I have tried growing corn for the last four years. Somehow it never works out for me. This is the first year I have tried growing it in Oregon. The previous years tried were in Arizona. I may have possibly got it right the last year I lived in Arizona, but will never know for sure as we moved before the corn was ready.
This year in Oregon I tried two types of corn. Popcorn and sweet corn. The sweet corn was supposed to be an early heirloom variety. What went wrong I’m not sure. Other than it was me trying to grow it. The ear was suppose to be 5 to 7 inches long. But when it was that size it wasn’t ripe as the kernels were white and not yellow. So I wait and wait and finally I harvest because the stalks are starting to die.
I am excited because I *think* this may be the year I finally get it right. As I am shucking the corn I first notice that I have some colors in a few of the corn kernels. So a phone call to my mom reveals that there was some cross pollination with the popcorn variety that was grown right next to them. Usually there is a space buffer which I didn’t do. You could feel the difference in the colored kernel and yellow kernel. The colored kernel was harder.
A couple of the ears had a lovely addition of a corn earworm. I just cut the bad part off.
After shucking all the ears I still had to get rid of quite a few that just hadn’t developed. They were still pale. Oh well, so next step of cooking a few ears. My mouth was watering just waiting for them to finish. On went the butter, salt, and pepper. First bite was going to be grand… Yeah, it wasn’t grand. The corn was not sweet, it was mushy, and just didn’t have a nice taste. Lee and I both didn’t finish our two ears.
I need to blanch all the ears of corn that are left. I figure I can use them in soups or something. Next year I can try again. One day I will get it right. With better soil fertility and a new corn seed maybe I will finally master growing corn.