Topics on Corn

I can only assume this is the Nothstein Dent corn, grown for flour/corn meal processing. It seems a reasonable assumption since it is yellow, dried up, and full of characteristic "dent" kernels. So it seems your yellow corn flour for 2009-2010 is about ready for harvest.

Here is the Oaxacan Green corn, also grown for flour. This one is new this season. Those of you who followed the corn meal last season may recall the yellow (pictured above), a blue called Hopi Blue and a red one called Bloody Butcher. Now we have green to add to the list of color, flavor, and diversity. It ought to be fun to compare results as usual.

I think this is a Peruvian (?) black corn? Grown for corn meal/flour. I'm working off info I gathered during spring seeding with Lee, but have since only wandered the fields w/o the farmer to be certain of what is what. With so many kinds of corn out there it is hard to keep it all straight. Anyhow, here is another diverse color, a deep, dark black kernel. I wonder how it will turn out after running through the mill.

And now I transition away from the topic of corn flour and onto the topic of corn pests. This is fresh corn we see now.....sweet, fresh corn. Unfortunately, everyone likes a good sweet veggie like this, including the Corn Worm. If you can look past the worm and it's damage, you are rewarded with an incredible seasonal treat, grown without the influence of chemicals or pesticides to rid the crop of this kind of thing. I tend to remind people that this pest evidence is their organic certification in living flesh....try to look at it optimistically this way. One way to avoid the corn worm is to plant an early crop of corn. This way, you may be able to harvest the crop prior to the development of the pest. Like the growth cycle of plants, pests require certain environmental conditions for their complete development.

Ever seen this? I hadn't until a farmer pointed it out to me a couple of years back. Corn smut is a fungal growth. Sometimes it is even a delicacy.....like mushrooms? Whether good or bad in one's perspective as a foodie delicacy or a growers fungal disease, I think it is all interesting.

Enjoy your corn, fresh now and dried for later. Hope you gained some insight into the broader picture of what and how it is done at Tierra.