Golden Bantam Sweet Corn (With a Cilantro-Lime Butter Recipe!)

There ’s an old saying about corn — “ genu - senior high school by the Fourth of July ” — whose sapience is if your crop stands human knee - high up around the vacation , you ’ll have a good takings that year . That was probably true about two generations ago , when farmers used the catchy idiomatic expression to gauge their crop , but now corn whiskey can be waist - gamey or even head - high by the Fourth of July , thanks to earlier planting and approach in farming .

In my case , where I ’m grow corn in climate zone 10b , I sowed my first seed in early April , had tassel the midriff of June , and harvest my total craw after all the fireworks take root down in July .

In fact , on the Fourth of July myGolden Bantam 12 - course scented cornstood 10 feet tall !

A healthy corn crop standing 10 feet tall

Golden Bantam 12 - Row is a sweet corn variety developed from the original Golden Bantam , an old - fourth dimension favorite insert by Burpee in 1902 . Its bright yellow meat changed the way the great unwashed thought about sweet corn , as at the clock time , the preference was toward ashen corn whiskey ( signifying quality and nicety ) while white-livered corn was primed for brute feed .

But people took a liking to the Golden Bantam as it tolerated cooler term better than other corn whiskey of the time , make for an earlier planting and earlier harvest .

The 12 - row variety improved on the master in 1922 with taller stalking , big ears , and higher output .

Non-GMO corn in the garden

In late spring , the first flowers started to bloom on my corn , reverse from a pallid green to a robust violet . These tiny explosion of flowers are called tassel . Tassels are the manly blossom on the plant , and they pollinate the silk ( female flowers ) on the ears .

For every silk that ’s pollinated , it sour into a fat kernel . Good pollination resultant in big capitulum that are fill in well with chubby kernels . My Golden Bantam 12 - course plant each bore 2 or 3 ear of corn , all of them at least 8 to 10 inches recollective with perfect rowing of enceinte yellow kernels .

The edible corn was angelic , but not too seraphic . ( I do n’t think an heirloom corn could ever be as sweet as the loanblend you grease one’s palms from the store , since those are especially bred to contain more gelt . ) But this change has a good balance of flavor and texture , and there ’s nothing quite like freshly picked corn whisky that run from garden to grill in just a few minutes .

Non-hybrid sweet corn in the garden

I picked a few ears too deep , result in kernels that were slightly chewy , but they made for some first-class corn chowder . The ease of the ears were steamed on the grill ( in their husks ) and then buttered with one of my preferent compound butter , a zesty cilantro - lime that entrust festive small flecks of green on the cob !

Cilantro-Lime Butter

Makes 1/2 cup

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter , softened at room temperature2 tablespoons mince cilantro leaves1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepperJuice and zest from 1/2 limePinch of salt

Making Your Cilantro Lime Butter

In a small bowl , cut up the butter into minor clump . Add the cilantro , cayenne pepper , juice and piquance , then close up it all in and mash with a spatula or fork until well combined .

Slather the cilantro - lime butter over a cob of piping hot maize and rejoice ! ( You might even find yourself slather it over other thing too … try out it with Pisces the Fishes , shrimp , zucchini , and whatever else you ’re grillin ’ up that Clarence Day . )

Golden Bantam Sweet Corn (With a Cilantro-Lime Butter Recipe!)

Corn ears were steam on the grill ( in their husks ) and then buttered with one of my preferred chemical compound butters , a barmy cilantro - lime that leaves festive short flecks of green on the cob !