Over the past couple of years I've started a Charleston file where I tuck away articles and features on places I'd like to venture too and they have always been on the money. So a while back SL did a feature on Geechie Boy Market & Mill in Edisto, SC which is just 30 minutes outside of Charleston proper.
Their specialty (as you may have guessed from Sunday's post) is milled corn -- grits and cornmeal. So on my last trip my friend Jennifer and I ventured out and we were not disappointed.
FYI, you can order their product online.
The drive out is Southernly scenic and relaxing. And you can't miss the little red clapboard shop with the huge red climb-at-your-own-risk (it actually says that) chair out front. We timed our visit just right, hit a slow moment that gave us a chance to chat with Betsy, who with her husband Greg Johnsman, owns the shop.
They carry jams, jellies, hot sauces, fresh-made pasta, gifts and other treats made by local artisans, included fresh honey from the bees they have onsite. But they are best known for their milled-on-premise grits and cornmeal. You can get both white and yellow grits (I got yellow) and white and yellow cornmeal (I got white).
We found out that they are only open three days a week -- Thursday, Friday and Saturday -- because they spend two days milling and packaging their product and then two days cleaning all the corn dust from the shop.
Greg uses a 1945 mill that has been upgraded and revamped a bit to make it user-friendly. We weren't able to meet him that day, but were told by the missus that he loves everything about milling and will talk your ear off about it if you let him, but we found Betsy to be just as well-versed in the ins and outs of milling too.
It was a fun little place to visit, good things to buy in the shop, and some serious learnin' to be got on too, y'all!
Fun Facts I Learned at Geechie Boy
* To get a nice all-around crisp, when you pop your cornbread out of the iron pan or skillet, put it back into the skillet upside down and leave it for a few minutes to finish the edges.
* Moonshiners prefer to use white cornmeal for their mash because it's sweeter than yellow cornmeal.
* The old saying "keep your nose to the grindstone" comes from when millers would check to make sure their grinding stones weren't overheating by putting their nose to the stone to smell for burning.
NOTE
Want to send a shout out to Betsy Johnsman for taking the time to chat with us and for sharing her mom's super yumtastic shrimp and grits recipe! Make sure to check out their website linked above.
And a shout out to my pal Jennifer for being the best SC chauffer an out-of-town girl could have. :)
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