Gaspe flint corn

[the1honeycomb]

I am still green and haven't ever tried corn. my gardens are limited to 5 4 x 15 raised beds. I heard that you have to have several rows of corn for pollination.
right now I am looking for big yield. the corn that you have grown sounds great and knowing that I can grind it in my blender with the liquid ingredients is wonderful (although how much whole corn makes how much ground corn)
Thanks for all thi information hoping to learn more every day!!!

 

[thistlebloom]

Honeycomb, my plot of Gaspe was only about 4 x 4, and that seemed enough for pollination.

When I make cornbread with the Painted Mtn. corn, ( I guess the variety of corn doesn't matter! ) I use about one half cup more than the recipe calls for when I put it in the blender. I do soak it overnight before grinding, I think that might be important.

I tweak my cornbread recipe all the time and it still always turns out great, so I'm thinking you don't have to be too exact with the amount of unground corn.

Was that understandable? In other words if the recipe calls for 1 cup of cornmeal, I put 1.5 cups of whole soaked corn in the blender with the liquid ingredients. But I have used 2 cups of whole corn too and it was very good.

 

[897tgigvib]

I really think Gaspe Flint Corn would be a good one for you for 2 reasons. Your garden is small, and these are small plants. The other reason is, Gaspe is a good corn for a first time corn grower. They won't make as much corn per square foot as a bigger corn, i think, never compared, but they do produce pretty well. You can see the relative size of them on the photo of peeper my cat looking at them. he's a large british shorthair.

 

[seedcorn]

Well I planted it because of it's interesting description in the online seed catalog. I'm kind of a sucker that way. But it was fun, the stalks are so tiny, and I have plenty of room for playing with different crops. Heritage no longer sells to the U.S. btw.

I had thoughts of using it as cornmeal, but I planted such a small patch of it that I decided to just save the seed. I grew Painted Mountain corn nearby though, so the seed is possibly not true. They tasseled at different times though, so I guess I'll find out when I plant them.

Now Painted Mtn. makes an awesome corn bread! digitS got me interested in that one and I love it. You don't have to have a grainmill to use it for cornbread either. Seedcorn told us how to put it in the blender with your liquid ingredients and grind it that way.
Thanks again Seedcorn! I soak it overnight first though.

You are welcome, just passing on what an 80+ told me. Soaking over night is smart.

 

[the1honeycomb]

Very Informative can't wait to try some corn this year!!
I need to really experiment with planting new plants

 

[897tgigvib]

Honeycomb, my beds are basically 4 foot wide too. Though I planted the seeds approximately the way BuffaloBird Woman did, in circular patterns with approximate rows, nice straight rows would be jst fine, maybe more space efficient. A 4 foot wide bed will easily make 4 rows, or maybe 5 rows.

I'd kind of think rows at 12 inches apart, seeds 9 inches apart sounds like a good plan. Someone else might say different. Just don't interplant anything that might overwhelm them. My Orange Speckled Tepary Beans were next to them, and they took down a couple Gaspe plants. Those still made little cobs, but not well filled.

Mine had good fertile mostly compost for soil. I used kelp based liquid nutrients, but I bet they would have enjoyed Liquid fish emulsion even more.

 

[catjac1975]

I have to say-it doesn't look too tasty.

 

[the1honeycomb]

Sounds like a good part of my garden has been spoken for! I wonder about the harvest is it fairly good and did we decide that this corn is not sweet for eating off the cob? Is there a high yeilding corn for sweet corn that you recommend??

 

[so lucky]

Kinda depends on whether you need a shorter season corn, or can go with a 80 day corn. Bodacious and Incredible are good, also there are several super-sweet varieties that are just like eating candy. Just keep in mind that you will probably only get one ear per plant. Corn is not a plant that keeps on producing, like pole beans and tomatoes. If you are wanting the most produce for your amount of space, I suggest you concentrate on things like tomatoes, beans, lettuce, peppers, broccoli, that you can get more than one harvest off of. Or that has a large single harvest, like potatoes. But by no means should you totally forego all the fun, different crops, either. We all gotta experiment!

 

[897tgigvib]

Howdy CatJac, It's not one that matters so much how it looks, but here's another photo of Gaspe

After all, it is not designed to be eaten on the cob.