OPINION: ‘Going green’ — not a new idea to rednecks

These mills were important to the rural families who made their living from the land. It was within my lifetime that most transportation in the county was by horse-drawn wagons, and a trip to the mill to grind corn into meal was an all-day adventure. I can still remember one such trip with my grandfather when we went from his farm in the edge of Jackson County to Seagraves Mill to have his corn ground into cornmeal.

My grandfather had a corn sheller. It consisted of a metal housing with a large cast iron wheel that had a series of spikes in the side. The ear of dry corn was put into an opening and the spinning wheel knocked the kernels off into a wooden box and the cob spit out the side. Grandfather, with the help of several grandsons, spent several days shucking the corn and running it through the machine until he had a load of burlap bags of corn ready to go. Early in the morning, he hitched up his horses to the wagon, loaded it with bags of corn and a couple of grandsons, a jug of water and some sandwiches and headed off to the mill.

The distance was no more than a few miles. But the dirt roads were filled with ruts and rocks, which caused the horses to take their time making the trip. The game my cousin and I played was standing in the bed of the wagon without any support and trying not to fall down. We fell more than we stayed upright.

We arrived at Seagraves Mill shortly before noon and unloaded the corn. The miller pulled a leaver to start the stones turning then poured the corn, one bag at a time, into a hopper. As the ground corn came out of the stones, it was diverted into sifters that separated out the corn meal and the “shorts.” Both were sacked up. The miller took his pay in shares of the meal and the rest reloaded into the wagon. Then we bounced and giggled back home.

A bit about “shorts.” This was the husk and germ from the corn. It was not considered to be worthy for human consumption, so it was added to the “slop buckets” and fed to the pigs. Today we know better. The “germ” from the corn is the source of corn oil, a popular cooking medium in today’s kitchen.

A further bit about “slop buckets.” Every rural kitchen had a large bucket near the stove where all the waste, trimmings, some few leftovers and even the water used to wash the dishes was collected. When it was full, the bucket was carried to the pig pin and added to the food given to the hogs. Country families were the original recyclers. Nothing was every wasted, not even the dishwater, or the unwanted residue from grinding corn into meal.

Going Green is not a new idea to us rednecks. We grew up that way.

Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal. His e-mail address is frank@frankgillispie.com. His website can be accessed at http://www.frankgillispie.com/gillispieonline.