Plants:
Many successful Habitants learned how to grow and tend for crops from Aboriginal farmers. Both the Aboriginals and Habitants grew most of their own foods in the summer months. There was a lot of hard work that needed to be done before anyone could relax. Children, men and women all worked together to grow food to eat.
Habitants farming on a Seigneury
Many different Habitant families worked on one seigneury. Life for a Habitant in New France was a lot easier than a farmer in France. The Habitants didn't need to protect their land, and they also lived in better conditions. The first job of a Habitant was to clear the land. It usually took several worker and an entire ear to clear ten hectares of dense forest. Most habitants were successful farmers in New France. The crops flourished in the rich soil. Some land was kept to grow wheat and barley, but if the land was not suited for growing crops, it was used as grazing pasture for livestock. Theses farmers didn't grow enough to send crops back to France, but just enough to feed their families. From June to September, it was seed time, haymaking time, and harvest time. These few short weeks meant never ending hard work with very little rest. Children, men and women all participated in the field work and ate meal s at irregular times.
Iroquois Pumpkin
The Habitants learned many farming techniques from the Aboriginal farmers. The Habitants ate peas, lentil, beans, asparagus, onions, leeks, apples cucumbers, melons, strawberries, melons, raspberries, blackberries, wild plums, cranberries, currants, wild cherries and blueberries. The natives also ate strawberries, blackberries, blueberries, cranberries, turnips, plums, and grapes. The Aboriginal women showed the settlers where to gather nuts, herbs and berries in the woods. The Aboriginals taught them how to grow corn, beans, squash, sunflowers and pumpkins. Unfortunately, unless corn was roasted, it did not excite much enthusiasm among the colonists.
Sunflowers
The sunflowers had the same affect as the corn. The colonists recognized the quality of the oil, but imported olive oil from France instead. Strawberries, raspberries, gooseberries and currants were already known in Europe and did not excite the settlers. However, beans and squash were adapted for a while. Pumpkins gained widespread popularity! Cherries, apples and plums didn't appeal to the colonists, but they did enjoy blueberries, cranberries and butternuts. After a period of optimism, wild grapes proved to be disappointing. Wild herbs (chervil, parsley, garlic, chives etc.) sparked curiosity among the settlers, but many still preferred domestic varieties from France.
Maple Syrup process
The native people also taught the Habitants how to make maple syrup and when to harvest it. Forty gallons of sap made one gallon of syrup or ten pounds of sugar. Maple sap can first be harvested in early spring. The natives also taught the people of New France when certain crops were ready for harvest. For example, fall time was the harvest of corn or squash. The Iroquois in particular depended on staple food such as corn, beans, and squashes. They considered these three foods to be the "Three Sisters" or the "Supporters of Life". They Aboriginals knew about seventeen varieties of corm, sixty varieties of beans and eight native squashes.
Olive Oil
The Habitants made bouillon. Bouillon is beer made from wheat or maize mash. They also drank spruce beer, beer, milk, water, cider and calvados (cider brandy). The people of New France imported goods that they wanted from France. For example, olive oil, walnuts, fish, spices, vinegar, salt, sugar, molasses, wine, brandy and rum.
