Crazy for heirloom corn

[GardenWeasel]

Three years ago I moved to western TN and tried after numerous failures in IL my first heirloom corns with outstanding success. At first it was for the chickens, now it is for us too. This year I am up to 3 varieties and have saved seed. Any other corny people out there?

 

[digitS']

Am I correct to think that you are talking about sweet corn?

I grew up eating Golden Bantam, does that count as being "corny" ?

This year and a few years ago, I grew Painted Mountain flour corn. I'm still trying to assess the value of having done that. I want to try some in cornbread. Previously, the ears were just for ornamental use. I've also grown Strawberry Popcorn.

Steve

 

[hoodat]

Is painted montain a flint corn? That's really hard but it can be ground a lot finer than dent.

 

[digitS']

Here is what High Mowing Seeds says about it:

"Selected by Dave Christensen from a strain of Mandan Indian corn to be exceedingly hardy and early. Dave considers Painted Mountain to be the ultimate 'survival food.' Multi-color kernels vary from ear to ear. Moderate sized ears are 6-7 and are good for both decoration and milling. Recommended for flour due to its soft starchy kernels that are easy to grind."

I think it is from a dent gene pool, Hoodat.

I should be out there pulling back a few husks and doing something with it. It was harvested a couple of weeks ago and is in my own version of a corn crib in the carport (stacked, plastic milk crates ).

May be getting OT. Need GardenWeasel to tell us if we should be discussing sweet corn.

Steve

 

[GardenWeasel]

I am here. Do grow sweet corn but hybrid for taste. I have grown Painted Mountain for three years and successfully saved seed. I also grew Earthtone dent last year and this year added Mandan Flour corn. A little tricky saving seed as I have gmo corn grown around me. I have 3 acres to play with and plant early, real late and make sure my sweet corn is far from or totally different tasseling times. I ground Painted Mountain and Earthtone Dent last year for the chickens during the winter. This year I grew enough for us to at least try the Mandan Flour in cornbread and will try it for mush (polenta). I read a book which was quite corn snobby so will also grind PM and ED this year and see if they taste good for us. How was Golden Bantam as sweet corn Steve? I am just really excited because I always lost everything to coons in IL. I hand plant and harvest and I am no spring chicken but am going to expand a little more next year. God willing and the creek don't rise.

 

[digitS']

I have been thinking how I would exploit your knowledge and experience with these corn varieties, GW. Maybe I should say "gene pools" since something like Painted Mountain is obviously a mix, even if it is a very deliberate mix by Mr. Christensen.

I think it was about 4 years ago that I first grew PM. It grew very tall. The plants matured a crop so I don't think I seriously over-fertilized it. I don't recall seeing it described as a short corn. This year, I see the description as a 5' corn and, sure enuf, it only grew to be about 5' in my garden. This caused me some problems since PM was part of my "Sisters Garden" that I was once again trying after failing miserably with it several decades ago. The pole beans really could have used a taller corn to climb on.

Here is "Updates on my Sisters Garden" with a link back to me talking about PM corn, GW. Do you have a suggestion for me about what I can do to improve things in a Sisters Garden if I have one in 2012??

I don't really have any way of comparing Golden Bantam sweet corn to hybrid sweet corn. It was all we had when I was growing up unless we bought something else at the store or from a farm stand. Regarding the hybrids, I do recall being really pleased with the tenderness of the hybrids. I'm sure I was an instant convert. I may have grown Golden Bantam in my own garden many years ago but I don't recall doing so. The standard in my garden back then was Early Sunglow.

I imagine that Golden Bantam has a lot of corn flavor that may have been a little lost with all the hybrid emphasis on tenderness and sweetness.

Steve

edited to say: This is the 1st year in about 12 or so that there was NO raccoon damage in my sweet corn! I have no real idea why this was altho' I saw a coyote on 2 different occasions this year. That is not unusual, however. (I have even seen a mom & pup IN my garden once.) The coons left the Painted Mountain alone 4 years ago and went for the sweet corn. My technique has been to harvest at the earliest possible moment and that has worked fairly well. The coons create some loss, however.

 

[GardenWeasel]

I grow Painted Mountain and Earthtone dent in the same plot as their maturity dates are 70 and 105 days. The Mandan red flour corn is at 80 days so have a seperate plot for that. I haven't had much luck with 3 sisters but Earthtone dent is a large sturdy plant. Bean beetles abound here so about the only legumes they don't kill off are field peas and Christmas limas. I may try the Christmas limas on the outer edges of the dent corn. Pumpkins and winter squash I have to plant seperately to keep the squash bugs patrolled twice a day if I want to harvest any. In the corn I didn't have enough room to kneel down and search for eggs. I haven't ground any corn this year until I finish off the large bag of organic corn meal in the freezer. I will post when I do. My corn crib this year is a wall of potato and onion bags hanging from nails(mice) in our spare room. My husband not too pleased with the decor but we are really humid here and had some mold last year. My Painted Mountain is consistently about 5 ft.