So I was going to post, as I had promised, about another fascinating development in the garden today (it was a cucumber), but that is going to have to wait.
Because I have been noticing over the past few weeks, and wanted to share with you this. And by this I mean the photo above.
And below.
The corn is pink. Well, its silk and trunks are pink, I'm not sure about the corn yet. And this is worrying me a little. Why is it pink? Corn isn't pink. You don't hear poems dedicated to the beauty of the pink corn, which is surely what would happen if corn were pink. But it's not.
Now if I had just planted this corn from a seed packet and it came up pink, I'd look at it and go, okay, it's pink corn. But I didn't plant it from a seed packet, this corn is from popcorn kernels that I had in the pantry and threw in the garden for a laugh. Now I know our food gets fiddled with, and it wasn't organic popcorn, it was cheap home-brand popcorn.
To get to the point of this post, I'm a little concerned that the government is experimenting with home-brand products on the masses, and I have just joined the ranks of the experimented upon.
The other option is that I am a complete nutbag and that corn is in fact often pink :p
12 comments:
i am with you all the way...honestly this is so freaky looking....
p.s i love reading your blog :-)
Well, Ali - I don't think you are genetic guinea-pigs. Corn kernels come in a wide and wild variety of colours. Especially some of the heritage varieties. Just look at the seed merchant's websites eg Green Harvest, Eden Seeds. You will be amazed! I have not had even pink seeds never mind the navy-blue ones and so on, so I don't speak from experience here. The plant is the handsomest Corn I've seen and I wish it were growing here, too ;-) all I have is the boring yellow-cobbed ones! Don't know what popping corn tastes like raw or fresh but you're about to find out.
It is weird hey, when it's ready you can come to lunch and try it with me!
and thank you :)
It is kind of exciting Elaine, although I am a little paranoid about what I've planted now! I have never tasted anything other than sweet corn, so I am really interested to see how this will taste. Surely I'll be able to cook it in some way to render it tasty.
Try a cob raw first - most foods are best raw (exceptions are Potato and Eggplant) more vitamins, enzymes and life in general. There's a lot of Corn which is not 'sweet corn' - SC is a development for the western palate. Cow Corn or feed corn is not sweet as we know it now, it's not sour but just not *as* sweet. Some of the feed corn is tougher in the testa too (the seed coat) so it feels different when you eat it. I'm tempted to buy a packet of popping corn to try it out, too ;-) I'd love some pink tassels!
They are a bit fabulous, aren't they! I've still got some of that popcorn packet left, I'll pass some pink tassel makers your way :)
Hi Ali,
Now don't quote me on this because I'm a beginner but that corn colour looks familiar to me. For the last couple of years I've been growing a baby corn variety from Diggers https://secure.diggersgardenclub.com.au/p-943-sweet-corn-baby-pop-f1.aspx
It can be picked early (before the tassels appear) as baby corn or if you leave it it grows into a big corn cob and is apparently the variety you use for popcorn. If you haven't tried home grown baby corn you must! It is soooo sweet - completely different from the stuff in the can.
Oh wow, that makes sense that it's a variety you grow for popcorn, doesn't it? Are your tassels pink too?
The cobs I have would be about half grown, I didn't know that baby corn was literally baby corn, I wonder what it would be like if I picked a cob or two now? I have been dying to try some, would you just steam it as you would a normal cob?
Thanks for that VG, I'm feeling quite wildly excited about it now!
Wow - I did not know the connection between baby corn and popcorn. What I'd love to know is: if you pick baby cobs, do more form? Usually you get 1 or 2 full-sized cobs and a few immature ones (depends on the variety) down low where they are hard to see. To get 2-4 baby cobs is a heck of a waste of plant - corn can be a huge plant.
I agree Elaine, it seems like a bit of a waste of all that energy on the plant's part to pick them when they are so little.
I am curious to know how it all works though, so I'll plant in some more of those popping corn kernels tomorrow with the intention of picking them as baby corn. I have just the space for them :)
My corn seeds haven't popped through this year yet but I think from memory that they were pink tassels. You don't get many on the plant and I'm not sure if you get more if they're picked but I think it's worth growing anyway. They look so lovely and the baby corn really is fantastic. Last year my little boy and I just ate the corn straight off the plant raw and it was great. Very sweet. It's taken me a couple of years to figure out when to pick it (needs to be early before they get big and before the tassels) we didn't get enough to do much of a meal with but I would use probably quickly cook them in a stir fry.
I remember a guy selling corn at the markets once told me you could eat corn raw, I didn't really believe him though! I planted some more popping corn seeds today VG, and will keep an eye on them to nab them before the hatch!
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