Crops among the Cherokee

[flowerpower]

I thought the NA taught the Euros about fish fertilizer.

[jason]

The way I heard it is that Squanto taught the Europeans about fish fertilizer, but that was after returning from Europe, where he was taken as a slave. He may have learned about the fertilizer there.

[Blueflint]

Fish used as a fertilizer as a topic is really unknown. It appears there were a few tribes along the east coast MAY have done this before european contact. Cherokee, Creek and Choctaw did not do this. Burning of the fields was fairly common as it cleared weeds...think of the unknown benefits they were also doing. Also remember the huge acreage that was being hand worked...villages with 1,000 acres or more was common. Unfortunately here in the east, there was little written by the Europeans about the Indians and their life until well after the new influences changed who they were.

Blueflint

[Alan]

Thanks for all the info Blueflint, it's very educational and I appreciate. Burning of fields definetly has some good advantages, including killing of weeds and seeds, loosening the soil and fixing the PH level as well as raising the Potassium in the soil.