Mountain Tucked Corn

The Garden at Blackberry Farm is coming alive with fresh flowers, herbs, fruits and vegetables for the season. A stroll among the rows is bound to spark conversations and inspire curiosity. At every turn, countless stories wait to be shared, and years of history continue to unfold.

From the Turkey Craw Bean that originated from a family in Kentucky in the early 1800s to the Spears TN Green tomato seed grown by a Tennessee family since the 1950s, every year our team sows a thoughtful selection of heirloom seeds with authentic Appalachian roots.

Preserving local history and passing its tales down to future generations is an important passion shared by our Farmstead team, but so is ensuring that Appalachia isn’t the only region represented in the gardens.

“We love our local, regional heirlooms, and many of these are especially well-suited for our area,” Farmstead Director Christen Waddell says, “but there are many other great varieties of heirlooms as well that we don't want to miss out on.”

For example, we often grow heirloom Hungarian Sweet Yellow Wax Peppers, because Hungary is one of Master Gardener John Coykendall’s favorite places to visit. We also plant a lot of Kishlyk Garlic from Uzbekistan. Christen says this is the general area that garlic originated, and it’s the location of some of the tastiest varieties. Even when it comes to the heirloom tomatoes, there are a lot of international varieties, such as the German lunchbox, which was brought to the United States by immigrants generations ago.

When deciding on international varieties to plant, Christen considers the seeds that are of the best quality, as well as the ones we share a connection with. This year, we’re excited to grow an authentic Guatemalan variety of corn shared by one of our own team members.

Mountain Tucked Corn was brought to Blackberry Farm by Agricultural Technician Mateo Francisco Andreas. He received the seeds from his grandmother during one of his annual visits to Ixcanac Village II, a small community in the mountains of Guatemala. His ancestors first settled in the community around 150 years ago, and it is now home to around 250 of Mateo’s family members.

“Corn means a lot to our culture,” Mateo says. “The Mayans worshipped it. It brought life and allowed us to thrive.”

Although separated by thousands of miles, unique histories and different languages, Mateo says Ixcanac Village II and Appalachia are alike in that they share deep respect for the natural land.

“The culture there is similar to the culture here at Blackberry Farm,” Mateo explains. “There is the same passion to be outside and the desire to learn how we can work with nature instead of forcing her to be something that she’s not.”

Mountain Tucked Corn, referred to as “aan” in Mateo’s Mayan dialect, has been planted by Mateo’s family for centuries. Its classification as an heirloom variety, in addition to the intimate connection with nature and emphasis on sustainability that defines Mayan culture, makes the seed a wonderful fit for the Garden at Blackberry Farm.

“To me, part of the beauty of our garden is to be able to share pieces of history and personal connections through really great food,” Christen says. “One of our focuses as seed savers is to save the story that goes along with these heirloom seeds, so any seed with a great story and a personal connection, like Mateo's Mayan corn, is always a highlight for us.”

The Garden team planted Mateo’s family seeds back in May. The corn is growing alongside squash and beans – a Mesoamerican form of companion planting known as the “Three Sisters” method – and is anticipated to be ready for harvest in late August.

“One of the reasons the corn is great fit at the Farm is because our weather is pretty similar to the mountain ranges in Guatemala,” Mateo says. “It rains a lot in my family’s community, and there is always fog covering the mountains here in the morning. It creates a great environment for the corn to grow.”

When it comes time to harvest, Mateo is most looking forward to recreating a popular beverage in his community called Pi-Chie. To make it, his family combines corn with cacao. They then grind the ingredients down to cornmeal with volcanic rock tools, which adds more nutrients to the drink.

“In the morning, we’ll drink a cupful of it. It provides us enough energy to get through work until about noon or 1 p.m.,” Mateo says. “My ancestors have been doing this for as long as I’ve known.”

Mateo also plans to use the corn to make to make tortillas and chichitos (small Guatemalan tamales). He’s excited to share the harvest with members of the Farmstead team and anyone else interested in an authentic taste of Mayan culture.

As much as we enjoy showing guests the fresh ingredients and beautiful colors blooming throughout the gardens, our mission goes far beyond setting the table. The Blackberry Farm Garden is just as much of a haven for knowledge and culture as it is great flavor. History lives and breathes among every row, and each day brings a new adventure and another page to add to our collective story.