Pap showing off an ear of corn he grew
It was easy for settlers to understand why the Indians had venerated this grain [corn], but there seemed to be no end to the blessings it brought.
First of all, it provided them with a variety of food: cornbread, corn pone, johnny cake, Indian pudding, roasting ears, mush, popcorn, hominy, succotash, parched corn, dried corn, fresh corncakes, scrapple, stuffing, corn pudding, corn relish, corn soup, and other dishes. ..Corn fed the pigs and chickens, the horse and cow. Cornbread rewarded the faithful dog.
Pioneer homes used cornhusk mattresses, which were soft and comfortable…Settlers used corncobs as kindling and fuel. They used corncob pipes, corncob stoppers in jugs, and corncob fertilizer. The children made cornhusk and corncob dolls, played with hair, beards, and mustaches fashioned of corn silk. Women made corncob syrup, a delicacy little known but still relished in the Kentucky mountains.
—Esther Kellner, Moonshine: Its History and Folklore (Excerpt from Smokehouse Ham, Spoon Bread & Scuppernong Wine by Joseph E. Dabney
Corn is just now starting to be pulled from stalks in my area of Appalachia. I have it on good word that a farmer down the road’s will be ready any day now—and I can’t wait!
Although the variety of today’s corn is much sweeter than the type of corn Kellner was writing about, it is still a beloved part of summer eating. Not as many folks making hominy or milling cornmeal with the old corn types, but there are at least a few. And there are many that put up today’s sweet varieties, like silver queen, to enjoy all winter long.
Last night’s video: Reaping the Rewards of Making a Garden.
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So wonderful! Thanks for sharing about corn. We grow Silver Queen. I know that there are sweet like Peaches & Cream, but we can’t give up on what we were raised on! We’re talsselin out now, soon will be harvest!
Blessings
We love corn on the cob. In stews or just beside something in our plate. My husband loves cream corn but not me. I can’t bring my self to like it. That’s was a big ear of corn Pap had. Wow!
Good night friends, God bless you and your family in Jesus name
My mother was a very good cook, but my mother in law made the best fried or cream corn from Merit corn that I have ate anywhere. When eating at her home, I would often eat more of her corn for desert than eat an actual desert. Me and the dogs would have a BIG problem if they were fed GOOD cornbread before I got my share. They would have been a gosh awful fight between us.
Tipper,
I honestly can say, Pap’s corn is possibly the most beautiful I’ve seen in many many years… I would say he truly has bragging rights on this crop ..
Thank you so much for your excellent efforts at bringing Blind Pig and the Acorn ….I look forward to my daily read ..
I do love me some good ole’ sweet corn on the cob!
I remember as children my sister and I running through grandpa’s corn patch.
We had to be wary of snakes in the low country in SC, thank goodness, not many poisonous! We figured we could outrun them:)
It was actually good, freshly husked, without even cooking, so sweet.
Along with those memories, come eating watermelon out of the field, carrying the salt shaker along with us.
Salt on watermelon and cantaloupe was a must in our family. Most likely contributed to all the hypertension!
Those were the days.
Corn is the biggest crop grown in the US, I think. I heard a modern farmer say that. He also said that a very large share of it goes into many non-food products. I think the largest of that share is for ethanol.
I drove cross country from Texas to NC and back a few years ago in June. I was amazed at how much corn was grown across the South . . . more than I remembered seeing in the years that I traveled Southern roads daily. It suddenly dawned on me that ethanol was the reason for increased production.
Randy, thank you for covering the omission of the basic use of corn cobs left out of the original article. I used to hate it when the Sears catalog got used up. 🙂
Robert, I only know about corncobs and outhouses through hearsay. The grandparents I mentioned with in my knife story had an outhouse but I lived beside of them and never had to use it if I would run home in time. They never had running water in their home but a had a back porch built around their well.
The Outhouse Wishbook! You sit there and thumb through the pages til you find exactly what you want but can’t afford. Then you tear out the page and……….. well you know the rest of the story.
Tipper,
What’s the difference between Cornbread and Corn Pone?
Are they, not the same thing?
Thank You.
Two more important, but unnamed by the author, are corn fritters and cornmeal gravy. I’ll bet you’ve had those!
Ed, meal gravy is my favorite and the favored gravy of many generations before me. One of my greatest accomplishments was hearing my papaw tell me how good the meal gravy was I made him for breakfast when I was still a youngun.
Sweet corn on the cob is a favorite vegetable of mine. I’m glad that the big wind a while back did not blow over your farmer friend’s corn field. Pap sure could grow some beautiful ears of corn. Thanks for your blog & you tube channel. I’ve learned so much from you since I’ve found you. I’ve not only learned about the Appalachian ways but also a lot about how to live life in general & how to live life to it’s fullest. Hugs!
Tipper I grew up with corn on my paternal Granparents it was boiled roasted and baby corn was put in soup they grew many acres for personal and commercial everytime I see corn I see their hands holding it thanks for the memory
What wonderful memories I have of seeing daddy go to the garden and check on the corn. He always planted Silver Queen and he knew exactly when it was ready. It was a family affair. We all would sit on the back porch with dish pans full and try to get as many silks off as we could. Then it was on to the kitchen. Mama wanted most of it left on the cob and we bagged and bagged. Then she would want the rest cut off the cob and boy was that a sticky mess! It was everywhere, on the floor, cabinets and of course all over us even in our hair! Then we made many trips back and forth to the freezer. Hard work but wonderful times and how I miss them. Have a great day everyone!!
Pap sure did show off some pretty corn. I like fresh corn on the cob, but other than that, I can leave it be.
We went to Great Uncle Joe’s farm for the best ever fresh corn. Makes my mouth water.
The author failed to mention hushpuppies, corn dodgers and cornbread muffins all of which I enjoy eating. All three are all crust and no corner (or all corner if you want to look at it that way).
Another missing item, which I have never tried, is corncob jelly. Have you?
Ed-I never have but would like to 🙂
I remember mom’s delicious summer suppers of sweet corn on the cob covered with homemade butter, sliced tomatoes and homemade bread. My mom and dad grew Early Sunglow and Candy Corn. Weeding the garden was my least favorite chore as a kid., but I sure enjoyed eating from it. We have a garden now, but we don’t grow corn~too many squirrels!!
I love fresh corn on the cob. Here in southeastern Pa, Berks county, and into Lancaster county there are fields and fields of corn. Some is for feeding livestock and some sold at our local farm stands.
Our garden is in full sun and at times we plant corn. We planted a bicolored sweet corn this year and our seeds may have been a little too old. It’s not coming up as well as in the past. Yesterday we had a lot of rain, downpours, with over 5 inches here in Berks County. I noticed this morning that some of the bigger stalks seem to be leaning over. My husband will go up later to see what has survived. Like Mat says….you can’t fight the weather!
Hoping we will still have some corn for the summer.
Pickled corn is so hard to find and not nearly as tasty as I remember it as a child. Back then, it was pickled on the cob in a crock and that probably made the difference. During a recent visit to eastern KY, I bought four quarts of pickled corn from a country store that cost $10 each! I looked at the four quarts sitting on my counter and wondered if there was any more than $2 invested in each quart. I know what I’m going to do with a bushel of corn that should be ready real soon.
We’ve been putting up corn here in eastern NC for 3 weeks. It’s a family and friends affair. We get together and put up 400 to 500 ears at the time, some on the cob and some cut off. We grow ambrosia (a very sweet white and yellow mix) and silver queen. I love it on the cob with lots of butter, salt and pepper.
I’ve had corn cob jelly but not syrup, I guess it’s about the same
Tipper, I did get the post today but it was a later than usual. I agree with Ron, I think it would blow our minds if we knew all of the things corn and it’s byproducts are used for. Silver Queen is a favorite variety in my area. Another variety that is liked is G90, a similar substitute for the now no longer available Merit corn. Neither one of these are as sweet as some of the newer varieties.
Fried corn is one of my favorite foods. I put plenty of black pepper on it. My granddad used an expression “eat till you bust.” I could sure do that on fried corn! Corn on the cob is mighty fine eating. We’ve been eating some grown locally for a week or so. Don’t even get me started on hot cornbread!
Great article!
Thank you for providing all of the great content you post that highlights Appalachia.
My family always loved my fried corn made with lots of butter! Corn, butter beans & peas, cornbread & a good tomato is a feast! Enjoyed last night’s video. Everything looks beautiful at your home. Take care and God bless ❣️
I have not grown corn, but for sure next year we will try. I did purchase a bushel from someone close, cut off both ends and froze them. I pulled two our for my Hubby and I and pealed, desilked (like that word) and deep fried it. Oh my gosh, soooo sweet. I guess it brought out the sugar in the kernels. I have never tried that before but after doing so, I am sure I will do that again. Your garden and your family is something to be treasured and strive for. God Bless.
I can’t wait until the sweet corn is ready up here in the north land. I like it slathered with Kerry butter and salt and pepper!
I agree with Nancy…I like the older, less sweet varieties. I remember the first time I tried the ears dry-roasted in the oven. I enjoyed the chewiness of them! Good memories , associated with my Mom, of course!
Missed your emailed post again this morning. One of the joys of my childhood was being with my granddaddy when he was pulling fodder or cutting the corn stalks and tying them together to make shocks. Both of these would be used during the winter as feed for his mule. He would use an old broken blade Old Hickory style butcher knife to cut the stalks and would sharpen it on the side of a rock that was used as a support for his home. This old worthless knife and a clear crystal type of rock used to keep the front door of his home propped opened are two of my most prized possessions. I wish I had had enough sense to keep the rock from the home when the home burned, the side of it was rubbed smooth. The wood handle of this knife is worn as smooth as glass. He would carry the knife in the pants leg pocket of his overalls. Two other uses for corn were to use the stalks for insulation and cover of the old time sweet potatoes beds used in my area for storing our sweet potatoes during the winter. The second one was for use in the outhouse, an often heard joke was two buckets of red cobs and one bucket of white cobs. The red cobs used first and then a white cob used to check and see if you needed to use more red cobs! I ate fresh corn on the cob over the weekend and I intend to eat my first of the year Cherokee Purple tomato sandwich for my dinner today -noon time meal for us uneducated people. Now at times I will get this knife out of my safe, rub mineral oil on the wooden handle, cry and remember my granddaddy and think about the happy times I spent with him and his old mule named Kate.
I expect we would be shocked to know how big a part corn has in the national economy. I’m sure its reach is very much farther than we can imagine. My P&C (peaches and cream) has just ‘come in’ this past week.
One of my favorite childhood memories is us kids wrapping fresh corn in foil and tossing them in bonfires and fire pits. Nothing better than fire-cooked corn. I agree that corn does not taste the same as it used to, like most everything, but I loved the old and more natural varieties of corn, which tasted like actual corn!
Lots of memories going to the cornfield with my granny. So far this season Peaches and Cream corn has been in abundance, but cannot find Silver Queen or Hickory King. Looks like I may have to make a trip to Murphy or Brasstown to get some!
Enjoyed the video last night. Bet Korie could have fixed the lawnmower
Everyone have a great Monday and stay hydrated!
Correction: Katie, not Korie could fix the lawnmower!
I am having leftover sweet corn with breakfast this morning! It’s a true taste of summer! Although for me it’s bitter sweet. The kids go back to school in about six weeks, everything goes by too fast!
I sure do love me some corn! I started cutting mine off the corn to eat too Tipper ever since wearing braces. I still remember the feeling of eating it off the the cob though and the milk from the corn along with the butter would drip off my chin as a young child. So good!
God bless you friends of Appalachia, God bless Tipper and her family, pray for those that don’t have it good like we do!
Daddy grew about 10 acres of corn every year until about 1983. He grew Hastings Prolific a field corn whose stalks grew eight plus feet tall. The ears were long and big around. That corn creamed up and was delicious. Once all of the ears were pulled, the stalks dried until late August to early September. Then, we cut the stalks, tied them into bundles and stood them into corn shocks. The field looked like it was full of little teepees with all those corn shocks. Finally, once totally dried out, the shocks of corn were stored in the barn. For many of my younger years, the York family came to farms with their thresher and ground the dried corn stalks into cow feed with molasses added. In later years, we’d load the corn bundles up and take them to a thresher to be ground into cow feed. Lots of hard work with lots of sweat but what wonderful memories!!!
I love fresh corn! I put some up a couple years ago in the freezer. It was a lot of work, but I so enjoy it during the winter months.
I know I say this often, but thank you for sharing your life with us. It just takes me back.