Human
The History of Thanksgiving: How Fertilizer Saved a Feast
Catherine Griffin
First Posted: Nov 26, 2015 03:03 PM EST
Most people know the story of Thanksgiving. It's when the pilgrims were shown by the Native Americans how to survive and how to farm in the New World. But how do these methods actually work?
According to the story, the pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. This was after Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn.
But what sort of tips did the Native Americans give when it came to growing corn? The story goes that they taught the pilgrims to fertilize the land with fish they caught from nearby rivers. But why was this fertilization important?
As fish decay, they provide excellent nutrition for plants and the soil. The plants receive a controlled level of nitrogen, which is a vital element necessary for the production of chlorophyll and maintaining the health of the plant. The decaying fish also feed essential bacteria in the soil that can produce more available organic nitrogen for plant roots. In other words, fish fertilizer can create healthier plants that produce more food.
Of course, these days farmers have taken adding nitrogen to an extreme. Excess nutrients are washed by the rain into streams and rivers, flowing out to the sea where they encourage the growth of algae and can cause dead zones.
However, the nitrogen in the case of the pilgrims was necessary. The pilgrims had a hard first year. Of the 100 that arrived at Plymouth, only 50 survived until the first Thanksgiving. Without the help of this fertilizing element, it could be that even more people would have succumbed to starvation and illness.
So when you eat your Thanksgiving dinner this year, remember that in the end it's all down to the help of nitrogen when it comes to the bounty that you consume.
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First Posted: Nov 26, 2015 03:03 PM EST
Most people know the story of Thanksgiving. It's when the pilgrims were shown by the Native Americans how to survive and how to farm in the New World. But how do these methods actually work?
According to the story, the pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. This was after Squanto, a Patuxet Native American who resided with the Wampanoag tribe, taught the pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn.
But what sort of tips did the Native Americans give when it came to growing corn? The story goes that they taught the pilgrims to fertilize the land with fish they caught from nearby rivers. But why was this fertilization important?
As fish decay, they provide excellent nutrition for plants and the soil. The plants receive a controlled level of nitrogen, which is a vital element necessary for the production of chlorophyll and maintaining the health of the plant. The decaying fish also feed essential bacteria in the soil that can produce more available organic nitrogen for plant roots. In other words, fish fertilizer can create healthier plants that produce more food.
Of course, these days farmers have taken adding nitrogen to an extreme. Excess nutrients are washed by the rain into streams and rivers, flowing out to the sea where they encourage the growth of algae and can cause dead zones.
However, the nitrogen in the case of the pilgrims was necessary. The pilgrims had a hard first year. Of the 100 that arrived at Plymouth, only 50 survived until the first Thanksgiving. Without the help of this fertilizing element, it could be that even more people would have succumbed to starvation and illness.
So when you eat your Thanksgiving dinner this year, remember that in the end it's all down to the help of nitrogen when it comes to the bounty that you consume.
Turkey: Don't Blame This Animal for Your Food Coma on Thanksgiving
Metabolic Disease Risk Increases with Just a Little Junk Food
For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone