Springhouse and Watercress

Before you is a springhouse. Prior to indoor plumbing, ice delivery, and electric refrigeration, a springhouse like this a staple on many homesteads. (Please do not enter our springhouse!)

The springhouse here at Wolf Gap was used as a water source for a nearby farmhouse as recently as the 1960s.

Springhouses were typically built over the point where a spring flowed out of the limestone bedrock, providing a clean source of cool, fresh water free of debris like twigs of leaves. Springhouses were also the best way store fresh foods such as dairy, since the cool spring water kept the springhouse much cooler than the outside air.

Some people set sealed jugs, crocks, or canisters of food directly into the cold spring water, an effective refrigeration technique. Other springhouses featured stone, brick, or wooden troughs which caught the spring water and channeled it for ease of use.

Many local homes and farms still keep their springhouses functional as pumphouses to provide fresh water for livestock. Keep an eye out for these small stone structures across Giles County!

Growing downstream from the springhouse is a large patch of watercress. This edible leafy green is is a member of the mustard family, which includes many well-known leafy and tuberous vegetables such as collared greens, kale, turnips, and radishes.

Although it originated in Ancient Greece, watercress is popular worldwide. Prior to World War II, farmers cultivated large amounts of watercress across Alabama and Tennessee. Today it grows wild in clean springs such as this one, and is still enjoyed as a raw or cooked green.

(Please do not eat this watercress!)

Thoughts:

Imagine you lived two hundred years ago. What are some other methods you might use to keep food from spoiling?

What are some crops that used to be popular but may be less so today? What kind of food do you think will be popular in the future?