While most people look at an ear of corn and wonder how it may taste, Tammy Zentic looks at it and wonders how the kernels will look as a necklace or bracelet. 

Zentic, a retired Fremont, Nebraska, teacher turned to creating jewelry from corn as a side gig about seven years ago. Z Harvest Gems, as her business is known, can be found at farmers’ markets around the Omaha Metro, as well as boutiques and museums, including the Joslyn. 

She started making corn jewelry while teaching, but the business took off after she retired. 

"I had prayed about what I was going to do after my early retirement from teaching, and was out walking after work one day, looked over at the fields, and I was like, 'Oh, well, maybe I'll turn that into jewelry,'" Zentic said. 

And has she! Zentic's business has grown from craft shows and farmers’ markets to a dedicated appearance at Silver Dollar City, an amusement park in southern Missouri. She is a vendor at the annual Husker Harvest Days in Grand Island. Her products can also be found in Iowa, Arizona and Missouri. 

"Before I knew it, I was in 50 stores, and I had people buying and asking for orders," Zentic said. 

Farmers send Zentic kernels of corn, requesting she use them to create pieces of jewelry for them, she said. 

"I use straight field corn," Zentic said. "I've used popcorn. Somebody had a popcorn business, and they wanted something of that." 

Rather than rely on a farmer or distributor to provide corn, Zentic raises her own crop. Forget a Back 40 on a farm, Zentic can be found tending to the corn in her garden. 

"I just take the colors I need, I take that little seed, and I plop it in my garden," she said. "For a piece of jewelry that's so tiny, you don't need much corn."

With enough corn to produce the types of jewelry she sells, Zentic grinds the kernels by hand, adding her "secret sauce" to bind the powder. She's even applied for a patent to protect her eight-step process. 

Zentic embraces the story behind the "Legend of Five Kernels," which focuses on 1621, when pilgrims experienced hardships during a harsh winter. Food was rationed, with each person receiving five kernels of corn to eat. 

After times improved and food was plentiful, pilgrims continued to place five kernels on their plate as a reminder of challenging times. 

Each piece of jewelry, whether it's a pair of earrings or a necklace, is handmade and uses the legend as a basis, Zentic said. 

"In every piece that I make, I put a portion of five kernels, and my hope is that as people wear it, they're always reminded that they can get through whatever they have to go through in life," she said.

She had no idea of the impact the story of the five kernels and its influence has on people, who stop by her booth to look at the jewelry, Zentic said. 

"It really opens up an opportunity just to connect with people," she said. "I have had women who will just start crying. Their grandson may have just committed suicide, or you just hear so many stories. And for whatever reason, to me, it's just a blessing that they gravitate towards something concrete that gives them just a little bit of encouragement and hope. So that's the part that keeps me going, that I really enjoy, that connection with people." 

Zentic, after learning the history of corn, is respectful of Indigenous People and their histories, customs and traditions. 

Hastings Museum asked her to create jewelry pieces based on the Three Sisters - corn, beans and squash - which, when grown together, are considered stronger than when raised individually. 

"There's a story card that goes along with it, that as humans, when we work together, we're stronger," Zentic said. 

While she has worked with the Three Sisters, the only other crop she's used for jewelry is soybean. After all, she lives in Nebraska.

Zentic enjoys experimenting with jewelry pieces, creating rings for men, as well as lapel pins. She’s even made ornaments. 

Always looking for a way to have her jewelry stand out, she's used stones or minerals, such as lapis, Zentic said. 

"It's a blue type of stone, just a lot of crushed stone that I put in with the corn, and that really makes it pop," Zentic said. "I really like the creative aspect, just coming up with something new and different. New designs. Those type of things."

Tim Trudell is a freelance writer and online content creator. His work has appeared in Flatwater Free Press, Next Avenue, Indian Country Today, Nebraska Life, Nebraska Magazine, Council Bluffs Daily Non-Pareil and Douglas County Post Gazette, among others. He is a citizen of the Santee Dakota Nation.