Im going to also point out hybrids and gmos cost us power over our own lives if we let them. Growing those puts others in charge of our food. I love this recent topic on popcorn which is clearly open pollinated if seed is being saved it must be open pollinated Selecting new Corn from Old . This link has just a few open pollinated sweet corns Southern Exposure Seed Exchange . Here are some additional op corns Open-Pollinated & Heirloom Corn Open-Pollinated & Heirloom Corn - Territorial Seed Company and more Sweet Corn (Maize) Seed Varieties - Heirloom, Open Pollinated, Non-hybrid Seeds from Victory Seeds® and more https://www.ufseeds.com/product-category/vegetables/corn-seed/heirloom-corn/ and more Heirloom, Open Pollinated, Non-Hybrid Field and Sweet Corn Seed from the New Hope Seed Company and more https://www.stokeseeds.com/us/catalogsearch/result/?q=+Corn+seeds
I enjoyed reading this but know nothing of this gentleman Breeding Sugary Enhanced (se) Multi-Colored Open Pollinated Sweet Corn again we can expect more of these op types https://www.restorationseeds.com/products/tux-multi-color-corn-sweet. There is always alot more to learn about open pollinated corns and ive grown them a long time . “There are six types of corn kernels: flint, flour, dent, pop, sweet, and waxy.” As seen and discussed more here The Types of Corn Grown in the U.S. and How We Use Them
" A Corny Guide to the 6 Types of Corn Grown in the U.S.
Corn is literally in everything. You can’t go through a day without encountering types of corn in one form or another, whether it’s the hand soap in your bathroom (both the plastic bottle and the cleanser itself), your morning bowl of cereal , the gas in your car made in part of ethanol, the aspirin you take for a headache, the crayons your kids draw with, or the roasted corn you serve as a side dish for dinner (and it fed the cow you fixed as the main dish, too).
In 2017, the United States produced 14.6 billion bushels of corn. Most of that produce went to places other than your dinner table, such as livestock feed and industrial products, but corn is still a staple of human consumption from breakfast all the way through snack time. And because we rely on corn for so many things other than eating, the diversity in corn grown in the U.S. has decreased. Large corn farmers are producing the corn needed for feed and fuel and food products like corn starch and corn syrup, which is not the corn we eat off the cob.
There are six types of corn kernels: flint, flour, dent, pop, sweet, and waxy. Flour corn is mostly grown in the Andean region of South America and is used to make corn flour. Waxy corn is grown in China and has a texture that is more like glutinous rice. Grab some butter and salt, and let’s look at some of the different types of corn and how a few farmers are trying to keep corn diversity alive.
TYPES OF CORN
1. DENT CORN
Dent corn, which is also known as “field corn,” is an easy type of corn to spot – there’s a dent in the crown of each individual kernel of corn. It has a high starch and low sugar content, which means it’s not sweet and juicy like the corn you buy to eat from the grocery store or farmers market. Because it’s not meant to be eaten fresh, dent corn is harvested in its mature stage when the kernels are dry and then processed.
Most dent corn grown in the U.S. winds up as animal feed, though because of its soft starch, dent corn is used as a grain in products like chips and masa (a corn flour used to make corn tortillas). Dent corn is also used to make moonshine and bourbon . The majority of corn grown in the U.S. is yellow dent corn, though you may also find dent corn in a range of colors.
2. SWEET CORN
Sweet corn is what you eat for dinner (or breakfast or lunch – there’s no bad time to eat fresh corn). It has a high sugar content, which is why it’s desirable as a fresh corn. It’s picked while immature, before the sugar has a chance to turn into starch, in what is known as the milk stage. Fresh, sweet corn is juicy; the juice, or “milk,” is how you get the creaminess of cream corn.
This type of corn comes in white, yellow, and colored varieties, and at the grocery store, you’re generally just going to find it labeled as “corn.” You may also see super-sweet corn; this variety is sweet corn with the sugar content enhanced for a sweeter flavor.
3. FLINT CORN
Flint corn is also known as Indian corn or calico corn, and it’s even harder than dent corn. If you see decorative corn (those fall-colored ears with the husks still on them), it’s almost certain to be flint corn. However, flint corn has a high nutrient value and once the grains are dried, they can be used for any number of foods, including corn meal, corn flour, hominy, polenta, and grits.
Flint corn that has a hard outer shell is what gets turned into popcorn. The kernels are dried to a point where they have a certain moisture content left; then when the dried kernels are heated, the remaining moisture turns into steam and causes the kernel to turn inside out, or pop.
This type of corn is grown mostly in South America in countries like Argentina. In the U.S., you may find it at local stores and farmers markets as popcorn.
4. HEIRLOOM CORN
There used to be far more variety in corn than there is today, but industrial farming has led to a narrower selection, with only a few types of corn being grown by large farmers. The end users of corn want a standardized product that’s the same every year, so that’s what large-scale farmers tend to grow. Heirloom corn refers to corn that’s not mass produced and tends to be varieties that have all but disappeared.
Fortunately, there are farmers working to bring back heirloom varieties of corn. It’s not always an easy process, though, saving corn. In the case of Jimmy Red, it came down to two ears and a South Carolina farmer.
Jimmy Red is a crimson red dent corn with a rich and oily germ that, back in the day, was known for making outstanding moonshine. When the last bootlegger died in the early 2000s, South Carolina farmer Ted Chewning got his hands on the last two ears of Jimmy Red corn. Chewning, a well-known seed saver, turned those two ears into seed and by carefully cultivating the seeds year after year. He gave seeds to other local farms and a few chefs, and the heirloom corn now has its own cult following.
This type of corn is used by famed Charleston chef Sean Brock; he even has a tattoo of the corn on his arm. Other Charleston chefs, including Forrest Parker and Jason Stanhope, use the corn as well, especially for making grits .
And Jimmy Red still makes a fine hooch. High Wire Distilling, also based in Charleston, was able to make two barrels of bourbon using only the red corn from a 2014 crop. Cementing Jimmy Red’s legendary status, the 570 bottles from those two barrels sold out in 11 minutes.
Today, you can buy heirloom corn varieties to grow or to cook with, including a corn that creates pink “unicorn” grits. If you can’t find it in your local store, it’s available online from places like Anson Mills or Geechie Boy Mill .
This article was originally published on April 23, 2018.
"
and then here is more about growing , spacing etc. https://myfarmlife.com/home-garden/the-best-varieties-of-heirloom-corn/
" The Best Varieties of Heirloom Corn
Seven varieties of heirloom corn that are as easy to grow as they are to eat.
BY KAREN K. WILL
If you have a patch of well-drained soil, you’ve got most of what it takes to grow heirloom corn. Many old-line, open-pollinated heirloom varieties are surprisingly easy to grow and provide delicious produce, perfect for eating fresh, canning or grinding into meal.
Heirloom Corn Basics
Many varieties are drought-resistant, and plenty can yield a good crop with 90 frost-free days or fewer. Some of these corns prefer to be grown in hills (four to six plants per) spaced on a 3- or 4-foot grid. Others will do fine in rows. Adding nitrogen in the form of composted manure at planting and blood meal at the final hoeing should be all the corn needs in good soils.
Most heirlooms can be planted about two weeks before your last frost date, and will survive light frosts until seedlings are at the four-leaf stage. In addition to the main stalk, some old varieties produce tillers; you can pinch them off or allow them to grow, reaping the reward of miniature nubbin ears.
When it isn’t possible to irrigate, opt for wider row spacing, up to 36 inches. Cultivate as soon after germination as needed, and then once or twice more before hilling. It’s imperative to use shallow cultivation and to hill at speed so soil will be thrown into the row without damaging the plants’ lateral roots.
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Five More Heirloom Corn Growing Tips
Most of the older corn varieties don’t have uniform seed sizes and shapes, so you should adjust your planting equipment for best results. If you have vegetable-seeding equipment, experiment with different plates; tape off holes if the spacing is too close for corn.
If your seed is untreated, don’t worry. Most of the old varieties are quick to germinate and relatively resistant to cold, damp conditions. However, if you typically plant a month before your last frost date, you might want to wait a couple of weeks for a more favorable outlook to plant untreated seeds.
Hilling is imperative for standability of old corns. If you planted in rows, adjust your cultivator shovels to take a shallow cut in the center between rows and move that soil into the row. The combination of depth and speed will allow you to throw sufficient soil into the row to cover the first exposed node. If you planted in hills, simply pull sufficient additional soil to the hill to cover the first node.
In the event your plot is hit with a strong wind and the corn experiences a high frequency of lodging, just wait it out. Most of these old corns will recover completely, sometimes even after being flattened.
Some old varieties, especially those adapted to grow in dry conditions, have not been bred for ear decline, so they remain erect with the tips pointing up. These ears won’t shed rain or heavy dew as well as varieties that decline at maturity; thus, molding of ears can be a problem. Time the planting so the grain will be maturing during typically drier periods, or choose other varieties.
Heirloom Corn Varieties
All varieties listed below can be combined, except where noted.
Oaxacan Green Dent
Oaxacan Green Dent (75 to 100 days; rows) An ancient corn of the Zapotec people of southern Mexico, it’s traditionally used to make green-flour tamales. Ground Oaxacan Green also adds color and flavor to homemade tortillas, polenta, corn mush and even breading for deep-frying. Ten-inch ears are born on 7-foot stalks, producing 12 or more rows of emerald-green kernels. This variety is very drought-resistant and, if watered too often, will tend to lodge under windy conditions.
Hopi Blue (90 to 110 days; hills or rows) With 30% higher protein content than conventional dent corns, this drought-tolerant flint corn is delicious boiled or roasted in the early milk stage, and makes wonderful, antioxidant-rich cornmeal when dried and ground. Don’t overwater this variety or it will tend to lodge more easily.
Mandan Bride (85 to 90 days; hills or rows) A multicolored corn that produces a mixture of flour and flint kernels on every ear, it’s developed from traditional Mandan corns and is highly prized by chefs as a grinding corn for use in polentas and cornbread. Like other Mandan corns, it won’t stand for combining or machine picking, but for the home garden or restaurant market, hand-picking makes it worthwhile. Best shelled right before grinding—or shelled and frozen— to preserve peak flavor.
Painted Mountain (70 to 90 days; hills or rows) Developed over the last 40 years from a number of Northern Native American corns, it’s cold-tolerant and perfect for short growing seasons in relatively dry conditions. This multicolored eight-row corn is good roasted when immature, and ground into meal and flour, imparting a nutty flavor. The plants won’t stand for combining.
(https://www.myfarmlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/1_14_corn1-200x300.jpg)](https://www.myfarmlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/1_14_corn1.jpg)
Bloody Butcher
Bloody Butcher (100 to 110 days; rows) Developed commercially in Virginia by around 1845, some say it was long a part of Native American commerce by then. This dent corn will produce two to six 8- to 12-inch-long ears on stalks that can reach 12 feet. This corn is delicious when roasted or boiled in the very early milk stage—don’t expect the sugar of modern sweet corns—and is wonderful when ground into meal or parched to make corn nuts.
Golden Bantam (75 to 85 days; rows) A traditional old sweet corn that offers real corn flavor with just the right amount of sugar, this yellow variety was first offered by W. Atlee Burpee in 1902, and it’s been with us ever since. Look for improved strains for longer ears with more than 10 rows of succulent kernels. The plants should stand about 6 feet tall and bear two 8- to 10-inch ears under good conditions.
Stowell’s Evergreen (85 to 105 days; rows) A white sweet corn developed by Nathaniel Stowell and released in about 1848, it’s terrific for canning and fresh eating. Stowell’s produces two 8-inch ears with up to 20 rows of kernels on stalks that might just reach 8 feet tall. Although not as sweet as today’s supersweet hybrids, Stowell’s is famous for holding the sugar longer after picking than most others."
