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Taste Worth Risk of Growing Sweet Corn

By GEORGE BRIA
The Associated Press

POUND RIDGE, N.Y. - Few, if any, garden delights rival midsummer feasting on home-grown sweet corn. Yet, even in a country setting, many gardeners shy away from growing it.

A great pity, for who can say to have truly gardened who has never rushed a sun-warmed ear to the boiling pot?

Catalogs feature corn for every palate, from the most shameless sweet of modern breeders to the old-time tang. But Gallup surveys conducted for the National Gardening Association show only one-third of American home gardeners raising corn.

That compares with 85 per cent raising tomatoes, the most-grown vegetable, and 58 per cent planting peppers, the second-highest.

Lack of space and fear of predators are cited as the major deterrents to planting corn. Solid obstacles, but must gardening be trouble-free and without risk? How about a little adventure?

If taste, rather than quantity, is the ultimate goal, then a vegetable gardener should be able to find room for a few cornstalks in gardens even smaller than the average 200-square-foot plot. Many of us often grow too many tomatoes and zucchini. Cutting back on these can make room for corn.

Planted in two hills, or bunches, to assure proper pollination, and on the north side to avoid shading other plants, as few as six stalks will at least give you a taste of the real thing. A retired person without family size appetites to satisfy could easily try a little corn.

True, our furry, antlered and feathered friends often beat us to our best ears. I remember a season when raccoons ravaged my corn patch in one night, leaving only one salvageable ear and even that was chewed a little. I cooked it anyway, wryly thankful that at least I had one taste of corn that year.

Since then I've fared better, thanks to a number of defenses: a shock-imparting electric wire, a flashing light, a radio tuned to all-night news, taller fencing to keep out deer, and most of all, I think, my sheltie dog, Lucy, who has taken to sleeping outdoors near the garden. Still, I keep my fingers crossed.

Another hazard that must be protected against is high wind. In a few seconds, strong gusts can flatten and even uproot much of your crop. A good way to prevent this is to secure the stalks in a grid of wire and string.

People who don't want to deal with all this trouble of animals and wind say they can find pretty good ears of corn at farmers' markets.

But corn fanciers know they're kidding themselves. Nothing matches preparing the ground, planting the seed, watching the seedlings become tall stalks with graceful, long leaves, seeing tassels emerge and silk form and ears beginning to swell. At last, with the kernels at their tender sweetest, comes the rush to the waiting pot before starch begins to take over.

A friend confided that he likes it starchy rather than sweet. Well, you can delay picking it, but for that flavor you may as well shop for it rather than grow it.

For supermarket shoppers who prefer it sweet, breeders in the last 20 years or so have developed so-called "supersweets." These keep a sweet flavor much longer on the produce shelf than older kinds. But there's disagreement on whether the sweetness is cloying, with a loss of "true" corn flavor. And many gardeners aren't interested in these anyway, since they get their sweetness by picking the old kinds at the right moment.

A third type of corn, called "sugar enhanced," is promoted vigorously for the home gardener these days by major seed houses. These varieties are aimed at satisfying people who want both what they consider real corn flavor and "long-keeping" qualities.

Seed houses say the sugar-enhanced kinds have been outselling old-timers like Silver Queen and Golden Cross Bantam, although the traditionals still have a solid market.

According to Park Seed (Cokesbury Road, Greenwood, S.C. 29647, 800-845-3369), Precocious, an early (66-day) sugar-enhanced yellow corn is "far away our best seller" with home gardeners.

W. Atlee Burpee & Co. (Warminster, Pa. 18974, 800-888-1147) also said the sugar-enhanced varieties "significantly outsell" the standard hybrids.

Both companies said Silver Queen, a 92-day, late season, white variety, continued as most in demand of the old types.

A good idea for a beginner is to order a collection including various kinds. But whatever the taste that finally pleases, corn-growing is surely one of summer's greatest pleasures.

Copyright 1996 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.