Corn Question

15 years ago

Last weekend, DH stopped by a little 'hole-in-the-wall' garden center looking for a tatting fern for me. While there, he grabbed 3 ears of corn because they had a sign reading, "Best Corn In Rhode Island".

As he was shucking the corn for dinner he commented that the corn might be a dud. The kernels were huge & bright yellow...looked like feed corn.

But, it was the sweetest corn we'd ever eaten! Absolutely delicious. Normally, we prefer Butter & Sugar corn. Neither of us had ever had this variety. The kernels were close to 1/2".

He doesn't even know the name of the place to call. He was focused on looking for that tatting fern & not paying attention to much else.

Anybody know what the variety might be?

Thanks,

/tricia

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Comments (9)

anoriginal
15 years ago
Prefer Silver Queen or at least little kernel, white corn. ONLY buy it when I know it is truly local. Corn in fields here in NJ is maybe 3 feet tall, so if a farm stand says "Jersey" corn... I don't think so.

Think a big factor in how good corn is, is HOW you cook it & for how long. If I'm cooking a lot (friends/family over), will put on a big pot of water... liberally salted. Some people say sugar, too?? Corn into boiling water for no more than 3-4 minutes for me... basically till water comes back to boil from addition of ears. If I'm cooking 1-2 ears just for me, I use microwave. Corn into glass dish, 2-3 T water, cover with lid or wax paper. Two ears... maybe 2 minutes then a little rest.
cloudy_christine
15 years ago
Sorry I can't help wth the variety.
You're lucky to have yellow corn. I can almost never find it here, at least among the local corn that's the only kind worth eating. Best I can do is the white and yellow mixed.
Everyone here in PA Dutch land seems to prefer white corn.
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dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
15 years ago
Very possible Ashworth Corn.

It is a very early variety sweet corn, bright yellow and with large kernels.

dcarch

Here is a link that might be useful:
triciae
Original Author
15 years ago
dcarch,

Thanks! I'm betting you're right, it was Ashworth. Gosh, it was good. A quick Google sounded like it was perfect for a Rhode Island early variety.

/tricia
rob333 (zone 7b)
15 years ago
Silly anecdote:

"According to FEDCO Seeds, Fred Ashworth of St. Lawrence Nurseries originally named his variety 'Rat Selected in honor of the rodents who broke into his seed storage room and alerted him to certain kernels that they preferred.' Derived from Ashworth's original varieties, this corn germinates well in cool soil, has short stalks with 6-7" yellow ears with good flavor. For more information on the dangers DIY corn syrup, we recommend seeing the documentary King Corn. "

Here is a link that might be useful: HVSL seed catalog
bulldinkie
15 years ago
I found a delish way to do corn.You pull husks back remove silk pull back over corn,wrap in foil,close bottom foil brfore closing the top I add a little water,wrap up bake in a 400degree oven for 25 -35minutes mmmmmmmSalt Old bay seasoning and some kellers salted butter.My mother use to boil it to death no flavor.
hawk307
15 years ago
Dcarch:

That sounds about right. I have heard that name before.

I always tried to find Silver Queen but

There is a local farm here that grows a medium size kernel.
It is a very tender Sweet Corn.
I like it better than Silver Queen.

He gave me the name of the seed, so I could give it to someone on the CF but
can not remember who it was.

Whenever I buy corn in a market , I pull back the husk and sample the corn.

If it does not taste good, I will buy just the one and feed the deer.

You can not make bad corn taste good by the way it is cooked.
But you can make good corn taste bad.

Lou - 2011
cynic
15 years ago
Seems like all we get around here is that tasteless watery bi-color garbage. I like bright yellow, large kerneled corn.
triciae
Original Author
15 years ago
I have an eye doctor appointment this afternoon. On our way home we're going back to the garden center to see if they're still harvesting that corn. If so, going to get enough to put some up in the freezer. It'll be a nice change in addition to our usual variety.

That dinner was really good. We had a beautiful piece of salmon. Brushed it with a little olive oil, scattered some minced garlic, doused with Ponzu Sauce, S/P, topped with a couple lemon slices & cilantro leaves. Wrappped the salmon up in the corn husks, tied with soaked kitchen twine (tamale-style), & tossed it on the grill. Grilled the corn alongside until just charred. Good summer meal.

/tricia