Post by benben on Oct 29, 2016 21:08:21 GMT -5
Prior to the introduction of maize from Mexico indigenous people in the Eastern Woodlands of North America cultivated a pseudocereal similar to quinoa that is now only found in archeological sites called Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. jonesianum. It's recognized as a cultigen due to its thin testa as opposed to wild specimens.
The following paper claims that based on studies of current non-domesticated Chenopodium berlandieri the yield of this crop "is found to favorably compare to quinoa or maize".
ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/7-1/Smith1987.pdf
As I understand Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. nutalliae is used in Mexico in much the same way. There's seed available online for "huauzontle", cultivated for its broccoli like flower heads, and for "Aztec red spinach", cultivated as a green, but I can't find the "chia" or "chia roho" variety that is cultivated specifically as a pseudocereal in Mexico. Anyone know a source for this?
The link below states that they tested "huauzontle" in Massachusetts and the "inflorescence did not readily form the thick seed head desired by this market".
worldcrops.org/crops/huauzontle
It seems to me the wild stands of C. berlandieri growing along the floodplain of the Ohio and Mississippi offer the best hope for reviving a more Northerly quinoa like pseudoceral. In the link below the author identifies the "lost Natchez crop" Choupichoul as being C. berlandieri and points out that it grows prolifically along the floodplain of the Mississippi near where the Natchez lived.
books.google.com/books?id=sJYIt1uvmpMC&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=choupichoul&source=bl&ots=qhmQbfUnjE&sig=gIYc7_auvPlKBU6dT3gAEfFi-SU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXnryWpYHQAhXi6oMKHXBLACEQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=choupichoul&f=false
Or maybe some of the domesticated seed discovered in rock shelters by archeologists is still viable! Doubtful, but who knows.
Food for thought.
The following paper claims that based on studies of current non-domesticated Chenopodium berlandieri the yield of this crop "is found to favorably compare to quinoa or maize".
ethnobiology.org/sites/default/files/pdfs/JoE/7-1/Smith1987.pdf
As I understand Chenopodium berlandieri ssp. nutalliae is used in Mexico in much the same way. There's seed available online for "huauzontle", cultivated for its broccoli like flower heads, and for "Aztec red spinach", cultivated as a green, but I can't find the "chia" or "chia roho" variety that is cultivated specifically as a pseudocereal in Mexico. Anyone know a source for this?
The link below states that they tested "huauzontle" in Massachusetts and the "inflorescence did not readily form the thick seed head desired by this market".
worldcrops.org/crops/huauzontle
It seems to me the wild stands of C. berlandieri growing along the floodplain of the Ohio and Mississippi offer the best hope for reviving a more Northerly quinoa like pseudoceral. In the link below the author identifies the "lost Natchez crop" Choupichoul as being C. berlandieri and points out that it grows prolifically along the floodplain of the Mississippi near where the Natchez lived.
books.google.com/books?id=sJYIt1uvmpMC&pg=PA253&lpg=PA253&dq=choupichoul&source=bl&ots=qhmQbfUnjE&sig=gIYc7_auvPlKBU6dT3gAEfFi-SU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiXnryWpYHQAhXi6oMKHXBLACEQ6AEIHjAA#v=onepage&q=choupichoul&f=false
Or maybe some of the domesticated seed discovered in rock shelters by archeologists is still viable! Doubtful, but who knows.
Food for thought.