W
ith corn, it’s all about how much heat the plant can absorb while the ears are forming.
Length of days doesn’t count; only tem- peratures above 10° C (50° F) help store up the heat credits that will ultimately bring the ears (cobs) to maturity. Corn needs soil temperatures to be above
18 C (65 degrees F) for corn to germinate. Plant the seeds about one to two inches deep with about four seeds per square foot. Corn is wind pollinated so planting it in circles or in a block is better than straight rows. Corn likes a slightly acid soil at a pH of
5.6 to 6.8 and a lot of fertilizer, preferably compost. Harvest corn when the silks at the top of
the ear are dry brown and before the cob splits, dropping its seeds to the ground. There is no wild corn left. Each ear of
corn bears about 500 to 800 seeds, all land- ing close together. The kernels have so much competition that few, if any, would survive without human intervention. The calorie count per cob of corn is any-
where from 75 to 130, with the average ap- pearing to be about 120 without butter. You can eat a half a cup of whole kernel corn for only 60 calories. Corn is the third most important crop in
Growing corn
Yes, yes, yes! You can grow corn in a container. Use a half bar- rel and be sure to put about six plants in the pot to encourage pollination. Corn thrives in con- tainers because you can deliver a warmer soil.
Canada after wheat and barley and about 70 per cent of the crop is grown in Ontario. Corn is used in the manufacture of about
25 per cent of the 10,000 products sold in today’s supermarkets. It is much more than a food additive, although it is used as a sweetener in many products and as a cereal. Some of the products include dyes, paints, printing inks, adhesives, detergents, licorice, soups, paper, diapers and sanitary napkins, napkins, fuel, insulation, plastics . . . nearly anything that can be made from petroleum can be made from corn. `
22 • Foodie 2012
www.localgardener.net
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