Popcorn and Dent Corn

It looks a bit like yellow sweet corn, but the kernels are larger, flatter, have a slight dent on their outer surface (hence the name dent corn) and have been left to mature to a dry, storage state. This yellow corn is intended for yellow corn meal. From this point on it will be left to dry in the field a bit longer, then threshed off the cob when someone has time to do it. Then the loose, dry corn will store until periodic milling creates corn meal and polenta all winter long. See if you can get your hands on some yellow this season, last year local farm supporting restaurant Rosso Pizzeria consumed nearly the entire crop in order to fill their menu and serve their customers. We couldn't complain, but a few of you did when seeking a traditionally hued corn meal.

Then there is the popcorn. There is a visible difference between this corn and the former. Small and hard kernels that burst when provided the right conditions, versus the large and smooth dent kernels shown above that are obviously much better suited for flour processing.

So many types of corn are out there. No wonder scientists have gone crazy trying to modify the genes into the next best thing. Corn crops also cross pollinate readily on their own. On the farm they are kept in separate blocks to ensure this does not occur as we like to keep consistent strains of the heirloom types chosen to grow and save the seed for future corn generations on the farm. This season there are blue, green, yellow and pink cornmeal crops on their way to harvest any moment. The red popcorn is out there and perhaps a few stalks of blue (this was less successful). Is is a fun time to take a stroll in the field to observe the corn in it's mature state. You are always welcome to do just that.

Farming With The Wild

Look closely and you will note the slender and graceful presence of local reptile assistance on the farm, the garter snake. This particular guy is hunting and subsisting amidst the Nothstein Dent corn (that is your yellow corn meal corn, much of which is likely to be snatched up by Rosso Pizzeria who adores it for their polenta dishes). Scenes like this are indicative of the healthy system and ecosystem alive on the farm. A living soil has worms, a healthy environment contains a diversity of organisms, nature and food production co-exist in harmony at the farm on Airport Boulevard.

Parching Corn

This is Supai Red Parching corn....yet another of the diverse dried corn varieties grown by your local farm. Parching corn has traditionally been prepared by being lightly toasted prior to grinding into a meal. Lee has made time for a couple of batches of this so far this winter and spring, gradually introducing this new (but really it is an old tradition) idea to folks. Read on....

Atole is a toasted corn meal based beverage that is traditionally prepared and consumed in Mexico and Central America. It is usually enjoyed hot, somewhere in the realm of hot chocolate or oatmeal. It is a hearty breakfast or comfort drink. When the corn has been toasted and sweetened and/or spiced, the beverage is then referred to as Pinole.

I have tried a couple of different brews that Lee has concocted and they are fabulous, lightly sweetened and spiced with toasty meal as the base...it is something entirely different to do with your locally grown corn meal. Look for the Supai Red meal and smell it's toasted flavor, take some home and experiment with your own Pinole recipe.

The traditional and popular comfort, holiday, or breakfast beverage may be prepared many different ways. Spices, sweeteners, chiles and even savory additions may be used to brew up a unique recipe to suit each person's tastes.

The parching corn was harvested in the fall of 2009 and is now being parched and ground in batches as time permits around the farm.

Why Tierra?

Sometimes we make assumptions that people know why what we do is special. Just in case you did not already know, here is my overview of those themes I am continually trying convey to some unknown audience though this blog forum.

Grains. While only scratching the surface of this array of possibility, Tierra has expanded to produce somewhere near 20 varieties of dried beans and 3 varieties of corn for corn meal and polenta. Lee and Wayne are interested in expanding and diversifying the grain component of the farm as land, specialized equipment and demand motivate that evolution.

100% from the farm-local. This is at least one place you go where you do not have to wonder where you food has come from. Emphasis on the farm stand and CSA as distribution locations ensures your vegetables have gone no further than from the farm to your table. There is no supplementary product brought in from distributors or other local farms even. Tierra produces plenty of food on their own and has creatively found ways to expand the season of production in the form of hearty varieties, storage crops and value added products.

Sweetest carrots and strawberries in town. This is the truth and if you do not believe it is worth it just to come shop from us for these items, you are invited over for a sample. Fertile soils and expert growing experience has ensured you will encounter the highest quality of product with character unique to this farm. These are not just carrots and strawberries, but Tierra Carrots and Strawberries.

The vast array of chiles and chile products. Undoubtedly one of the farms specialty crops, Tierra grows chiles and peppers of all sorts with origins and traditional uses that are scattered across the globe. Not only will you find these unique items in fresh form during chile season only (approximately late July-early Nov), but creative methods to store these crops have resulted in a diversity of products all year long including dried chile powders, chipotles, hot sauces, jams and more.

That is all. Tell your family and friends. The farm looks forward to another busy season as the start of spring is now upon us all.

More on Corn Meal

The dried corn harvest is now and nearly complete. This means that the 2009 corn meal selection will be available from here on out....until it sells out. Be creative, colorful, plan some special uses for the holidays or just incorporate locally grown corn flour into your daily and weekly uses. Access to such a fresh and sweet product like this is not so common, take advantage and tell your friends!


Here are just some of the harvest bins full of dried corn. In the background are the Hopi Blue flour corn, quite a successful crop this season. There is more blue corn than last season and the quality is near perfection. See, there are many moments of success in farming! In the foreground on the left is Hopi Pink. Proving less perfect than the blue variety, Wayne admitted to having to sort through this one a bit. The kernels often did not come out as pink as one might hope and a lot of white was mixed in, washing out the beautiful colors that the variety had been selected for. On the right are many of those cobs that had cross bred or come out with inconsistency.

Note how the blue kernels somehow cross-bred their way into this (I think it was supposed to be Hopi Pink) cob. Perhaps images like this will make you think about what your corn meal looked like prior to processing...cross breeding colors like this may or may not produce an aesthetically pleasing flour for a consumer. Ah, more of the trials a farmer faces.

Here is the Hopi Pink, after sorting out the less pink colored cobs that slipped in. It ought to be beautiful to work with...pink corn muffins and bread, pink grits, why not? It would be nice to wait until Valentine's Day for an occasion like this, but I predict this color will not make it to February before being sold out for the season.

On the other hand, there is a lot of Hopi Blue it seems. That is a good thing because it proved to be a great corn meal last season. I have memories of the toasty brown crust on the outside of a blue muffin with chile flakes inside that Lee made last winter. Notice the size of these cobs. Notice how uniform the kernels grew. Wayne was showing me a technique of counting the rows of kernels that the field manager, Pablo, uses to judge a great cob of corn.

Finally, here is the Oaxacan Green. It is simply blue and yellow makes green....as basic as learning your primary colors. I'm looking forward to observing this one post-milling in it's green flour form. It also leaves me inspired to mix blue and pink to make purple. Why not?

This harvest season at Tierra you may find corn meal in a grand variety of colors (variety is unavoidable at this farm) from yellow to blue to pink to green and whatever you might mix and create in between. Enjoy!

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.

Growing and Grinding Corn

This week's winter CSA box will include a 1 pound bag of corn meal (choice of blue or yellow). Previously, the CSA was given popping corn and hominy to enjoy. Back in the middle of summer, sweet corn was on the menu, with or without a few corn worms to work around.

Tierra grows a variety of corn types. The wide world of corn includes sweet corn (what we are used to eating fresh), flint corn (the native varieties, a little difficult to process), dent corn (bred for good flour and polenta processing), flour corn, parching corn, popping corn, and many more categories exist. In 2008, Tierra grew sweet corn for fresh eating, popcorn for snacking, a yellow dent corn for flour/polenta/cooking, a blue flour corn for similar purposes, and a red flour corn called Bloody Butcher which was the first to sell out this season. This grand selection of local corn products will only expand in seasons to come.

A flour mill was purchased last season, expanding capabilities to produce corn meal and additional grains in the future. Weekly corn grinding is head-splitting event as the machine is quite loud. Wayne takes on the job with ear plugs and endurance.
From this point the corn meal is weighed and bagged fresh for market. Lee has made corn muffins, breads, polentas, or corn meal mush. We have added chiles to the muffins and used our chile jams and Tierra-produced honey for toppings. Customers have raved about making corn meal pancakes. The uses go on and on.

Enjoy your freshly ground corn meal this week and as long as it is available. After handing out over 100 pounds to supply the CSA, supplies will be short until next seasons rolls around.

On a nutritional note, consider the benefits of your fresh and local product versus the commercially processed standard. The corn meal produced by the farm has not been de-germed prior to grinding. Therefore, you are being offered a product in it's whole grain form with maximum nutrition and flavor. Typically in the production of corn meal, polentas and grits, the germ is removed like other grains long before ever making it into our kitchens.