We started growing corn this spring indoors and planted it in my mom’s garden where there was more room for it to grow. It did exceptionally well where it gets both sun and shade and plenty of water. This summer, the corn grew so well and the cobs had properly formed kernels that when cooked, were amazingly sweet.
Here’s the corn September 12 – its growing so well!
Look at those beautiful cobs! When the silk has browned, then you know the corn is most likely ready to be picked. I easily tipped the cob downwards to break it from the stalk.
Looks wonderful and tastes even better! Homegrown corn is always so much sweeter than store bought. We picked an extra couple cobs to save for next year’s corn seed.
We steamed some corn in the microwave. No need to boil it and lose all those nutrients! I am so impressed how well the corn grew this year. Not many cobs had partial corn development – they all were like the picture below – with nice kernels and a lovely yellow or white color. This was a peaches and cream corn seed that we grew.
The corn I saved, I left in the husk and placed in a cardboard box. I did completely husk a couple cobs to see which method would be better. I left them in the garage for several weeks, turning them once in a while.
You can also pull the husks back without removing them and braid into bunches or completely husk them and place in a mesh bag and hang so the kernels can dry.
After a few months, check the corn. If when you run your hand across, the corn seed falls out, the seeds are ready to harvest. If you have to pluck them, keep leaving them to dry. I picked up the corn cob and shook it and the kernels just fell out. This takes a while but I was so happy to see that the corn had dried!
The corn seed will look like this when it is dried. I harvested the seed and placed it in a container.
Depending on the weather, you can also leave the corn on the plant to dry out. Once the cob has completely browned, it will be ready to harvest the seed. Since we can get frost early in the fall, I chose to pick some corn and dry it out that way.
Do you harvest seed? What kind of seed do you harvest to plant the following year?
UPDATE:
It’s 2024 and I thought I’d share harvesting corn seed. This cob did not fully grow enough to eat, so we set it on the counter and let it dry out. It took about 3 months to fully dry. The easiest way to check and see if it’s ready to harvest the seed is when you try to remove a kernel — if it easily falls off, it’s ready but if you have to pull it out, it’s not ready yet. My daughter it her hand at the cob and it just fell off into her hand. We will save this seed and plant it in the spring.
