92 Ears of Corn

Yesterday was corn pickin' day.

It was high time to get it done. In fact, I almost missed the window due to ignorance. This is the first time I have grown corn, and I didn't know there is only a short window of about 10 days when the corn is perfect for picking!

On August 7th we picked our first six ears and it seemed a little immature so we waited a little longer. Then on August 17th we picked some and a few of them seemed almost chewy, which means they had dried out! The best rule of thumb I have found it to pick corn when the silk on top is still green and fresh, and not to wait too long after it turns brown.

So yesterday I rallied the troops and we went out to the garden and picked every ear we could find.... all 69 of them! Combined with earlier pickings our yield was a whopping 92 ears! This amazes me, not only because of the large quantity, but because Mike made a spreadsheet with yield calculations when we planned our garden, and we thought we'd get about 90 ears of corn. Pretty close, eh?

 

My little helping hands...

All loaded up!

I spent the afternoon shucking on the front porch, which was actually very enjoyable now that the temps are not quite so hot and I have pretty plants to look at.

After a four minute dip in boiling water (called blanching to destroy the enzymes before freezing), the cobs were ready for cutting.
 

I read about this awesome idea for cutting corn off the cob--use a bundt pan! It worked beautifully! I just used a sharp knife and spun the pan as I went. 

It seems crazy that 69 ears of corn only filled up 5 gallon bags, but it also filled up two large trash bags with husks and cobs!

I am excited to have fresh sweet corn for the winter and I'm already salivating over recipes like corn chowder and chicken barley chili (with corn). Luckily I saved a few cobs in the fridge to enjoy one last time for dinner... there's nothing like fresh corn on the cob!