Painted Mountain Corn

This was an amazing variety! We never cooked any because it never made it into the house! We stood in the garden and ate it right off the stalk. I was surprised at how sweet it was. Also could not leave any to dry for decoration for the same reason. I only wished I had planted more!!!!

I'm not just in the Pacific Northwest, about zone 8a, but I also grew these corn in big, deep trough containers, and it was still a complete success. I had neighbors and the mailman marveling at the beauty of Painted Mountain corn, and when I harvested my seeds, I gifted some to friends and family and spread the word about this hardy, basically unstoppable, beautiful corn. Like all corn, it wants the most sun you can give it, but I'm in a pretty shaded area, and it still managed! If you don't have a long grow season, and you're in the North, fear not. This corn will do you right.

My first attempt at growing corn, and so delighted with my excellent choice. From high altitude, clay ground, too much rain, strong gusts of wind, a hailstorm, then too dry, a 40?C heatwave, to birds and borers, these very special plants where incredible and withstood anything that nature could have thrown at them. Matured from sowing to first harvest in 75 days. Two words: Much respect! Each plant is unique, the colours when they matured filled my heart with joy. From seed to harvest, it makes time stand still to appreciate their beauty. The cobs are the last and equally intense surprise, in beauty as well as taste. Cooked they tasted like I once remembered corn to be, rich and earthy in flavour. Some sweet and delicate, others more like old style white corn. They keep their wonderful colours after cooking, like pearls of different colours. Drying as we speak, I cannot wait to grind them for corn bread. Feeling very blessed, my forever corn, for sure!

Planted this corn for the first time, 5 seeds per hill. Got 100% germination, which was the first surprise. Thinned the hills the recommended way by cutting the seedlings back to soil level, or slightly below - every one of them kept growing! They were in a new bed which had some unexpected deficiencies, mainly a lack of water retention, so although we fed them they got too dry at times. They still grew to an average of 5 feet and tasseled well, but they could only produce small ears. By then we understood what had gone wrong and were glad they could produce anything at all. The plants were gorgeous, ditto the kernels. Love the different shades of green and red in the stalks and the husks! I left the ears on the plants as long as possible, then finished drying them indoors and plan to make hominy out of the kernels. Will definitely grow this corn as long as we can get seed for it. Looking forward to doing a better job with it next year!

I wanted to try this corn since it was said to be cold tolerant and quick maturing, both good attributes for our short growing season here in Canada. We had a very wet, cool summer, but the corn did just fine. Very high germination rate, and the plants matured rapidly. The ears were mostly on the small side, but absolutely beautiful and many of the stalks yielded two ears. Some of the husks are red, which will make for fun tamales. I dried the corn on the stalks and then ground it, and now we're eating very colourful polenta!