So Ted, What are you going to do with all of that blue corn anyway?

**piperdbh** · 15th December 10, 12:10 PM

Originally Posted by Bugbear

By the way, did those pictures come out OK?

Yep. Those are some mighty big mums you grow out in that desert of yours. Do you raise them in your compost beds?

**Bugbear** · 15th December 10, 02:39 PM

Originally Posted by piperdbh

Yep. Those are some mighty big mums you grow out in that desert of yours. Do you raise them in your compost beds?

Nope. They're just growing next to a rose bush on the east side of my trailer, behind the washing machine shack. There's a patch of chives on the other side of the rose bush, and that's about it. Just some cheap mums I picked up at a dollar store last year.

I do put manure and compost on the roses, and it probably helps a lot that they are on the east side of the aluminum bungalow.

**MacBean** · 15th December 10, 03:46 PM

wow, there are others who speak my language!

**Bugbear** · 15th December 10, 07:34 PM

Originally Posted by MacBean

wow, there are others who speak my language!

I've been using a book you might enjoy, MacBean:
Documenting Domestication: New Genetic and Archaeological Paradigms, edited by Bruce D. Smith, Eve Emshwiller, Daniel G. Bradley, and Melinda A. Zeder (Berkeley: U of California P, 2006).

There's several chapters on plant domestication, including a couple on the maize, beans, and squash, like back there in the picture. It's pretty heavy on the genetics, though, and covers a lot of animal domestication.

**Bugbear** · 19th December 10, 09:53 PM

I had to check on a couple of things.

Ali, you were discussing your barefoot running. The Mt. Pima Maiz Azul I am using in the project is Commonly grown by the Tarahumara of the Sierra Madre. the Tarahumara are well known for their long distance running abilities. They usually run in sandals made from old tires and play some kind of game involving kicking a wooden ball as they run, but I thought it was kind of funny.

I'll probably take those pictures down before too long. Hope Pleater got to look at the mums.

To clear up one thing for Old Hippie, the maize or corn I have started with is a landrace. What I end up with after selection would probably not be considered a landrace on it's own, just a little variation on the plant that is already considered a landrace. In other words, what I am doing is not making a landrace, but I am starting with a sample of a gene pool that is already considered a landrace. I wasn't sure if you were asking if I were producing a landrace or if the maize I am using is a landrace.
Hope that makes it completely unclear, and leaves you wondering.

Details on variety: "Seedhead News - No. 85, Summer Solstice 2004" nativeseeds.org, page1-3; and native Seeds site.

**tripleblessed** · 20th December 10, 12:04 AM

On your thread sidebar, I knew a Hopi/Pueblo guy who said as a boy he would be asked by his mom to run to the store for a loaf of bread for lunch. He'd leave about ten AM and be back in time to eat that lunch, as the store was only about 15 miles away. As a teenager he would meet up with friends on
occasional Friday afternoons and run down to Mexico to a village where a good time could be had by all, and return home Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
From the reservation, the village was about 75 miles one way. The mention is because they ran barefoot. He said the connection with Grandmother fed their run and kept them from getting too tired. Apparently the connection was enhanced by keeping the fore-fingers pointed at the earth while running, and a visualization of that connection. I don't know if it's only a native thing or can be learned by anyone.

**BoldHighlander** · 20th December 10, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by tripleblessed

On your thread sidebar, I knew a Hopi/Pueblo guy who said as a boy he would be asked by his mom to run to the store for a loaf of bread for lunch. He'd leave about ten AM and be back in time to eat that lunch, as the store was only about 15 miles away. As a teenager he would meet up with friends on
occasional Friday afternoons and run down to Mexico to a village where a good time could be had by all, and return home Sunday afternoon or Monday morning.
From the reservation, the village was about 75 miles one way. The mention is because they ran barefoot. He said the connection with Grandmother fed their run and kept them from getting too tired. Apparently the connection was enhanced by keeping the fore-fingers pointed at the earth while running, and a visualization of that connection. I don't know if it's only a native thing or can be learned by anyone.

Jeez! Could you imagine *if* these guys had become marathon runners!!

**Bugbear** · 20th December 10, 01:42 PM

Originally Posted by BoldHighlander

Jeez! Could you imagine *if* these guys had become marathon runners!!

Actually, Terry, you might want to google, Tarahumara running and look into it.
There are quite a few articles on the web about the Tarahumara running abilities.
There is also a book on the subject.
Ali might be interested too, if she doesn't already know about the subject.

**BoldHighlander** · 20th December 10, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Bugbear

Actually, Terry, you might want to google, Tarahumara running and look into it.
There are quite a few articles on the web about the Tarahumara running abilities.
There is also a book on the subject.
Ali might be interested too, if she doesn't already know about the subject.

Thanks Ted, I'll have to do that!

As a teenager I use to run around barefoot a lot, and was pretty fast running on asphalt barefooted. I wouldn't even think of it today, and after I did a number on my calf muscle 2 years ago, I can't even run far now without great pain