Deep South Homestead
Deep South Homestead community with Danny and Wanda.
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Danny Corn
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Danny Corn
Planted Danny Corn this year for the first time. I’ve never planted corn to grind for meal or flour before and so not sure how/when to harvest it and dry it to use. Farmer google has conflicting info on it. It is still green and the ears are still filling out a bit at the tips of some of the ears. Do I need to wait until it is dry and brown or what do I look for to let me know it is time to harvest? One other question is that we had a cow break into the garden and knock over a few of the stalks, so I pulled those ears (only about 6). Can they still be dried inside or would they be ok to eat like sweet corn or what? They appear to be in the milk stage and seem juicy when I poke the kernels with my fingernail.
Thanks! to anyone who can answer this.
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6 Replies
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Yes you can eat it as sweet corn in the milk stage. I would expect it to have a much stronger corn flavor than regular sweet corn and not be as sweet.
Far as growing it for meal or to use dry yes it needs to finish and the stalk needs to die back before harvest. Before you can store it the moisture needs to be down below about 13% or it will have problems. Generally the ears will turn from pointing up to pointing down before it’s dry enough to pick. If it’s getting to cold or wet before picking you can also pull the ears and hang them to dry much like garlic or onions. But it has to finish growing and filling out first. To test for dryness without a meter you simply weigh a given amount and then dry it in a stove or microwave until it stops loosing weight then weigh it again and calculate the moisture content.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by BiggKidd.
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Thank you! 🙂
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Added a little to last post
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Thank you. Would heating it make it not viable as seed for next year? Or maybe if I put it in the dehydrator on the raw food setting (generally below 113F I believe)? Any idea on that?
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This reply was modified 2 years, 3 months ago by
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You only heat dry enough to test in order to get the moisture content. The bulk really should air dry in my opinion. 113f would probably be okay but it has to finish growing and filling out first. The stalks should be mostly if not completely dead and brown / tan first.
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This is my first year planting Danny Corn. I noticed what looks like new roots. This at the base of one of my stalks. Tassels have sprouted and cobs are silking. What is happening?
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by Foxy_Pocket.
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This reply was modified 2 years, 2 months ago by
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