During the war for independence soldiers cultivated subsistence gardens when circumstances permitted. Esteban Montejo was born into slavery in Cuba in 1860. He estimate that 95 percent of Afro-Cubans fought in the ranks of the revolutionary forces, and many of them had been enslaved. Speaking of gardens in Camagüey, Montejo explains that a lack of military conflict there allowed soldiers to sow subsistence crops such as mangos, “sweet potato, squash, okra, corn, peas,, [lima] beans. . limes, yucca, and peanuts.”