This is taken from Das Ackerwerk by Lucii Columellae and Palladii (1536) - an ancient Roman text.  It is clear that it is a translation of the Latin text "De Re Rustica", and there is some difficulty with the translator identifying the original plants.    One of the big problems is that looking up some of the plant names in 16th century herbals ( Read more... )

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Deutsche SpeisekammerHere is a snippet from a poem about farmers with a reference to food storage:


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A few more snippets

This particular poem in Paradeißgärtlein Darinnen die edleste vnnd fürnembste Kräuter nach jhrer Gestalt vnd Eigenschafft abcontrafeytet vnd mit zweyerley Wirckung Leiblich vn[d] Geistlich... Beschrieben sind (1588) about the virtues and uses of cabbage tells us that preserved (eingemacht) cabbage is a staple food for farmers ( Read more... )

I've been trying to document how sauerkraut was preserved in the 16th century.  Common sense says that it may be the same as is done today, but that information hasn't been forthcoming to my searches.  I'm going to start to collect references to its manufacture and storage.  One of the challenges is that the 16th century words may not be the modern ( Read more... )