruition. Acres of orchards and fields of pastureland speak to the years of work required to remove old growth trees and local stones. The ad reads,
“...300 Acres of Land, whereof 20 Acres is Orchard of the choicest grafted Fruit, with two large Gardins well flor’d with a Variety of Peaches, Pears, Plumbs, Currents, and English Cherries of the best sorts, with several Beds of Asparagus, all in good Fence, with near 200Acres of Mowing, Plough, and Pasture Land, together with 80 Acres of Wood Land...”
This advertisement gives a glimpse of what a tenant farmer on a Philipse farm might have grown. It also shows the hard work a tenant farmer would have had to put into a property to make it productive. For example, asparagus takes two years before maturing enough to harvest. Fruit trees typically take five years to yield fruit in any great quantity; meanwhile, the upfront cost for seeds, planting, and tending would go unreturned until then. Acres of plough and pastureland represent a huge labor expenditure: each acre would likely have needed to be painstakingly cleared of trees, brush, and rocks by hand to make way for grazing animals and plowing. And, while a tenant could sometimes sell his lease to another farmer, the land and ultimately any improvements made to the land would always remain the property of the Philipse family.
Domesticated animals came along with the colonists and added to the wealth of food available from the sea, rivers, streams, and fields. Oysters and clams, often the size of a human hand, were easily plucked from local waters. Later, they were pickled and used as an export product. Sturgeon, a fish prized in Europe, especially for its caviar, swam the Hudson River and provided food for Natives and Europeans alike.
Native species of geese, turkeys, and rabbits were sometimes raised on colonial farms, but most animals were bred from populations shipped at great expense from Europe. Imported animals included cattle (from both Holland and England), oxen, pigs, sheep, and goats. Dairy products, particularly butter, the dominant fat used in cooking and baking, was used domestically, but also became a major export from the colony.
Horses for riding and for field work were also brought from Europe. Colonists brought along their dogs and cats which were largely working animals on a farm, assisting in hunting, livestock protection, and pest control.
Sources:
[1] Adriaen van der Donck, A Description of New Netherland, p 4.
[2] Ibid, p. 67
[3] Ibid, p. 70-71
