Corn Cultivation

The history of corn stretches back some 7,000 years. Probably descended from a wild grass in what is now southern Mexico, its exact botanical ancestry is uncertain.

Native Americans developed all of the major lineages of corn - dent, flint, flour, pop, and sweet - by the time Columbus arrived in the New World. From the American Indians, the settlers learned to make corn into hominy and then ate it like a cereal. They ground it into meal and then even finer into flour. They made puddings & breads from it as well as soups & stews. Corn was a basic all-purpose crop. Not only did it feed the settlers but it also nourished their animals, filled their mattresses and insulated their cabins.

Dent Corn: Also known as field corn, dent corn is mostly yellow or white, and is so called because of a small indentation in the top of the kernel when dry. The ears are short, thick and heavy. Though dent corn lacks the flavor of sweet corn, it can be eaten fresh when immature. It is the most widely cultivated corn in the United States. Dent corn is used primarily for livestock feed, but it is also used for cornmeal, oil and a number of industrial products (including plastic bags & laundry starch). But, it is best used for roasting, grinding, grits & cornmeal.

Flint Corn: Although edible, flint corn (also known as Indian corn) is usually grown for decorative purposes. Its hard kernels range in color from white to red. If allowed to dry, the kernels turn colors and can be ground into meal. It is cultivated throughout the United States, especially in the Midwest.

Flour Corn: Cultivated in the southwestern United States, flour corn is made up of primarily soft starches. It is most commonly ground into flour and cornmeal. It ranges in color from white to blue-gray, to red and purple. Traditional southwestern strains include Hopi Blue, Navajo Blue and Cochiti Blue. These strains are used for blue corn flour and cornmeal, and for making blue corn tortillas.

Popcorn: Any kind of corn kernel will pop slightly when heated, but only a popcorn kernel will explode and turn itself inside out to form a little, white ball. Cultivated throughout the United States, popcorn has small, hard kernels with a softer starch inside. When heated, the moisture in the soft starch begins to expand and pressure builds up, causing the hard starch on the exterior to explode, leaving behind a puff of starch and protein.

Sweet Corn: The best known class of corn to us - the kind we know as corn on the cob. The kernels are tender and contain a far greater proportion of sugar to starch than any other corn. Sweet corn comes in yellow, white, bicolored and multicolored ears. It is harvested before the kernels mature. The freshest and sweetest corn is best eaten raw in salads, stirred at the last minute into cooked rice or added to an already prepared salsa.