Testimonials

[Sue Bea]

Companeros y companeras,

The corn seeds I have ordered have safely arrived on the Summer
Solstice, and I would like to express my profound gratitude to you.

The seeds will be planted (with "Himno Zapatista," the EZLN anthem
playing) and grown with a lot of care and love.

I thank you again for the seeds.

Noriko
Hamamatsu,  JAPAN

[Sue Bea]

Dear Noriko,

Thank you so much for your letter.

Would it be okay if I posted it on our new Corn Growers Forum? (Or better
still, become a member today and you could post it yourself!) To find our
newforum, please go to:

http://www.schoolsforchiapas.org/forums/index.php/board,7.0.html

Thanks again for your letter.  May your corn grow strong!

Susan Beattie, coordinator
www.schoolsforchiapas.org
info@schoolsforchiapas.org

Dear Susan,

Yes, please do post it on the forum.
I am hoping that I would be able to take good pictures of the corns
when they are grown, and if that happens, I will send them to you.

So until then.
Adios,

Noriko

[Sue Bea]

Dear Susan,

Our Zapatista corns are growing very well. I'm playing "Himno Zapatista,"
the EZLN anthem everyday on the CD to the corns.
I was so surprised that the corns grew so tall, and some of them are almost 10 feet tall.
When our area was hit by the typhoon twice this summer some of the corns were inclined, we immediately heaped up earth around their roots for support. And the others were undamaged.
In Japan most gardeners bind their corns with some ropes or wooden frames not to be blown over by the typhoon and occasional strong wind.
Our Zapatista corns must be very tough because they hadn't been blown over without any bind.
We are so happy to live with the corns and will be able to harvest them soon.

I attached three pictures of corns.


Sincerely yours,

Noriko
Hamamatsu,  JAPAN

[Sue Bea]

 Dear Susan,

 Finally we harvested the corn.
 I attached a picture of our first corn harvest few  weeks ago.
 We got few corns but not many because of various poor  conditions corns had difficulty growing fully.
 Above all we are not experienced in gardening.
 Nevertheless, the corns were firm, savory and very  flavorful.
 The more we chewed them the more we could taste very  flavor of corn.
 I was so happy to find in them the same taste I  remember from my childhood in the fifties.
 Nowadays we can't get taste like this in Japan. It's  so horrible that there are only "sweet corns" which  are sweeter than sugar, softer than mushrooms and  odorless.
 We hope to grow Zapatista corns better next year.

 Sincerely yours,

Noriko
Hamamatsu, Japan

[Sue Bea]

Dear Noriko,

It has been just wonderful to receive your letters through out the planting, growth and harvest of your Zapatista corn.  Even though you were only able to harvest a little corn, it seems your overall experience was a great success... Congratulations!

It is amazing how different real corn tastes when compared to the commercial sweet corn... which is mostly all one can get today in the so-called first world.  Someday, I hope you get a chance to taste real corn tortillas.  They are nothing like the weak imitation tortillas made from ground, processed corn flour.  Here, making tortillas for the family is a daily event.  Women get up before the sun and I often a wake to the sound of pounding as the tortillas are flattened before being cooked on the comal (large flat griddle).  Every woman has her own distinctive style and, if you are lucky enough to be invited to be a guest in an indigenous community, you are greeted in the morning with several stacks of tortillas tied up in bright cloth, each representing the efforts of a different woman in the community.  It is a wonderful gift.

If you haven't already done so, I would suggest you read the forum entitled "Growing Instructions and more....." Perhaps you will find there some other ideas about how to get more ears from your corn next year.  This corn likes a long growing season, so depending upon the length of yours, you might want to begin by growing "starts" indoors in order to get a couple extra weeks for your corn to grow.

Were you able to save seed from this years' crop for use next year?  This corn saves well.  Dry the seed ears in the sun for about a week and then store in a cool, dry place.

Once again, thank you so very much for writing and keeping us informed about the progress of your crop. 

Hasta la victoria Zapatista,
Susan Beattie