Glen
Ediger and his book “Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned”
received a bronze medal
at the Independent Book Publisher Awards ceremony in New York City.
Press Release: Threshing stone book wins
national publishing award:
NORTH NEWTON, KAN. – The
book “Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned” by Glen Ediger has won a prestigious
“IPPY” award, the bronze medal for “Mid-West Region Non-Fiction.” he Independent Book Publisher Award rewards innovation and creativity in
the emerging market of self-published books.
Glen Ediger of North Newton researched, wrote, designed and
published the “Threshing Stone” book. Ediger
released the book for Bethel College’s 125th anniversary celebration at Fall
Festival 2012, in conjunction with the special Kauffman Museum exhibit
“Threshing Stone: Mennonite Artifact & Icon.”
Rachel Pannabecker of Bethel College’s Kauffman Museum served as
editor. Said Pannabecker, “Glen’s book provided the essential foundation for
our special exhibition last fall and it is thrilling to see Glen’s work
recognized nationally.”
The IPPYs are the world’s largest book awards
competition, with more than 5,200 entrants in 95 categories this year.
Additional information Ediger collected for the
book has resulted in a daily blog on Facebook called “Mennonite Farmer,” to
which Ediger invites readers.
Copies of “Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned” are
available at Kauffman Museum and many other area book stores or on line at www.threshingstone.com. "Leave No Threshing Stone Unturned" is the culmination of almost 3 years of research. Much has been learned about the use of threshing stones and their history. Over 100 threshing stones have been found, and we now have a better understanding of how and where they were used. My early assumption was that there were thousands spread out across North America, however we find that it is mostly a regional Kansas Mennonite artifact that had a very short time of use. The book covers the many paths that are crossed by the threshing stone, Threshing Stone Basics, Cereal Grains, The History of Threshing, The Stone and Geology, Making the Stone, German/Russian/Mennonite History, The Railroad, Picking Kansas, Farming With Horses, First Person Stories, Turkey Red Wheat, Symbolism and Bethel College, Art and Objects, Food - The Amazing Grain of Wheat, Finding the Stones, and A Summary of what we now know. I cannot even begin to cover all the information on this web-site so please go to "Buy Book" to learn much more. - Glen Ediger, Author
Welcome to The Threshing Stone website |
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1890's image of Threshing with the Threshing Stone - from the Russian Ukraine. All the steps can be seen in this photo; the pile of freshly cut wheat with the man on the stack, the horses pulling the threshing stone around in a circle, the layer of cut wheat on the threshing floor, the men and women turning the straw, and the pile of grain and chaff in the middle of the circle.
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This site is devoted to the research and understanding of the Threshing Stone
The Threshing Stone was a tool used for the threshing of grain. It has a long history of use from around the world. The stone is used to separate the grain from the straw and chaff. The threshing stone is a heavy cylindrical stone typically with ridges that is pulled by draft animals over a circular pile of dry harvested grain stalks. The rolling stone knocks the grain loose from the head, and then, a person with a fork lofts the straw into the air allowing the wind to blow the straw and chaff away, leaving mostly the grain to fall to the ground, this is called winnowing. The grain is then gathered and stored for future use. |
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Do you know where a Threshing Stone is located? |
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I would still like your help in collecting information to add to the list
known threshing stones in North America and around the world.
If you know where one is located, have a story or information,
It is not known how many threshing stones were made in Kansas
so far I have found 106 but we don't know for sure, help me
find more. | |
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Illustration of the Mennonite Threshing Stone in use in 1855
#26, Petzholdt 1855. (Alexander Petzholdt, Reise im westlichen und südlichen europäischen Russland im Jahre 1855 (Leipzig: Herman Fries, 1864), 157
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