I also was thinking of doing this too to get an extra crop and avoid cross pollination. I'd really like to grow some popcorn. I figure though the Coons in my nearby forests would destroy it before I ever got to it.

If the birds didn't get the germinating seeds, the deer would get the plants. Corn would be one of the more difficult crops to tend in a wild place. Ever seen it growing wild on its own? And are you trying to grow corn for grinding or for eating fresh? A lot of varieties of grinding corn is not particularly suited to fresh eating.

LOL at least I dont feel so dumb now. I am trying the same thing in an abandond power line that runs thru my property.
Good luck Scott

Despite events of the Yearling, I have yet to experience any deer predation on corn sprouts. But then deer are oddly unpredictable. And I had no problem with varmints on my ripe grain corn, either, not sweet enough I guess.

And supposedly corn does well in fresh ground. So if there is areas with nearly full sun, what the heck?

With the extra seed and if you know its not a hybrid I would go for it even with my horrible luck at growing corn in my garden try both spots if they are sunny and maybe you will find a keeper for next year

Raccoons around here usually leave field corn alone but devour sweet corn. Your corn for grinding would likely be a field corn variety. I've not had much trouble with deer (hope that continues) and don't know if they have variety preferences.

"LOL at least I dont feel so dumb now. I am trying the same thing in an abandond power line that runs thru my property.
Good luck Scott"

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Nothing dumb about it. Some of us are lucky to have acres of land. Myself I got 1/2 acre, 32 fruit trees as well as a house on the land, so planting space is limited.

I am also planning on scattering overripe bramble berries that I don't eat along walking trails and various hiking trails I frequent. Hope I can wildcraft some of them.

We just have to make due best we can nowadays. If you have a friendly neighbor with land you can ask to borrow some of their land and share the crop. My neighbors wont do it. Too wrapped up in perfecting their grass.

The reason I was going to use the grinding corn was I bought it to test for cooking and eating whole. I could never get it to my liking for eating boiled even after soaking for days...too tough.

So I thought instead of trashing I could experiment. As one member mentioned...what the heck. I got a bag of yellow corn and bag of blue corn. Was also thinking about trying wildcrafting with lots of KB potato sprouts I have that have no room for.

Ever seen it growing wild on its own?

Actually, yeah. Once. Kind of near a creek. There was a farmer's field about a hundred feet away, past some trees, so it probably originated from there.

Corn cannot germinate by itself can it? It needs human intervention to germinate. I was going to suggest sprinkling some winter squash seeds around the corn to protect it from critters (you have some 'free' ones from that winter squash don't you?). Squash has large rough leaves and critters tend to leave them alone. This way you'll have squash too, as long as you use the type that does not get harvested fresh. I like butternut myself. Sounds like a great idea, I wish I had this option myself.

Corn cannot germinate by itself can it? It needs human intervention to germinate.

Yeah corn cannot survive naturally in the wild. Without human intervention it would go extinct. The cobs are too hard for the "seeds" to come off. It suffers inbreeding depression easily, so even if a foraging animal could move and plant a few corn it probably would not be enough to maintain its genetic diversity.

If you're trying corn for cooking whole after drying, try one of the varieties noted for making "parched corn". It may make a difference whether your corn is a "dent" or "flint" variety. You could also try sweet corn this way.

I like the potato and winter squash ideas for growing in wild places. I've had volunteer plants of both. Plus melons, which may actually be better with less water late in the season (if that's a consideration for you. In fall, you could try cole crops, escarole and lettuce.

Brambles are a nice idea, though blackberries can take over in the right circumstances. Do you live in a place where grape cuttings might produce fruit? For the swampier areas, you might check out a reference on wild foods.

If I were going to plant grain in a wild place, I would probably pick wheat or something similar. They say that freshly-harvested wheat makes the best bread ever. Blackbirds are the enemies of my corn seedlings around here. But maybe they're more experienced here than in other places, with vast fields of field corn growing nearby.

"I am also planning on scattering overripe bramble berries that I don't eat along walking trails and various hiking trails I frequent. Hope I can wildcraft some of them."

Based on what I understand about brambles as invasive plants in the wild, this is a very bad idea.

I have a decade of experience with growing crops without irrigation and little or no fertilizer, which is effectively what is being talked about here. If we are going to throw in lack of full sun on top of that might as well not waste one's time.

What I have learned is that it's all about the crop species and timing. Crops that can establish in some kind of self-perpetuating perennial cycle give far better yields than ordinary annuals. Deep-rooted to boot is very desirable. Parsnips are perhaps the winner, IME. Walking onions would be ideal for this "wildcrafting". Well-adapted annuals that self-seed precociously and don't cross with close wild relatives are quite good, notably red russian kale and red mustard (in climates with mild, damp winters). Carrot is a problem because it does not compete well with weeds and won't seed true in most areas because of QAL. Wheat is a good choice because it does most of it's growing in the fall and spring when there is more likely to be rainfall. Harvesting is very difficult, however. Rye is a bad choice due it's allelopathy if you have anything trying to germinate in springtime. Corn, of all the common annual crops is by far the best IME. As noted, deer tend to leave it be, animals the will ravage ripe sweet corn don't bother grain corn, it tolerates summer drought pretty well, and drought is less of an issue in little-disturbed ground. Squash, IME often does very poorly in a non-irrigated condition. It must be direct-seeded (which goes for all crops that will not be irrigated). If you get lucky with rainfall you might get a decent crop. It does grow pretty well in coarse fresh ground if highly fertile. I usually have problems with deer and other varmints gnawing at the fruits and browsing foliage.

In a survival situation I would put a lot of grain corn out in freshly-cleared dry-land areas, with beans inter-planted later. Almost all other staple crops - potatoes, squash, carrots, sweet potatoes, etc, I would keep close to home for irrigation and protection from animals. This would be assuming there is no time to waste on likely failures.

Quote: Corn cannot germinate by itself can it? It needs human intervention to germinate.

I guess I'm completely clueless, but, really? I grew up on a farm. My father grew corn. While I don't remember what type he planted, and perhaps the original seed corn was treated in some manner, he didn't do anything else to it. He planted it and it grew. The wind pollinated it and it made corn cobs. The Department of Conservation in my area plants it all the time in meadows for deer to eat and they don't "tend" it after it's planted, it just grows. Many hunters with larger tracts of land do the same.

Perhaps the left-over kernels wouldn't sprout? But I'm sure if you plant enough of it and leave it alone it will grow and fruit. I'd look into seeing what they do to make the corn germinate and even try to pre-sprout it. What do you have to lose?