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Food

Pioneers needed to be self-sufficient and grow their own food.



From late spring to fall, a large supply of fresh fruits and vegetables was available. The main crops were wheat, corn, barley and oats. They also grew root vegetables, such as potatoes, carrots, parsnips, beets and onions because they store well. Apples were the most common fruit.

 

Black Creek Vegegarden

Black Creek Growing Vegetable

 

They raised pigs, cows, chickens, ducks, and goats to include meat, eggs and milk in their diet.

 

Black Creek Pigs

Black Creek Rouen

 

However, in the wintertime they relied on the foods that they had stored away in a root cellar.

 

Black Creek Apple Cellar

Black Creek Cellar In

 

They also stored food by drying it, pickling it, smoking it, and salting it.

 

Black Creek Drying Apples