Corns, all types

Ah, Can’t you just smell the sweet corn simmering in the pot, or better yet, buttered popcorn?

Starting our corn indoors 2-3 weeks before planting dates has ensured August corn for us every year.

Corn (Zea mais) Sweet corn varieties – Average 75 seeds per pkg., less with limited quantity or rare varieties.  $3.00

240. Kandy Korn – 75-80 days   This corn is a hybrid but produces abundant corn in long straight rows with sweet flavor and slow conversion to starch.  Old corn can be canned or used in bean and corn salsa – my family’s favorite.

241.  Seneca Arrowhead – 80 days Older version of the popular sweet corn.  Good flavor, produces nice cobs in longer season or if plants are started indoors and put out after last frost.  We have had good luck with this variety.

242.  Simonet – 80 days  This variety originally from Prairie Garden Seeds.  Good producer for the prairies. Not available.

243.  Lyric – 70 days  Good short season corn, smaller cobs but full corn flavor.  Limited quantities.

244. Butter and Sugar type – 90 days  Bit longer season required for this bicolor sweet corn.  Can produce cobs if started early indoors.  Separate from other corn varieties to keep pure seed.  Limited quantities.

245. Earlivee – 70 days  Another of the popular early, shorter cob varieties of sweet corn.  One of the best for flavor, but with all these types, best eaten when picked or the sugars change to starch quickly.  Good corn flavor.  Sold out.

246. Golden Bantam – 70-80 days  Original variety from 1902, it was one of the first yellow corns for the table.  Good full flavor, use quickly for sweet corn.  Good short season variety.

247.  Pickaninny – 85 days  Similar to Golden Bantam and others, the stalks produce 2 or more cobs of good size and quality.  Pre 1929 variety.  Very rare, 40 seeds per pkg.

248.  Northern Early Sweet – 80 days.  A good early producer of sweet corn in Alberta and has been in my garden for years. Not available.

249.  Kandy Quick – 80 days.  Originally a hybrid, these seeds produce good sweet corn with great corn flavor.  Not as prolific as original hybrid, but they are open pollinated.

259.  True Gold – 80-90 days.  NEW!! A very hard to find and excellent Heritage sweet corn.  Delicious, rich, buttery flavor.  Golden cobs.  Good forAlberta climates.  Limited availability, 40 seeds.

260.  AlbertaCentennial – 80-90 days.  NEW!! Obtained from the Devonian Botanical Gardens inNorthern Alberta at their annual seed swap.  Low quantities.

Popcorns and Grinding Corn types

250. Mandan Bride –  90 days Beautiful ornamental or flour corn from the Mandan natives in N. Dakota originally.  Cobs are an amazing mix of colors, with striped kernels sometimes.  Early maturing for the prairies. Can be eaten as a sweet corn if picked in the milky stage.

251. Fiesta type – 92 days.  Like Mandan Bride, Fiesta makes a gorgeous display in the garden of multihued cobs and plants. The kernels are multiple colors on one cob, ranging in shades from white to red, to dark burgundy and black.  Can be eaten as sweet corn if picked young. One of my favorite types.  I might try some of these for flour and popping this year.  Who knows what will happen?

260. Robust Hybrid popcorn – 100 days  Limited offering. 50-60 seeds per pkg.  This corn takes longer to make cobs but it is worth it.  Always the last thing out of the garden, it is started indoors and set out in a hot, sunny location.  Cobs are about 6-7 “ long, filled with rows of light yellow, bordering on white kernels that dry hard and pointed.  Pops good, tastes great.

261. Carousel mixed popcorn – 105 days  Limited offering 35 seeds per pkg..  Colorful and fun mix of popping corns similar in color to Fiesta. Good for prairies. Not available in 2011.

262.  Tom Thumb popcorn – 60 days  Super early and fun.  The small plants produce only 1 or 2, 2-3” cobs on 3’ plants but fill quickly and fully.  The kernels are true popcorn style and are almost as big as commercial popcorns.  Limited offering 35 seeds per pkg.

263.  Laser Mixed popcorn – 90 days  Colorful slim cobs produce multicolored and striped seeds.  Stores love this variety and it is also fun to grow.  Limited offering 35 seeds per pkg.

267.  Gaspe Flour corn – 90 days.  NEW!  Early enough to produce grinding corn for polenta or flour, this corn produced well in 2011 and has 2-3 cobs per plant, not overly tall or bushy and medium sized full kernels.  Good pick for short season areas.  Start indoors 3-4 weeks early to ensure a good crop before first frost.  Limited supply.