A Visit to a Corn Field

Today I'm taking you to the edge of a hot and dusty Mississippi corn field, and will give you a glimpse down a couple of the endless rows that run for miles and miles and acres and acres across flat Delta lands.

The corn stalks towered over me, their tassels swaying gently in the warm breeze ...

Although I grew up playing hide and seek amongst the corn rows of my grandfather's garden in the country, I had never really looked closely at a corn plant before, so it was fun seeing one up close through my camera lens.

Corn Silk

While doing a little research for this post, I discovered that the corn silk has such a high concentration of potassium that it is used (in capsule form) as a powerful diuretic, and can also be used to treat urinary disorders, such as kidney stones.

I think the most fascinating part of a corn stalk (and probably less seen part) is its roots (you can click on the picture to enlarge it, if you'd like to get a closer look).

Isn't that amazing!

FUN FACTS ABOUT CORN Farmers grow corn on every continent except Antarctica. One bushel of corn will sweeten more than 400 cans of Coca-Cola. There are about 800 kernels in 16 rows on each ear of corn. The corncob (ear) is actually part of the corn plant’s flower. The main ingredient in most dry pet food is corn. Corn is America's number one field crop. Corn leads all other crops in value and volume of production. A pound of corn consists of approximately 1,300 kernels. Corn is a member of the grass family. A bushel of corn can provide 2.5 gallons of ethanol fuel, or about 32 pounds of sweetener or cornstarch. Over 3,000 products in the supermarket contain corn in some form, including cereals, snack foods, margarine, oil, puddings, soda, and soap. A bushel of corn fed to livestock produces over 5 pounds of beef, 13 pounds of pork, 19 pounds of chicken, or 28 pounds of catfish!

Now that I know a little more about corn than I did when I started this post, I think I'm going to take our granddaughter Avery to a corn field next week and let her discover the wonders of corn for herself ... and let her take some pictures while we're there!