If there is one component of the garden that always seems to intrigue visitant , it is the small discussion section where we maturate our Zea mays everta .
At first , most touring the garden assume it is simply a few rows of sweet corn whisky .
You really grow your own popcorn ? How does that work ? Is it hard ? How do you harvest it ?
Quite merely , it is one of the easiest and most beautiful harvest to spring up in a garden .
And for more than just the delicious and nutritious popcorn it produces !
The Incredible Beauty & Versatility Of Growing Popcorn
Popcorn is staggeringly simple to set , grow and reap . But for us , it serves an tremendous second purpose as well .
Not only do our two rows of popcorn we plant cater us with an intact yr ’s Charles Frederick Worth of popcorn , they also help us grace the farm every autumn .
We in reality use our dried popcorn ear to summate fall vividness all over the farm .
They are perfect for pay heed on our barn room access as decoration . And we love placing them with pumpkins and gourd vine for table display too .
And this year , we were repay with a harvest that develop some of the most colorful and beautiful ears ever !
We produce three variety of popcorn : Dakota Black , Strawberry , and Ladyfinger . And all three had a banner year in the garden .
We were even reward with a particular fourth smorgasbord from come that manifestly crossed last yr between our Dakota Black and Ladyfinger .
The resulting speckled ears created what we now call Dakota - Ladyfinger . And they are actually quite attractive .
We also planted a new seed this yr called Glass Gem . The kernels are only beautiful , and really do wait like pieces of biased ice .
The funny matter is that some say it is a Zea mays everta , and others say it is simply a dent - style edible corn .
It will be interesting to see if it really bulge . But even if it does n’t , what a beautiful ear of corn!(Seed Link : Glass Gem Corn Seed )
Growing & Harvesting Our Popcorn Crop
Popcorn is planted very to a crop of fresh corn whiskey . And much like fresh corn whisky , it is sown in recent outflow , as presently as the soil temperature has warm up up .
As spring plow to summertime , the popcorn grows just like an average crop of maize would .
But instead of harvest toothsome fresh centre to roast or boil in the eye of summer , popcorn is instead leave on the stalk to dry .
And as it dries , it creates some of the most beautiful capitulum of clavus you will ever lay your eyes upon .
Ears that can first be used to decorate , and then shell later for get to delicious popcorn . Talk about a win - win!(See : Homemade Popcorn Recipe – No Special Equipment Required ! )
The Popcorn Harvest
We leave our Zea mays everta spike on the stalks until too soon to mid September . As soon as the stalk call on chocolate-brown and dry off , it is time to pick .
For the auricle we do n’t decorate with , we simply shell and cling in a mesh traveling bag in the barn to dry .
Popcorn usually call for about a month or so once find fault to dry out completely on the great black-backed gull . And then you simply shell it , put in it , and pop it whenever you want .
Usually by the time Autumn come to a close , we can shell the Indian corn we used for decorations along with the corn drying in the b .
We store our shelled corn in mason jars with a chapeau . It hold back easy for a year or more .
We always select the best ears of each diverseness , and then use seed from those hazelnut to plant the following springtime for our new harvest .
Here is to grow your own awful crop of popcorn – felicitous horticulture ! Jim and Mary .
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening , DIY and formula article and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm . The two are frequent speakers on all things garden and love to travel in their bare time .
