There has been a surge in popularity for organic foods as consumers have become more aware of the benefits associated with fruits and vegetables grown in an organic garden. These benefits, often lacking in more traditional gardens that use chemical-based fertilizers, include nutrient-dense crops, tastier produce and healthier harvests. While this organic approach to gardening has continued to gain momentum what many people don’t realize is how important it was in the survival of the Pilgrims and the first Thanksgiving.
When the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth nearly 400 years ago they came across an unforgiving land that offered little in the way of proper soil for planting and growing a sustainable crop. With no real experience in dealing with the rocky landscape and poor soil conditions the Pilgrims were facing a devastating fate. Fortunately for the new settlers the Native Americans introduced them to life-saving gardening techniques that offered them the opportunity to thrive in the New World. These techniques involved an organic approach to gardening that not only saved the lives of the Pilgrims but have proven to be just as beneficial today.
In his new eBook “Squanto’s Secret Garden” Bill Heid, president of Solutions from Science, details the role Native Americans played in producing the first Thanksgiving as well as outlines the organic techniques and methods used to cultivate the harvest enjoyed at that historic meal. Heid also reveals the benefits of returning to the organic gardening approach introduced by the Native Americans, pointing out the food enjoyed at the first Thanksgiving was probably healthier and tastier than the food we place on our table today.
At the heart of the Native Americans success in organic gardening was marine-based fertilization. The practice of burying a fish in the soil provided vital nutrients like calcium, nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium and sulfur and thus ensured the ground could produce healthy crops. When the Pilgrims adopted this practice they also shifted to smaller gardens and implemented “companion planting” to further nourish the soil and as a result their future was secure.
What Heid points out in the second half of his free eBook “Squanto’s Secret Garden,” available at www.FirstThanksgivingGarden.com, is that many of the struggles the Pilgrims faced are the same problems today’s gardeners encounter as over farming and soil depletion have taken a toll on the ground. Heid does offer plenty of suggestions for those looking to replenish the soil and create an organic garden of their own, chief among these suggestions is the lesson taught by the Native Americans, utilizing a marine-based fertilizer.
To access your free copy of Bill Heid’s eBook “Squanto’s Secret Garden” and learn more about organic gardening techniques for healthier and better tasting fruits and vegetables go to: www.FirstThanksgivingGarden.com
Solutions From Science is a small Illinois company helping backyard gardeners grow healthier and better tasting fruits and vegetables with alternative, marine based fertilizers.
