# Sweet corn time!



## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Sweet corn time again! It's early this year, usually not ready till mid August. This year I  had to put a double wire electric fence around the patch (1/3 acre) to keep the raccoons out...1st time since we moved the patch maybe 8 or 9 years ago. Dogs must be getting too old, and the youngest not taught what to do. Also the first time in years I had to check it, usually the dogs did it...one would just bring an ear up on the lawn, his mother brought up the whole stalk...many of them!








We picked last Friday afternoon,  it was a bit warm in the field,  about 94 and 90 % humidity...thankfully there was a breeze.  We picked about 38 dozen,  a bit more than normal but we are 4 inches below normal for rainfall  this year so  some of the ears aren't as big as normal.  Corn gets stacked on table in shop with a/c on







Saturday morning we had 6 of us husking it into the loader bucket,  which was nice, it's the worst part of the whole process.  After it's all husked the tractor and loader get parked in front of the house to put the cobs in.







Ended up with 4 coolers full of corn







Some corn after being washed to help remove any remaining silks.  My wife started on this after the 1st cooler got full.  







More corn on the table to be cut







Mil and friend from college doing some cutting,  he helps every year...he gets corn and in return he brings us walleye ( good trade!) 







Corn on stove boiling...just corn,  water,  lemon juice,  and  a little salt







From the stove it gets put into bowls and then into an ice bath to cool







We needed an afternoon snack of course to go along with beverages...started with bloody Mary's while husking,  some beer, and margaritas throughout the day







Ground round with onions salt and pepper  on saltine crackers 








After cooling it goes into the canner to get bagged 







After bagging into the freezer...ended up with 134 qt bags this year. Shared with my buddy, mil, grandma,  and daughter and sil.  Needless to say we won't buy corn in a can or eat it at a restaurant,  can't stand it after having sweet corn 







And for supper...the best BLTs of the year, first ones with garden fresh tomatoes!







It takes alot of time from planting,  weeding, picking and freezing but oh so worth it! Started husking about 11 am when the help showed up and mostly done by 8 pm, including clean up. 

Almost forgot...pic of last years helpers






Thanks for dropping by!

Ryan


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## flatbroke (Jul 27, 2020)

Wow. Most excellent.


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## smokerjim (Jul 27, 2020)

looks great Ryan, lot's of work there. ya can't beat fresh sweet corn, the wife and me used to help a friend of mine on his farm picking his crops, he used to let us  take any vegies i wanted,  we used to take a bunch of corn towards the end of picking season and shuck it and freeze it and have it all winter along with a bunch of other stuff, it just taste so much different then the store bought stuff.


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## smokin peachey (Jul 27, 2020)

Looks like a productive day!


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## GaryHibbert (Jul 27, 2020)

Wow!!  You're set for another year.  Gonna be some great eating this winter while the rest of us eat froze corn from Wally World.
Gary


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## SmokinVOLfan (Jul 27, 2020)

Damn Ryan that is awesome! A lot of corn and a lot of work but looks oh so worth it in the end. Nice job man.


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

flatbroke said:


> Wow. Most excellent.


Thanks, I appreciate it!

Ryan


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## flatbroke (Jul 27, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> Thanks, I appreciate it!
> 
> Ryan


is the stuff on the cracker eaten raw? what happened to the dog's ears? did they accidentally get shucked?


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

smokerjim said:


> looks great Ryan, lot's of work there. ya can't beat fresh sweet corn, the wife and me used to help a friend of mine on his farm picking his crops, he used to let us  take any vegies i wanted,  we used to take a bunch of corn towards the end of picking season and shuck it and freeze it and have it all winter along with a bunch of other stuff, it just taste so much different then the store bought stuff.


Thank you! Definitely takes time but it's so good!

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

smokin peachey said:


> Looks like a productive day!


Thanks! It makes for a bit of work but worth it

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

GaryHibbert said:


> Wow!!  You're set for another year.  Gonna be some great eating this winter while the rest of us eat froze corn from Wally World.
> Gary


Thanks Gary! The only corn we buy is creamed corn to mix with our sweet corn when making scalloped corn.  Sil said we ruined him...he longer can eat corn at restaurants anymore. 

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

SmokinVOLfan said:


> Damn Ryan that is awesome! A lot of corn and a lot of work but looks oh so worth it in the end. Nice job man.


Thank you! I appreciate it.  Still alot of corn left...we tell quite a few people to come out and pick as much as they want.

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

flatbroke said:


> is the stuff on the cracker eaten raw? what happened to the dog's ears? did they accidentally get shucked?


Yep, gets eaten just that way.  And no, that's Kya...we had her ears posted so they would stand up straight (basically just foam inserts)

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Thanks for the likes 
B
 BigW.
  And 
S
 Smokes & Oaks
  it's appreciated!

Ryan


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## chopsaw (Jul 27, 2020)

Holy smokes !! That's awesome . 
Labor and walleye for corn ? That must be some great corn LOL . 
Thanks for posting . Place looks great too .


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## BrianGSDTexoma (Jul 27, 2020)

Wow that a lot of corn.  I love the stuff.  That one of the things I miss about Michigan.  I never had any better.


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

chopsaw said:


> Holy smokes !! That's awesome .
> Labor and walleye for corn ? That must be some great corn LOL .
> Thanks for posting . Place looks great too .


Thank you,  I appreciate it! We do get the better end of the deal with the walleye.  The acreage was alot more work...was my grandparents place, was abandoned for 20 years before we gutted and remodeled it, but well worth it!

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Brian Trommater said:


> Wow that a lot of corn.  I love the stuff.  That one of the things I miss about Michigan.  I never had any better.


Thanks Brian,  I appreciate it! It's hard to beat fresh sweet corn. 

Ryan


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## sawhorseray (Jul 27, 2020)

Wow Ryan, looks like you knocked out a lot of work in a day and brought in quite a haul, nice piece of work! RAY


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## jcam222 (Jul 27, 2020)

Ryan that corn looks phenomenal. It’s impossible to be good fresh sweet corn. On Keto it’s the one thing I miss and simply can’t recreate in any way!! My grandma used to eat the raw beef like that, I am way to afraid I’d end up with food poisoning. Love the BLT too, my tomatoes should be coming on soon. Been picking cherry tomatoes for about a week but the big ones are still green.


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## 2Mac (Jul 27, 2020)

What a great post. 
Loved reading it.
You’ve got a great setup.
Thanks for posting


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

sawhorseray said:


> Wow Ryan, looks like you knocked out a lot of work in a day and brought in quite a haul, nice piece of work! RAY


Thanks Ray,  and thanks for the like it's appreciated! Will have corn to eat till next season.  Plus plenty to eat off the cob.

Ryan


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## Sowsage (Jul 27, 2020)

Awesome job Ryan! I know exactly what kind of work it took for all that corn. But the end results are well worth it! Looks like you had a great crew to get the job done!


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

jcam222 said:


> Ryan that corn looks phenomenal. It’s impossible to be good fresh sweet corn. On Keto it’s the one thing I miss and simply can’t recreate in any way!! My grandma used to eat the raw beef like that, I am way to afraid I’d end up with food poisoning. Love the BLT too, my tomatoes should be coming on soon. Been picking cherry tomatoes for about a week but the big ones are still green.


Thanks,  I appreciate it! The only place we buy ground round is from our small town grocery,  they have their grinder in the meat cooler, been selling it since I was little with no issues...not that it couldn't.  We have plenty of green maters also, but they're coming. 

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

2Mac said:


> What a great post.
> Loved reading it.
> You’ve got a great setup.
> Thanks for posting


Thanks 2mac, its appreciated! I'm spoiled now, shop was 69 degrees with no flies...as a kid we sat out in front of the house in the blaring sun dealing with flies while we husked 

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Sowsage said:


> Awesome job Ryan! I know exactly what kind of work it took for all that corn. But the end results are well worth it! Looks like you had a great crew to get the job done!


Thanks Travis,  I appreciate it! And having good help makes a world of difference ! Should go pick a green mater from the garden for fried green tomatoes...but that first ripe one sure was good!

Ryan


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## Sowsage (Jul 27, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> Thanks Travis,  I appreciate it! And having good help makes a world of difference ! Should go pick a green mater from the garden for fried green tomatoes...but that first ripe one sure was good!
> 
> Ryan


Yep....nothing like that first ripe one! The green are good too.. We always do a few while we are waiting for them to get ripe......but when the season ends ...thats when we realy start doing a bunch of the green ones. They wont make it before frost so we eat a lot of fried green tomatoes lol!


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## Bearcarver (Jul 27, 2020)

Awesome!!!
I was wondering how you got all that work done, but then I saw your 3 helpers in the last picture!!
Great Deal Too---For Walleyes!!
Like.

Bear


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Bearcarver said:


> Awesome!!!
> I was wondering how you got all that work done, but then I saw your 3 helpers in the last picture!!
> Great Deal Too---For Walleyes!!
> Like.
> ...


Thanks Bear, I appreciate it! My buddy is an avid fisherman so we enjoy the exchange.  And the dogs love their corn, just wished they would have kept coons out this year...saved me from putting up electric fence, but they are getting older. 

Ryan


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## xray (Jul 27, 2020)

Hard to beat fresh homegrown sweet corn! I used to
help out at a relative’s farm when I was younger doing this. A lot of work but definitely worth it!


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

xray said:


> Hard to beat fresh homegrown sweet corn! I used to
> help out at a relative’s farm when I was younger doing this. A lot of work but definitely worth it!


Thank you,  and thanks for the like I appreciate it! It sure is good and juicy...had more tonight with leftover brisket,  seemed to squirt myself in the eye and glasses with juice.  Wife sure thought it was funny    

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

Thanks for the likes 

 kruizer
 , 

 Winterrider
 , and 

 JLeonard
  I appreciate it!

Ryan


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## thirdeye (Jul 27, 2020)

The sweet corn in my area won't be ready for a couple of weeks, and a bunch of us make a group buy from one farmer.  The hands start picking at sunrise and  we can load by 10, and everyone has theirs in hand over the next few hours.  This years order will be 120+ dozen.

You have an interesting method, we've always blanched on the cob (4 or 5 at a time for 5 minutes), then cut the kernels off those ears while the next 4 or 5 ears are blanching.   I like blanched corn for salsas, bean and corn salad or as a quick side dish.  

We do most of ours un-blanched and off the cob.  This is used for any sauteed or fried dish, pot pies, soups, stews, chowders etc.,  or anything were the corn is cooked with the dish.


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

thirdeye said:


> The sweet corn in my area won't be ready for a couple of weeks, and a bunch of us make a group buy from one farmer.  The hands start picking at sunrise and  we can load by 10, and everyone has theirs in hand over the next few hours.  This years order will be 120+ dozen.
> 
> You have an interesting method, we've always blanched on the cob (4 or 5 at a time for 5 minutes), then cut the kernels off those ears while the next 4 or 5 ears are blanching.   I like blanched corn for salsas, bean and corn salad or as a quick side dish.
> 
> We do most of ours un-blanched and off the cob.  This is used for any sauteed or fried dish, pot pies, soups, stews, chowders etc.,  or anything were the corn is cooked with the dish.


That's a bunch of corn! Just out of curiosity,  what does he charge by the dozen?  Growing up we just blanched it on the cob like you said.  But after getting married it's done this way now,  not that I mind at all. Wife's family did it this way for as long as I know,  with the little bit of lemon juice it comes out as fresh as the day it went in the bags.

Ryan


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## thirdeye (Jul 27, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> That's a bunch of corn! Just out of curiosity,  what does he charge by the dozen?  Growing up we just blanched it on the cob like you said.  But after getting married it's done this way now,  not that I mind at all. Wife's family did it this way for as long as I know,  with the little bit of lemon juice it comes out as fresh as the day it went in the bags.
> 
> Ryan



I think the actual selling price is $4.50/dz  but we have to drive to get it, a 250 mile round trip.  So some fuel money is factored in to that making the charge per person an odd amount like $4.56 so most folks will round up their cost of their order, say $18.24 would round up to $19.  Now, the drop-off point is a bar parking lot and in pre-COVID years there were some free drinks for the driver and helpers who counted out each person's order. 

The same corn is $6 a dozen if locals want to pick-up at the farm, and in the grocery store in town, they have separate bins with 3 or 4 farmers names on them (most people buy from a specific farmer) and the price there is $5 or $5.50/dozen so I think we buy for the 'store price'.


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 27, 2020)

thirdeye said:


> I think the actual selling price is $4.50/dz  but we have to drive to get it, a 250 mile round trip.  So some fuel money is factored in to that making the charge per person an odd amount like $4.56 so most folks will round up their cost of their order, say $18.24 would round up to $19.  Now, the drop-off point is a bar parking lot and in pre-COVID years there were some free drinks for the driver and helpers who counted out each person's order.
> 
> The same corn is $6 a dozen if locals want to pick-up at the farm, and in the grocery store in town, they have separate bins with 3 or 4 farmers names on them (most people buy from a specific farmer) and the price there is $5 or $5.50/dozen so I think we buy for the 'store price'.


I was just curious,  a guy from Nebraska comes to a local town, usually the first to have corn for sale and charges $8 a dozen and sells out fairly quickly,  but most haven't had any since last year. 

Ryan


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## SmokinAl (Jul 28, 2020)

I would love to be able to get corn that fresh down here!
Al


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 28, 2020)

SmokinAl said:


> I would love to be able to get corn that fresh down here!
> Al


I would love to send you all you wanted if it was at all feasible! We still have plenty.  Thanks for the like I appreciate it!

Ryan


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## Brokenhandle (Jul 28, 2020)

Thanks for the like 

 Johnny Ray
  I appreciate it!

Ryan


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## thirdeye (Jul 28, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> I was just curious,  a guy from Nebraska comes to a local town, usually the first to have corn for sale and charges $8 a dozen and sells out fairly quickly,  but most haven't had any since last year.
> 
> Ryan


We get  out of state growers at the farmers market from Colorado, and Nebraska and the $8 a dozen about right, but they bring other produce and travel a lot farther.  We have two growers locally, one even allows you to pick your own which is fun for a family afternoon.... but the place we buy from is noticeably better.


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## thirdeye (Aug 9, 2020)

Following on the 2020 sweet corn thread.... we got ours today.  158 dozen in the group buy and it was about 6 hours old when we divided it up.  It was packed in produce boxes and still cold!  The farmer threw in a box of cucumbers and about 40 heads of garlic.  I'll be grilling some tonight to have with a sous vide tri tip and some sort of orzo dish.  And tomorrow packaging some for the freezer.


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## Brokenhandle (Aug 9, 2020)

Thats a bunch! How many in your group buy? Gonna be busy tomorrow! We have a few ears in fridge we been munching on...everything in the field is too far along now. 

Ryan


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## pc farmer (Aug 9, 2020)

Great thread.  We always do sweet corn.    

Funny you said to far along.  Wonder how many people know what that is?


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## Brokenhandle (Aug 9, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Great thread.  We always do sweet corn.
> 
> Funny you said to far along.  Wonder how many people know what that is?


Thanks Adam! I guess we are all different in how we like it. I like it best early with small poppy kernels, wife likes it better a little farther along. Either way it's good stuff 

Ryan


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## pc farmer (Aug 9, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> Thanks Adam! I guess we are all different in how we like it. I like it best early with small poppy kernels, wife likes it better a little farther along. Either way it's good stuff
> 
> Ryan



Poppy kernels are the best just at the right time for the flavor thou.


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## Brokenhandle (Aug 9, 2020)

pc farmer said:


> Poppy kernels are the best just at the right time for the flavor thou.


That they are! Just gotta be careful...they are squirty little things. Should have seen my wife laugh at me earlier this year...bit into one and squirted myself in the eye and glasses 

Ryan


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## thirdeye (Aug 9, 2020)

Brokenhandle said:


> Thats a bunch! How many in your group buy? Gonna be busy tomorrow! We have a few ears in fridge we been munching on...everything in the field is too far along now.
> 
> Ryan



About 40.  My buddy had his pickup bed double stacked with boxes holding 4 dozen each.  And a utility trailer with the rest of the boxes.  This is the first planting, normally we get corn from the second planting because both of us are in that town anyway for a BBQ contest and Bluegrass festival....


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