Sweetcorn

[grenfell]

I've been gardening for years , since as a child I helped my father but I have a question that's perhaps a little embarrassing.
In all my time I've never before grown sweetcorn or maize so this time I thought I'd give it a go , growing what you eat and all that. It's growing fine and there are several cobs on the plants , but it has occurred to me that I'm not really sure of when to pick it. The internet says something about poking a fingernail into a cornell and looking at the juice that comes out . There was another mention of picking it at night.. Behind us is a field of maize and I've just considered waiting till that is harvested to give me an idea of when to pick mine but if anyone has better information I'm all ears ( see what I did there , ears , ears of corn . I'll get my coat...)

[Ara]

We use the thumbnail test, if the juice is milky the corn is ready to pick. With sweetcorn, the trick is to have the water on the boil before you pick it as it loses its sweetness rapidly after picking. Once you have tried homegrown corn picked and cooked in minutes you will never go back to shop bought stuff. (I'm trying to ignore the ears pun but it's impossible.)

[grenfell]

Right thanks. Supplementary question but do you peel back the leaves to do the thumbnail test? Well obviously the answer is yes , I was just a bit unsure on doing that just to find it wasn't ready. Are there any indications to look for prior to the test? I did see recommendations on the net to cook , boil or grill , straight away after picking.

[jansman]

Right thanks. Supplementary question but do you peel back the leaves to do the thumbnail test? Well obviously the answer is yes , I was just a bit unsure on doing that just to find it wasn't ready. Are there any indications to look for prior to the test? I did see recommendations on the net to cook , boil or grill , straight away after picking.

Yes,you are right grenfell. Just peel a bit of leaf back and do the thumbnail test. They will ‘go over’ and the sugar will eventually turn to starch. I will pull the cobs off,peel most of the leaves off,then chuck ‘em in the freezer. Works well.

[grenfell]

Cheers both. The other thing this does is to make me realise how I've turned into my dad. He grew the basics and felt posh when he tried sweetcorn. I seem to recall he grew it for a couple of years but then they didn't really eat the stuff. First time for me too and feeling a bit avant-garde...

[Ara]

You need to wait until the tassels have turned brown before you try the thumbnail test. I know what your dad meant about being posh when he grew sweetcorn. I'd never had it until I left home.

[ForgeCorvus]

One thing to think about with the field of maize behind you...... its often grown as a bio-mass feedstock* so it might be harvested at peak growth rather then the right time for a food crop.

*I know, madness right?

[grenfell]

Unfortunately that's exactly what it is grown for. I don't really know enough about what the process actually is and did wonder if the cobs wrre removed during the procesd. Agreed it does seem like madness.

[grenfell]

Well I harvested a couple at the weekend and very nice they were too. I was intending to check anyway but was attracted to the plants because I noticed one had been stripped of it's corn. Cob was still on the plant but the leaves had been pulled away and practically all the corns were gone. Pretty sure this is probably down to squirrels.