Western Hearths: Harvest Suppers

Harvest time in the Wild West rewarded months of hard work in gardens, fields, and orchards. Days remained long, but the crisp evening air whispered of winter to come. The bounty of the land overflowed larders, cupboards, and tables. Harvest suppers brought friends and family together to enjoy the bounty and thank God for His provision. Americans still observe this tradition, which is deeply embedded in the Christian heritage of this nation.

Pioneer Life at Harvest Time

For western homesteaders and settlers in a small town, September meant early mornings and long afternoons busy with gathering eggs, harvesting crops, and any number of tasks—like shelling beans, drying apples, and putting up vegetables for winter. The livestock bawled for food, firewood needed cutting, the fire in the stove needed tending, and the bread box was empty again.

Despite the multitude of tasks to do each and every day, harvest time brought joy. Special meals had family tables groaning under the weight of savory vegetables, fragrant strews, fruit pies, and fresh bread. Neighbors stopped by with extra produce, and never went away empty-handed. In a large and untamed land, Americans very survival depended on looking out for one another. The heritage of hospitality prevalent throughout America today has its roots in this culture of kindness.

Corn and Potato Bake

A harvest supper from pioneer days often included a corn and potato bake. This simple dish combines staple ingredients with the season’s freshest vegetables. Filling, warming, and easy to prepare in a single pot or skillet, it graced many homestead tables in September.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, lard, or bacon drippings
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 cup corn kernels (fresh, canned, or frozen)
• 1 cup milk or cream (or water for a more rustic version)
• 2 eggs
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Optional: a pinch of nutmeg or chopped herbs like thyme or parsley

Instructions

• Preheat a cast-iron skillet or oven-safe pan over medium heat. Grease with butter or lard.
• Sauté onions in fat until soft and fragrant.
• Add diced potatoes and cook until lightly tender, about 10 minutes.
• Stir in corn kernels.
• In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs and milk (or cream), then pour over the vegetables.
• Season with salt, pepper, and optional herbs. Cook covered on stovetop or bake in a moderate oven (350°F / 175°C) until eggs are set and top is golden, about 20–25 minutes.
• Serve hot from the skillet, with fresh bread if desired.

Tip: For extra flavor, fry a small piece of salted pork with the onions before adding the potatoes.

Bringing the Harvest Home

Harvest suppers gave busy western families a chance to pause, offer thanks, and savor the fruits of their labor with the people they treasured most. 

These meals furthered the quiet romance found in every happy home. A shared smile across the table might spark a tender moment amid the bustle of harvest work. 

Bring the warmth of the western pioneer spirit to your own table by recreating this simple pioneer dish.

About Janalyn Voigt

Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales "written" in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. Romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy appear in all her novels in proportions dictated by their genre. Janalyn Voigt is represented by Wordserve Literary.

Learn more about Janalyn Voigt, author of the Montana Gold series.

Fall in Love with the Wild West

The Montana Gold series explores faith, courage, and love in the Wild West. Learn more about the books>>

Hills of Nevermore (book 1) - Can a young widow hide her secret shame from the Irish preacher bent on protecting her?

Cheyenne Sunrise (book 2) – After her wagon journey goes terribly wrong, a woman disillusioned in men must rely on a half-Cheyenne trail guide.
Stagecoach to Liberty (book 3) – A young Hessian girl must decide to trust a handsome Irish stranger or remain with her alarming companions.
The Forever Sky (book 4) - Can a young widow with no faith in love hope for a future with the man who broke her heart?
The Promise Tree (book 5) - A preacher’s daughter shouldn’t encourage a troublemaker’s advances—no matter what her wayward heart desires.

The Whispering Wind (book 6) - A beautiful woman can have her pick of suitors but never the man she wants.

Autumn Pumpkins

by Anita Mae Draper

With pumpkin being a quintessential component of autumn displays and holiday meals in our modern world, I searched out pumpkin images from the 19th and early 20th century to see if history felt the same. This 1892 cover of Harper's Bazar (note the spelling) shows a woman cutting up a large pumpkin-like squash that we can guess will be used for pumpkin pie, pudding, and other baking. According to The Fire Lands Pioneer, Norwalk, Ohio, 1862, pumpkins were also boiled down to a syrup and used as a sweetener.

Harper's Bazar Thanksgiving, 1892. Library of Congress, Public Domain

For contrast, look at the similarity in this 1939 photograph where a man working in a Texas bakery is cutting up the same type of pumpkin. The genders are different, but the pose of their hands are almost identical. 

Cutting up pumpkin for pies. Bakery, San Angelo, Texas, Nov 1939. Library of Congress, Public Domain

Pumpkin size, shape and color varies depending on their use and were grown at local farms across North America, or sent to processing plants to be canned, as they are today. 

Miscellaneous products, Edmonton, Alberta, 1921. Glenbow Archives, Public Domain

Trethewey Farm in Toronto was a 600 acre Model Farm with greenhouses and canning facilities that produced products from field to market. This next Wikipedia image from the Toronto Public Library shows a girl carrying a pumpkin from Trethewey Farm, yet doesn't explain if she's a worker or happy buyer.

Girl with pumpkin from Tretheway Farm, Toronto, Canada, 1909. Source: Toronto Public Library/Wikipedia (Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license)

This glass lantern slide from the McCord Museum shows that the frost has decimated the pumpkin leaves and stems leaving a black, prickly mess, but this young lad doesn't mind as it only makes the pumpkins sweeter and hastens their ripening process.

Boy with pumpkin, about 1925, McCord Museum, Montreal

The fertile Yakima Valley in Washington state has long shown the abundance of its fruit and vegetable crops including pumpkins that required 2 men to carry from field to wagon in this 1904 stereograph.

Gathering in the pumpkins in the Yakima Valley, Washington, c1904. Library of Congress Public Domain

Many local fall fairs still have categories to see who can grow the largest vegetables including pumpkins and squash. 

William Warnock and Daughters with Giant Squash, Iron Bridge, circa 1930. Huron Shores Museum Public Domain

Pumpkins are abundant and never wasted. The ones that aren't attractive enough for home cooks and autumn displays, or shipped off for processing, are left in the fields for cattle fodder, or stored away for winter feed where they provide protein and energy to cattle, goats, and livestock. 

With the Canadian Thanksgiving held on the 2nd Monday in October, I'll leave you with this happy greeting...

Hearty Thanksgiving Greeting, 1910. Public Domain

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Anita Mae Draper lives on the Canadian prairies where she uses her experience and love of history to enhance her stories of yesteryear's romance with realism and faith. Readers can enrich their story experience with visual references by checking Anita's Pinterest boards. All links available on her website at www.anitamaedraper.com

Harvest

A footnote from history by Stephanie Grace Whitson

Nebraska's agriculture heritage is celebrated 
by the sower atop the state capitol building. 
Photo by Ammodramus (Own work) [CC0],
via Wikimedia Commons 

When I first moved to Nebraska, I had to ask a farmer at the state fair to identify a stalk of something on display. Said farmer grinned. "You aren't from here, are you?" Nope. Not a farm girl, either, and woefully ignorant of all things agricultural. (I was asking about milo, a crop planted across the state and used as feed for cattle ... and, I later learned, to make sorghum molasses, which I love.)

I hadn't been in Nebraska long before I began to admire the hard work and dedication and plain old stubbornness it takes to succeed as a farmer. But today's farmers have it so much easier than did the pioneers who settled this state. Of course pioneer farmers in 1860s Nebraska had it easy compared to their forefathers. And so it goes all the way back to biblical times when Ruth was gleaning fields.

Growing and harvesting only 5 acres of wheat took about 250-300 man hours in 1830. Farmers used a walking plow and a brush harrow. (I had to look up the word harrow to know what it does. It's used to cover over the seeds after planting.) Seeds were broadcast by hand (memorialized by that 19-foot tall statue atop the Nebraska State Capitol) and harvested with a sickle and flail. By 1850, those man hours had been reduced to 75-90 hours, thanks to inventions like the McCormick reaper, plows faced with steel blades, and threshing machines. 

 

Nebraska State Historical Society  nbhips 14563

In 1881, Nebraska pioneer Giles Thomas wrote to his family in Wisconsin: "I am putting out sixty acres of a crop and have had every foot of it to plow and am doing it all myself with two horses. I put 10 acres to wheat, 10 to oats, 15 to flax, 2 Mamoth grass, and the rest to corn and garden...I have been in the field following plow and drag...I have been fearful tired at times but I feel good all over because I have my crops all in and in splendid shape. Considering the work my team has done, they look well and are in good spirits." 

Nebraska State Historical Society nbhips 10151

This was an era when 70 per cent of Nebraskans lived on farms, and children were expected to help with farm work. School met only from October to May, for children were needed to help with both planting and harvest.  

Nebraska State Historical Society nbhips 13312

By 1890, a farmer could grow and harvest 5 acres of wheat with only 40-50 hours of labor. Their task was made easier by the existence of the gang plow,seeder, harrow, binder, thresher, wagons, and horses. 

And then, in 1892, inventor John Froelich built the first gasoline tractor. 

The 1930 farmer who, in 1830, poured 250-300 hours into harvesting 5 acres of wheat needed only 15-20 hours. Gasoline-powered machinery revolutionized farming. 

Photo US Dept. Agriculture Public Domain

Years ago, a woman sitting next to me on a plane asked where I was from. When I said Nebraska, she peered at me over the rim of her glasses. "And what does one DO in Nebraska?" The tone was superior, the manner almost sneering. It was one of those moments when I was put instantly on the defensive. Of course I came up with a great answer ... just not in time to provide it to the snooty easterner. 

"What does one do in Nebraska?"

"We feed the world." 

Are you a city mouse or a country mouse? 

What chores were you expected to do as a child?

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Award-winning novelist and HHH blogger Stephanie Grace Whitson (www.stephaniewhitson.com) began playing with imaginary friends (i.e., writing fiction) in the 1990s when an abandoned pioneer cemetery near the Whitson’s country home provided not only a hands-on history lesson for her four home schooled children, but also a topic of personal study. When not writing or researching, she enjoys reading, quilting, spoiling her dozen grandchildren and/or Kona Kai (the golden retriever), and riding her motorcycle named Kitty.


Stephanie's novel Karyn's Memory Box tells the love story of Karyn and Mikal Ritter, who are strangers when they meet and marry, and face the challenges of pioneer farming in Custer County, Nebraska. Find it here: https://www.amazon.com/Karyns-Memory-Box-Keepsake-Legacies/dp/1523637498/

Notes: 

Statistics provided by www.agclassroom.org.

The black and white photographs in this blog were taken by Solomon Butcher, a pioneer photographer who chronicled the lives of early farmers in Nebraska and provide an invaluable resource to contemporary historians.