The first settlers brought seeds from England, and planted wheat 2 weeks
after landing at Jamestown.
The early Virginians successfully grew many kinds of crops: grains
(wheat, Indian corn, barley, oats, and rye), vegetables (peas, beans,
turnips, parsley, onions, potatoes, cabbage, cauliflower, carrots,
parsnips, lettuce, and others), and fruits (apples, peaches, apricots,
quince, figs, grapes, and melons).
The colonists planted Indian corn as early as 1609, and cultivated many
other Indian foods, including pumpkins, beans, and squash. They
cultivated tobacco (an Indian plant) as early as 1612, and during the
remainder of the century it was the most profitable crop grown. For many
years it was the economic salvation of the struggling colony.
Attempts were made by the early colonists to grow other crops which, for
various reasons, did not thrive at Jamestown. Some plants, like bananas,
pineapple, citrus fruits, and pomegranates, could not withstand the cold
Virginia winters. Other plants, including rice, cotton, indigo,
sugarcane, flax, hemp, and olives, did not grow vigorously for one
reason or another, and repeated efforts to cultivate them usually
resulted in failure. Mulberry trees grew well at Jamestown (the leaves
were used to feed silk worms), but attempts to make silk were not
successful commercially.
[Illustration: TOOLS USED IN THE CULTIVATION OF TOBACCO OVER 300 YEARS
AGO. THESE TOOLS--HOE, BILLHOOK, AND CUTTING KNIVES--WERE EXCAVATED AT
JAMESTOWN.]
[Illustration: CULTIVATING A SMALL GARDEN IN VIRGINIA. (Conjectural
sketch by Sidney E. King.)]
[Illustration: A FEW FARM TOOLS USED BY AN EARLY SETTLER FOR CULTIVATING
HIS NEWLY CLEARED LAND.]
[Illustration: FISHING PROVIDED FOOD AS WELL AS RECREATION FOR THE
COLONISTS. (Conjectural sketch by Sidney E. King.)]
[Illustration: A FEW OF THE MANY ARTIFACTS RELATING TO FISHING UNEARTHED
AT JAMESTOWN: FISHHOOKS, FISH-GIGS, AND LEAD NET WEIGHTS.]
Handtools used by the Jamestown farmers during the 17th-century have
been found in abundance. These include axes, picks, billhooks,
pitchforks, spades, rakes, mattocks, sickles, scythes, broad hoes,
narrow hoes, and shovels.
Only a few parts belonging to heavy farming implements have been
unearthed, including a few ploughshares and small metal fragments from
wagons, carts, and harrows.