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Garfield Farm Museum Presents CORN 101 - Sept. 30


    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.


For more information about Garfield Farm send an e-mail message to: info@garfieldfarm.org or call 630/584-8485.