Maize
Maize or corn became a domesticated crop in Central America 8,000 years ago, and though agriculture has become untenable, it remains an important food source for horticulturalists in the Fifth World.
#Ecology
Maize plays the role of a pioneer plant, thriving in disturbed soil. It requires a lot of nitrogen, sun, and water.
#Human relationship
Ancient Native Americans in Central America domesticated maize thousands of years ago, and it spread north and south from there. After European colonization, it spread even further, into Europe and even Asia. Shortly before collapse, civilized humans grew high-sugar, low-nutrition cultivars in vast monocultures, draining the soil of nutrients. However, some people continued breeding older, more nutritious cultivars, in a rainbow of colors. Many of these varieties survived to the Fifth World, and find themselves planted widely across the globe.
#Maize People
When a community focuses on its relationship with maize to make a living, it can shape their lives in a wide variety of ways. A few examples include:
- Virtually all Fifth World communities that grow maize do so as part of a traditional Three Sisters guild with beans, squash, and often amaranth (east of the Rocky Mountains) or Rocky Mountain bee plant (west of the Rockies). The maize creates a tall pole for the beans to grow on, the beans fix nitrogen in the soil, and the squash creates shade to keep moisture in the soil and crowd out weeds. Amaranth or Rocky Mountain bee plant attract pollinators and other beneficial insects. (Amaranth seeds also provide protein and fat.) This ancient guild not only grows well together, but provides balanced nutrition for those who grow it (assuming they nixtamalize the maize before eating it). These communities obviously tend towards horticulture, spending at least part of the year in settled villages.