01/29/2024
“Iroquois farmers may have been able to maintain high soil nitrogen levels because they grew corn, beans, and squash together and let the plant remains decay back into the soil after the vegetables had been harvested. While plowing releases nitrogen into the air and causes it to oxidize, Iroquoian farming methods disturbed the soil to a lesser degree, rendering fertilizers unnecessary. “Native American farmers understood their crops and understood the need for maintaining soil quality””
A new study of maize kernels from pre-European-contact Mohawk villages in central New York State has found that by growing corn, beans, and squash together, the Iroquois villages’ soil was as fertile as the fields that had been plowed and fertilized with livestock.
archaeology.org/issues/538-2401/digs/11954-new-york-state-mohawk-maize
(Courtesy John Hart)
