Sweet Corn
An Original Short Story by Susan Rektorik Henley
(C) Copyright 2001
Most folks in these parts planted corn in the spring garden. Those who really liked corn would plant a row, wait a week or so, then plant an other row, wait another week, and then plant another. This staggered planting gave rise to corn maturing over a longer period of time. I still see local gardens where the varied height of the corn rows indicates staggered planting. Corn planted in gardens was usually "sweet" corn although some preferred field corn which was also known as "hog" corn because when dried, the hogs were the usual consumer.
Whether in a garden or a field, the growing process is the same. First the large, shiny dark green leaves emerge and the plant starts growing skywards. Someone in the family usually notices when the corn first starts tasseling out. The tassels area leggy pollen structures at the top...to some the structure of the tassel seems similar to old-time television antennas. About the same time, the ears start to develop and glossy golden silk flows out the top of each. Many a little girl has made dolls and even horses out of the green shucks and used the golden silk for luxurious tresses or flowing manes. It is also at this point that, given a good sized field, games of Tag or War can be played. The tall plants with thick foliage make hiding, stalking, and running great fun when a bunch of kids get together. This is probably also the last stage where corn is all fun!
The metamorphosis begins from spring playground to cruel task master when the ears mature. Snapping the green ears for cooking is a bit difficult until one developed a pulling method which "popped" the ear off the stalk. Once the desired number of ears were collected, the next assignment was always to remove the shucks and the clean the ears. By now the golden silk had withered and darkened into a brown tangle on the outside but when the shucks were removed, there was still yellow silk strands stuck between the rows of kernels and care had to be taken to remove them all. Pulling back the shucks would also expose feeding worms from time to time. These unpleasant guests would be ingesting kernels and creating a rotted place on the ear. These guys would be routed out and the fouled area cleaned out with a sharp knife. Sometimes a whole end would have to be discarded. (Chickens come in handy with the worms...for them the worms are a treat to eat!)
At least with preparing corn for eating one does have the pleasure of sitting down at the table and seeing a huge stack of steaming ears. Watching butter melt over the tight, yellow kernels was also very appetizing. When I was small we had numerous, two-pronged corn pins which were shaped like corn cobs themselves. One would stick one pin in each end of the cob so it could be held without steaming one's fingers. And what a combination of tastes...the sweet of the corn and the salty rich taste of the butter. We kids usually assessed the success of the meal by how much corn we had between our teeth and butter on our faces. One napkin never sufficed.
Before I forget, do you all know that each ear of corn has sixteen rows of kernels on it? No matter how big, small, or un-uniform in appearance, if you count rows, there will always be sixteen! Try counting them sometimes.
Susan Rektořík Henley
Kdo chce s vlky byti, musí s vlky vyti!
"If you run with the wolves, you must howl with the wolves!"
Remember who your people are, keep and tell their stories.
Rekindle and keep the fires of the culture alive!