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For the earth bringeth forth fruit of herself; first the blade, then the ear, after that the full corn in the ear.
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 “Bi or Yellow?” “Yellow, bi gets picked in the morning.” “8 please”…. “oh, is it just you and your husband tonight?” “Um, yes, just the two of us tonight and thanks – see ya tomorrow!”
Mrs. Maynes knows us. Her stand for sweet corn has stood for years and years. We drive past the field each day on our way to the office eagerly watching for the blades to appear and then rise from the ground as they turn into stalks with those long awaited ears on them.
Bi or Yellow – we don’t much care. It’s late July and time for sweet corn – the stuff we won’t grow until we move and even then, we may have to visit with Mrs. Mayne now and then if we’re not successful.
The bobcat comes up the long drive from the farm, it’s bucket carrying a load of freshly picked goodness. Sometimes we must wait as Mr. Maynes makes his way up from the field….you stand there and just soak it all up! They planted, they tended and now here it comes straight from the stalks and only 2.3 miles to go home – life is good!
Peel away the sheaths, strip off the silk, put shields back up or put down and tie. Either school of thought produces grilled corn that cannot be beat – nowhere, no how. Lay these on a grill of hot coals; smell and watch – maybe a total of 5 minutes max. If your corn is super fresh, you’re just heating them up!
Table time….again, different schools of thought. We melt butter before hand; stir in a generous squeeze of lime juice and a handful of finely chopped basil. The brush we got for 29 cents at WalMart is the perfect applicator – not too much, not too little.
How do you eat it? Typewriter style or are you a Rotational consumer? Do the kids at your table have front teeth or must they re-edit their ear? What a great munch time around the dinner table be it old or young!
Now about those who don’t enjoy gnawing on the cob – here’s a superb recipe tried and true and I give all credit to Jacques Pepin for this marvelous fresh corn polenta. It tastes nothing like the polenta made with corn meal. You can use this as a bed for anything you like – grilled fish, chicken, roasted veggies – just anything at all – try it!
Fresh Corn Polenta
2 1/2 cups corn kernels (from about 4 ears corn)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Put the corn kernels in a blender and process until smooth. (You will have about 2 cups.)
Heat the butter in a saucepan, and add the corn puree along with the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and the pepper. Bring to a boil and cook for about 30 seconds, or until the puree thickens
However you eat your fresh sweet corn, mostly just enjoy it – what a treat! We watch the earth bring it forth and anticipate the wonder and taste. Are we blessed or what?
As always, eat well and healthy my gardening friends….count your blessings and have fun in your gardens!
 | I'm a long time DG'er, super merry wife to the greatest guy on this earth, Michael. By day, we're self employed Mortgage Bankers along with my son Andy. By evenings and weekends we're gardeners trying to get the best out of 3 acres that we can.
Andy and DDIL Michelle gave us the greatest gift of all this past year. We hope to inspire our Grandson to have the same love of gardening we do.
I truly hope you'll enjoy the occasional articles I submit and most importantly have fun cooking from your garden or your local farms.
Happy Gardening and Garden Cooking to all!
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Subject: Great Job
Posted by paulgrow (from Allen Park, MI) on August 8, 2007 at 3:26 PM:Very nice and cute.
Iknow what you are saying.
Paul ... Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 8, 2007 at 5:33 PM: Thank you Paul - means a lot coming from a super Gardener like you :)
Dea
...
Subject: You made me think of "home"...
Posted by girlgroupgirl (from Atlanta, GA) on August 8, 2007 at 2:03 PM:Dea, I love the way you started the article, talking of the folks who grow and sell
the corn. I grew up in a suburb, but it was not far from farm land where our dear
friends grew all the produce they brought a few miles into the city. Fond memories
of that first day of fresh corn came flooding back!
... Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 8, 2007 at 5:21 PM: thanks triple "g" :) ...
Subject: Love it - great way to start the article
Posted by MitchF (from Oklahoma City, OK) on August 8, 2007 at 10:14 AM:Love it - thank you for starting it like that love the naritives. ... Posted by KatyMac (from So. Puget Sound, WA) on August 8, 2007 at 12:27 PM: Okay, I'm going to drive around and look for a corn field. lol ... Posted by peony01 (from Prattville, AL) on August 8, 2007 at 1:07 PM: Great! It brings back memories of growing up around cornfields in Indiana. We're still corn and 'taters' folk down home in Alabama. ... Posted by McGlory (from Southeast, NE) on August 8, 2007 at 2:21 PM: You made me hungry! I'm going to print off and try that recipe. Thanks, Dea! ... Posted by Islandshari (from Kwajalein
(Marshall Islands)) on August 8, 2007 at 2:48 PM: Dea - very cute! Not being from that part of the world, there were references I didn't understand, but by the end of the article I did. Very enjoyable! ... Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 8, 2007 at 4:46 PM: Thanks! peony01 - you brought a tear to my eye....I'm from Indiana and come from a long line of country corn pickers :)
[HYPERLINK@davesgarden.com]
Dea
... Posted by peony01 (from Prattville, AL) on August 8, 2007 at 5:05 PM: Dea, What a great photo! It may sound silly to folk who love the new hybrids, but my wife and I still love "field" corn (picked a bit early). The one silly thing I remember about Indiana corn fields, was losing my glasses during the autumn of my high school senior year in (at that time) my girl friend's father's fields while gathering corn for what we called "tick tacking". I think it cost me the opportunity of being another great hoosier high school roundball player - well, it did throw my shot off a bit! The autumn still tugs at us - we'll be attending my wife's 50 year high school class reunion back in Indiana, and most are still alive. I'm a youngster. My 50 year reunion isn't until next year. lol
Have a great day! ...
Subject: Very enjoyable!
Posted by BDale60 (from Warren, PA) on August 8, 2007 at 6:25 AM:Dea,
Terrific article to celebrate one of the great joys of summer! Thanks for the recipe. ... Posted by critterologist (from Frederick, MD) on August 8, 2007 at 9:55 AM: We'll definitely be swinging by Mayne's this afternoon! All their corn is wonderful, but I really hope he's picking 'Honey Select' this week... it's the sweetest, most flavorful yellow corn ever!
Dea, thanks for another great article! I read it with my morning coffee, and loved it so much I came right back to it during my water & A/C break! I sure hope the corn likes all this heat and humidity... then at least it'd be good for something, LOL. ... Posted by LouC (from Desoto, TX) on August 8, 2007 at 10:17 AM: I could smell the corn when my mother and grandmother used to "put it up" for the winter. Wish I could be there. You definitely have a way with words, Dea. Looking forward to more of your essays.
LouC
This message was edited Aug 8, 2007 9:18 AM ... Posted by gardenglory (from Gainesville, FL) on August 8, 2007 at 10:22 AM: Just for the record..I vote bi-color. :-). Thanks for the recipe as well. ... Posted by melody (from Benton, KY) on August 8, 2007 at 12:54 PM: I generally like the bi-colors best, but had some Honey Select a few weeks ago....WOW! Great corn!!!
Great article Dea....makes me hungry! ... Posted by carrielamont (from Milton, MA) on August 8, 2007 at 2:46 PM: Honey select? It sounds wonderful! We always liked ordinary sweet yellow corn best.
I grew up helping my cousins and their family and employees pick corn at ohhh 4am, 5 am... Around age 5 (is that possible?) my cousins started being drafted to drive the tractor that pulled the trailer that the fresh ears were pulled into. Here's a really stupid question: how many ears per stalk? Here's an ordinary question: how do you get the kernels off the ears to make this yummy polenta?
xxx, Carrie ... Posted by Dea (from Frederick, MD) on August 8, 2007 at 4:31 PM: Hey folks :)
I just take a sharp knife, hold the cob vertically on a cutting board at a slight angle and zip down - take about 5 times around each cob. If I were making creamed corn, I'd use the back of the knife and then "milk" the cob. But in this case, you don't want the excess juice.
Dea
... Posted by Garden4ever (from Plymouth, WI) on August 8, 2007 at 6:27 PM: YUMMY! ... Posted by gardenwife (from Newark, OH) on August 8, 2007 at 7:20 PM: I don't think I've ever had polenta before. It sounds wonderful! ... Posted by vic (from Rutherfordton, NC) on August 8, 2007 at 7:55 PM: GREAT article Dea! I'll definitely try your recipe. I'm one of those that does lime with corn too. YUM! ... Posted by KyWoods (from Melbourne, KY) on August 8, 2007 at 8:07 PM: Never tried lime and basil in the butter--thanks for that and the polenta recipe, too!
Also, you are a gifted writer--keep up the good work!
Renee' ... Posted by Horseshoe (from Efland, NC) on August 13, 2007 at 11:53 AM: Howdy Dea!
Guess I missed a couple days of "article reading". I just now saw this one (thanks to the DG Newsletter that is again coming via email!).
Good topic! Can't go wrong growing, harvesting, eating or WRITING about corn, eh!
Thanks!...Lookin' forward to more articles.
Shoe ...
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