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Evolution of crop cultivation



When man builds shelter under a tree that provides shade as well as food, you may say that he was hot in the sun, or you may say that he was hungry; but when he stays and builds his village, you must say that there are a least two reasons for this to be a good spot. The problem with making the move from Hunter/Gatherer to Farmer is not so much an intellectual one as logistics.  When you are under a tree it is quite easy to see the seed falling every year and it is quite easy to see small seedling trees pop out of the ground every year. But if the incentives to keep moving such as weather or competition for this spot, are even slight, it could still make a lot of sense to let nature do the planting.  Find a crop that has some value in protecting a particular spot from your competition -and- voila! Now you can stay on the farm.  The Woodland Black Cap makes a good planting for the perimeter of the village which will provide an excellent food as well as discourage, with the plant's thorns, any animals from passing through. 

Woodland Black Cap Super Food
So the question arises of whether the crop or the village was planted first.  Probably the original Hunter/Gatherers simply camped near the best foraging opportunities.  When the advantages of these natural occurring plants was realized, the carry and replanting of these valuable crops seems a pretty easy jump.  My farm in the Midwest of North America which has an abundance of "naturally occurring" Woodland Black Caps is at the edge of an old Adena village site which was clearly located for the advantages given by the congruence of The Sugar Creek and The White River in East Central Indiana.  Even the entrance ways to the village and location of 'gates' in the perimeter mounds indicates that the water ways were the key geographical features and cause of this town's location.  The Black Caps, if not brought in, were at the very least protected, cultivated, and strategically placed. In fact, while evidence of who was growing beans and squash from seed is continually searched and debated, the simple transplanting of your favorite fruit when you relocate requires seed only in thought.  These fruits that are so easily propagated by splitting and replanting were highly likely among the first food crops under cultivation in North America. The roots of this plant are shallow growing and it is easy as pie (ha) to pull up a young plant for relocation.  Now when we look at the map from our sky view, our current source of Black Caps is most obviously from the distribution and work of the Adena people that it almost begs to show that 'Antioxidants' and 'Vitamin C' could have been in the vocabulary of the Adena people.

by:  C. Rich
Woodland Black Cap Super Food


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