Open Pollinated Sweet Corn Almost Ready For Market
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Martin Diffley hopes people won’t eat all his new open pollinated (OP) sweet corn this fall. He needs to save some of the seed for next year’s crop. Diffley and his partners in the venture, the nonprofit Organic Seed Alliance and University of Wisconsin-Madison seed researcher Bill Tracy, have been working on the new variety since 2009.
“It’s a good bi-color OP variety that tastes good,” says Diffley. “We feel really good about it and think it will be available to buy in 2014. We don’t have a name for it yet, but we think we have a breeder grower who will produce it for sale.”
Diffley worked with corn lines preserved and developed by Tracy. He raised them in organic field plots, cross breeding and selecting first for good soil vigor, a healthy stalk and good disease suppression.
“I was able to focus on other attributes as well, such as ear placement, and then the edible portions of the ear, the kernel,” he says.
Diffley points out that most modern hybrids have been bred to be super sweet. While other sweet corn sugars start to turn to starch once they are picked, super sweets get sweeter after harvest so they can be transported to distant markets.
Diffley says his OP corn has a mid range sweetness, referred to as “sugar enhanced”. It’s sweeter than old-fashioned Bantam sweet corn, but retains its corn flavor.
“With the super sweet, the corn taste was lost,” he says. “Sugar enhanced and older sweet corn varieties have the flavor and sweetness if picked locally and eaten fresh.”
Diffley says he bred and selected his OP variety to have good corn flavor, good texture with a tender pericarp (kernel exterior) and a creamy mouth feel. He also selected it for uniform ripening. OP sweet corn varieties are known for a wide ripening window. Hybrids have a tight window so they can be picked all at once.
“We wanted a variety that could be used with sequential planting so there would be a certain amount ripe every few days,” says Diffley. “It’ll be good for home gardeners and market gardeners.”
He’s satisfied his variety will meet market needs in the upper Midwest. However, he hopes it will be further selected and improved as people try it and save seed.
“If someone wants to move this corn to another bioregion and select it for that area, they are welcome to do so,” says Diffley. “Whatever they want to do, they are welcome to do.”
Diffley suggests readers interested in trying the new sweet corn contact him to have their name put on a list for seed.
Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Martin Diffley, Organic Farming Works,
25498 Highview Ave.,
Farmington, Minn. 55024 (ph 952 469-1855; martin@organicfarmingworks.com; www.organicfarmingworks.com); or Organic Seed Alliance, P.O. Box 772,
Port Townsend, Wash. 98368
(ph 360 385-7192; info@seedalliance.org; www.seedalliance.org).
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Open Pollinated Sweet Corn Almost Ready For Market CROPS Miscellaneous Martin Diffley hopes people won’t eat all his new open pollinated OP sweet corn this fall He needs to save some of the seed for next year’s crop Diffley and his partners in the venture the nonprofit Organic Seed Alliance and University of Wisconsin-Madison seed researcher Bill Tracy have been working on the new variety since 2009 “It’s a good bi-color OP variety that tastes good ” says Diffley “We feel really good about it and think it will be available to buy in 2014 We don’t have a name for it yet but we think we have a breeder grower who will produce it for sale ” Diffley worked with corn lines preserved and developed by Tracy He raised them in organic field plots cross breeding and selecting first for good soil vigor a healthy stalk and good disease suppression “I was able to focus on other attributes as well such as ear placement and then the edible portions of the ear the kernel ” he says Diffley points out that most modern hybrids have been bred to be super sweet While other sweet corn sugars start to turn to starch once they are picked super sweets get sweeter after harvest so they can be transported to distant markets Diffley says his OP corn has a mid range sweetness referred to as “sugar enhanced” It’s sweeter than old-fashioned Bantam sweet corn but retains its corn flavor “With the super sweet the corn taste was lost ” he says “Sugar enhanced and older sweet corn varieties have the flavor and sweetness if picked locally and eaten fresh ” Diffley says he bred and selected his OP variety to have good corn flavor good texture with a tender pericarp kernel exterior and a creamy mouth feel He also selected it for uniform ripening OP sweet corn varieties are known for a wide ripening window Hybrids have a tight window so they can be picked all at once “We wanted a variety that could be used with sequential planting so there would be a certain amount ripe every few days ” says Diffley “It’ll be good for home gardeners and market gardeners ” He’s satisfied his variety will meet market needs in the upper Midwest However he hopes it will be further selected and improved as people try it and save seed “If someone wants to move this corn to another bioregion and select it for that area they are welcome to do so ” says Diffley “Whatever they want to do they are welcome to do ” Diffley suggests readers interested in trying the new sweet corn contact him to have their name put on a list for seed Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Martin Diffley Organic Farming Works
25498 Highview Ave
Farmington Minn 55024 ph 952 469-1855; martin@organicfarmingworks com; www organicfarmingworks com ; or Organic Seed Alliance P O Box 772
Port Townsend Wash 98368
ph 360 385-7192; info@seedalliance org; www seedalliance org
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