Sweet cornis one of the universal predilection of the summertime time of year . Whether you ’re raising it in your garden to fertilise your family , generate extra income or as a thank you to landlord or helpful neighbors , fresh corn is more than just a tasty goody .
advantage away , there is more to raising sweet edible corn than meets the eye , or in this showcase , ear . Choosing the best assortment to meet your needs along with consumer breeding play important roles .
Family Tradition
Andy and Jenna LaFevor have been evoke honeyed corn on their family ’s Tennessee CenturyFarm in the southern point of Bledsoe County for the past five class , a tradition passed down to them by Jenna ’s uncle , Lynn Johnson . Lynn and his married woman , Sherry , first started raising sweet corn to betray for donation to their daughter Elle ’s next college fund .
When she was old enough to help , Elle began to take part , too . Today , the LaFevors carry on the custom with theirdaughter , Landry .
Charlie Barker , of Dunlap , Tennessee , has raised sweet corn whisky for decade . Much like the LaFevors , he chose to do so for “ kid money . ” With help from an extension veg specialist and a seed company interpreter , these Sequatchie Valley farmers offer their advice on selecting the honorable variety to gather your needs.courtesy of Jenna LaFevor
Choosing a Variety
While in the past both farm families have raised other varieties , each now bring up Obsession and Temptation . These are bicolor varieties , with Obsession being an 80 - day super angelic clavus and Temptation , a 70 - day shekels - enhanced variety . Both are popular with their client and less labor - intensive than other varieties they have hear in the yesteryear .
Obsession , for example , has a low stalk that is easy to beak and less probable to be blow over by the wind .
Of naturally , there are other evenly democratic smorgasbord . Faithway Alliance works to supply Tennessee Farmers Cooperatives , include those in Bledsoe and Sequatchie counties , with feed , source and other supplies .
courtesy of Jenna LaFevor
Chris Bowman , a lawn and garden category run with the company , weighs in . “ More and more customers are buying Ambrosia , ” he say . “ It ’s got a good , sweetened tang to it . ”
Peaches and Cream and Silver Queen are other popular varieties for the area . All are hybrid varieties , but while Ambrosia and Peaches and Cream are bicolor , Silver Queen is a white corn . Bowman feel that these variety show are democratic because of their look and because of long - standing area traditions that often reflect a maturity date that let grower to process their corn before the fall season .
irrespective of the miscellany you ultimately choose to call forth , Annette Wszelaki , professor and commercial veggie extension specialist in the section of plant science at the University of Tennessee , Knoxville , recommend doing your research . She feels you should ultimately free-base your conclusion on multiple factor include color of the kernels , maturity date , ease of fostering , quality and store life .
“ There are great varieties of every colouring material , ” she says . “ Bicolor variety show have become very pop , most probable because they are the best of both world . ”
Further , set varieties with diverge adulthood dates staggers the harvest across the time of year . This can also be achieved by succession planting of the same variety every two weeks . However , the Barker and LaFevor families take a slightly dissimilar advance and aim for a very targeted season .
Their goal is to have Zea mays usable for customers around the July quaternary holiday , a sort of one - and - done that works well around their other farming enterprises .
courtesy of Annette Wszelaki
Read more : Two years of growing edible corn teach this farmer worthful lessons .
A Closer Look
If you seek to choose your cherubic Indian corn variety based on factor beyond colouration , flavor , maturity date date , etc . , you ’ll postulate to essay such consideration as whether to choose a genetically modified being ( GMO ) or a non - GMO .
GMO sweet corn was created to help with weed and pest management .
“ Roundup Ready varieties can be sprayed over the top with the herbicide glyphosate , which can reduce weeds in the harvest , ” Wszelaki says . “ likewise , choosing Bt corn varieties can scale down the number of insecticide sprays take in a grant yr for European corn borer and Zea mays earworm . Bt stands forBacillus thuringiensis , which is a naturally occurring stain bacteria . Bt farm a very selective protein that crystallizes in the bowel of those lepidopteran pests . ”
The protein does n’t harm louse in other orders and is secure for human consumption . Many Bt product are available for organic producer to expend . However , Wszelaki rede that while constituent producers do have several preparation of these spray available to them for worm management , they ca n’t employ GMOs , as the use of GMOs does n’t follow with the USDA organic credentials standard .
Sweet corn texture , dinero content and ease of growing are also dependent on their genetic science . “ Normal sugary diversity have the su gene , ” Wszelaki says . “ These variety were the standard odorous maize for many age . Su variety have the lowest shekels content and involve to be eat before long after harvest time , sooner the same day they are harvested . As clock time passes , the sugar in these miscellany is quickly exchange into amylum spend a penny them chewy and less tender , or else of creamy . ”
Sugar - enhanced varieties have the se gene . “ These varieties are sweeter than the su eccentric and their sugar wrick into starch more easy , which means they will hold their creamy texture and store for two to four twenty-four hour period , if refrigerated , ” Wszelaki aver .
Peaches and Cream is one of the most famous se motley , but there are sweet diverseness available . The super seraphic varieties have the sh2 gene . These varieties are two to three times sweet than su and se and have a slow sugar - to - starch conversion rate so that Zea mays , if stored properly , will rest fresh for up to 10 day after harvesting . “ However , sh2 types can be less tender , crispier to eat and severe to grow than other type , ” Wszelaki says .
Synergistic variety also exist that combine the genetics of su , se and sh2 genotypes . These varieties are high-pitched in sugar degree , store well and have a creamy grain .
Wszelaki advise that when growing dissimilar change , producers should isolate those with unlike genotypes from one another . Otherwise , they can cross - pollinate , and the character of corn will be diminished .
“ It ’s recommended to isolate sh2 types from su and se type by a length of at least 300 feet or a space in silking date of at least 12 24-hour interval to forestall hybridisation - pollination , ” she sound out . “ Regardless of what you eventually choose , one of your top circumstance is going to be a potpourri that taste great and hold open your customers follow back . ”courtesy of Annette Wszelaki
Examining Organic
delve deeply still , growers of certified organic corn can not use GMO varieties and must also run across other specific criteria . “ edible corn must be grown on a field where no prohibited meaning ( i.e. , synthetic fertilizers / pesticide ) have been enforce for at least three years and growers need to go through a credentials cognitive process , ” Wszelaki says .
To prevent cross - pollenation , producers growing both organic and nonorganic corn would also need to evoke these variety at least 300 feet apart . While there are workarounds , fertilizer , insect and gage control condition are all areas in which an constitutive manufacturer may struggle . It ’s important to understand that while organic corn can bring a higher premium in the market the corn is often not as pristine reckon as conventional clavus due to high insect atmospheric pressure .
Bowman further rede that to converge certified constitutional standards , certify organic seed must be used . While the farmer ’s cooperative he serve do n’t trade certify constitutional seed in large quantities , this case of come is proffer in small computer software off the wheel . Some raiser , he said , choose to forego the certified organic path and instead simply choose to evoke corn whiskey as close to organic standards as possible . These producer do n’t advertise as attest organic but rather make selection in the raising of the corn that aligns as nearly as possible with organic values .
Regardless of the maize variety you eventually pick out to raise , chance are good that outside of feeding your family you may choose to sell or give some of it away . multifariousness notwithstanding , Andy LaFevor says that consumers should calculate for clavus that has a really green stalk and that the ear should “ sate up your hand ” when you defend it . Questions of tone can also be direct by shuck an capitulum open to ensure it is pollenate to the top with full meat .
Barker further advises check for mature , in effect - sized ears .
In the closing , raising sweet edible corn can be a carry through endeavour . From growing a product that can teach your children such valuable living skills as counting money , ego - authority , customer avail , advertising skills and more to the ability to feed and bring home the bacon others with a tasty kickshaw , raising honeyed corn truly offers all of these and more .
This article in the beginning appeared in the March / April 2023 issue ofHobby Farmsmagazine .
