Open Pollinated Corn

This past week was spent gathering in more of the seasons bounty. All of the open pollinated corn was stripped from the stalks and hung to dry. The pigs were put in the field where the corn was grown to root in the remaining corn stalks. In Gene Logsdons' book "Small-Scale Grain Raising", the practice of hauling bundles of corn shocks to the barn to be husked at the farmers leisure during the long winter evenings, became a pleasant custom known as "husking bees". The husking was merely a by-product of a social evening. The husker who found a red ear in the bundle was allowed a kiss from a boyfriend or girlfriend. And in those days, corn did not have the dull sameness of today's hybrids so there were quite a few ears that would turn up red.

In the "old days" there were more chances for people of different ages to mingle and understand each other. The work of food getting was turned into fun; neither love nor labor was lost. We could do far worse today.