Provision grounds were areas of land often of poor quality, mountainous or stony, and often at some distance from the villages which plantation owners set aside for the enslaved Africans to grow their own food, such as sweet potatoes, yams and plantains.
How land was used on a typical sugar estate?
The estate land consisted of cane-land, provision grounds, woodland and pasture. Each planter preferred to have more than 200 acres of cane land. Provision grounds were used by the slaves to cultivate root crops, plantains and vegetables for food.
Why did Provision grounds emerge?
While provision ground cultivation arose from the planter’s attempts to reduce costs and create an interest for the slaves in the well-being of the estate, it resulted in the formation of a sphere of slave organized activity that became necessary for the operation of the plantation system.
What was the mill used for on the sugar plantation?
sugar cane mill
A sugar cane mill is a factory that processes sugar cane to produce raw or white sugar. The term is also used to refer to the equipment that crushes the sticks of sugar cane to extract the juice.
Why is ground provision important?
There’s a long-held belief, that these root vegetables are healthier. Using Caribbean ‘parlance’, blue food or ground provisions as they are commonly called are harvested from the base of plants. As the plants’ nutrient storehouse, the bulbs, roots, and tubers provide numerous dietary benefits when consumed.
Is potato a ground provision?
Ground provision is the term used by West Indian’s to describe a number of traditional vegetable and fruit staples that are planted in the ground, such as yams and cassava, sweet potatoes etc…
Who owned the sugar plantations in the Caribbean?
The Portuguese introduced sugar plantations in the 1550s off the coast of their Brazilian settlement colony, located on the island Sao Vincente. As the Portuguese and Spanish maintained a strong colonial presence in the Caribbean, the Iberian Peninsula amassed tremendous wealth from the cultivation of this cash crop.
How were slaves treated on sugar plantations?
They sowed, tended and harvested the crop, and then worked to extract the juice from the sugar cane and boil and process the juice in order to turn it into sugar and molasses, and later they might work to distil some of the waste products into rum. …
Is potato a provision?
Typically, the vegetables that fall under the banner of ground provisions include yams, dasheen, sweet potatoes, eddoes, cassava and tannia. But when Caribbean people broadly speak of provisions, they tend also to mean green bananas, plantains and breadfruit.
What was life like on an 18th century sugar plantation?
On a typical 18th century sugar plantation, self- sufficiency was promoted by the workers, fuel, water source, sugar works yard and sugar being on the plantation. The plantation was divided into three. One division was Cane Field and Cash Crops.
What was the price of sugar in the 17th century?
Production and sugar prices soared during the 17th century & 18th century. 70% of all slaves were producing sugar by the 19th century. Being of African descent this has always been of interest to me, from the time I was a young boy watching the first ‘ROOTS’ series on TV, and watching my mum cry.
How did sugar plantations work during harvesting season?
During harvesting season the mills worked 24 hour days to process the crop. Plantation owners used their estates to build these large sugar mills to process the cane. The cane needed to be put through rollers to extract the juice, these were powered by cows or horses, they eventually upgraded to the use of windmills, then eventually steam engines.
What kind of windows were in 17th century sugar house?
To the left of the hallway is a grand drawing room with sash windows, which were installed in 1746, and which replaced the original shutters. These windows overlook a herb garden (with bay leaf, lemon grass, and aloe) and expose the room to refreshing tropical breezes.
