12/6/2023 0 Comments Broom corn for broom making![]() The brushes are harvested before the seeds fully mature so there is no grain value, and the plant itself is apparently not very tasty since it is the only crop we can grow here at the museum that does not get bothered by the deer! The seed is sown in rows in mid-May much like corn but closer together in the row and needs to be kept free of weeds. The leaves are also long and papery just like a cornstalk. These long tassels are what broom makers use to make brooms. Instead it grows tassels at the very top. This corn does not have ears filled with kernels. The variety that we grow for making brooms isn’t good for much of anything besides brooms. Broom corn reaches 10 to 18 feet at maturity, depending on the variety. Other types of sorghum are grown as feed for cows: my son grows it to feed to his dairy cows, and another variety is grown in the south for sweet sorghum syrup and is even being studied for use in ethanol production. The plant is not really a corn at all, although it really looks like corn except for the fact that there are no ears. This is our second year of growing broom corn at the Lippitt Farmstead. I find this very satisfying as I like to know how to do things from beginning to end that is why I grow a garden, bake from scratch, knit with yarn I spun myself, etc. Now I work here as a farmer and have had the opportunity to grow and process broom corn. When I first started working at The Farmers’ Museum in 1997, I worked in the Westcott Shop making brooms. Other scavenged woods you may sometimes see in our shop include cedar, arbutus, juniper, willow, and fruitwoods.Įvery item we make is a truly unique piece of art.By: Marieanne Coursen, Agricultural Interpreter.Sanded manzanita from southeastern Arizona.Hand forged iron from the Kootenay Forge in Crawford Bay, BC.Manila rope for whisks and small brushes.Poplar dowels for our standard floor brooms.We use a wide selection of broom handles, including ![]() We use only raw, unprocessed broomcorn to ensure that the fibre remains strong, durable, and long lasting. corn and brooms : a treatise on raising broom-corn and making brooms, on a small or large scale / written and comp. ![]() Sorghum has been used for broom making in North America since the early 1800s, and for many hundreds of years around the Mediterranean. Other farmers quickly planted acres of broomcorn and joined the trade, as broom. 8 by International Broom and Brush Makers’ Union, 1906. Our brooms are made from high quality broomcorn, a type of sorghum that grows in Northern Mexico. Ad for a broom machine ad in the Broom Maker, Vol. Broomcorn is flexible to grow in different soils and tolerates heat and drought. It is easy to maneuver, and works well with a dustpan. Growing broomcorn is similar to growing a crop of field corn. The Shaker style Flat Broom is splayed out wide to cover a large area, but trimmed so that it has control and can reach into small spaces. By cutting the soft tips of the broom, it becomes stiffer, allowing the broom to reach into the cracks of uneven surfaces such as brickwork or tile. The Round Trimmed Broom is a slight modification to the traditional round style. Unique among agricultural products, broomcorn brush was adapted for making brooms, and no other fiber equaled it for sweeping. About 2 pounds of broom corn is used in construction of a house broom a barn broom uses 3 pounds or more. These brooms are commonly used in doorways, patios, and sidewalks. A large open space can be cleared quickly by sweeping in a circular motion with the side of the brush. The Round Untrimmed Broom is the oldest and most traditional style of broom. We make a variety of brooms, most of which can be divided into three basic categories: The Shakers developed the stitched flat broom in the 1800s, which has become the standard modern broom. Historically, brooms in North America were in the round style as opposed to the modern flat broom. Sorghum has been used in broom-making for centuries due to is strength and flexibility. The fibre we use to make the brooms is called broomcorn, which is a type of sorghum. They are designed to be both functional and decorative and will last many years with daily use. ![]() We make our brooms using traditional Shaker methods. Broom-Corn And Brooms contains all the information needed to make a range of old-style brooms, and will appeal to both those interested in making brooms and.
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