Oaxacan Green Corn

This year, 2018, the Central Coast of California has been having a very long cool Spring. I planted six packets of Oaxacan Geen Dent corn in three different garden plots at two different times, including early spring no-till beds and mid-spring rototilled beds. EVERY SINGLE SHOOT (about 700 seeds) got eaten by some critter the very next night after the shoot emerged. I think it was slugs or snails. The Glass Gems did great last year and the Atomic Orange corn in a nearby bed is knee-high on day 42 so I can't explain it. But it's time to try a different crop where I'd hoped this corn would grow...

I trialed nearly 30 varieties in 2017. Most did not survive the heat, humidity, wind, bugs, disease, worms or vermin here in Virginia. This was one of the winners. Bugs or something did get to the tips of some of the ears. Full ears otherwise. I have yet to grind into meal and see what it tastes like.

This corn was fun to grow. The color on it was really nice (just make sure to leave it on the stalk until the color develops completely), I hand-pollinated some of the color and the rest I just left it be and it did end up cross-pollinating with some of the neighbors corn and actually produced some interesting metallic sheen gray-green color ears. Some racoons went after it for a night or two but then left the patch alone and never touched it again. I didn't have any problems with it getting moldy or earwigs. I ground some up and made cornbread with it and it tasted amazing! Overall, I definitely plant this again

This was an unexpected surprise, as a first time grower of ornamental corn I wasn't expecting it to be so beautiful. The ears were a very nice size for decorating, smaller than an average ear, which made them a perfect size for decorating. I will grow these again this coming season.

Love this corn! We were looking for a tall annual to fill some space in our front yard and this corn seemed perfect. Its unique colors are beautiful while drying, ours turned quite a deep green blue. the stalks are hefty and stood up well to our howling daily winds. No problems with drought, it was a very dry year but also when we got the usual over abundance of rain these plants still stayed strong. There was even a cold snap that brought frost and we didnt loose a single ear! The best part was that virtually NO earwigs were found nestling in the ears, what a great corn. We dried these on the stalk, braided them and left in hang in our house, they look so beautiful and the bit of flour we ground from the 15 ears was nice.