Aw, Shucks!
by Carol Harris
(reprinted from Branson Living October/November 1994, pp. 38-9)
"My mother-in-law says 'only cows and DeYon know what to do with this much corn!'" says DeYon Blase about her annual fall harvest. On Labor Day Weekend 1994, DeYon hauled three tons of corn back to the Ozarks from her in-laws' Illinois farm. during the next few months, she and her staff transformed some 9,000 ears of corn into scarecrows, wreaths, and other decor at her White River Wildflowers shop south of Branson near Ridgedale on Highway 65.
With so much harvested corn to be processed, friends and family members pitch in to help. DeYon says her parents live only 40 miles from her husband Jan's parents in Illinois, so the families alternate each year on who will grow and pick the corn, and who will clean it.
"It's a time of everyone getting together and helping. Whoever is available helps. My husband's uncle, nieces, and nephews helped harvest the corn before we got there this year. Then, we came to put it in orchard boxes and bushel baskets," De Yon says.
September is a little early in the season to pick corn, according to DeYon. "We harvest earlier than farmers do. We pick the corn before it's dry and when it's still a little green. This ensures that the kernels and shucks stay attached to the cob," she says. "Then, we process the corn by pulling the husks back. It allows ears to dry quicker without molding."
At White River Wildflowers, DeYon and her staff dry the corn by storing it in racks or in orchard boxes stacked on boards. Although it takes up to two months for the corn to dry completely, DeYon says the corn can still be hung and displayed while it is moist.
"Many people ask me why I don't use Indian corn. I love the brightness of field corn because it's sunny and yellow. Being a Midwestern farm girl, I like things from the Midwest. I'm familiar with things that are natural to the area," she says.
Although DeYon has worked with many dried grasses and flowers in her decor and floral arrangements since she went into business in 1988, she only began to use corn three years ago. Her first project was a scarecrow doll that she made by adding a face and ribbon to three ears of corn wired together at the husks. She increased her product line last year by taking the waste pieces of corn, measuring no longer than 1 1/2 inches, and adding bay laurel to make wreaths for small wall hangings and candles. This year, she introduced Corn Kids using corn nubs (ears of corn less than six inches long) that farmers often reject. To the corn nubs, she adds scarecrow faces and wire hangers so that the ornaments can be displayed on door knobs or shaker pegs.
Seventy-five percent of her corn dolls and wreaths will be shipped as wholesale gifts, while the rest will be displayed at White River Wildflowers or her second shop, Sweet Annie's, at Mutton Hollow near Branson. She will also demonstrate how to make corn dolls at the Arkansas War Eagle Arts and Crafts Fair in October.
"I hope people will come to see them and adopt them," says DeYon, grinning from ear to ear, of course.
Photograph of corn shucks and DeYon Blase and article courtesy of Gaye Lisby, Branson Living Magazine
