The “corn’ that most Western Europeans refer to around First Harvest (also called Lammas or Lughnasadh) is actually just old fashioned slang for “grain” and most often refers wheat. As a North American on the other hand, corn as in maize, is having its moment this time of year. Some Southeastern American Indian tribes celebrate a Green Corn Festival in early August to celebrate the corn harvest. “Green corn” is of course not corn that is the color green (although there is green colored corn), but simply sweet corn—that is, corn that is eaten fresh as opposed to mature corn that is dried and ground up. It’s the same reason we call green beans green– it’s not because they are the color green, but because they are eaten in an immature stage instead of being dried. You will still find older recipes that refer to green (fresh) corn, it’s actually a fairly recent development. So in light of all this we decided that we need to not only eat some green corn, but make some crafts with the husks. Corn husks are actually surprisingly useful, but oddly most often discarded. You can use them to wrap foods like tamales, you can make paper and fiber from the and you dry strip and weave or make cordage like we have done here. Besides I have always loved the ritual of shucking corn, it’s pure summer.
Corn Husk Candles
To make these candles you first have to make cordage from your husks which is one of teh most relaxing processes in the world. You’ll need to let your husks dry out and then rehydrate them before you can begin. That sounds silly at first glance, but the husk shrink quite a bit as they dry so if you twisted them when they were fresh your cordage would be all wonky and untwisted after it dried. A short soak in water will make them pliable again but eliminate most of the shrinkage.
Materials:
- corn husks
- clothespins (optional but useful for holding the cordage when you need a break)
- shallow pan of water
- glass jar
- glue (hot glue is faster, craft glue will hold better over time)
- tea light
Method:
First shuck your corn and eat it! Then gather up your husks and tear them into 1/2″ or so strips and spread them out to dry. You don’t need to be super precise. This should take a few days.
Once your corn is dry, place it in the water for a minute or town until it is pliable but not sopping wet. Follow the instructions here on how to make cordage. (Skip “Peeling the Bark and go straight to “Making the Cordage”) Alternatively, if you don’t want to make cordage you can just braid the pieces into one long braided rope.
Once you have enough cordage/ braid (measure by wrapping it around you jar to check) glue it in place. run a line around the top and stick down your cordage. Keep adding glue and cordage until you have covered the whole jar. trim and glue down your ends and add a tea light.
Enjoy!
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