WEEDING WOMEN
SEVENTEENTH-TO-NINETEENTH CENTURY
FARM FIELDS AND KITCHEN GARDENS
by Harrison F. Meeske
From the Introduction:
I've written on land tenure in colonial America and the early settlement of the Hudson Valley. One book traced the development of architecture from the earliest vernacular dwellings to the development of sophisticated design in the late eighteenth century. I've also noted how design-from floor plans to gadgets-influenced lifestyle, tracking the impact various modifications, improvements and inventions have had-intended and inadvertent-on health, wellbeing and gender roles. My attention then fixed on the fields and gardens surrounding the early homes.
We generally find men worked the fields and women gardened. Women helped in the fields when needed, and a man would plow a patch near the kitchen door, but gender roles were important in working the land, and women and children tended the garden. Everyone seems to have something to say about the founding fathers, but what about the founding mothers who fed and medicated the fathers and bore and reared their offspring? They are generally ignored in the history books. Until recently the focus of
historians was on so-called "great issues" rather than sociological matters. In part, the lacuna is a matter of limited documentation, few women kept journals or diaries; however, many male writers were simply uninterested in researching women's roles. While ancient man went off hunting, women had engaged in gathering. Time out of mind the earliest agriculturalists were women, who at some time in the distant past, planted seeds they had gathered, watched the sprouts grow and, in due time, harvested the mature plants. Undoubtedly some ncient Eve even plucked an apple as women were probably the first to discover that, while some plants offered nourishment, others soothed conditions and cured ailments. They became respected as wise women and herbalists and feared in time of stress as witches. When men took over plowing and heavy lifting on the farm, women continued to help in the fields cutting hay, reaping grain and gleaning.
In the early nineteenth century new equipment, such as the scythe and cradle, became too difficult for short men, boys and women to easily handle. Men assumed the full responsibility for grain crops, but women continued to pitch in when the harvest demanded every hand to assist with raking and gathering. Women continued their traditional role: tending kitchen gardens and growing legumes, herbs and flowers for the household. As many women expertly tended home gardens, they were sought and hired when commercial gardening developed at the end of the sixteenth century. The job description for these duties was "weeding women." Naturally, they were paid exactly half what men were paid for the same work; this situation certainly will be no surprise to those engaged in women's studies. I thought the description "weeding women" aptly suited this long ignored but honorable calling. The Reformation in Protestant countries opened new opportunities for women as they were encouraged to learn to read so they could study the Bible, religious tracts and published sermons. Then books began to be written especially for women to meet what were considered suitable subjects to supplement religion. Gardening and housekeeping books were ranked among the most popular titles, and these works provide an early insight into the daily tasks engaging women's labors. Later, when women began to write letters and keep journals and diaries, gardening was one of the subjects that they addressed. From my findings at Rutgers University and in the Albany archives, I suspect there are many untapped manuscript sources such as those I found for Weeding Women, and I hope the following inspires others to pursue the matter in greater depth. This said, I invite the reader to peruse my findings and perhaps be inspired to delve deeper for further information and edification.
Harrison Meeske is the author of two books on colonial life and architecture in the Hudson Valley: The Hudson Valley Dutch and Their Houses (now out of print) and From Vernacular to Spectacular, Function Follows Form: How Houses Changed Life Styles in the Hudson Valley, 1700-1830.
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