If I had to guess (from prior in-game) experience, Castanea is currently flustered with what to do with all that corn she's got. Farming for corn is one of the req's for her daily quest to gain Holy Water, a valuable commodity. That's nothing, Endelyon must be flooded with eggs and wheat by now.

Actually this is referring to the exploration quest in which you rescue lost elves that are buried in the desert by bringing them to Castanea. Although the elves have randomly generated appearances, sometimes you meet a familiar-looking one...

Oh, I just saw the shovel, and that's not a mass pile of corn now that I think about it, that's sand...

thanks~