Need a source for corn and apples

[Steve Acker]

So where can a guy get a bushel or two of period correct corn and apples for an event in August?

Steve Acker

[Terry Sorchy]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Steve,
Get ahold of Dan Barker. He will set you up.
Cheers:D
Terry Sorchy

[MarkTK36thIL]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Justin Runyon suggested a book, and I whole heartily agree that it is a must read for anyone wanting to know more about the impact of apple based liquor in America. There is also numerous details of specific apple types, etc.

Cider Hard and Sweet: By Ben Watson ISBN 0-88150-468-8

[Alamo Guard]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Try the "South Carolina Seed Company" They have numerous period correct seeds for sale. They even have real field peas, not the stuff they sell today ubder the same name.

[Charles Heath]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

So where can a guy get a bushel or two of period correct corn and apples for an event in August?

Steve,

The corn diagonally across from the church at the time of the battle was a Gourdseed variety, and it was chiefly grown for white corn meal. The odds are pretty good it was being ground at Pry's Mill just east of there. This corn is a long season (110 day) corn, and is currently marketed as Virginia Gourdseed, Texas Gourdseed, and just plain Gourdseed. While this corn is good enough to simulate the vignette where a man could "hit a dime at ten paces," it is not a sweet or supersweet corn as we moderns know it, but it has a good maize flavor to it. This corn has some trouble with wet, cold, soil, and rots easily before germination if conditions are less than ideal. I haven't grown this variety in several years, but it thrives on rich soil and is hard to burn even with fresh manure. IIRC, Hank Trent also grew this variety as a field corn, and had different experiences with yield and the size of the kernals. This corn does not seem to travel well, and when it hits the dough stage, it is not that good boiled or roasted. By the way, a few ears of green corn aren't likely to disrupt the modern digestive tract; however, this is assuming the diet includes something besides just green corn.

For living history purposes, judging the window when the corn is good for picking and eating can be a bit tricky. There is as much luck as art and skill to timing the planting so that the harvest hits an event date just right. A 19th century sweet corn that hedges this bet into about three to four week window is Evergreen, and it is commonly available from the usual suspect "heirloom" seed vendors. This variety is also marketed as "Stowell's Evergreen." This corn is tasty uncooked, boiled, or roasted. It is not as sweet as modern varieties, yet has an excellent maize flavor. I grow this variety most years, although I do like Silver Queen now and then. In dry weather, Evergreen really needs consistent irrigation, and do not prune what appear to be suckers or side shoots. This corn also travels well, and does surprisingly well in poor soil.

Other folks grow other varieties, but these two are my favorites.

As for apples, we know Pry (the one with the brick house where the hospital interpretation now takes place) sold Mac $2,500 worth of apples. While the varieties he grew may be lost to history, the NPS has been restoring orchards, such as at the Piper Farm, for a while now, and may have some good documentation as to precisely what was grown in the area in September 1862. If that sort of precision fails, and they took the shotgun-catalog approach, a good number of mid-19th century varieties are still grown in the area, and the small produce stand east of the main intersection on the southside of National Pike in Boonsboro carries a variety of locally grown heirloom varieties. Failing that, email me about a week before the event and I'll see what is hanging on the 2,500 or so apple trees out back beyond the micro orchard. They are organic, so, the pest management program (chiefly consists of dormant oil and kaolin clay) is people safe enough to eat from the tree.

This is a good level of detail for foraged items. The devil is in the cards Mother Nature deals come harvest time.

[Rmhisteach]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Steve,

I was talking to a student ( down here at Cowpie High) that has his own sweet corn buisness. He said he has 10 lbs of Silver King seed. Maybe Charles can pipe in about the history of that variety. I am sure that I could work something out and contract some for you.Is two bushels enough???

RM

[Hank Trent]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Steve,

I was talking to a student ( down here at Cowpie High) that has his own sweet corn buisness. He said he has 10 lbs of Silver King seed. Maybe Charles can pipe in about the history of that variety. I am sure that I could work something out and contract some for you.Is two bushels enough???

RM

This is gonna be confusing, and maybe corn growers can help clarify.

There's an open-pollinated Silver King white dent field corn also called Wisconsin No. 7, which while not truly period is kinda sorta pretty close (really became popular around the turn of the 20th century but from earlier seed stock).

However, it sounds like you're talking about the typical Silver King sweet corn variety that's one of the most popular today, which is a sugar-enhanced hybrid, totally modern.

I'm wondering, though, if sweet corn isn't even what's wanted. Is this supposed to be corn that's foraged by soldiers from southern fields? If so, finding a field of sweet corn, compared to the endless fields of, well, field corn, would be pretty rare. And most modern people haven't tasted field corn except as cornmeal, so it would be well worth finding field corn instead of substituting sweet corn, if that's the scenario.

If you don't grow it yourself, the hardest part today will be finding any kind of field corn that's picked in the milk stage. Farmers of course let it mature and harvest it to feed to livestock or for cornmeal. If you can't grow it yourself, I'd say try to find a farmer who's growing even a modern dent field corn--white dent would be great--and find his spraying schedule to make sure you won't be picking the day after he puts pesticides on it, and see if you can pick a couple bushels yourself when the time comes. They won't be at the optimum time to harvest for boiling or roasting, probably, but if they're foraged by soldiers, they wouldn't have been then, either.

Hank Trent
hanktrent@voyager.net

[Charles Heath]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

Hank,

Good analysis on the old/new Silver Kings. This is one of the few times when not only the type of small grain in the fields is known, but the precise variety, and up until recently seed corn descended from that actually growing in the Miller Field in September 1862 could be purchased, grown, foraged, and consumed. That opportunity is now lost, but it was fun while it lasted.

[SouthernMag]

Re: Need a source for corn and apples

http://rareseeds.com/

I just got my catalog from them and it is a font of information as well as wonderful varieties of vegies, herbs and flowers all non hybrids and many with mid 19th Century provenances. I am planning to put in a totally heirloom vegtable garden this year with seeds from this company. The catalog is free so it doesn't hurt to check it out, they have about a gazillion different types of corn.