Corn needs to be planted in rows in order to cross pollinate and the beans need to climb a trellis so they are trained to grow up the corn stalks. Since the young bean plants need a cooler temperature, the corn provides some shade. When the corn is ripe, Maya farmers bend the ears over so that they dry out in the sun on the stalk and in this way they can be stored and preserved for the months between harvests. Maize kernels are ground by the women. Traditionally this was done between a stone pallet and a long grinding stone, but today women usually bring their corn to be ground by machine.
Corn is their primary staple and the Maya women make many meals with the cornmeal.
Mixed with water it becomes a milky drink called posol which is often drunk for breakfast. Patted and toasted on a griddle it is a tortilla and can be eaten alone or wrapped around beans and sometimes meat. It can also be use as a coating on peppers to make tomalley. Many people don't realize that some of the foods we take for granted were unknown in the European and Asian cultures until they were discovered in the Americas. Corn, peppers, and tomatoes were all first discoverd in the Americas.