the South and North Fields

[ahad1020]

The manor's fields, the South and North Fields, were probably cultivated in two-shift farming, meaning that half of the field area was fallow and half was cultivated – this was a common practice in the Swedish Empire in the 16th century – and land improvement work, such as ditching and fertilizing, was also carried out in the fields. Partala had a number of fallows many times over the field area, as in other Savoy houses. Partala's fallows included Haapahuhta, Laulokangas, Lukonkangas and Kantomaa.

The crops included rye, oats, barley, a little wheat and also beans, peas, cabbage and turnips. Grains were sown both in the field and in the fallows, beans and cabbage were grown in the field and turnips only in the fallows. Hops used to flavor beer were grown in a hop garden. Hay for winter feeding of the cattle was made from meadows, overseas data which were Putkilahti, Menduinniitty or Mäntysen meadow, Haapahuhta, Vehmasniitty, Joroinen meadow, Reimenniitty, Angerpuron meadow, Kartanon meadow and Papinjoen meadow. Half a mile from Partala there was a mill on the Riivarvuo River, where the manor's grain was ground for its own use in spring and autumn with a foot mill. An important part of the manor's food economy was fish, as fish was still used as a spice in Savo in the 16th century and fishing played an important role in the annual cycle of Savo houses.

Dried and salted pike was also one of the crown's most important export products. The manor's people went fishing in the nearby Juka and Salajärvi lakes, on the ridge between which the manor was located. The manor also had fishing waters in Northern Savo, in Lake Rasvangi and Lake Nilsiä Vuotjärvi. In the autumn, the manor fisherman participated in the whitefish spawning season and the seine fishing for roach and perch at the Rasvangi fishing ground. In the spring, he fished for pike, perch and roach with nets and a half-seine on Lake Vuotjärvi. The fish were brought to the manor salted and dried.