Planting Corn

Ruby Queen Sweet Corn by Burpee

A moment of honesty:  I have never grown corn before.  This is the first time that I will try to grow corn from seed and hopefully get something from it.  If I do not get any ears, at least I will have decorative dried cornstalks to use as decoration in the fall!  Staying true to my love for unusually colored vegetables, I will be attempting to grow Ruby Queen sweet corn which is a Burpee introduction.  It is supposed to be harvestable after 75 days which means it is a short season variety.  I have always wanted to try to grow this type of sweet corn, mainly because I was highly attracted to the color.  Burpee introduced this variety in their catalog a few years ago and I was happy to see that Walmart carried it in their seed selection.  If I succeed, this corn will definitely put me in a place of high esteem among the gardening community.  Even when I bought the seed at the Walmart checkstand the woman helping me asked if I had ever grown this corn before.  I told her "No, this will be the first time."  She then told me to come back and tell her how it grows if I have success.  That little conversation was enough of a boost to drive me to take on the challenge!

The red kernels.

 As you can see from the photo above, the kernels are a  beautiful red.  According to the seed packet, the corn starts out as a blush red and then matures to a darker red.  I will want to harvest my corn for eating when it appears blush red and will let a few ears mature to dark for decoration and to save as seed for next year's crop, that is, if I like the corn and want to try it again.

Corn planted in 12 spots in three rows.

Using the remaining open area of my vegetable garden bed, I dug up 12 holes and loosened the soil up.  After removing more large rocks and ensuring that the weeds were also removed from the holes, I planted 3 kernels per hole.  The seed packet suggested to make rows rather than holes but I don't have that much space and this is also more of an experiment than anything else.  I chose to plant 3 kernels per hole just in the hopes that something will emerge and the more I plant, the higher the chance of success becomes.  Corn kernels are very dehydrated so I will be watering the kernels once a day while this sudden dry weather is upon us here in Western Washington. 

Recap:  Planted Ruby Queen Sweet Corn on June 15, 2011.  Ears are harvestable in 75 days.
Next post:  Growing Blueberries.