![]() I bet it’s been a while (never for some), since you saw one of those hand-made brooms in this era of mass-manufactured nylon brooms. They were attractive in a rustic way, amber shocks of broomstraw bunched tightly in place by inner tube strips. I’d go to her home in and over in a corner would be a handmade broom about a yard long. Then I remembered the brooms my Grandmother Poland made. Name one person you know who can make an ordinary, useful thing. The political debater’s words came to me. I had to step back in time to recall people who made useful things by hand.Īs faces appeared in my mind, I saw artists, photographers, and sculptors. I thought of a potter too but they are the only people I know personally who make things as individuals. Right off I thought of my brother-in-law who makes beautiful, useful things from wood. Just name me one person and one thing they make. He challenged his fellow debaters, saying, Name one person you know who makes an ordinary, useful thing. He went on to say that the Chinese and big companies manufacture way too many things people used to make themselves. We got folks sitting around doing nothing. The economy and jobless rate came up, of course, and one fellow commented, Americans themselves, as individuals, he added emphatically, don’t make useful stuff anymore. Have you ever grown broom corn? Let me know what you think about this interesting crop in the comments section below.Some folks were talking presidential politics last week. It makes a very pretty autumn bouquet for my servery – and all of it grown right here at the farm. ![]() ![]() We use these bags everywhere around the farm – they are so useful for so many tasks.Īll the broom corn is gathered together and brought to my Winter House for decoration. Now, broom corn is grown for more ornamental uses and as feed.Īny discarded stalks are brought to the compost pile using my sturdy extra-large Multipurpose Garden Totes from QVC. By 1834 commercial broom corn production had spread to several states in the Northeast and started moving west. Initially, broom corn was grown only as a garden crop for use in the home. ![]() If left unharvested, the seeds can be used as a winter food source for wildlife – birds love them.īenjamin Franklin is credited with introducing broom corn to the United States in the early 1700s. When making brooms, these sprays are brushed with a curry comb to remove all the seeds. It is located at one end of my party lawn next to one of my horse paddocks and this long allee of lindens.Ī few weeks later, Ryan returns to the corn crib – the broom corn is now dry. My corn crib is original to the farm, and is one of the most photographed outbuildings on the property. Ryan and Gavin hang the broom corn in smaller bundles, so it could dry vertically and straight. Next, Ryan and Gavin bring the bundles of broom corn to the corn crib where they could dry undisturbed for the next two to three weeks. Here is a closer look at the broom corn stalks – they are very woody with dry piths inside. Ryan trims all the stalks to the same length. Now these stalks are smooth and clear of all the lower leaves – these stalks look similar to bamboo. There are about eight to 15 nodes and leaves on each one. Ryan begins to clean and shorten the stalks at the first leaf.Īnd peels all the lower outer leaves off the stalks. Ryan takes the stalks to the greenhouse where they will be prepared for curing. Here, one can see how long the broom corn has grown. Demand for these brooms has decreased over the years because the broom making process is so tedious – it takes one ton of broom corn to produce about 80 to 100 brooms. Look at all these pretty autumn colored tassels. Broom corn is typically ready for harvesting when the plant has developed the ideal tassel or “brush”. Ryan begins to cut off some of the long stalks. The leaves are also long and papery just like a cornstalk. These long tassels are what broom makers use to make brooms. Instead it grows tassels at the very top. This corn does not have ears filled with kernels. Broom corn reaches 10 to 18 feet at maturity, depending on the variety. Broom corn is easy to grow and only requires a bright and sunny open location with lots of nutrient-rich, well-drained soil.
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