I planted the rows a bit too close together. This made it hard to weed between the rows, and I think the weeds competed for water and held the corn back a bit. Doing this again I’d make every second or third row wide enough to comfortably walk between so that I could reach in and weed. I think this would increase yield quite a lot.
Similarly we had a heat wave while the cobs were growing and I think the soil dried out a bit. It seems like corn really likes water, so it’s worth making sure you have a good sprinkler setup.
I picked the corn when the beards were starting to look dry. I shucked it and laid the cobs out to dry on a cloth in the garage. After about a week the kernels felt quite hard. It was fairly easy at that point to detach the kernels from the cobs. What worked best was to remove one kernel, then work along in rows by pushing the next kernel down into the empty space with fingertips. I understand that you can also get devices designed to do this, like a metal ring that you grip in your hand, but I didn’t find it necessary.
The final yield was about 2kg/4lb of dried corn from a 2×4 meter patch.
But now the interesting part – the pictures! I was really stunned how lovely this corn looks. It is easily the most impressive thing I have grown. Some ears were deep ruby red through to black, some were speckled with flecks of red, orange and yellow, some had random blue and white kernels. My favourite were the pale yellow, blue and white ones with a pearl-like sheen.
After reading about the benefits of getting more calories from good oils and protein and eating less carbs I came up with this recipe for polenta quiche, which has about 300 calories per serve, half from fat, and with 20g of carbs. I’m making up large batches and freezing slices so I have healthy tasty breakfasts on hand for the morning rush. It’s interesting to see how it comes out of the oven – the recipe is easy to make because you really just mix and bake and the heavier polenta settles to the bottom forming a crust on its own. Like any quiche recipe you can vary the fillings a lot – I like using some corn kernels and a rasher of bacon diced and fried up with the onion. Add some butter for a richer quiche.
Ingredients
6 Eggs
1 Tbsp Rice flour (or wheat flour if not making gluten free)
1/2 onion, diced fine
1 Spring onion, sliced
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Tbsp diced tasty cheese
1 Sprig parsley, sliced
1/2 Cup Polenta
2/3 Cup milk
1/2 Tsp baking powder (use gluten free if required)
Other fresh herbs if liked
1 Clove garlic, chopped fine
Pinch each salt & pepper
Saute the onion in 1 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat until clear.
Mix all ingredients together and stir very well.
Tip into a greased pan – I use a loaf tin but a round quiche/pie dish could also work.
Bake in a medium oven – (I used 180C/350F fan forced) until brown and no longer wobbling.
Here you see the polenta has settled somewhat, making the bottom more like a crust while the top half is light and fluffy!
I’ve come to realise that I’m in love with polenta (which if you don’t know, is a kind of porridge or paste made from cooked corn meal). It is good for you, delicious, texturally satisfying, and goes in a surprising range of dishes – from appetisers to desserts. So when I coincidentally read mister meatballs post about growing your own, then the salt’s writeup about the flavour of heritage varieties, I knew I had to try growing it myself.
The first step in any new project is to read up, so here’s what I learned before putting anything into practice!
Yield
It’s always hard to estimate how much of a crop you’ll get when most figures give bushels per acre and assume farm equipment and so on but from some internet searches I think it’s possible I’ll get 2kg of dried corn from my 8-10 square meter patch. I could be waaaay off so it will be interesting to see how much I get and how long it lasts. It seems like you need a little more space than the typical suburban garden if you want to grow a whole years supply but I will update here when the harvest is in.
Varieties
There are a number of types of corn but the varieties that I’ve seen sold so far can be divided into sweet corn, popping corn, flint corn and dent corn. Dent corn (or field corn) is used to make softer flours for things like tortillas and fine cornflour. Flint corn seems to be the variety most often used for polenta. Sweet corn and popping corn are used as the name suggests – sweet corn is the variety that we eat fresh on the cob. Sweet and popping corn are said not to be as good for making flour although my dad tried making tortillas using popping corn for the masa and was happy with the results. Of course, within these varieties are lots of different types. Floriania Red is said over at Mother Earth News to be good for polenta but after I saw photos of Painted Mountain corn at Easy Living The Hard Way, I had to get some. If you’re in the US, Amazon stock this variety.It isn’t exactly easy to find the seeds in Australia so please share any sources you might have!
Growing
Corn is usually planted in spring but check the recommendations & conditions for your local area. Here in South Australia we are still getting a bit of rain but a warm spring overall so I decided to start planting! The first step was preparing a garden bed to grow the corn. Corn likes rich, loose soil so I turned the dirt over with a mattock, then sprinkled over some gypsum to improve drainage as the patch had a little clay. I also added some organic fertiliser with added potash, then raked the beds level and worked the fertiliser in. Corn is pollinated by the wind transferring pollen between plants, so it is best planted in multiple rows fairly close together. The usual recommendation seems to be 30cm (1 foot) between rows and 10cm (4in) between plants in the row. The rows will be thinned later to 20cm between plants (8in). The initial double spacing is to allow for some seeds not sprouting.
I tapped in a stake at each end of the row, and used a string line to get the spacing right. I dug a furrow about 2cm (4/5 in) deep with a hoe and dropped the seeds into the furrow, then filled it and patted down. After sowing the seed I gave the patch a long water – the soil will need to stay damp constantly until the seeds sprout (then watered regularly afterwards too). I read one recommendation to soak the seeds overnight before planting but to be frank I was impatient! We’ll see how it works out.
Here’s my stakes and string line, with the second row underway
Week 1
The corn started to sprout after about 10 days. I scattered around some organic snail pellets as I’ve been told those new green shoots are very tempting for slugs and snails.
Week 3
Here we are 3 weeks after planting. The corn is rocketing along, maybe a hand width high. I thinned out the rows today – I couldn’t bring myself to kill all the babies so I tried transplanting a few of the small shoots to the end of the rows where they had more room – a few days on and they seem to be doing fine! Time will tell if they end up as healthy as the others.
Week 7
The corn is is probably a bit slower than expected at this point because we’ve had quite a few unusually cold spells, but when the sun is out it shoots up noticeably. It I have given it a drink of liquid fertiliser and a sprinkle of an organic fertiliser pellet. It’s hard getting between the rows to weed!
Week 10
Seriously rocketing up over the last few weeks, my corn has now flowered and is developing ears. The flowers are on top while the ears start showing up as tufts of ‘beard’ along the stalks. A common recomendation is to tap the stals at this stage to make sure pollen drifts down to pollinate the ears.
This recipe is another that I was eager to try from Artusi’s cookbook. I don’t know if I’ve got it exactly as described in the book yet but it’s a delicious late night munchie as much as a great idea for an appetiser. The recipe is as simple as a slice of cheese between 2 discs of polenta, dipped in crumbs and fried. This is a good appetiser to have up your sleeve as it is very easy to make gluten free – instead of using bread crumbs, either use dry polenta or a gluten free bread crumb, I use one called corn crispy crumbs that I actually prefer to regular bread crumbs. Or you can leave it un-crumbed and just fry the polenta directly which also works well.
1 1/2 cups water
1 cup milk
1/2 cup polenta
1 tbsp grated parmesan
about 100g gruyere or other tasty swiss cheese, sliced
1 egg
1/2 cup bread crumbs
To make the polenta mix milk, water, polenta and parmesan in a large microwave save container – I use a ceramic casserole dish. The parmesan is optional but the polenta may be a littlebland without it. Stir well and set aside for a few minutes to start soaking up the water. Microwave the bowl of polenta for 4 minutes, remove and stir well. Wear oven mitts as the bowl and steam are very hot. Return to the microwave for another 2 minutes, remove and stir, then a final 2 minutes. Spoon out a little bit, blow on it and taste to make sure it is creamy. If still at all gritty it can be microwaved a little longer.
Pour out the polenta onto a large oiled chopping board or baking tray. Use a wet knife or the back of a spoon to flatten the surface as much as possible – Artusi says to “spread it out to the thickness of barely half a finger”. Mines a little too thick here. Allow to cool and set – it’s a little faster in the fridge.
When set, use a cookie cutter to cut out circles of polenta.
Lay a slice of gruyere or other cheese between 2 discs to make little sandwiches.
Crack an egg into a bowl, beat lightly and pour crumbs into another bowl. Dip each sandwich into egg, then crumbs. Fry in a good glug of olive oil. I find anything crumbed is always best fried over fairly moderate heat so that it can cook through without the crumbs burning.
So far we’ve just wolfed these down out of the pan but I think they’d be good with a sauce too – maybe some kind of chutney?
This is one of my all time greatest desserts. Creamy, buttery wedges of polenta are topped with freshly whipped cream and vincotto. After you mix it around on your plate and get a bit of everything in a mouthful, it is heaven.
Polenta With Vincotto Recipe
1 Cup polenta
1 Tbsp butter
2 Cups milk
2 Cups water
1/2 Tsp of fresh grated nutmeg
1 Tbsp sugar (optional)
Vincotto & whipped cream to serve
*When I’m feeling lazy I microwave my polenta – it isn’t traditional but it beats stirring for ages when you just want to eat! The traditional way is to simmer the polenta, nutmeg, milk, water, butter and sugar over a low heat while stirring regularly for about 20 minuts, until thick and smooth. Otherwise:
In a large microwave safe bowl with a lid or covering, stir together the water, sugar, milk, butter, nutmeg and polenta. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Remove carefully (wear oven mitts!), open the lid (carefully, the steam is very hot) and stir well to break up lumps. Return and microwave for another 3 minutes, remove and check for done-ness. There shouldn’t be any obvious hard grains – you want it smooth and creamy. Give it another minute at a time if it needs it.
Pour the polenta mixture into a small cake or loaf pan that has a piece of baking paper cut to fit on its bottom. Use a spoon to smooth the top and press it down evenly. Let the polenta set – this might take an hour, a bit less in the fridge.
To serve, turn out the set polenta and cut into wedges or slices. Put a wedge on each plate and spoon or pipe over whipped cream. Just before serving give it a healthy drizzle of vincotto.
