11 Crops Native to North America You Can Still Enjoy Today

With cultural diffusion and global trade, it's hard to tell where many of our favorite fruits and veggies actually come from.

The truth is, North America was home to a rich biodiversity of edible plants long before the first European ever stepped foot here. These edible plants were foraged, farmed, and cultivated by Native Americans for thousands of years. Today, modern cuisines from around the globe owe many of their staples to the knowledge and farming technology of people indigenous to this vast land.

Let's look at 11 crops native to North America. As we gather with our families this holiday season and fill our bellies with appetizers and entrees aplenty, it's important to take a moment to appreciate the history of our food and the people who cultivated the land we now live on. As we go along, I'll point out some cultivars that you can still grow in your vegetable garden today to connect more with the past and introduce new flavors into your diet.

Squash, Pumpkins, and Gourds Were Staples in Native American Diets

We'll start with squash, which is believed to be one of the first domesticated American crops. Squash, pumpkins, and gourds make up one part of the well-known North American trifecta, the "Three Sisters." The idea of this intercropping method is to plant a low-growing, wide-spreading crop like squash between rows of corn so that the large squash leaves would shade the ground, which preserves moisture and suppresses weeds.

The Three Sisters were planted in large fields and maintained by women, and the whole system worked so well that they could feed entire communities. In addition to eating the nutrient-packed flesh and seeds, Native Americans could dry the hard shells of winter squash and use them as jugs and containers. The Iroquois believed that squash, corn, and beans were given to them by Sky Woman's daughter to sustain life.

After centuries of saving the best seeds for next year, Native American cultures like the Senecas, the Seminoles, the Cherokee, and many more grew a wide variety of squash and pumpkin cultivars ideally suited to their unique area. Unfortunately, many of these varieties were lost when European settlers forced indigenous peoples out of their lands.

One interesting native plant is called the seminole pumpkin, original to the Everglades in south Florida. The plant is extremely heat- and drought-tolerant, and the skin is so hard it has to be cut with an ax. It's that hard shell that allows these pumpkins to be stored for months, even in humid climates. You can still find seminole pumpkin seeds—they're a great option for those of you growing in warm, humid climates.

Next time you see pumpkins and gourds used as fall decor, take a moment to appreciate the rich history of these crops and their importance to hundreds of civilizations.

Corn (Maize) Comes from Mexico

Corn is presumed to be one of the most ancient domesticated crops. It comes from a wild grass called teosinte, and we have the Olmec and Mayan people to thank for turning it into the plant we recognize today some 7,000 to 10,000 years ago. The Mayans considered corn a sacred crop, and its cultivation is believed to have supported the growth of massive civilizations from the Aztecs to the Inca. At the end of the summer, cobs were typically left on the stalks to dry, and then Mesoamericans could create a flour to use in tortillas, corn breads, tamales, and other foods that could be enjoyed all year long.

Corn came to what's now the United States by way of the Pueblo people in the Southwest around 1,200 BCE. It spread rapidly from there, transforming entire cultures. In the Three Sisters method, corn was planted in rows and used as a support structure for pole beans.

Corn quickly became a vital food source for English settlers thanks to its storage capabilities. Of course, they could also produce their own cornmeal, flour, and hominy.

One notable type of corn is now called Roy's Calais flint corn. It was originally cultivated by either the Abenaki or the Sokoki in the modern-day Vermont area, and grows well in cold climates with short summer growing seasons. It's much more flavorful than the corn you find at the grocery store. You can still grow your own Roy's Calais flint corn today.

Beans Gave Protein to Fuel Ancient North American Civilizations

Beans are the third component of the Three Sisters. Native women would plant bean seeds in hills about 2 to 3 weeks after sowing corn. The pole beans could climb up the cornstalks, and in turn, they'd add nitrogen to the soil.

Nutrition-wise, beans rounded out a diet rich in maize and squash so that Native Americans had all the essential proteins and fiber they needed from the land. Like corn, beans can be eaten fresh or dried, which extends their availability year round.

Many important bean varieties, like mesquite beans and tepary beans, originally come from the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. Today, you can choose from hundreds of bean varieties to grow. When shopping for seeds, look for heirloom varieties to grow up a trellis (or up some cornstalks).

Peppers Have Spiced Up Meals in the Americas for Thousands of Years

Hot peppers date back as far as 10,000 years ago in Mexico, Central America, and South America. Mexico is believed to be the site of the first domesticated peppers from wild plants, and chili peppers get their name from the Nahuatl language of the Aztecs. (We have a certain Italian explorer who must not be named to thank for the word "pepper" since his first bites reminded him of black peppercorns from Asia.)

Peppers were cultivated for both their culinary and medicinal use. The chiltepin pepper, known as the mother of all peppers, still plays a major role in Mexican and Southwestern cuisine. Because it's so spicy, it's often sun dried, pickled, or fermented into a sauce. If you can take the heat, you can still find seeds for chiltepin peppers today.

Tomatillos Date Back to 800 BCE in Central Mexico

Tomatillos, those cousins to tomatoes that grow in little papery husks, were first domesticated by the Aztecs about 3,000 years ago, according to excavation evidence from the Tehuacán Valley. Tomatillos became an important Mesoamerican crop that provided antioxidants and tons of vitamins and minerals. Tomatillos are most commonly used to make green chili sauces.

You can still find wild varieties of tomatillos in parts of Mexico and Central America today. You can also grab seeds for the traditional green variety or even yellow, purple, and red tomatillos, and grow your own (make sure to grow at least two so they can cross pollinate).

Avocados Come from Mexico and Central America

Here's something you might not grow in your vegetable garden but that has played a major role in keeping people fed for thousands of years. Avocados were cultivated in Mexico and Central America all the way back in about 7,000 BCE. The energy content in the fruit pulp made them an invaluable food source. So important, in fact, they're featured as a glyph in the Mayan calendar.

Most of us can't grow and produce our own avocados here in the US (unless you live in Southern California, Florida, or Hawaii), but you can always root an avocado pit and grow your own beautiful little house plant next to a sunny window.

Amaranth Was an Important Leafy Green in North America

Amaranth lives now in the shadows of its much more popular cousins, Swiss chard and spinach, but it was once cultivated by the Aztecs. Known as huāuhtli, it was used for both culinary and religious purposes throughout Central and North America. Tehuacán Amaranth provided not only leafy greens but also toasted seeds still used in a traditional Mexican sweet called alegría. Its popularity as a salad green began to fade about 500 years ago, perhaps due to the slight bitter taste of the leaves.

Wild Rice Is Native to the US and Canada

Here's one that originated far from sunny Mexico, all the way up in the Upper Great Lakes region of the US and Canada. Wild rice, or Anishinaabe Manoomin, is a semi-aquatic grass that's been around for thousands of years. Native Americans harvested the grains from their canoes using long harvesting sticks. These grains became a sacred food to the Anishinaabe people. It gave them protein, fiber, and tons of other important nutrients.

Wild Ramps Grow in Eastern North America

Wild ramps are perennial onions that prefer the kind of sandy, moist soil you find in woodlands in eastern North America. Native Americans used to forage wild ramps for both culinary and medicinal purposes. Recently, wild ramps have gained massive popularity, which has led to some unsustainable foraging practices.

Other Crops Native to North America

Here are some more native crops to help you get a better idea of how millions of people ate on the continent for thousands of years. Most of these crops have never made it onto grocery store shelves because the demand for them is low, they're difficult to harvest, or they have a short shelf life.

Highbush Cranberries

These super-hardy plants hail from Canada. Their berries can be enjoyed raw or turned into jams, jellies, and even wine.

Acorns

Wild nuts from oak trees were once central to the diets of native peoples on the west coast. They're high in calories and nutrients and are also easy to store.

American Persimmon

This is the less-popular version of the Asian persimmon. Native Americans turned the fruits into cakes, soups, and candy. You may stumble upon an heirloom variety at your local nursery if you're lucky.

Cholla Cactus Flower Buds

Cholla buds were long a part of diets in the southwestern US and northwestern Mexico. The buds taste a bit like asparagus and provided much-needed calcium, fiber, and carbs. Sadly, we've lost the ancient ways of harvesting and preparing cholla buds in our modern food cycle.

Pawpaws

This is the largest edible fruit native to North America. It comes from the custard apple plant family and tastes like a cross between mangoes and bananas. Native Americans grew and enjoyed pawpaws for millenia.

Blue Camas

This root vegetable is native to the Pacific Northwest. It likely wasn't farmed but provided extra nutrition for hunter-gatherers. Harvesting the roots was a labor-intensive process, and then the bulb needed to be cooked to become edible.

Grow with Gratitude This Fall

This is the time of year to acknowledge both the rich history of food here on this continent and the importance that Native American food production played in our country's history.

Thanks for being here and learning a little more about the foods we get to grow and enjoy today!

Sources:

• USDA National Agricultural Library
• Britannica
• American Indian Health and Diet Project