This year I grew some broom corn with the plan to make a broom, of course.  The corn is fun to watch it grow- it starts out slow, but once it get a few feet tall and the weather heats up, it seemed to grow several inches a day. The tallest stalks were about 8 feet tall!

They were a great backdrop to the flower garden, along with the joe pye weed.

Broom Corn in the field just starting to tassel.

Broom Corn set out to dry.

Now, I have to remove all the seeds from the corn tassels, that is not an easy job.  I have tried a knife- takes the tassels with it. I have tried beating it- that’s pretty intensive work and spreads the seeds everywhere.  Now, I am going to try a rolling pin to crush them.  We will see what happens.  I just want to make an decorative broom!

I love that there are several different shades of reds and browns in the broom corn seeds.

Tall Corn with Joe Pye weed in front