Sweet Summertime
Sweet Summertime
Sweet corn is synonymous with summer and for good reason. The bright yellow color is a summer icon and can be found at outdoor gatherings, county fairs, and family BBQ’s throughout the nation. Served all summer long it becomes a main ingredient staple for summer dishes from appetizers to dessert! Sweet corn, also known as… Read More »
Sweet corn is synonymous with summer and for good reason. The bright yellow color is a summer icon and can be found at outdoor gatherings, county fairs, and family BBQ’s throughout the nation. Served all summer long it becomes a main ingredient staple for summer dishes from appetizers to dessert!
Sweet corn, also known as corn on the cob, was first introduced to us by Native Americans and has been popular ever since. Sweet corn is a derivative of Maize and was grown in ancient times using a planting system called Three Sisters. Three Sisters is a polyculture system where corn, beans and squash mutually work together as companion plants each doing their part to help the other plant and the soil.
It’s Sweet Corn time on our farm right now and it is in season from mid-July through October here in N.J. Our early corn started out in our greenhouses from seed and then transplanted to the fields in time. All of our other plantings (nine so far) have been seeds planted directly into the fields. We plant both white and bicolor corn throughout the season to meet the demand for both varieties. Corn is a row crop which is a popular planting method meaning it is harvested annually, replanted, and produced on a larger scale using machines. As part of our sustainable agriculture practices, we rotate the crops and you may see sweet corn growing in different parts of our farm when you visit.
Corn is an imperfect flower and thereby needs help with pollination which is aided typically by the wind. Corn contains
both male flowers (tassels) and female flowers (silks & ears). Pollen from the tassels needs to land on the silks in order to create a viable crop. Want to learn more about corn and pollination? Watch this video of our Farm Production Team talking about sweet corn.
Sweet corn is picked early in the morning every day while in season. We field pick our corn fresh each day as it tastes best on the day it is picked, or consumed within a couple of days. Store corn in the refrigerator in a plastic bag until ready to use and for best quality use in 2-3 days. Corn is so easy to cook and can be enjoyed in a variety of different ways, boiling, steaming, and grilling are the popular techniques used. Boiling corn takes only a couple of minutes, steaming approximately 6-8 minutes and grilling is convenient as you can cook the corn right in the husk on the grill for approximately 10-15 minutes. Looking for a unique way to enjoy sweet corn? Try this simple Polenta Corn & Roasted Tomatoes recipe or this Corn Salsa Salad recipe provided by our Culinary & Education Specialist, Miss Jenn.
