Veg Patch by Mark Diacono

Author:Mark Diacono
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781408896327
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
Published: 2017-03-13T04:00:00+00:00

Swede ‘Willemsburger’

Sweetcorn Zea mays

PLANT GROUP Others

START UNDER COVER April

PLANT OUT May–June

SOW DIRECT May

HARVEST July–September

Sweetcorn is the ideal crop for beginners and even more so for children as it grows quickly, vertically and obviously, communicating the wonder of growth and life as well as any vegetable there is. And on top of that, of course, you get to look forward to popcorn.

If you intend to eat the cobs fresh rather than as popcorn, remember that they’re right up with asparagus and peas when it comes to minimising plot-to-pot time. As their name implies, it’s the sweetness you’re after. In this respect, every hour counts, as the sugars quickly convert to starches after the corn leaves the plant – eat them on the day you pick them if you can.

When it comes to cooking, it’s worth knowing that sweetcorn is one of those rare crops that, if overcooked, is in fact better for you. Although their vitamin C quickly reduces, the levels of ferulic acid shoot right up with long cooking at high temperature. Why is this a big deal? Ferulic acid is an antioxidant – one of those great caretakers of our internal system running about sweeping up potentially damaging free radicals that can contribute to physical changes we perceive as ageing, as well as heart disease and cancer. Most ferulic acid is held in the cell walls and fibres within the sweetcorn and cooking breaks these down, liberating the bioactive bodyguards to go about their rather wonderful business. So, for once, you can boil the backside out of this veg with impunity.

Varieties

A lot of the newer varieties are known as ‘supersweet’, having higher levels of sugars – ‘Sweet Nugget’ (F1) and ‘Sweetie’ are the best I’ve tried.

It is well worth giving some of the older varieties a whirl too. Many prefer what they feel is a better balance of sweetness with the sweetcorn’s other flavours – ‘Golden Bantam’ is reliable and tasty. Be sure to check whether the seeds you are buying are supersweet or normal, as you’ll need to allow significantly more room if you grow some of each (see here).

If you (or your children) are after popcorn, ‘Strawberry Sweetcorn’ is hard to beat and a beautiful ornamental addition to the veg patch.

How to grow

April is the best time to get sweetcorn started under cover in pots or Jiffy 7s, planting them out when around 7cm tall and the frosts are definitely past (around May or June).

Leave it until May if you’re sowing sweetcorn direct. Plant the seeds knuckle deep, with spacing 30cm each way.

Sweetcorn are wind pollinated (unlike most other vegetables which are pollinated by insects). It’s therefore better to plant them in groups rather than rows if you can, to maximise pollination. You should allow at least 8 metres between supersweet and normal varieties, as cross-pollination may reduce their sweetness. The plants grow well if there is a reasonable blend of rain and sun, giving you a harvest from mid-summer into autumn.

Water them well after flowering if there’s an extended dry period.

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