Madison, SD
8/5/09
The corn and soybeans fields of SD are amazingly green this year. Seems they have had a lot of rain this year! We are enjoying our “tourist hat” in Mitchell SD. The Corn Palace is a true landmark for this town since 1892. It is redecorated with new corn designs each year and takes 250,000 bushels of corn and other grains. The trim and frames are made from over 3,000 bushels of milo, rye, oat heads, and sour dock that are tied in bundles and attached to the building. Over a half million ears of corn are sawed in half and nailed to the building following patterns created by local artists. Twelve colors of corn are grown at separate farms to maintain the color integrity. It is considered the folk art wonder on the prairies of SD. It is very well done and wonderful to see pictures of the buildings in years past. The gift shop had everything CORN and I mean everything! Great fun.
(click on the corn palace to see it large)