one of the houses on the end of my street is home to the members of a local irish folk band so some mornings i’ll be walking out to my bus stop to a rollicking accordion and mandolin like i’m finally setting out to seek my fortune on the high seas or some days i’ll come home to a weary aching lament that is so sweet and so yearning that i’ll miss the drowned lover i never had
Glass Gem is a unique strain of
corn with kernels that look like
pieces of rainbow-colored glass.
Source
Carl Barnes, an Oklahoma farmer, started growing older corn varieties to connect with his Cherokee heritage.
He isolated ancestral strains Native American tribes lost in the 1800s when they were relocated to Oklahoma.
Soon he began exchanging ancient corn seed with growers from all over the country, while simultaneously saving and replanting seeds from the most colorful cobs.
This eventually resulted in rainbow-colored corn.
When the rainbow corn mixed with the traditional varieties it created new strains, displaying more vibrant colors and patterns over time.
Glass Gem is a flint corn, so it isn’t really eaten off the cob. It’s usually ground into cornmeal and used in tortillas or grits, but it can also be used to make popcorn.
