Cucurbita spp. cvs. ....huge Pumpkin field at Butler's Orchards

This is a big Pumpkin Patch. I'm guessing 30 acres or more. A friend was playing bluegrass at Butler's Orchard's Pumpkin Festival. I haven't been there for many many years; there are some new features, some things have changed, and some are still the same. We have pictures of Max and Pete standing inside a painted plywood witch are over 15 years old and there she was still a photo-op. I guess it's a good thing that at least some children have a concept of where pumpkins and apples come from.

Ustilago maydis...Corn Smut

The corn maze, maize maze?, was an interesting ramble, but much of the corn was infected with this disgusting fungus.

I did some cursory research and I have to quote the Wikipedia entry that notes in a certain populations of native Mexican-Americans, "It is considered a delicacy, even being preserved and sold for a higher price than corn. For culinary use, the galls are harvested while still immature — fully mature galls are dry and almost entirely spore-filled. The immature galls, gathered two to three weeks after an ear of corn is infected, still retain moisture and, when cooked, have a flavor described as mushroom-like, sweet, savory, woody, and earthy." I don't doubt that the flavor is mushroom-like. I'd give it a shot, but lacking this information earlier today, I opened only the largest galls which were all filled with dry black spores. Maybe next year.