I disagree about the first plant cultivation. I think that, at a much earlier date, man would have domesticated fruit trees such as olives, figs, and apples. Where the seeds fell, there would be seedings that could be transplanted. Also, many trees send out shoots which can also be transplanted. And we have known for quite a while that cuttings can be used to grow new trees.
As far as I am concerned, each of these steps are far less difficult to learn than grain domestication.
Grain domestication (in the case of barley) goes back 14,000 RC years (uncalibrated, so longer ago); the domestication of wheat was accidental — the seeds that hung on better wouldn’t fall onto the ground when the stems were being cut at harvest time, and those got replanted. In a matter of a human lifetime or less there was a stable domesticated variety. Direct evidence in the form of a surviving sample of wheat will probably be hard to come by, because it will have either been eaten or decayed, leaving no trace. Finding that barley was rather amazing.
Nectarines were already cultivated in Sumeria; the wiki-wacky sez peaches were first cultivated in the interior of China about 2000 BC and intro’d to India and the Middle East later on, but also states that nectarines and peaches are the same species, so something’s a little off. Also related to peaches and nectarines are plums, apricots, almonds, and (sez wiki) cherries.
The pomegranate has been cultivated a long while, as have dates (7000 years at least, if memory serves), figs, and lots of other berries and tree fruits. Apples were enjoyed during the Roman Empire.
Science Traces Roots Of ‘Traditional English’ Apple Back To Central Asia
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2916120/posts
I tend to agree.
And a grove of trees at winter camp would be able to be left to grow without supervision ready to be picked when you returned in the fall.