Cranberries: From Native American Staple to Modern Icon

Cranberries, a small but mighty fruit, have a rich history rooted in Native American culture. Native Americans recognized cranberries for their versatility, using them as food, fabric dye, and healing agents. They introduced cranberries to New England colonists, who quickly adopted them into their culinary practices and used them to prevent scurvy, a common disease among sailors and settlers due to vitamin C deficiency.

As European settlement expanded across North America, the demand for cranberries grew, spurring the commercial cultivation of the berry. By 1728, cranberries were identified as a suitable snack for children, highlighting their growing popularity. America's first cookbook author, Amelia Simmons, recommended serving turkey with cranberries in her 1796 book "American Cookery," establishing a tradition that persists today, particularly during Thanksgiving.

The first commercial endeavor to produce cranberries as a crop began in Dennis, Massachusetts, by Captain Henry Hall, a Revolutionary War veteran. In 1816, Hall planted the first commercial cranberry beds on Cape Cod. He observed that large berries thrived when tides and winds swept sand into his bog, leading to the realization that bogs were ideal for cranberry cultivation. By 1820, Hall was shipping cranberries to major markets in Boston and New York City. Boston emerged as a key market for both cultivated and wild cranberries.

Today, cranberries are commercially grown throughout the northern United States. The United States produces approximately 680 million pounds of cranberries annually on 38,500 acres of land, with major production areas in Massachusetts, Wisconsin, New Jersey, Oregon, and Washington. Cranberries remain a vital agricultural product and cultural icon, particularly in regions like New England, where their historical roots run deep.

Cranberries' journey from a Native American staple to a commercial crop underscores their enduring importance in American history and agriculture. Their versatility and health benefits continue to make them a beloved fruit, enjoyed fresh, dried, or as a sauce, particularly during festive seasons.
Cranberries: From Native American Staple to Modern Icon

History of hops in United States

Brewing in North America began with the arrival of European settlers, who considered beer a staple of life, nearly as important as bread and water.

One of the greatest flavor enhancers in beer is hops (Humulus lupulus L.), often referred to as the “spice” of beer. Hops have been used almost exclusively for brewing purposes for 1,200 years or more. German beermakers have been using wild hop to flavor their brew for hundreds of years.

Hops likely originated in China, but the first documented use was in the 8th century when Benedictine monks used them for brewing in a Bavarian abbey outside of Munich, Germany.

The first cultivated hops were introduced into the United States from Europe by the Massachusetts Company in 1629 to stabilize local hop availability. Hop cultivation spread along the Eastern seaboard as new towns and communities provided support for hop production.

The first commercial hop yard in the United States was established in New York in 1808. By the late 1700s and early 1800s, the New England states became the dominant American hop growing region. By the mid-1800s, the state of New York controlled the largest US hop acreage, reaching its peak in the last decades of the century. In 1859 seven‐eighths of the nation's hops were harvested in New York State.

Cultivation of the crop rapidly spread south and west. Wisconsin became a major producer of hop for a brief period late in the nineteenth century, but New York remained the leader until the crop was virtually wiped out in both states by downy mildew in the 1920s.
History of hops in United States

History of oats cultivation in United States

The oat (Avena sativa) was domesticated around 2000 BC. The hexaploid oats originated in the Hindu Kush region.

Oats were first brought to North America with other grains in 1602 and planted on Cuttyhunk, an island off the Massachusetts coasts by Scottish settlers. Culture of oats became important within 30 years of its initial introduction.

As early as 1786, George Washington sowed 580 acres to oats. By the 1860s and 1870s, the oat production had moved westward and upper Mississippi Valley, which is its major area of production today.

The early farmers of Pennsylvania were general and livestock farmers, a system to which the culture of oats was well suited, resulting in expansion of oat production.

The variety ‘Kherson’ imported from Russia in 1896 by the Nebraska Agricultural Experiment Station, selections from it, marked the beginning of the early common spring oat variety in the United States.
History of oats cultivation in United States

The history of peaches in United States

The peach is said to have been first cultivated in England about the middle of the sixteenth century, Gerard describes several varieties of peach as growing in his garden. Tusser mentions it among his list of fruits in 1557.

Peaches were introduced to the New World following the Spanish conquest.

In North America, it was only after the American Revolution in the 1770s when clonal propagation of peaches became a common technique.

Several peach cultivars were released between the 1770s and 1860s from selected seedling of unknown parentage.

A number of cultivars of unknown origin were released in the first half of the 1800s including Early Crawford, Late Crawford and Oldmixon Cling.

About 1850, Charles Downing introduced peaches directly from China to North America, from which emerged the Chinese Cling.  After Civil War, Samuel Rumph planted Chinese Cling in Marshallville, Georgia and released two important cultivars from that field, Elberta and Belle of Georgia.

Chinese Cling and its seedlings such as Elberta, Belle of Georgia, J.H Hale and their derivatives became important peach cultivars throughout the USA.
The history of peaches in United States

Pistachio in America

Pistachio nuts are used in the food industry as flavoring and coloring for cakes, ice cream, snack foods and certain confections. The pistachio is native to central Asia, where it has been cultivated for over nine thousands years.

The ancient Greeks consumed pistachios and the nuts were introduced to Italy in the first century CE.

The first pistachio seeds were planted in California and several southern states in 1854, but the trees did not thrive.  During the 1880’s imported pistachios were popular among American immigrants from the Middle East and were found in ethnic food shops, especially in New York City.

Pistachio nuts recipes were published in American cookbooks after the beginning of the twentieth century.

In 1929 William E. Whitehouse, an American plant scientist, wandered around Persian plantations, dusty village markets and bazaars for six months, collecting distinctive pistachio nut seeds.

He came back with twenty pounds of carefully selected seeds and germinated them in 1930 at Chico Plant Introduction Station in California’s San Joaquin Valley where they thrived.

It wasn’t until 1950 that a really stayed out tree could be selected, one with noticeably, larger and plumper nuts. It was named ‘Kerman’ after the famous carpet-making city near the nut has been collected.

The nuts became popular during the 1930s, when they were largely sold to immigrant groups and distributed through vending machines.

In 1976 the first major crops of pistachio nuts was harvested in California, which in the early 2000s, was the world’s second largest producer.
Pistachio in America

History of Apples in United States

In England apples were grown everywhere and had been there so long that Englishman considered them as native to their island.

Finding no apples in America, early settlers quickly remedied the situation by planting apple seeds brought from England.

Before the arrival of settles from Europe, Native Americans commonly gathered raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries that grew will in openings in the forest.

Apples came to North America with the colonists in the 1600s, and the first apple orchard on this continent is said to have been located near Boston in 1625.

Apples were the fruits most commonly grown in the colonies. It was grown chiefly for cider, which was a common drink of rich and poor, used for farmers’ own consumption and for sale, trade and export.

A 1666 English settlers in North Carolina’s Cape Fear River was described as growing ‘apples, pears and other English fruits…..out of planted kernels’.

Anglican clergyman William Blaxton apparently raised the first American variety of apple-the Yellow Sweeting- on Beacon Hill in Boston about 1640.

From New England origins, apples, moved west with pioneers John Chapman (alias Johnny Appleseed), and missionaries during the 1700s and 1800s.

In 1900s, irrigation projects in Washington State began and allowed the development of the multibillion dollar fruit industry, of which the apple is the leading species.

The oldest apple variety surviving today is probably the Pomme d’Api, a small yellow or red fruit that originated in ancient Rome, known today in North America as the Lady or Christmas Apple.
History of Apples in United States