Ham and Beans - A Traditional Farm Life

A Traditional Farm Life

By Shasta Hamilton

Greetings from Enterprise, dear friends!  As I continue to languish with a bad case of “garden catalog fever,” my family anxiously awaits signs of the abating of symptoms.  But, alas, it appears this mid-winter malady has taken firm hold of my senses, causing my waking hours to be filled with thoughts of heirloom beans, corn, and squash. . . .and sometimes my slumbering hours, too.

My propensity to show off the “bean collection” obtained from Kelley Taylor to customers at The Buggy Stop has embarrassed my children, but my fascination with these gorgeously multi-colored Native American heirlooms continues unchecked. 

Kelley and Katie were in for lunch yesterday, and graciously humored me while I enthusiastically showed them the 12 butter tubs of different looking specimens divided from the beans they raised and gave us samples of last summer.  Even they were surprised by the wide variation in colors represented, not remembering such vibrant colors in their own collection.  Their beans were collected earlier in the season, and the ones they gave us were the last on the vines.  How this could make a difference know one knows, but it will be interesting to hear if what they have stored at home is identical to what I shelled.

Over the years I’ve noticed in gardening books references to the Native American “three sisters” practice of planting pole beans with the corn, allowing the bean’s vines to curl up the corn plant as support.  Squash vines were planted in between. 

The benefits of this kind of companion planting intrigue me.  Not having access to our modern scientific breakdowns of the components of soil health, they carefully observed outcomes and over time and developed practices that contributed to soil health.

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Now we look at this arrangement with an eye toward sustainable agriculture:  The corn supported the beans, which in turn fixed nitrogen in the soil to feed the corn.  The large leaves of the squash planted at the base or in between rows of corn covered the bare soil with a prickly, living canopy discouraging weeds--and perhaps even corn-loving critters like raccoons as well.

Interested in a first hand account of Native American gardening practices, I obtained a copy of “Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden” yesterday.  Originally published as “Agriculture of the Hidatsa Indians:  An Indian Interpretation” by Gilbert Livingstone Wilson, Ph.D in the early twentieth century, Buffalo Bird Woman (ca. 1839-1932) recounts the traditional methods her tribe used for growing their food crops.

Not surprisingly, corn, beans and squash were the primary foods cultivated and preserved for later use in caches dug deep into the ground.  Numerous varieties of each staple had specific food uses, thus giving some variety to the diet with only three types of vegetables being cultivated.  Buffalo fat was often used to season the food. 

With our supermarket shelves groaning under the weight of every imaginable foodstuff, it is hard for our modern minds to grasp the importance of the gardening year for the Hidatsa tribe.  There was no supermarket to run to when supplies ran low, so as the corn grew to the first stage of edible ripeness, great care was taken to protect the crop.  Buffalo Bird Woman describes this in poetic fashion:

“A platform, or stage, was often built in a garden, where the girls and young women of the household came to sit and sing as they watched that crows and other thieves did not destroy the ripening crop.  We cared for our corn in those days as we would care for a child; for we Indian people loved our gardens, just as a mother loves her children; and we thought that our growing corn liked to hear us sing, just as children like to hear their mother sing to them.  Also, we did not want the birds to come and steal our corn.  Horses, too, might break in and crop the plants, or boys might steal the green ears and go off and roast them” (Buffalo Bird Woman’s Garden, pp. 31-32).

While I am extremely grateful for the ease we now obtain our food, it seems we could all benefit from the caring and nurturing of our own gardens.  Just as Buffalo Bird Woman provided for us a valuable window into traditional Native American gardening, we must now also keep the skill of gardening alive so subsequent generations will understand from whence their food comes.

Before iron cooking vessels were introduced, Native Americans cooked in clay pots.  Ironically, many of us still cook in a modern version of the clay pot—the Slow Cooker.  Here’s our family’s favorite recipe for Ham and Beans:

Slow Cooker Ham and Beans

1 lb. dry Great Northern beans

14 cups water, divided

1 lb. meaty ham bone or 2 cups

boneless ham chunks

1 medium onion, chopped

2-1/2 teaspoons salt

1-1/2 teaspoons celery salt

1/2 to 1 teaspoon black pepper

1 bay leaf

1.  Sort and rinse beans. Place in slow cooker and add 8 cups water.  Cover and let soak overnight.  Drain, discarding soaking water and return beans to cooker. 

2.  Add 6 cups water and remaining ingredients to slow cooker.  Cover and cook on High 8-9 hours. 

3.  Remove ham bone from cooker;  allow to cool.  Cut ham from bone into bite-sized pieces, and stir back into soup.  Taste and correct seasonings as needed.  Serve with hot cornbread.  Yield:  6 servings.

Copyright © 2016 by Shasta Hamilton

Shasta is a fifth generation rural Kansan now residing in Enterprise, Kansas.  She and her husband own and operate The Buggy Stop Home-Style Kitchen with their six home-schooled children.  You can reach The Buggy Stop by calling (785) 200-6385 or visit them on the web at www.thebuggystoprestaurant.com .  

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