Traditional Fertilizer, Modern Applications for Iroquois White Corn

Traditional Fertilizer, Modern Applications for Iroquois White Corn

Summary

WORK ACTIVITIES

We started our grant with a meeting attended by Lea Zeise, Regional Representative for the Intertribal Agriculture Council; Joanie Buckley, Division Director Internal Services Oneida Tribe; Bill Vervoort Coordinator-Integrated Food Systems Oneida Tribe; and myself, Laura Manthe Coordinator for the Oneida White Corn Growers. The meeting outcomes were a commitment of the use of a 13 acre field that was being leased from the Oneida Tribe by the Oneida 4-H Chapter, the printing and mailing of a postcard to the head of household of all Oneida in Brown and Outagamie Counties inviting them to a meeting titled “White Corn & Soil Health”, printing the ad in the Oneida newspaper the Kalihwisaks, and free use of a meeting room at Ridgeview Plaza also owed by the Oneida Tribe.

Initially, in the grant application, we planned for Tony Kuchma to present at this meeting. But Tony felt that a professional would be better suited for this event. We contacted Val Dantoin, Instructor of Organic Agriculture at Northeast Wisconsin Tech College. She agreed to present at the meeting.  48 people attended the meeting. Most of them were there to learn about their own backyard garden soil health and had no interest in growing White Corn. Val conducted a pre -test and a post-test to gauge the participant’s knowledge of how to take a proper soil sample. She gave a lecture with a slide show on how to take a soil sample, organic fertilizers, and ways to build up the health of soil. After a potluck lunch, those who were interested in growing White Corn stayed for a meeting where Laura discussed the very recent and fast moving events that led up to 25 people committing to discussing further the opportunity to grow White Corn together.

Back Yard growers who were identified in the SARE Grant application received a binder with a copy of the grant, expectations for participants, baggies to put the soil samples in and envelopes for mailing to AgSource Labs, a language CD to play when working with the corn and a list of Upcoming Events including a next meeting date of April 9, 2016.

It was clear after the initial meeting, that most people interested in growing White Corn did not have access to land and would not fit the Back Yard Growers we identified in the SARE Grant Application. A decision was made to have two groups of growers. The first would be the Ohe.laku group or Among the Corn Stalks group that would grow on the 13 acre 4-H site and the other would be the Back Yard Growers. Some participants were in both groups. Not everyone had seed corn to plant so we decided to pool our corn and grow 3.5 acres of corn as a test to see if we could work together, to see if we could build a better relationship with the corn and our cultural knowledge, and to learn how to use the Fish Emulsion to fertilize the plants.

We started our growing season with a Tabaco Ceremony at the 4-H site. We planted 11 pounds of seed per acre on May 21, 2016 with a corn planter we borrowed from the Oneida Apple Orchard.  The children participated by picking rocks in the field, planting squash around the edges of the field, weeding and singing to the corn.

We met every month in 2016. Two of our participants are certified TOPs Facilitators. They kept the meetings focused so we could identify what White Corn Victory would look like at the end of the growing season, our Strengths and Weaknesses as a group, and created a Commitment Contract for everyone to sign. Laura and Robin found a 500 gallon sprayer at the FFA Auction in Seymour, WI for $500. A friend who is an electrician wired the sprayer to Robin’s tractor. The sprayer was filled with water and a 5 gallon pail of Fish Emulsion was added. This was done three times during the growing season. Some of the participants learned how to operate the tractor and sprayer, the tractor and planter, the cultivating tractor, and some brought rototillers from home to keep the weeds at bay.

Laura also purchased a 30 gallon sprayer for the Back Yard Growers. She gave them 1 gallon jugs of Fish Emulsion and asked them to keep track of the amount used and the times it was applied. At harvest time, they were to measure the amount of seed to soup grade corn they harvested.  Becky Webster planted 300 seeds in her backyard in May and harvested 150 corn cobs in October. That came out to 3 pounds of seed grade and 45 pounds of soup grade corn. Eliza Skenandore planted Zuni Blue Corn instead of Iroquois White Corn and had similar results as Becky. She was amazed at the physical difference between the corn that was sprayed and corn that was not. Both families felt bad about not fertilizing all of the corn plants. They felt like they were mistreating the corn but the lesson they learned about the value of Fish Emulsion was firmly etched in their minds. Keith Metoxen used the 30 gallon sprayer and the Fish Emulsion in his backyard. He lost all of his corn to raccoons. He is convinced the raccoons liked the Fish Emulsion smell. Randy Cornelius planted his seeds in late June and his corn did not have enough time to reach maturity.    

During the summer months, participants were encouraged to stop out at the 4-H corn field and uncover the small corn stalks after the cultivating tractor went through, weed as needed and sing to the corn plants. 

Ohe.laku started picking the 3.5 acre field on Sunday, September, 18 and wrapped up on Sunday, October 16. One hundred ninety braids of corn were hung from the rafters in the rented barn. Six 8 foot x 4 foot screen racks were built to hold the corn that lost its husk and was unable to be braided, and long sticks with screws were built to attach corn cobs to dry and two 8 foot x 4 foot fine screen racks were built for individual kernels from the cobs that only had a few kernels. Laura used the moisture meter to test the corn kernels moisture level. When they reached 11 percent or lower the corn was put in glass jars for storage. The hanging weight of the corn braids on Monday, January, 2 was 1520 pounds. That amount was divided by the participants and handed out for them to hand shell at home. It is estimated that each participant will have 60 pounds of shelled soup grade corn, and 5 pounds of seed grade corn will be replanted on the 4-H field in May 2017.

We feel we met our definition of Victory that we identified on April, 12, 2016 by re-establishing our relationship to the corn, learning new skills, trusting each other, creating a big pile of corn with the help of the Fish Emulsion, learning the language, building family, and participating in Ceremony.     

RESULTS TO DATE

The Back Yard Growers were able to clearly demonstrate the benefits of the application of the Fish Emulsion. They had side-by-side corn stalks that were sprayed and not sprayed. The corn stalks that were sprayed were tall, dark green, and had huge corn cobs on them. The corn stalks that were not sprayed were spindly, light green, small skinny corn cobs that did not yield any corn. They took pictures of the corn during the growing season and posted them on the group Facebook Page.

The 4-H site was more difficult to demonstrate because of the varying soil types in the field and the condition of the soil. Where the Fish Emulsion was sprayed and the soil was dryer the corn was very abundant. Where the soil was wetter and the Fish Emulsion was sprayed the corn did not yield. Overall, everyone who participated was convinced that the Fish Emulsion was the determining factor in the health of the corn stalks and size of the corn cobs.

The participants were interviewed on December 18, 2016. They were asked what they learned from the project. Some answers were:

“I would compare growing corn to pregnancy. I knew things were coming but I didn’t know what.”

“I learned so much from the Onondaga Tribe being here at the Braiding the Sacred Event. It gave me the confidence I needed to harvest the 3.5 acre field.”

“Next year the corn will be treated like a second kid.”

“Learning about corn, about our history opened my eyes.”

“I’m excited by what we started here. I want to make a pie chart for my kitchen so I can track how much White Corn I can incorporate into my diet.”

“This was a very positive group – everyone worked on solutions to problems.”

“I want to process the corn and use it year round. I loved the fellowship and positive way we worked together. Learning about the corn was not work for me. I lost track of time. It takes a village to grow a field.”

“I got to spend more time with my family and we did community building. I did this for my son who is three years old. He knows where the field is. He wanted to visit it every time we drove close to it. I got to share cultural knowledge with the group and see it come alive. Corn soup is not just for special occasions.”       

WORK PLAN FOR 2017

 Our first Planning Meeting will be in March, 2017. All of the participants from the 2016 season plan to participate in the 2017 season. We will discuss the work plan for the next growing season and pool the corn they shelled at home until we reach 33 pounds of seed. We will set the May planting dates for the 4-H field. Laura will continue to coordinate and manage the project. We will start the discussion for the travel the first or second week of May for Outreach with the Iroquois White Corn Project at Ganondagan in Victor, New York; meeting the Seneca White Corn Growers in Allegany, New York; and visiting the Onondaga Reservation to help them hand plant 15 acres of White Corn. We will continue to measure the amount of Fish Emulsion applied to the corn and measure our yield. Some of the Back Yard Growers have decided to expand their garden areas and try to grow more white corn.

OUTREACH

We created two Facebook pages. One to communicate with the Ohe.laku group and the Back Yard Growers and other to share our story with others who may be interested in learning more about our journey.  Communication was essential during the growing season as weather and stages of corn growth determined the work that had to be completed.

 A few articles were published in the Oneida newspaper Kalihwisaks. Twenty students from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill joined us for a hands-on demonstration on October 8, 2016. We also hosted an event called “Braiding the Sacred” from September 30 to October 2. Fifty Native Americans from around the Great Lakes gathered to talk about the importance of corn in indigenous culture and to help us hand harvest our crop.

Community group bonds over growing white corn article, Kalihwisaks, 10-20-16

In 2017, we will doing Community Outreach on Thursdays at the Oneida Farmers Market were we will be selling samples of our White Corn in a traditional soup. We have also set aside 95 pounds of braided corn to share with the Community during their time of need at funeral meals. We felt that was the best way to share our harvest and fulfill our responsibility to each other. We will also be hosting the “Braiding the Sacred” event the first week of October.      

Collaborators: