Garfield Farm Museum Presents CORN 101
CAMPTON HILLS, IL- On Sunday, September 16th at 2 pm,
museum volunteer and farm hobbyist, Chuck Bauer, will give a lecture on the
history of corn. There will be discussion of the type used in the 1840s and
how farmers manipulated corn to create the variety we have today.
In the early nineteenth century, corn was a staple of
people’s diets as it could be ground into meal for baking and cooking, dried
and cooked, or even distilled into whiskey. More commonly, it was fed to
livestock in particular to fatten one’s hogs as pork was the meat that
preserved best. Not only were the corn kernels edible, other parts of the
stalk, husk, and the cob, all had several uses, as well.
Today, entire
industries are based on this crop. From food and food additives like corn
sweeteners, chemicals, plastics, livestock feeds and supplements, and of
course the ethanol mixed with gasoline are just some of the uses of this
plant developed by the peoples of the Americas.
Mr. Bauer was a polymer scientist/engineer at Amoco
Chemicals for 31 years. Growing up in north central Ohio, Mr. Bauer always
had an interest in farming and animals. Chuck took a special interest in
corn while demonstrating the Garfield’s corn sheller at one of the museum’s
Harvest Days events. He has grown several varieties of corn, including pod
corn.
The cost of the lecture is $6 and refreshments are
included. For reservations, contact the museum at (630) 584-8485 or
info@garfieldfarm.org. Garfield Farm Museum is located 5 miles west of
Geneva, IL, off of ILL Rt. 38 on Garfield Road. The 370-acre site is a
historically intact former 1840s farm and teamster inn being restored as an
1840s working farm museum by volunteers and donors from around the country.
For more information about Garfield Farm send an e-mail message to: info@garfieldfarm.org
or call 630/584-8485.
