Maddie Dyer
Hariot, Thomas. “Of Fruites.” In A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, 18–19. Frankfurt: Francoforti ad Moenum, 1590. Accessed October 05, 2018. https://archive.org/details/briefetruereport00harr/page/18.
A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia: “Of Fruites”
In his book, A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, Thomas Hariot discusses his experiences as a member of the second Roanoke expedition in 1585. The men of this expedition spent the year exploring the mainland and southern coast of Virginia, which present-day North Carolina was then a part. In this narrative, Hariot describes the region’s edible plants and animals, as well as his encounters with the Native Americans. The descriptions in this book are especially important since it was the first book about North America to be published by an Englishman. [1] This caption will specifically focus on the section “Of Fruites,” in which he gives extensive details about the fruits and nuts he encountered during his expedition.
Hariot begins this section by discussing the chestnuts and walnuts he encountered. He describes the different ways the Native Americans cooked and ate these foods and how it differed from English practices. When describing walnuts, he said, “they brake them with stones and pound them in morters with water to make milk…” In this section, he also describes the taste and appearance of different fruits like medlars, grapes, and strawberries. He then compares and contrasts these fruits to the fruit in England. When describing strawberries, he said, “there are as good & as great as those which we have in our English gardens.”[2]
While this book doesn’t specifically discuss exploring the Chapel Hill region, it is still important to the Chapel Hill food story. It can be inferred that during this time, the vast majority of native North Carolinians and Virginians had similar environmental resources and food practices. The fruits that Hariot discussed in the book like grapes and strawberries are now sold at the Carrboro Farmers’ Market, which is a place where people can buy locally grown food.[3] Therefore, even if Hariot didn’t specifically explore the Chapel Hill region of North Carolina, these foods and practices eventually made their way into the area and became part of the Chapel Hill food story.
[1] Sistrom, Michael. “Summary of A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia” Documenting the American South. 2004. Accessed October 05, 2018. https://docsouth.unc.edu/nc/hariot/summary.html.
[2] Hariot, Thomas. “Of Fruites.” In A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia, 18–19. Frankfurt: Francoforti ad Moenum, 1590. Accessed October 05, 2018. https://archive.org/details/briefetruereport00harr/page/18.
[3] “Carrboro Farmers’ Market.” Local Harvest. LocalHarvest, Inc., 03/11/13. Accessed October 05, 2018. https://www.localharvest.org/carrboro-farmers-market-M9958