HF ISSUE 2 P28-30 CORN
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19/3/08
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GROWING SWEETCORN Jayne Neville takes us step by step into growing sweetcorn
Reaping a Golden Harvest IF YOU LIKE the idea of tucking into your own freshly picked sweetcorn this summer, now is the ideal time to sow this tasty crop. The popularity of sweetcorn in recent years and its all-year-round availability in supermarkets. both fresh and frozen, guarantees it a place as a favourite vegetable here in Britain. Originating in South America, sweetcorn (also known as maize) is believed to have been introduced here in the 15th century. If you have never eaten sweetcorn straight from your garden, then you are in for a real treat! Sweetcorn really needs to be cooked within minutes of harvesting – the longer the delay, the less sweet and more starchy it becomes. Even buying ‘fresh’ from a local or farmers’ market won’t come anywhere close to that you have grown yourself. Sweetcorn is fairly easy to grow but needs a good
summer in order for the cobs to develop to their mouth-watering best. In Britain the yields will vary from year to year depending on the prevailing weather during the growing season. Prolonged hot summers are excellent for sweetcorn growers, but cool, wet ones are quite the opposite. Despite slight unpredictability, this crop definitely deserves a place on your plot because it is relatively undemanding to grow, especially regarding soil type, suffers few pest and disease problems, and can be used to protect other crops grown near or next to it because of its open growing habit. Modern varieties have been bred to be more tolerant of our climate conditions and there are many types to choose from. There are also early, mid season and late varieties. In general, expect to be eating sweetcorn any time from mid-summer to late autumn, depending on the variety chosen and the location.
Varieties There are four main classifications for sweetcorn varieties: 1) normal sugar type (the traditional ones which tend to be early), 2) sugar enhanced (increased tenderness and sweetness, normally mid-season), 3) super sweet (much sweeter than other types), 4) extra tender (most recent introduction, thin skinned, sweet and tender).