Popcorn is another one of those
excellent foods that America gave the world.
As a food popcorn has relatively few calories (until you add butter) yet
is filling. There are about 35 calories per cup of popped corn. It’s high in carbs but does have lots of
fiber to lessen that effect. The little
hulls that stick in your teeth can be annoying but if you grow your own popcorn
you can grow varieties that are hull-less or at least less annoying.
Americans consume more than 13 billion
quarts of popcorn each year. Popcorn is
a fairly cheap snack but you can grow your own supply even cheaper and have
lots of fun doing it. It’s a great
garden project for kids.
Choosing
what varieties to plant
Choose popcorn sold for seed to plant
and don’t try to plant popcorn sold in the store to pop. It may grow but this popcorn is often old and
doesn’t germinate well. It may not be a
good variety for your area either. And growing your own popcorn allows you to
choose varieties that taste better, have unusual colors or other qualities that
commercial popcorn doesn’t have. You
want to choose a seed popcorn that will have time to mature and dry on the
stalk in your growing zone. In Michigan
you can safely choose varieties that mature up to 90 days and in southern areas
100-120 days will probably be fine.
Popcorn stalks are often shorter than
other types of corn. The ears of corn
are often smaller and narrower and popcorn varieties often have more ears per
stalk than sweet or field corn. Most
have yellow or white kernels although there are colorful varieties of popcorn
also. Color doesn’t affect the taste, although some popcorn varieties do taste
slightly different than others.
Here are some varieties to consider. Japanese hull-less (white or yellow) –
small yellow or white ears, less annoying hulls, and pops nice large
kernels. Open pollinated so seeds can be
saved. Miniature Pink- tiny pink ears
are pretty, Mini-colored- pretty ears
in an assortment of colors but the popped kernels are small, Japanese Striped – a very pretty
heirloom popcorn often grown for its variegated, striped foliage. The ears are small and burgundy colored but
popping quality is not the best. Calico- another
variety with multicolored kernels, average popping quality and open
pollinated.
Giant
Yellow hybrid- the
commercial type, large stalks and ears, big fluffy kernels when popped. Snow Puff hybrid – a hull less variety
with tender large popped kernels but won’t come true from saved seed. Early Pink- an open pollinated pink
that’s good for short seasons and pops into fluffy white kernels. Robust Yellow or Robust White- good
commercial types with large ears and kernels.
Strawberry- small red ears. Baby Blue- a hull-less blue variety with small kernels. Dakota Black- an heirloom open
pollinated that has dark red-black kernels.
Mixed Baby Rice is the closest
thing to true hull-less popcorn. The
kernels are small and long like rice in a mixture of red, white and striped
kernels. However the popped kernels are
small and popping quality only average.
Note- all popcorn looks white or pale
yellow when popped. Traces of colored
kernels can remain on the hulls. Hull-less varieties actually do have hulls,
they are just smaller, softer and thinner so they don’t stick to the teeth as
badly. Popcorn varieties can have slightly different tastes, some are said to
have a more “nutty” flavor but the taste range isn’t great.
Planting
the popcorn
Anyone who has ever grown sweet corn,
and even those who haven’t, can grow popcorn.
A small area, say 4 feet by 20 feet, can grow all the popcorn a small
family can use in a year. Two things are
necessary though. Your popcorn patch must be in full sun. You must also be able to isolate your popcorn
patch at least 50 feet from other types of corn, such as sweet corn, field corn
or ornamental corns. Otherwise your
popcorn will cross pollinate with the other varieties and probably won’t pop
very well. You’ll probably want to
choose only one variety to plant each year, (unless you have lots of room),
because different varieties of popcorn will also cross pollinate.
Prepare the popcorn patch by tilling up
the soil and removing large rocks to make a smooth seed bed. Fertilize at
planting time with a garden fertilizer high in nitrogen (the first number on
the bag) such as 15-6-6 or 12-5-5, according to label directions. Corn is a
heavy “feeder” and almost always requires fertilization for optimum
growth. A slow release fertilizer is
good to use. Mix the fertilizer into the
soil of the bed and don’t sprinkle it into the seed row or holes. You can actually use grass fertilizer on a
popcorn patch because corn is a grass.
But the fertilizer should have no weed killers or pesticides such as
grub control because you are going to eat the seeds of this grass.
Plant popcorn after the danger of frost
has passed and the soil is warm. (In
Michigan that’s probably mid to late May.)
Any kind of corn does better planted in several short rows in a block
rather than one long one row. That’s because corn is pollinated by the wind and
in one single row one side of each corn ear often doesn’t get pollinated well,
leading to fewer kernels on the ear. Plant the seeds about 6 inches apart in
rows a foot apart. Plant them 1-2 inches
deep, deeper in sandy soil, less deep in heavy clay soils.
Some people plant popcorn in mounds or
circular patches which is fine. Some
even add beans and squash plants to these patches as the Native Americans
sometimes did. You’ll get better
production if you have limited space to grow popcorn if you don’t add these
companion plants.
If the weather is dry you may want to
water the popcorn patch at least once to get the seeds germinating. You should see corn sprouting up anywhere
from 7-14 days depending on moisture and soil temperatures.
Care of
the popcorn patch
Keep young corn weeded as it doesn’t
compete well with weeds. Once it gets
about knee high it will smother out most weeds on its own but continue to
remove any large weeds that pop up. Healthy corn grows quickly in good
weather. The leaves of healthy corn are
dark green, thick and either pointed upwards or drooping in a graceful
curve. If corn leaves roll up the corn
needs water. But if you want the best
production don’t wait until the leaves roll up to water. If it’s warm and dry water the corn once a
week.
Some people “hill” or mound soil around
the roots of corn when the corn is 1-2 feet high. This can help in sandy soil in windy areas to
keep large stalks from blowing over. But
in most gardens this isn’t necessary. If
you choose to do this take care not to damage the popcorn roots. Take the soil from row space. Don’t mound it higher than about a third of
the height of the young corn.
One of the best things you can do to
ensure good healthy growth and production of popcorn is to add more nitrogen to
your patch when the corn just begins to form tassles at the top. Corn uses a
lot of nitrogen. Corn that isn’t growing
quickly and looks yellowish green usually needs more fertilizer. If you can find just nitrogen – that’s a bag
or box with just the first number on it such as 15-0-0 that’s great because the
other nutrients are usually ok if you fertilized at planting time. Sprinkle that fertilizer among the corn
stalks or along the edges of the row. Corn can also look yellow if it’s cool
and wet but there is generally little you can do in that situation but hope for
better weather.
In a garden situation popcorn seldom
has any serious pest or disease issues.
Cut worms can be a problem when corn is a few inches high. These cut the
stalk at the base and leave the tops lying nearby. In a garden it may be
possible to protect each stalk with a 3 inch strip of newspaper around the
bottom. You may want to fence your patch
or protect it with electric wire because deer and other critters are fond of
young corn too.
Corn earworm seems to be less of a
problem in popcorn than sweet corn but the same remedy, a drop of mineral oil
at the top of each ear can help. There
are also pesticides you can apply.
Harvesting
popcorn
Popcorn must remain on the stalk until
the stalk is brown and dry. The ears
should be covered with dry papery husks. They can remain there through frosts.
In late fall, before hard freezes, the ears should be pulled off the stalks. It’s always best to do this during a stretch
of warm dry weather and wait until the dew has dried in the morning before
harvesting. If you must harvest during
damp weather you’ll need a warm dry place to spread out the ears and let them
dry for a few days.
It’s always best to remove the popcorn
husks from the ears and let the ears dry somewhere warm, clean and dry in a
single layer for another month or so before taking the kernels off the cob.
Some people tie the dry husks together and hang the ears to dry further but
this is labor intensive. Check the corn
from time to time and rotate the drying ears if necessary. Moldy ears should be discarded.
When popcorn is thoroughly dry the
kernels should feel hard and look shiny.
Take an ear and remove the kernels.
This is done by loosening them with your nails and pushing them off with
the thumb or twisting the ear in your hand while gripping it firmly. (You can
buy a shelling hand tool too.) When you have a few tablespoons of kernels do a
test pop. Just pop the corn in the way
you generally would pop popcorn. If the
popcorn pops quickly and leaves few “dead soldiers” (un-popped kernels) behind
the popcorn has dried enough. If you have
corn drying in different spots you may want to test some kernels from each area. If the corn doesn’t pop well let it dry for a
week or two longer and try again.
Once you know the popcorn is dry and
pops well you can remove it all from the cobs. It’s a good activity for cold,
early winter nights. You can store
popcorn on the cob but it takes less room if it’s removed and is less work when
you want popcorn. Once popcorn is at
perfect popping stage you want to try and maintain the moisture content of the
kernels at that stage. You don’t want them to absorb moisture or dry out too much. Store the kernels (or ears) in clean dry
glass or plastic containers. If moisture
appears on the sides of containers after they have set for a few days you must
spread the kernels out in a single layer and let them dry again. Discard any moldy kernels. Popcorn generally stores well for at least a
year, although popping ability will lessen as time goes by.
Your home produced popcorn will
probably pop better than that you buy in the store because it’s fresh. Two
tablespoons of dry popcorn makes a quart of popped corn. If you have too much popcorn it can make
lovely gifts placed in pretty jars, especially if you grew a colorful
variety. Or donate your excess popcorn
to a food pantry.
All through winter you can enjoy a
healthy snack from your garden if you grow some popcorn. It’s always better if you grow it yourself.
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