Amaizing isn’t it?

"Sex is good, but not as good as fresh sweet corn." Garrison Keillor

Amaizing isn’t it? Corn has become the second most important grain behind rice in the world; more acreage is planted in wheat, but corn results in heavier yields. Maize, beans and squash make up the Native American food trinity, staples in the diet of western hemisphere diets before its discovery by the Old World. This native cereal grain has evolved greatly from its wild form; indeed it cannot yet be traced directly back to a “wild” form. It is a species of grass, which relates it to wheat, but its modern form has its kernels completely covered by a husk, making it impossible for the plant to reproduce by itself since the seed cannot come into direct contact with the soil without some one to remove the husk and plant the seed. Fossil remains have been found in Mexican caves dating back 8500 years, making it one of the oldest domesticated crops. Maize “ears” always grow in an even number of rows, starting with prehistoric corns of two rows to 16 or more rows with 500+ kernels. When corn first spread to the old world a malnutrition problem known as pellagra arose: if alkali is not introduced to the plant, the B-vitamin niacin is not released and amino acids found in beans and meats are also necessary to balance the human diet.
“Kansas had better stop raising corn and begin raising hell.”
Mary Elizabeth Lease

Corn Festivals:

http://www.cornfestival.net/ Shippenburg, Pa.

http://www.westpointcornfestival.com/ Shuckfest West Point, Iowa

http://www.popcornfestival.com/ Marion, Ohio - Popcorn Festival