Show me a seed and tell me a story, a good story, and chances are I will want that seed—to hold, to admire, to dream of its life at Mountain Water.
Jimmy Red corn is the latest story and the latest seed seduction. It’s a whiskey corn that has made a comeback (hallelujah!). My farming buddy, Chris Silks, sent me a link to a recent NPR story about Jimmy Red. You read that story and you will understand why I now have seeds. Take a look at those seeds and see if you could say “no” to having a hand in the salvation of Jimmy Red.
The question for Jimmy Red and me is whether she will grow at all so far from sea level and the climate of South Carolina. I’m counting on Jimmy Red to remember how to travel, to take up where she finds herself, and over time to get to like the high and dry weather here in Colorado, something akin to her primeval home in Mexico and Central America. May be a long shot. Whiskey and gambling are known to be friendly. So, we’ll see.
Stay tuned.
Jimmy Red seeds. Photo credit: Joan Anderson