The Enslaved Gardener Who Turned Pecans Into A Cash Crop
Black History Year
PushBlack
4.6 • 2.2K Ratings
🗓️ 21 June 2024
⏱️ 2 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
He tended to the plantations, gardening day in and day out. It was tiring, but he secretly worked on one of his best ideas. And today we’re absolutely nuts about it.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | He tended to the plantations gardening day in and day out. |
| 0:06.0 | It was tiring, but he secretly worked on one of his best ideas. |
| 0:11.0 | And today we're absolutely nuts about it. |
| 0:15.0 | This is Two-Minute Black History, what you didn't learn in school. The holidays wouldn't be the same without pecanes. |
| 0:30.6 | We have one man to thank for their popularity. |
| 0:34.6 | Meet Antoine. |
| 0:36.6 | He was a talented gardener enslaved on Louisiana's Oak |
| 0:40.7 | Alley Plantation. Antoine's skills were out of this world. He developed a method of cultivating |
| 0:47.4 | individual pecan trees that no one had ever done before. Antoine's grafting technique allowed him to create offspring matching |
| 0:57.0 | the parent plant's characteristics. This type of uniformity is necessary for growing commercial |
| 1:03.8 | crops. And it wasn't easy work. Many before him tried to produce pecan trees but failed. |
| 1:15.6 | Antoine figured it out and became known as a master of plants. |
| 1:23.6 | Of course, he didn't get his flowers while he was alive. Someone copied his technique and the commercial pecan industry was born. Today, |
| 1:29.8 | pecanes are grown in 14 states and on every continent except Antarctica. Like Antoine, we should |
| 1:38.2 | never be afraid to pursue our talents. We've always been dreamers, creators, artists, and cultivators. White supremacy could |
| 1:47.9 | never stop that. In order to move towards the future, you've got to look to the past. This has been |
| 1:54.9 | Two Minute Black History, a podcast by Push Black. If you enjoyed this episode and want to show your support, please rate and subscribe to our podcast. Together, let's celebrate and honor the legacy of black history. |
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