What is grown in virginia

The meal could then be sifted into flour necessary for making bread. The early gristmills in Virginia are documented as having been built on plantations by wealthy colonial officials or by a group of neighboring estate owners.

They were of two types: "plantation gristmills" for grinding the grain of the landowner and mill owner and that of a few neighbors, and "custom gristmills" which ground the grain for neighboring planters. A third type, "merchant mill," was a commercial mill which bought and ground grain into a grist or meal which was then sifted into flour for export.

It was not until the third quarter of the 18th century that merchant milling blossomed in Virginia as a result of wheat becoming the colony's second largest export crop. Scots-Irish and German settlers were following the Valley Road from Pennsylvania into the fertile Shenandoah Valley and began growing crops such as wheat and corn.

In fact, the Shenandoah Valley was often called the "Breadbasket of the Confederacy" during the Civil War, and had strategic importance as a major food supplier for the army. Much as villages and towns sprang up around courthouses, so did they around the larger mill complexes. Beef, pork, poultry and dairy products became major exports early in Virginia history.

Peanuts began to be commercially grown here prior to the American Civil War. Southampton County, in which Franklin is located, leads the State in peanut production today. Rockingham County, of which Harrisonburg is the county seat, has been a national leader in the poultry industry. Currently, Virginia is the sixth largest producer of apples in the United States with 11 varieties grown in the Commonwealth. The development of vineyards and the wine industry in Virginia began as early as at Jamestown.

Today, numerous vineyards are found throughout the Commonwealth. Currently, Orange County produces more wine grapes than any other county in Virginia.

Mining in Virginia has a long history. The kitchen, tobacco barn, and storage buildings were usually separate from the main house. If the farmer owned slaves, they may have lived in one of these outbuildings or in a cabin nearby.

Typical wooden Virginia plantation house. Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation collection. View Site Map. Donations to the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation, Inc. The tax identification number is Haitian Creole. Chinese Simplified. Farm Bureau Store. Bush Hog Discounts. Yamaha Discounts. Supporting Farmers Back. Farmers in Action Legislative Activities. Young Farmers. Women's Leadership Program. Ag in the Classroom. Agriculture Grain Marketing.

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Virginia farms come in all sizes and produce a wide variety of crops and animals for food, fiber and fuel. Farmland covers 7. Agriculture creates nearly , jobs in Virginia. Other Virginia Commodities Apples.