High Elevation Gardening Web Log "Blog"

Commercially corn dominates American agriculture with production more than twice any other crop. Some nine billion bushels are produced annually in the U.S.

Ask a gardener about the real reason to grow a garden, and you'll likely get the answer: sweet corn. Nothing can compare to the sublime taste of fresh sweet corn picked from the garden while the pot of water is boiling on the stove.

Good sweet corn can be successfully grown in Flagstaff and the surrounding area. The keys are having plenty of space, developing a rich soil, providing a full-sun exposure, applying adequate water and nutrients, planting at the proper time, and using appropriate varieties.

Choose a sunny warm location and start by improving your soil by working plenty of organic material into it, aged manure and compost are the best. Adding one to two inches works well. Some suggest that providing a balanced organic fertilizer in early to mid-July will also give the developing plants a nice boost.

In our area the optimum time to plant corn is around May 10-15. Even though our average last frost date is June 10, the young corn plants can handle some cold temperatures, and by planting a little earlier, they will have the required time to grow tall and produce mature ears.

Plant the seeds one to one and a half inches deep and about six inches apart in rows that are about 30-36 inches apart. Since corn is pollinated by the wind, it needs to be planted in blocks of at least four rows, rather than in a long single row. Otherwise you will get ears that are not fully filled out. After the plants are about a foot high, thin the rows so plants are no closer than a foot apart. Carefully hoe around the plants frequently throughout the season to aerate the soil and remove weeds, taking care to keep the hoe shallow so as not to damage the roots.

Corn does require a lot of water. Adequate soil moisture is especially critical during the time that the plants are forming their tassels on the top, and the silks are developing on the ears.

Sweet corn is ready to harvest when the kernels are well-filled and tightly packed, and a thumbnail puncture produces a milky substance. It needs to be cooked shortly after picking, as the sugars convert to starches rather quickly causing toughness and a loss of flavor. If you find earworms on the ears under the husks, just pick them off and use the corn anyway, as it is perfectly fine. The earworms can be controlled to some degree by putting mineral oil on the ends of the silks when they are first developing.

There are an extraordinary number of sweet corn varieties available with early-season, mid-season, and late-season maturity characteristics. I find that the early-maturing varieties in the 60-70 day range produce short plants and very small ears. Late season types in the 90 days and longer range likely will not have enough time to produce a crop. I much prefer the mid-season varieties in the 70-90 day range, as these will produce larger plants and normal-sized ears. Over the years I have had the most consisitent success with the fabulous variety "Incredible" available from Pinetree Garden Seeds, PO Box 300, New Gloucester, ME, 04260, www.superseeds.com. Hopi blue corn and other native varieties can be obtained from Native Seeds/SEARCH, 526 N 4th Ave, Tucson, AZ 85705, www.nativeseeds.org.

So give it a try. Grow some corn and enjoy one of gardening's supreme pleasures, corn on the cob, fresh from the garden, salted, and slathered with butter to drip from your chin.

James Mast, a dentist, is one of Coconino County's first Master Gardeners. Dana Prom Smith, a Master Gardener volunteer and coordinating editor of the Master Gardener Column for Coconino County Cooperative Extension, can be contacted at stpauls@npgcable.com. For questions about gardening, call the Master Gardener Hotline at 774-1868 ext.19 or visit the MG Web Site: highelevationgardening.arizona.edu.