Three jobs from one crop: cornmeal & grits for the table, sweet corn to eat fresh, and field corn that cuts the poultry feed bill. Part of the Garden & Greenhouse.
Direct-sow after the soil warms — late March–April (and a second sweet-corn succession into May). Corn is a heavy nitrogen feeder, so follow it with the cattle/poultry manure and compost. 1 ft apart in blocks of at least 4 short rows for good pollination.
Sweet, flint, and popcorn will cross and ruin each other's eating quality — separate by distance or stagger planting dates by ~2 weeks. Water through tasseling/silking; drought then = blank kernels.
| When | What |
|---|---|
| Late Mar–Apr | Direct-sow in blocks after last frost; side-dress with manure/compost |
| Jun–Jul | Pick sweet corn at the milk stage (juice when you press a kernel) |
| Aug–Oct | Let dent/flint dry on the stalk until the husks are papery |
| Fall | Shell, finish-dry, store airtight; grind to meal as needed; bag feed corn |
Corn earworm (a drop of oil on fresh silks helps), raccoons and crows on ripening ears, and weevils in storage — freeze shelled corn 3–4 days before binning, then keep it airtight.
North-Texas summer heat at pollination can blank kernels — that's why you plant early so silking beats the worst of August. Don't let it go dry during tasseling.
| Item | Note |
|---|---|
| Cornmeal / grits | Grind dried dent/flint in the grain mill |
| Feed corn | Cracked or whole for hens; trims the feed bill on Animals |
| Stalks | Graze or compost — nothing wasted |