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The Army Bean: A Retrospective of 1860s Heirloom Varieties.
Taken from “The Jawbone”, Guthrie Gray Gazette: The Newsletter of the 6th OVI.
How many times have you seen reenactors pull a big shiny red delicious apple or white beans out of their haversack? Have you ever wondered if these items were period? Through heirloom gardening, period foods for your haversack can be guaranteed every time.
With the resurgence of heirloom gardening, old varieties are making a comeback. The addition of period vegetables to supplement your rations at an event is that extra touch of authenticity. Also, for first person reasons, you should at least be aware of some of these varieties. Everyone is familiar with certain varieties today. Almost everyone recognizes Silver Queen corn or red delicious apples. Thus, you would have also known some of the popular varieties of the day. Quite often, one will also find that the old varieties are even better than our modern hybrids. The purpose of this article is to give information on growing heirloom vegetables, and to provide information on what period fruits and vegetables can be carried in your haversack.
There are many period varieties of fruit and vegetables that are still found today. When carrying extra items to supplement your rations, you should follow a couple of guidelines. First, look at the time of the year that the event is being held. This will easily dictate what you can carry. For example, I will not be carrying a fully ripe apple at Gettysburg, or corn at Shiloh. Neither one of these items would be in season. All to often you will see apples or seasonal items being carried at the wrong time. Second, try to carry appropriate fruits or vegetables that are period. This can be accomplished in several ways.
First, if you are the type who likes to garden or has access to a garden, try to plant some heirloom variety seeds. Some heirloom varieties are commonly available at any seed store or garden department. For more information on heirloom seeds, you might want to contact Seed Savers as well at www.seedsavers.org. Late Flat Dutch cabbage(pre-1840s), black seeded simpson lettuce(1850), bull nose peppers(1759), and Texas bird pepper(1813), can all be found at any seed section. They are all period varieties that have a wide geographic distribution. Some of these varieties are still popular to this day.
If you are looking into period food items that could be issued, the following vegetables are good to use and some of which can still be found. For potatoes, try some Irish cobbler(1863) or garnet chile(one of the oldest varieties). Early Rose(1861) was also a period variety. As for sweet potatoes, Southern Queen or red yams date to the early 1800s. Dutch yellow or Danvers yellow globe onions(pre-1850s) are also nice to carry. As for beans, there are a wide variety of beans found during the time period. Scarlet Runner beans(pre-1850s) are still commonly found. Lazy wife(1810), Red Cranberry(pre 1670s), Broad Windsor fava beans(1863), and Dwarf Horticulture(late 1700s) were all predominant. As for peas, Champion of England(1846) was a very prolific variety that many other varieties are derived from. The peas for this variety were wrinkled and oblong.
When carrying corn or discussing period corn, it is good to know Stowells Evergreen sweet corn(1848) or Black Mexican(pre 1860). Both varieties were pretty much wide spread and popular. For flour or feed corn any of the white or yellow gourd seeds such as Virginia gourd seed would be appropriate. Lastly, for a common field corn, Reids Yellow Dent could not be beat. It was grown throughout the Midwest and pre-dated the civil war. It was an extremely popular variety.
Lastly, try to avoid carrying the perfectly shiny red delicious apples. They were not around during the 1860s. Try to look for Jonathans, Pennock, Rome Beauty, Rambo, or most Pippins. They are all good varieties and can still be found at your local store. As stated before, look at the time of year that you are carrying apples in your haversack. Given that apples could be stored for the winter, how often would you have access to apples such as these? More, or less, you would have found apples to be a nice treat during the early to late fall months. They would have been more easily foraged during this time of year.
Hopefully, this article will provide a little more insight into what vegetables and fruits were available during the 1860s. With a little initiative one could either plant their one seeds and harvest their own period vegetables, or at least know what to look for in the local produce store. Even if you have a hard time finding some of these varieties, you would still, for first person reasons, know some of these popular varieties. Thus, a more accurate and well versed impression could be presented.
Taylor’s Guide to Heirloom Vegetables by Benjamin Watson, Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston 1996.
This article was originally hosted by the Authentic Campaigner website and is posted here with the permission of Rick Mussleman.