all the open pollinated sweet corn has a small harvest window, but like all corn it depends on the variety. in any event you waited too long to harvest. We could be more helpful if you specified variety.

Have you ever picked sweet corn to eat before?

I totally agree...you picked too late. I'll add that 16 minutes is a bit long for cooking corn, unless you're counting the time it takes to boil the water without the corn in it. I strongly suggest bringing the water to a good boil, adding the corn, and boiling for a couple of minutes before turning the water off...let it sit for another minute or two. You don't want to boil the flavor and freshness out of corn.

Like Farmerdill, I wonder what variety was grown. SIG, I noticed you said "heirloom corn", not "heirloom sweet corn". Many heirloom corns are for flour or other purposes.

Assuming that the variety is one bred for sweet corn, several things could cause poor quality. As previously mentioned, it could have been picked too late.

It also could have crossed with another corn - such as a field corn - that caused the starchy kernels. Corn is one of the few plants that can be directly changed by cross pollination... not in next year's seed (like most vegetables) but in this year's flavor.

If your garden is in or near an area where field corn is grown, I would consider this to be the most likely cause of the starchiness. If you grew more than one variety of corn, that too could be the cause, since corn is wind pollinated.

There are only a very few open pollinated sweet corn seed readily available--Golden Bantam, Country Gentleman, and Stowell's Evergreen. Did you grow one of these?

I would also add that anyone who is used to only the very sweet types of corns found in today's commercial supply chain would probably experience a bit of "culture shock" when tasting an open-pollinated "heirloom sweet corn" for the first time. I know that my first time growing some of these a few years back, Golden Bantam, Shoepeg/Country Gentleman, Black Aztec, Rainbow Sweet Inca, and Guarijio Red, was my LAST time for purposes of fresh consumption.

Blech! Horrible, horrible. Never again.

A couple of them do make nice ornamental corns, the Black Aztec being the best of them.

Rhizo:
I never deliberately boil my corn less than twenty minutes and that includes the water being at least simmering before putting corn in.

The new super sweets that denniminmiinimi speaks of are horribly tasteless and for my taste people would be better off just just putting a half of cup of sugar in canned creamed corn.

It seems most road stands also pick the corn days, minimum, before it is ready to eat and city peoples ignorance of what sweet corn should be means they do not know anything is wrong.

It's all a matter of finding what you like and growing it. It takes some trial and error. It's a continuum from straight field corn to Sh2 supersweets with a high brix. There is something for everyone.

To my opinion, corn should not taste sweet. There is honey and maple syrup to satisfy anybody's sweet tooth. Back to my childhood memories, boiled corn on cob had soft and chewy seeds, not sweet at all, but pleasantly smooth and creamy. You would add salt and butter to it and it can become a meal! The taste was something like you can find today in hominy, but that corn was not alkaline treated! It was natural. What happen to that corn seed? Why has it disappeared from the market, replaced by stupid sugar like syrupy seeds? Was it because of the genetic modifications? What junk do we eat today? I have a nostalgia. I want my childhood corn back!

Alex Ey, Not everyone including me will agree. I tried a bit of NK 199...like field corn for fresh eating.

When I was a child, we had Golden Bantam, Country Gentlemen, and Stowell's Evergreen. Later it was Golden Cross Bantam. Later it was Kandy Korn. Later it was Burpee's Breeder Choice and Bodacious. Later it was Ambrosia. Later it was Honey Select and Gotta Have It.

"What happen to that corn seed? Why has it disappeared from the market,
replaced by stupid sugar like syrupy seeds? Was it because of the
genetic modifications?"

Not genetic modifications so much but just natural cross pollination. Corn crosses so easily from even far away fields. It takes extra work to prevent that natural crossing, to keep the seed pure. So the seed producers are going to focus on what sells best; where the money is. That is the sweeter varieties.

But seed for some of the old varieties are still available, just more expensive and difficult to find sometimes since the demand for them isn't as high.

Dave

Most of the old timers are still available from vendors specializing in "heirlooms" Stowell's Evergreen, Country Gentleman/Shoepeg, Black Mexican, Howling Mob, Trucker's Favorite, Golden Bantam, Sandhill Preservation has 33 varieties, most of them uncommon. Baker Creek has an additional few that I have never heard about. Neither is expensive.

When it comes to corn I want the newer hybrids- and as it turn out so do most shoppers. The newer sh2 and newest crosses with sugar enhanced gene corn will have the best overall eating quality. And the sugars won't revert to starches as quickly, often remaining those qualities up to 4 days after picking.

I was raised on a farm with IoChief and Silver Queen and will never go back to those standard sugary gene corns, let alone heirlooms. I only grow "Triplesweets" for last 5 years. The texture is the biggest selling point.

The minority can always grow their own or patronize a farmer's market that caters to a niche market. That is true for all popular vegetables. A commercial grower to survive has to grow varieties that are desired by the masses and which produce maximum yield at the least expense. A few years ago, there were a few market growers that tried to pass off Stowell's Evergreen for the popular Silver Queen. Lots of angry customers.

"Because of that crappy thing - cross pollination - the minority has to eat what the majority likes!"

Not so much due to cross-pollination, as to changing tastes, and the diminishing number of varieties grown commercially. Nearly all of the ubiquitous bi-color sweet corn sold commercially is now GM... a choice made by farmers, not consumers. Basically, the only choice left to the consumer is to take it or leave it (I choose the latter).

As with several other vegetables, the evolution of sweet corn has tended to focus on the "sweet" aspect. That is not all bad, since - intentionally or not - the evolution of tenderness has gone hand in hand with that. I've grown & enjoyed several of the older Su sweet corns, but have to admit that I prefer some of the Se hybrids now. IMO they tend to be the best compromise between the older corn flavor, and the super sweets. The fact that many of those have better disease resistance, and better husk cover, is an added bonus.

The vendor I've used for years dropped my favorite variety last year (Miracle), I hope I can find an alternate source, and that it has not been discontinued.

Zeedman; Miracle is a 1982 Crookham variety no longer listed on their website. It currently listed by R. H. Shumway and the associated vendors Jung and Vermont seed. You might also look at Bodacious. I rarely grow yellow corn so I have no experience with either variety.

Well this is interesting.

I never knew about the older style corn. The hunt will have to begin for the right seed.

I hate this genetically modified rubbish and what they are doing to our food. They make our food sweeter and sweeter. Have you noticed that these days a lot of apples are too sweet?

Farmerdill, thanks for the info. I should be able to pick some up at Jung's next year, when I drive that way... if it hasn't been dropped by then.