Native Seeds Sweet corn

[blackthumbmary]

Has anyone tried any of the following sweet corn varieties from Native Seeds. I am thinking of trying some nextyear - I already have my corn picked out for this season.

Guarijio (regular and 'red')
Hopi
Maricopa
Mt Pima Maiz Dulce
Paiute
Yoeme
Yuman Yellow

I assume that most of these are corns that are used to more arid conditions and hotter temperatures than southern Indiana (where I live), therefore do I need to make any changes in soil or water requirements?

I probably will eating these off the cob rather than making cornmeal...so does anyone have any tasting reviews. I realize, that like Heirloom corn, these are no where near as sweet as modern hybrids.

Thanks

[grunt]

Mary: Haven't tried any of those, but I do have an Ames 1850 "Aunt Mary's Sweet" that might be better suited to your area. PM me your address if you would like some.

[blackthumbmary]

grunt - thank you for the generous offer - PM has been sent!

One thing that strikes me as a newcomer on this board is the generosity. The sharing of information alone is overwhelming, not to mention the seed sharing.

I also roast coffee at home and have been struck by the same generosity among fellow home roasters. Perhaps this trait is found where ever people have decided to use their creativity and knowledge to be better stewards of the things they love - be it corn or coffee.

In any case, I am grateful for the knowledge - and now seeds - so willingly shared.

Thanks

[Alan]

Apr 5, 2010 22:40:58 GMT -5 blackthumbmary said:

Has anyone tried any of the following sweet corn varieties from Native Seeds. I am thinking of trying some nextyear - I already have my corn picked out for this season.

Guarijio (regular and 'red')
Hopi
Maricopa
Mt Pima Maiz Dulce
Paiute
Yoeme
Yuman Yellow

I assume that most of these are corns that are used to more arid conditions and hotter temperatures than southern Indiana (where I live), therefore do I need to make any changes in soil or water requirements?

I probably will eating these off the cob rather than making cornmeal...so does anyone have any tasting reviews. I realize, that like Heirloom corn, these are no where near as sweet as modern hybrids.

Thanks

I have grown all of the above here in Southern Indiana, as well all of the above make up equal parts of the ancestory of my Astronomy Domine sweet corn gene pool.

Individually I can give you a bit of advice on each of them.

Avoid Guarijio and Guarijio red, they are day lenght sensitive due to them having not been planted traditionally until mid June in the low dessert, they will produce here, but not well and here they will grow increadibly tall.

Hopi white has done well here. Probably the least inbred corn that Native Seeds search has on hand, does well with low fertility, terrible in a wet year though.

Maricopa
Mt Pima Maiz Dulce
Yoeme
Yuman Yellow

are all heavily inbred and do not produce well enough to warrant growing, unless you mix the seed and select for a new population.

Paiute does well for me, nice large ears, two to a plant, tillering with a lot of usable side ears.

Hope that helps.

[blackthumbmary]

Alan - thanks for the really helpful information. I have always wanted to try a few native sweet corns but was not sure how they would adopt to this region. Also, the corn pictured on their site did look very underdeveloped and I wondered if they were somewhat inbred - or just products of a harsh environment. Paiute would probably be the best for me to try for next year.

Your Astronomy Domine project sounds very interesting. I would be interested in growing some but not until I have had more experience - this season being my first ever attempt at growing corn. I would hate to waste it on the steep learning curve that I am embarking on!

I am fascinated by the concept of breeding corn for hardiness. This sounds like a basic concept, but so often one simply chooses a variety with little regard to its suitability to one's locale. The opposite extreme is to only plant indigenous varieties. Your approach seems like a nice balance: finding a desired variety and breeding it to better adopt to one's growing conditions.

I am really enjoying reading about everyone's corn breeding projects - please keep writing about them. You inspire neophytes like myself to look beyond simple seed saving.