The incredible kernel of corn. Our country has taken it to a whole new level. So much so, it's controversial. The agricultural business has taken corn and widened its uses EVERYWHERE- animal feed, fuel, most crackers, soda, cereal, dairy products, processed fruits and vegetables, barbecue sauce, ketchup, spaghetti sauce, training fish to eat corn and the list goes on.

If we take a look at WHY corn is fed to animals, it is simply because it fattens them up quickly making them ready to slaughter that much sooner. Consumers are purchasing more fat than they used to because corn fed animals (meat you buy from the grocery store unless marked grass fed) put on weight in terms of fat. This also translates to higher PSA levels in humans that consume this type of meat. Which also enhances the possibilities of getting cancer (s). I'm not taking on the corn industry but as a country, we are a bit used to going overboard.

If we take a moment to reflect why America and her citizens are getting larger, aren't we just like the corn fed cattle? The things we grab at the grocery store are just by-products of corn. Sure, as individuals we are to blame somewhat by what we put in our mouths but when the packaging has a beautiful picture of a small farm that makes it appear to be healthy and the first ingredient is corn or a chemical breakdown of it -it does seem a little unfair. How many people look at the nutritional value of each item they buy and actually KNOW what that long, strange word is? The best tool the food industry uses is trickery. A multi-billion dollar industry that tricks its customers into buying their corn products.

So why corn? Its relatively cheap to produce. Look at the statistics on farming in the past 50 years. We have moved from small dairy farms, local fruits and vegetables, and buying local meats at the butcher shop to using four major companies to supply most our food needs. Imports coming from Chile, Mexico, Argentina, and all over the world to supply us with 'organic' and regular foods. Therefore, corn is cheap and why not mix it in everything. It makes customers feel full and the industry makes more money on top of it. They use trickery to make us believe what we are eating is healthy. Many people think corn IS healthy. Yes, in its most natural state, but otherwise it's really just a lump of starch. Our bodies are not meant to run on such a high percentage of starch so it just stores it as fat.

We pretend like we don't know why disease and gastric problems are on the rise. We blame it on things like people living longer yet think it is amazing when farmers and their spouses have been living "the good life" at 93. It's not because they are lucky. They have eaten closest to nature their entire lives. And yes, also because it is cheaper to produce your own vegetables, meat and fruit. Followed by storing it fresh by freezing or canning.

Growing your own fruits and vegetables and canning them for winter months is the most healthy and best thing you can do for your body. You know what ingredients have gone into it and can pronounce all of them. Its up to us to take care of our families and with the shortage of farmers in the U.S., we will see more corn products on the shelves to fill the need of 'new' industrialized products to purchase. In addition, we will continue to see fruits and vegetables sprayed with chemicals to keep bugs off of them and also to make them ripen pre-maturely. Not enough people are asking what this does to our bodies and more importantly, children. The answer is, like a chemically enhanced tomato or growth hormone given to dairy cattle, it ripens a child early the same way. Our children are the future, and without teaching them how a garden grows or where our food really comes from, they will be in a world of hurt - financially and economically. My children mean the world to me, like most parents feel about their children. So take a moment to ask yourself what you can do to eat healthier by growing your own or supporting local markets that sell homegrown. If given the choice, I believe most people would purchase closest to nature and would opt to buy the NON corn filled products.

Some ideas to get closer to nature:
1. Go to farmer's markets - load up for the week. If anything, they are FUN!
2. Hunt- wild game is SO good for you and very little fat.
3. Buy meat as grass fed from a local small farmer. Store in your freezer (you can get 1/4 cow up to a whole - same for pork). If you don't have a chest freezer, get one. Super cheap on Craigslist.
4. Buy fruits and vegetables in their season and if you know its good buy a lot and can it.
5. Grow a garden, even if its small! Don't forget a berry patch, super high in anti-oxidants and don't take up much room.
6. Look for free range chicken eggs- TRUST me, backyard chickens are on the rise- you can find these literally down the road from you from someone cheaper than the grocery store even if you live in the city.
7. Be on the prowl and keep your ears open for local products, ie honey, pork, beef, chicken, duck, apples, etc. Closest to home is best for your body. The more you put your feelers out, the more you will find. People that raise products like these LOVE to talk about it and the resources will start pouring out.

I have been so busy canning that when I sleep I actually dream that I am canning. Even now I am waiting up for the chicken broth, dark meat  and bones to cool so I can filter them and start making the chicken soup. I am planning on canning the soup tomorrow morning.  I started off this whole experience with a lug (17 lbs) of peaches, some strawberries, and a few green beans. I went to a pick your own patch in Brookings SD for the strawberries. I came home with 25 lbs. I made 6 pints of jelly, and then froze the rest  rather than heat the house up.  The daily temperatures average 100 degrees and we don’t have air conditioning so I didn’t want to add any heat. By the time I purchased the peaches, we had broken the heat wave and had settled in the 80s. I put up 12 pints of jelly, 24 pints of sliced peaches and 4 pints of spirited peaches. It was fun. I enjoyed working with peaches and plan on finding some more. Peaches don’t grow well here. South Dakotans usually purchase Colorado peaches at road side stands this time of year.  

I have been learning how to pressure can. I have canned with a hot water bath canner before but never a pressure canner.  My husband, Rick, had bought me a 12 qt. pressure canner at a rummage sale several years ago, but I had never enough guts to use a pressure canner. Using one is a little overwhelming at first, the whole possibility of exploding and all. I got brave Monday night and attempted to can chicken. It ended up with the steam escaping out the seal and the chicken in the fridge. I did a little problem solving, purchased a new seal and was off and running again. I tried using again with corn. It worked!! But I lost a little fluid out of the jars. After canning about 30 quarts and 40 pints, I exhausted all my options in what could have been wrong.  I re-read my canner directions and found that my canner did not use the rule of allowing stream to escape for 10 minutes before putting on the selective control petcock I have only had the opportunity to not do the rule twice, once I lot fluid and once not. The first time was a batch of corn and the second was chicken breasts. However, on the second run I had a lid buckle up. Everyone I have asked had never heard of a lid buckling. I was told to contact the Georgia Extension for any canning questions.   

We have been blessed with so many wonderful gifts from friends. Some of the melon growers allow me to glean their fields for feed for my animals. It has reduced our feed bill by 75%. I try to return the favor by dropping off cleaned chickens and peach jelly.  I keep offering supper but have not been called to it yet. Another friend has given us sweet corn. Our own field has been ravaged by the drought and the free range chickens. I set up a husking station on the back deck. I soon attracted the chickens, and  dog. It was quite amusing to watch the dog chase a chicken across the yard, not to catch the chicken but to get the discarded corn cob.  I have canned __ qts and __ pts. Rick brought another 55 gallon barrel full of corn again last night, so I will continue to be busy.   

We butchered the last of our broilers Saturday. Well, all but 1 who it managed to hid out (been calling it Lucky.) A friend brought 25+ roosters to butcher. We did their roosters in the morning and our chickens in the afternoon.  I have been working on canning the 40 chickens. I canned 7 qts each with the breasts of 2 chickens. I then tossed the rest in 2 roasters to cook and that’s why I am waiting up for them to cool so I can filter the meat and bones out so all can cool the broth and remove the fat. I have learned to cook the chickens before I can them for the sake of my sanity, it saves time.  

Prepare to insert a candy corn joke here:

I caught this story yesterday (thanks to Judith from the Farm and Ranch Freedom Alliance for putting this out there) and I couldn't help myself. Feeding candy to cows? For one man in Kentucky, that's his solution to providing calories in the face of skyrocketing corn prices. Perhaps because corn is already an unnatural part of a cow's diet, candy can't be much worse? At any rate, here's the original article in full:

Kentucky Feedlot Manager Feeds Candy to Cows

While my initial reaction is just this side of horrified, feeding candy to cows brings up a host of questions in my mind:

- What's the difference between a rancher and someone who operates a feedlot? The article describes the latter by the former's title, is that accurate?

- Is corn expensive only because of drought? Or is it more complicated? What about the effect of land speculation?

- It's said another factor in the price of corn is ethanol production. What regulations are in place that makes this happen? How can they be changed?

- In the price of corn, what is the role of government subsidy programs? What do we want to see in the new Farm Bill regarding these subsidies?

- What is our role as consumers? It's easy to blame someone for feeding candy to their cows, but isn't he merely trying to produce a cheap product? Because we demand cheap meat (and lots of it!) aren't we equally culpable for the means to which that end is achieved?

- Finally, how common is this practice? Although it seems shocking, I'm curious if this occurs in pork production as well?

I'll hop off my little soap box but I'd love to hear others' thoughts. Feeding candy to cows: yay or nay?

The back forty looks like a disaster area. We had quite a storm move through the Valley Friday evening. The weather-folk call it a Derecho: an unusually strong storm that, fortunately, doesn’t grace us with its presence too often. Derecho means “straight” (or “right”) in Spanish, and it definitely lived up to its name: the gust blew in a precise beeline, pushing over anything in its path. Unfortunately, we had about seven trees standing directly along the route the wind decided to take.

We spent most of Saturday morning pushing against the 90+ degree heat, trying to move the limbs and branches from neighbors’ yards. We still have multiple piles of debris that still need to be cleaned up, but all in all, we fared well. Many of our friends lost electrical power and had to deal with thawing freezers, no air conditioning (or fans!) and dwindling water supplies. There was a run on ice and water; most of our local stores ran out of these staples long before many folks were able to stock up.

The area gardens seem to be resilient, though. Saturday, the cornfields looked rather pathetic with all of their towering stalks lying horizontally across the field. By Sunday afternoon, however, most of the corn had straightened and looked no worse for the wear.  My broccoli plants (already suffering from the direct attention of some little green worms) are still leaning a bit to the East. Hopefully they will survive nature’s onslaughts.

But enough musing for this morning. The weeds are having a heyday in my tomato patch, and such foolishness must be stopped! Even theoretical farmers get their hands dirty once in awhile.

There's lots of garden activity going on in the neighborhood.  Plants are leaving the nurseries in droves. I have just planted the tomatoes and bell peppers at Terra Nova Gardens. Next week the cucumbers, zucchini and corn will be planted.  My neighbor across the street from where I live at the Urban Ranch asked for some space at Terra Nova Gardens for watermelons and pumpkins.  He now has three hills of watermelons and three hills of pumpkins planted.  The rest of the open garden will be planted in sweet corn and five rows of companion planting called three sisters.  I expect most of you know what that is but for those that don't it's a combination of corn, pole beans, and vined squash planted in the same area.  The pole beans will climb up the corn and the squash will cover the ground to keep down the weeds and deter the raccoon.  The raccoons don't like stepping on the squash vines.  So I've read.  So we will see.

Here's the almost finished beds. Two more bales of straw covered the rest of the area. Once again this is not what the garden looks like. By the time I get to blog a couple days have gone by and things look much different. I guess that I really should take more pictures during the work days.

Here's the plan for this year. The grand plan has changed so many times that I couldn't tell you what issue this is. The overall plan has changed as well. I've decided to have half the garden be an open garden without a fence. Raised garden beds are great but just not for vined plants like acorn squash, watermelons, pumpkins, or sweet corn. There's a need for both. So half will be fenced and half will be open. Do turkeys like pumpkins or watermelons? I guess I'll find out.

Mean while back at the Urban Ranch, the backyard gardens have been severely neglected this year. Time in the backyard will be a must next week. The main rain water storage tank is full and I will ask my friend who has a source for unlimited plastic 55 gallon drums to snag me a couple more. I would like to continue to store up water for the backyard gardens as much as I can. Before the last rain I integrated one 55 gallon drum but it's overflowing and I had to close off the fill line for now. The dribble in the main water storage tank has all but stopped. The water loss has gone from 18 gallons a day to practically negligible. I'm not sure why but I'll except it and move on.

I have installed a water fountain in the main water storage tank. I don't want the water to become a breeding ground for mosquitoes. Before too long I plan to have fish caught from the local ponds in the tank as well so a little aeration is also needed. The cover for the tank used to be part of another project from 10 years ago and has been recycled as a tank cover to keep curious neighborhood from falling in the tank and to help to prevent algae growth. This project has come a long way since that first anchor concrete block was laid for the foundation. This is third year for working on the project. Last year only a few tweaks in the watering system were needed. This year I expect it to function as well as last year. So many projects and never enough time.

That's it for this week but there's another week coming with new and exciting adventures. I better rest up today so I can get started bright and early tomorrow. I'm glad you could sit a spell and read about the antics of old Dave and his gardening experiences. Until the next time keep those garden tools sharp and working. One hour a day in the garden is better than two at the fitness center.  

October through December is such a busy time for us. We are very lucky to have a large family. Between our nephews, siblings, and children we have 4 birthdays in October, 1 in November, and then Thanksgiving and Christmas to celebrate. It seems like I spend the majority of my time these months in the kitchen. Lucky for me, I love to cook!

If there is one thing our family knows how to do, and do well, it is eat! Food certainly brings everyone together, and there is always plenty of it when our family celebrates. Meats, casseroles, veggies, desserts, you name it. Each woman in our immediate family is known for at least one great dish. So in the spirit of the holiday season, I’d like to share some of these treasures with you.

Regardless of the time of year or event, I guarantee there will be a broccoli casserole present! Andrew’s mother gave me the recipe after we got married. The first time my sister tried it she was hooked as well! So both sides of our family now enjoy this recipe together.

Broccoli and Cheese Casserole 

12 oz. bag of frozen broccoli
1 can cream of mushroom soup
1 can cream of chicken soup
8 oz. cheese whiz (or store brand cheese sauce)
1 stick of melted butter
1 cup of chopped onion
1 ½ cup minute rice
½ teaspoon each salt, pepper

Follow directions for cooking broccoli. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine all ingredients in 9x13 baking dish. Mix well. Bake for 45 minutes.

Corn is another staple usually found on everyone’s holiday table. Aunt Ruth shared a super easy recipe for a tasty corn dish. Just a few simple ingredients, less than 5 minutes of prep work, pop it in the oven and there you go!

Baked Corn Pudding 

1 can cream style corn
1 can whole kernel corn (drained)
2 sticks melted butter
2 eggs slightly beaten
1 box Jiffy corn muffin mix

Mix all ingredients together in a casserole dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes.

Now, if you have read our previous blogs you know our family is crazy about sweet potatoes! We’ve already shared our recipes for sweet potato pie, fries, and yeast rolls. Here’s one easy and tasty recipe for sweet potatoes and apples. The beauty of this is you can adjust the amount of cinnamon and sugar to suit your own taste or your guests dietary needs. Diabetics in your crowd? Leave out the sugar and the apples will still sweeten the dish! If you do go that route, I recommend adding a dash of nutmeg and ginger to spice it up a bit. 

Sweet Potatoes and Apples 

5-7 large sweet potatoes
3 large sweet apples
1 stick of butter (sliced)
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ cup orange juice

Peel and slice sweet potatoes, add to 9 x 13 baking dish. Peel and dice apples, add to baking dish and mix with potatoes. Slice butter and spread over apples and potatoes. Sprinkle brown sugar, cinnamon and orange juice over top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40-45 minutes.

No holiday meal is complete without bread! Our family is also big on all sorts of breads. We eat it for breakfast, do sandwiches at lunch, dinner rolls, and dessert breads. My best friend is a German who’s family shares our love of breads. We swapped some of our favorite recipes. Hers is a delicious and fresh Lemon Braid which may appear difficult but is rather easy. Mine was a Pumpkin Bread which makes a nice sweet loaf for dessert or breakfast.

Pumpkin Bread 

5 eggs
1 ¼ cup vegetable oil
1 can solid packed pumpkin (15 oz.)
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 (3oz.) packages cook and serve vanilla pudding mix
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
½ tsp. salt

Beat eggs. Add oil and pumpkin and beat until smooth. Combine all remaining ingredients. Gradually beat into pumpkin mixture.

Pour batter into 5 greased mini loaf pans (5 ¾ In x 3In x 2 In). Bake at 325 degrees for 50-55 minutes, or until tooth pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pans before releasing onto wire racks.

Hefezopf (Lemon Yeast Braid) 

3 2/3 cup flour
3 Tsp. yeast
1 1/3 cup warm milk
1/3 cup sugar
¼ tsp. salt
7 Tablespoon butter
Grated Skin of 1 whole lemon
1 egg, for brushing on top

Add flour to a bowl, make a dent in center and add yeast. Add the rest of the ingredients and knead until the dough is firm. Dough should not be sticky, add flour to right consistency. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 15 minutes. Knead again, then divide into 6 equal parts and roll into strands. Strands should be about the thickness of a nickel. Braid together 3 strands Do this twice to form two loaves. Put onto a greased baking pan, cover with a damp cloth and let rise for 30 minutes. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Whisk egg and brush bread tops before baking. Bake for 18-20 minutes.

We recently celebrated our oldest daughters 6^th birthday. My mother always bakes our kids a special cake for their birthday. The cake is always the center of our party theme, and we have done everything from Thomas the Train and Lightening McQueen (complete with donut wheels!) to Tinkerbell and Minnie Mouse. This year, Macey requested a tree frog cake. Not exactly what you would expect from a little girl. Mom rose to the occasion and made a life size replica of Macey’s bedtime buddy, “Hug A Bug.”

Now, Mom hasn’t shared her special recipe for chocolate cake, but I have a similar tasting recipe we use here at home. It’s sure to satisfy anyone’s coffee and chocolate craving!

Chocolate Mocha Cake 

2 Cups all purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
½ cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup buttermilk
2 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tablespoon instant coffee powder
1 cup freshly brewed coffee

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, grease two 9 inch round cake pans. Combine flour, sugar, cocoa, oil, eggs, buttermilk, baking powder, soda, and salt in a mixing bowl. Dissolve instant coffee in warm coffee and add to mixing bowl. Beat at medium speed until smooth. Batter will be thin, do NOT add more flour. Pour mixture into prepared pans. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until tooth pick comes out clean. Cool in pans for 10 minutes before turning out on wire racks to cool.

Frost with your choice of frosting. I used this recipe at Halloween to make a pumpkin cake using a bundt pan and muffin tin. By doubling the recipe I had enough to do the 2 required bundt’s to form the pumpkin, and two muffins for the stalk. I frosted it with orange tinted butter cream frosting, added green butter cream frosting for the vine, and dyed some shredded coconut green for the “grass.”

We sure do enjoy the holidays around here. It gives us the perfect excuse to cook! Eating all the goodies is pretty good too. Give a few of these a try, and be sure to let us know how you like them!

Our Tiny House will sit on the unofficially named Tiny Lane. There we will raise Tiny Goats and this year, have a Tiny Farm.

Unlike last year, we simply aren't ready to have multiple gardens full of organic produce and fruits. We will have to exchange the size of our 'salad bowl,' if you will, for something a bit more fitting for where we are in the move from Georgia to North Carolina. This minor setback (and I use the term setback very loosely) didn't mean we couldn't still have as much fun perusing through seed catalogues, mildly discussing exotic produce, and dreaming about the organic edibles we would one day enjoy from our own land.

So last week - at separate times, unfortunately - Crystal and I both spent time flipping page after page, comparing items from last in regards to growth success, growth potential, overall energy consumed to grow, and overall taste. With a wonderful cup of rasberry-peach tea on my desk in front of me I saw down and began with perhaps my favorite catalogue; Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

We still have a few seeds left from last year that are still quite viable including some cabbage, a bit of Carrot Chantenay Red Core, Lettuce Val d'Orges, and Cauliflower. While I had originally thought of giving them away in a contest, I have decided to save them and use them as a great way to begin some leafy greens anywhere I can find dirt worth sowing in.

Because we are limited on ready space this year we have talked about doubling our efforts by growing potatoes at Crystal's mom's house and even trying some sweet corn in the back field of her grandmother's place. Last year we we tried corn and had really mixed results. We had a case of ear whigs and many of ears came in small and lacking kernels. We're willing to try again though as it was our first time and we're bound to do better in a corn hotbed like the sandy soils of North Carolina.

We're definitely looking forward to doubling the size of our onion beds this year. Last year we harvested just at 124 onions and while they lasted up until mid-November we would love to have a supply that would take us into late-February or so. While the desire is there we are still trying to figure where we would get that size space for such an onion supply. We may have to resort to a bit of gonzo gardening and just plant bulbs all around being careful to remember when we have things growing.

I think the main focus this year though is going to be our beans and cukes. We serve early peas, snap beans, and bush beans all year round and while our cucumbers have done really well each year we can't seem to get enough to both eat and pickle. Crystal loves a good dill pickle and so we look to raise up cuke plants in every available vertical spot we can muster.

So what about you? Have you begun planning and ordering yet? If so, what is your favorite company to order from? Are you growing anything new and original? What are your old standbys that get planted year after year? As always if you like this post be sure to share it on Facebook or send the link out on Twitter. We appreciate you also taking the time to read the r(E)volution and be a part of the conversation! 

Don't kick me out of the Midwest, but I don't like corn on the cob. I am not sure how I grew up in Missouri and ended up that way, but I'm sure there is someone in New York City who likes to wear OshKosh B'gosh overalls.

Friends in Chicago are astonished I don't like corn. "But you're from the South," they cry, referring to north Missouri and the Kansas City area. Everybody in Chicago thinks I'm from the South and that my slight twang is deep southern. And since my kinfolk originally comes from Kentucky, which really is the South, not liking corn is especially an abomination.

So I had to come up with a variation I could like. Cornbread is okay, and maybe soup with about ten percent corn. I don't like grits because they're runny and the only acceptable runny dish for me is oatmeal. So I decided to bake the grits, and doll them up with some extras. Here are grits anyone can like!

GRIZZLY GRITS

• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1 large white onion, diced
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
• 1 cup uncooked quick-cooking grits
• 1 1/2 cups grated Swiss cheese
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large, heavy skillet, fry bacon. When done, set bacon slices aside. Drain all but about 2 tablespoons bacon grease. Place onion in pan and saute until golden brown, about 10-15 min. Remove cooked onions and set aside.

In the same skillet, put milk, butter and salt. Heat to bubbling (almost boiling), stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Sprinkle one-fourth of grits into mixture, stirring constantly. Continue adding grits, 1/4 cup at a time, and stirring. Constantly stir until mixture becomes thick and bubbling. Remove from heat. Stir in bacon, onion, and 1 cup of the grated swiss cheese.

Butter a 2-quart baking dish. Spread cooked grit mixture evenly into pan, then sprinkle with remaining grated cheese. Sprinkle on parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered in a 350 degree oven for 20 to 25 minutes. Slice and serve warm.

Leftovers note: If you have leftovers the next day (store in the refrigerator), make "fried" Grizzly Grits. Cut the baked grits into inch-size cubes. Place butter in a heavy skillet and heat till warm. Saute each chunk on every side to get a brown crispy crust.

My husband, Doug, had to leave on a two week business trip this week that was planned long ago. He grieved and begrudgingly left with our small farm crops, about 20 acres, still in the field to await his return. His heart is ready for the harvest process to begin. The combine sits greased, tuned and standing by in the shed. The truck has its battery all charged, the license plates on and all set to haul a bountiful harvest to the elevator in town. Our grandsons are chomping at the bit to ride along, but the moisture content of both the corn and the ground made it impossible to gather the crops before he had to leave.

To add insult to injury, the weather forecast is, of course, the perfect weather to bring in the crops.

My greatest efforts to assure him that the corn will still be here when he gets home were of no comfort to him in the least. I have learned that the acts of the harvest itself have the utmost importance to a true farmer’s heart. It is like that of air to breath, it is that significant.

The harvest is about the gathering of the abundance of God’s blessings from tiny seeds painstakingly planned, planted, fertilized and cultivated. It is about the purring rumble of a well-tuned, albeit very old, six-row combine. It is about sliding the lever that engages the gears that run the chains that put the entire process in action. It is about our four- and two-year-old grandsons sitting on buckets in the cab with their faces pressed to the glass fascinated with the entire course of action. It is about the rhythmic rumba beat motion of the straw walkers smoothly doing their job. It is about the sun shining through the dust of the chaff as it is scattered in waving patterns behind the machine. It is about the sound of the grain pouring like spun gold out of the combine’s auger and into the back of the truck that sits unused in the shed all year just waiting for gathering time. It is about waving to each neighbor on the trip into town to unload. It is about comparing yields and moisture content. It is about the wait at the elevator and the chatting with the fellow harvesters who have hearts similar to yours. It is about a steaming cup of coffee in a Styrofoam cup held in gloved hands as the corn unloads. And, perhaps most importantly, it is about acknowledging the hand of God in every step of the process.

My days are busy as usual. The daycare children are winding down from Halloween and gearing up for the coming Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. We are making the transition from the out of doors to more inside time. There are more groceries to buy, as with the cooler weather, there are many new recipes to try. All the children appreciate cooking but one of the four-year-old boys I am privileged to have in my care has a baker’s heart and truly appreciates every step of the process. Next week we are going to bake bread and I cannot wait to share the experience with them. And I instill in them with every step that it takes a farmer somewhere for us to be able to get flour from the container, eggs and milk from the refrigerator and the rest. God willing, they will absorb and come to appreciate a bit of what I have learned from living the past decade with a farmer’s heart at my side.

So, I anxiously await his return so the harvest can begin. It is unfortunate that life sometimes gets in the way and delays our plans but that is just the way it is and so we are obliged to become the way we are.

Doug will get to complete the harvest; the whole gathering process will take place; a true farmer’s heart will beat at peace once again; and I’ll close the gate with grace.

My fellow GRIT bloggers are quite a creative bunch, and I’ve learned quite a lot from them during the short time I’ve been blogging here. I’ve learned how to build various styles of chicken coops, (though I have no chickens); I’ve learned how to make soap and can apples; I’ve read about the trials and successes of homesteading and starting a farm. There are mulefoot hogs, jujubes, and black bear stories; book and movie reviews, and a narrow escape from a tire flying through a window. The bloggers allow us to see into their lives through their stories, and share with us places we’ve never been, and things we’ve never seen. From the knowledge of their experience, we learn. The readers who take the time to comment on these blogs and share their own experiences, enrich the stories and make them grow. It’s a lot like gardening in a way: gardeners teach what they’ve learned – often by “trowel” and error; they share from their own gardens, and pass along traditions in order that others may benefit. With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I thought I’d pass along a story of tradition; it’s a story that begins in a garden and is about the sharing of knowledge. It’s the Legend of the Three Sisters.

In 1621, a three-day feast was held by the pilgrims to celebrate a bountiful harvest, and to give thanks to the Native Americans who shared their knowledge and taught the pilgrims how and what to plant in this new land. Along with the pilgrims and Native Americans, the Three Sisters were in attendance at this celebratory feast, and without them there would have been no party.

The Three Sisters of Life are corn, beans, and squash, and they were a staple of the Native Americans’ diet. Legends say these sisters are inseparable; one only thrives with the others near. They must be planted together; they must be eaten together. Planting corn, beans, and squash in the same mound was a tradition practiced by many Native American farming societies and dates back to ancient Mesoamerica.

Ceremonies and festivals were held in honor of the Three Sisters; planting and harvest times were especially important. Rituals and knowledge were passed down from one generation to the next, preserving the tradition for centuries – knowledge such as what the Native Americans told the settlers: "when the oak leaves grow to the size of a squirrel’s ear – then it’s time to plant."

Planting these vegetables together benefits both the plants and people. The corn stalks provide a pole for the beans to climb. The beans help stabilize the corn from wind, and beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the quality of the soil. Squash vines act as mulch, shading and smothering weeds, and help keep the soil cool and moist. All three were turned back into the soil to add organic matter, improving its fertility and structure. The three eaten together supply nearly all nutritional requirements a body needs.

Had the Native Americans not given their gardening knowledge, and the gift of the Three Sisters of Life, the pilgrims may not have survived. It’s quite possible there would have been no first Thanksgiving. Today, Thanksgiving is a holiday rich in traditions; it’s a time of sharing, and being thankful for the bounty we enjoy – not only the bounty spread on the table, but the bounty of family and friends.

I’d like to wish everyone in the GRIT family – my fellow bloggers and readers, and the wonderful GRIT staff – a Happy Thanksgiving.

One of the more vivid memories I have of my in-laws out at their country home in Iowa was the delicious corn we used to have with Thanksgiving dinner. They had a large garden, and I got to help them freeze it up a few times in late summer. I don’t know why it the world I never did it when I lived in the city all those years, but now that we have a country place of our own it became a priority for me to rekindle that experience of sinking my teeth into that unmistakable buttery-sweet winter flavor as part of Thanksgiving. So in preparation for our own garden next year, we bought a half-bushel of corn and set to work with it.

Sue has a big canning pot so the corn was scalded in that. The books we looked at said to scald the corn for eight minutes, but that seemed like way too much. We thought maybe 3-4 but we didn’t want to fight the “sage” advice from our cookbooks so we compromised on six minutes. That worked pretty well, but I’d probably cut it to five next year.

We boiled through the corn a dozen ears at a time and then shaved it off the cob using a sharp butcher knife. It’s easiest to hold the cob straight up with the tip down and the stalk end up, then using a gentle sawing motion to get as much of those juicy golden kernels as possible. Once the first cut is made, I rotate the cob about 6-8 times so I’m slicing only a couple of rows off at a time, which keeps the kernels intact as far as possible. When the cob is done, I like to scrape it down with the back of the knife to get the rest of the juice and the germ, which is the bright yellow part at the center of the kernel and provides the oil and protein to complement the fiber and starch of the rest of the kernel.

Once all of the goodies are scraped off the cob, the cobs and husks go on the compost pile and the corn gets put into quart-sized zippered freezer bags.  I like to press out as much air as I can before the final seal to prevent frosting up, but we don’t use a vacuum sealer. I don’t know if that would work better, so if anyone has experience trying it one way or another I’d like to hear about it. I think it’s best if the corn goes in the freezer while it’s still warm, but that could just be some prejudice I’ve developed from watching some big green guy in commercials talking about the benefits of flash freezing.

Now I’m anticipating the payoff at Thanksgiving. To complete my rekindled memory, the corn comes out of the bag into a small pan with a liberal amount of butter, some salt and pepper, and a touch of milk. After it thaws, it gets heated through and cooked for around 5 minutes, not too much. The result is like eating corn on the cob, fresh from the garden but with and extra touch of creamy smoothness form the milk and the scrapings off the cob. Just the thought of it takes me back to Iowa, those long lazy weekends floating down the Mississippi river on my in-laws house boat, and the big family Thanksgiving dinners we spent enjoying the bounty from their garden.