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News from Garfield Farm |
On Sunday, September 30, museum volunteer and long
time farmer, Chuck Bauer, will give a lecture on the history of corn.
There will be discussion of the types used in the 1840s and how farmers
manipulated corn to create the variety we have today. The talk will
start at 2 pm and has an admission of $6.
Ethanol, as an alternative fuel, has brought the
potential of corn to the public’s attention. How much corn can be
produced, its price, and even the question of it being a viable
alternative fuel to gasoline, has all been openly discussed recently.
Yet, corn has been a very important crop for centuries.
In the early nineteenth century, corn was a very
important crop. It was a fuel, which helped “run” their
farm animals. Often, the ears would be removed from the field and the
rest of the plant could be used as fodder for the livestock. Nothing
went to waste, as the corn kernels were edible, other parts of the
plant such as, the stalk, husk, and cob, all had several domestic uses,
as well.
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. For more information call the
museum at (630) 584-8485, or email at 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.