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Post by bigcorn on Jan 19, 2014 20:45:20 GMT -5
Hello, I'm new to this! I sent you a message not on this thread. It's pertaining to the Tuscarora white corn. I am Tuscarora, my family has grown the original corn the Same corn we Tuscarora brought with us on are exodus from the carolinas. Please contact me if I can help you out.
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Post by DarJones on Jan 19, 2014 22:29:59 GMT -5
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Post by bigcorn on Jan 22, 2014 22:11:42 GMT -5
What can I help you with? For some reason my previous, more in depth explanation of are family history of the Tuscarora white corn didn't get posted. I am carrying on the tradition of growing only select corn to save the superior quality that this corn is known for. Last year's crop yielded Cobbs of mature corn up to 17 plus inches. I'm still very much in the learning process due to the untimely death of my father Norton Rickard in 2009. He was renowned to be the authority on the Tuscarora white corn as it was his passion. I learned from a very young age the importance and nutritional value of the corn.
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Post by steev on Jan 22, 2014 22:31:36 GMT -5
Bigcorn; surely you realize how valuable such a variety is to people on this forum. I'm another interested in growing Tuscorora white corn.
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Post by bigcorn on Jan 23, 2014 17:55:22 GMT -5
Yes, I know how valuable it is. My parents were offered multiple avenues to venues in nyc that would use the corn and more than likely make the Tuscarora much more sought after. At the time my father only saw the corn as what it was used for in past generations, a food staple in are culture and for ceremonial purposes. I now have more and more people approaching us for more commercial uses. On a side note there is a documentary on my father and the Tuscarora white corn called " The Gift" produced by Gary Farmer. It's very informative. He was also chosen to represent the Iroquois people in a sacred food summit in British Columbia the summer just prior to his death. He gave a great interview on the corn and it's history. I'll try and figure a way to post a link to where you can here it. This variety of corn is VERY resilient, it can withstand drought conditions and fares well in very wet growing seasons. Cornell university done a study on the corn and was very impressed on its nutritional value. On the study they found that is nutritional value nearly doubles when it's processed with are traditional way with a wood ash lye. We then either make a soup from the corn or dry the corn and then pound it to make a flour and then into a bread per say. It's more of a very dense loaf.
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Post by DarJones on Jan 24, 2014 1:07:57 GMT -5
Can you provide seed of your corn to growers here? I grow Cherokee White Flour corn which is an 8 row white flour corn on stalks 10 to 12 feet tall. Ears average 12 to 14 inches long. I would like to try yours if you are willing to provide some seed.
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Post by bigcorn on Jan 24, 2014 17:29:27 GMT -5
Possibly, I guess it depends on how much you are interested in. Email me at rickardsguideservice@gmail.com
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Post by dustdevil on Jan 30, 2014 9:59:59 GMT -5
Fusionpower...did you get a response from bigcorn via email? What's up?
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Post by 12540dumont on Jan 30, 2014 12:16:37 GMT -5
Dar, if he doesn't have enough to share, can you put me on your list for some for next year? Please
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Post by bigcorn on Feb 4, 2014 12:56:26 GMT -5
Hello all. If your interested in some seed pleas mail me a prepaid envelop to 4919 black nose spring Rd sanborn ny 14132 attention George Rickard (bigcorn is just my user name on the thread)]
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Post by DarJones on May 16, 2015 14:03:49 GMT -5
I received a package with 13 seed of a white flour corn yesterday. There was no name on the envelope, but I suspect it was from Bigcorn.
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Post by oxbowfarm on May 29, 2015 7:04:44 GMT -5
There are a lot of strains of this corn, the Norton Rickard Tuscarora is a really nice one with very large ears, and there are a number of other shorter season strains from other Haudenosaunee nations in the US and Canada. The Canadian strains tend to be shorter eared with smaller plants but much shorter season maturities. My white flour corn is a grex of several different strains of this corn mixed with Cherokee White Flour. Cherokee is too long season for this part of NY, but it has better Northern Leaf Blight tolerance genetics and really great stalk quality. In general the Haudenosaunee strains have poor stalk strength and lodge fairly badly in my experience. It is a delicious corn, very easy and fast to nixtamalize and the easiest corn to make tortilla masa dough from of the corns I have used. I am using it as the primary backbone of my flour corn project. I'd like to have better stalk quality, better disease tolerances (especially to NLB), higher yields, and looser kernels on the cob. It is a little difficult to shell with a crank sheller, the kernels are tight in general so there ends up being far too many damaged kernels due to the soft starch.
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Post by DarJones on May 29, 2015 8:00:07 GMT -5
You mention a trait that is important to me. When i first grew Cherokee Squaw, I found a few ears that were extremely easy to shell. Those ears were shelled for seed for the next season. I've checked several commercial lines of corn and found that most are mid-range for ease of shelling. None of them are as easy as the selected ears of Cherokee Squaw. Part of ease of shelling comes from long wedge shaped kernels on very dry ears. Part is from glume structure where the kernel attaches to the cob. The easy shelling trait is associated with a thin attachment point and short glume structure. From what I have seen, it is easily selected if present in a population.
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