A Kinship in Corn
From Seedcorn to Table
by Donna Hecker
Ingredients for Happy Jack’s Sweet Corn Salad, photo by Talitha Schroeder
Back in 1825, United States Chief Justice John Marshall wrote this little ditty “in the Bluegrass region/a paradox was born/the corn was full of kernels/and the colonels full of corn.” And therein immortalized the bond between two of Kentucky’s most iconic agricultural products- corn and bourbon.
Our favorite supplier of corn (and cornpone humor) is Richard Jones. Richard and his wife Lee Ann, along with their sons David and Adam, own and operate Happy Jack’s Pumpkin and Produce Farm, just down the road in Franklin County. They’ve been selling sweet corn to Holly Hill for almost twenty years and we’ve been serving it up to our guests in corn salad, corn pudding, summer succotash and lots of other delectable dishes.
David Jones and Family, photo by Talitha Schroeder.
Corn has been around Kentucky for a long time, planted first by the native peoples and later by white settlers, many of whom had fled to the frontier in the wake of the Whiskey Rebellion. In fact, planting a patch of corn was a prerequisite for staking a land claim. And what wasn’t consumed by families and their livestock often ended up in liquid form, distilled into what eventually became known as bourbon whiskey, Kentucky’s native spirit.
Richard and Lee Ann mostly grow sweet corn for the farmers market, along with a few stands of white and yellow popcorn, field corn for the animals they raise, and Indian corn for decoration and to grind into rainbow-hued grits. On a recent hot August day, under a blistering blue sky, Richard treated us to a tour de cornfield, stopping at each patch so he could pick a sample ear.
Peeling back the husks, Richard explained what kind it was- sweet, flint, popcorn; how to tell if it was ready- look for browned silk; and how it was planted- over several weeks to ensure a continuous harvest from July through September. He showed off his own variety of Indian corn, made by combining an equal amount of seed from pure blue, red and yellow corn in a bucket before loading in the planter.
Richard Jones, farmer & storyteller. Photo by Richie Wireman
Along the way, we discussed the challenges of family farming- the hard field work and trouble finding folks to do it; the ups and downs of unpredictable supply and demand. But Richard was born to it and has never wanted to do anything else. His touch is evident everywhere, from the hand hewn walls of the farm store to the handbuilt planting machines, customized by crop. Even as his sons shoulder more responsibility, he has no intention of stepping away. As Lee Ann says, the farm is what keeps him going.
We met up with Lee Ann back at the house, watching their grandsons cool off in a galvanized pool made for watering livestock. We talked about the early days of the Franklin County farmers’ market, when they sold sweet corn off a flatbed trailer in front of Kentucky’s Old State Capitol, and its present-day home under a permanent pavilion made possible by Lee Ann’s persistence.
And of course, we talked food. Lee Ann’s favorite way to fix corn is her favorite way to cook any vegetable. She cuts up whatever is at hand and throws it into the skillet for a quick stir-fry. Corn pudding, a close second to stir-fry, is considered a balanced meal because it includes all the major food groups per Lee Ann- dairy, vegetable, egg and butter. With a crowd to feed nightly, speed and quantity are of the essence.
We reminisced about the yearly Harvest Dinner we used to host together, served up by the light of a rising full moon. Corn featured prominently on the menu, along with other Happy Jack’s produce like the 26 varieties of potatoes grown by Richard one year and catalogued by Ouita into an edible potato alphabet.
And Lee Ann described how she and Richard met at the former Cave restaurant and nightclub, a one-time institution in downtown Frankfort, famous for its disco dance floor and quarried stone walls. The farm boy and accountant’s daughter have now been married 40 years. They’ve weathered cancer and a bone marrow transplant while raising two sons and managing a farm through the transition from tobacco to vegetables and agri-tourism.
They’ve done it with ingenuity and imagination and love for the land and one another. As Ouita says, “they are living day to day; they are so happy to be together; you never saw so much happiness in a corn patch. And they’ve really earned it. They are three generations living together on the farm and making it work.”
We cherish our bonds with farmers like Richard and Lee Ann Jones, who grow the food that nourishes body and soul. We value their agricultural heritage and share their hope for the future.
And we celebrate the goodness of corn and all the delicious ways it can be enjoyed. Corn is sunshine in and sunshine out and we can never get enough.
© 2021, Holly Hill Inn/Ilex Summit, LLC and its affiliates, All Rights Reserved
Related Content
Happy Jack’s Corn Salad
A summer favorite in our kitchen; we hope you'll enjoy it, too. Best made with freshly-picked corn from a local farmer!