I’m growing corn again and it’s beautiful. Inspired by an amazing man who dreamed of black corn and devoted his life to breeding it from Native American seed, I purchased his seeds. The plants sprang from the ground in five days and grew like gangbusters in our foggy, cool, bright days. I’m irrigating now, but as it gets closer to harvest I can shut off all water to my loamy sand and let the corn dry on it’s own. Ninety to 110 days to harvest. The first batch was planted May first, so August time frame for harvest. There will be time for another crop of something – dry beans? – before our so-called winter here on the California central coast.
Last year I bought a grain mill for my whole grain saurdough obsession so I’m prepared. Although there is no room for grain in our vegetable garden, I had a couple of beds near the orchard that were just growing surplus herbs and wildflowers. Out came the herbs but nearby I left some patches of native clarkias. When the deer got in, they ate the clarkias, not the corn. Happy days.
If the corn makes it to maturity I can expect long, thin ears of two varieties: Montana Morado, a black corn with black endosperm which will make highly nutritious black flour, and Painted Mountain, a brightly colored variety. The thin cobs dry fast, a boon for short seasons and hopefully a boon for our cool, foggy nights. The Painted Mountains were planted three weeks following the Montana Morado so hopefully they will not cross pollinate.
A local-ish variety of dry beans is interplanted with the corn – King City Pinks. Two summers ago we did a dry bean taste test, courtesy of Elizabeth and our local seed savers, and the KCP’s were above the rest IMHO. Last year I grew a few plants and got enough beans for a delicious pot of soup. The plants are mainly bush, but run a little bit so they shouldn’t overwhelm the short corn.
Every morning I get up and go check on the corn project. It’s always inspiring. So is the amazing interview with Dave Chistiensen, the man who dreamed of corn. You can read the interview here: https://members.acresusa.com/a-heart-for-hardiness/
