Dribble some molasses on the popped kernels, for instance, or stir a little honey into a bowl of hot, buttered corn. Brown sugar and butter-melted together and mixed into a container of popcorn will produce a delicious homemade caramel corn. Most cookbooks contain recipes for popcorn balls and similar goodies. These treats will please your family, of course, and will also make great gifts to say "thank you" for the kind of everyday favors that good neighbors do for each other.
You can send gaily decorated jars of unpopped kernels to your "city cousins" for Christmas or birthdays, too, and be sure that the present will be enjoyed for a long time to come. And, best of all, many folks will gladly pay much more than the supermarket price for fresh, locally grown popcorn. So work up that weedy patch on your farmstead or in your yard , put in a few rows, and get ready to earn some extra cash. Don't worry about expensive packaging, either It's also a good idea to offer whole dried ears of popcorn for sale especially if you grow one of the colorful varieties.
Lots of people will buy these to use as seasonal decorations But, whether you raise popcorn for yourself, to give as gifts or to bring in needed money, you can rest assured that you'll enjoy the whole experience Old Bay seasoning is a good mixture to season popcorn!
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Grow Your Own Popcorn Homegrown popcorn is an easy thing to add to your garden. Grow your own popcorn corn and guarantee a chemical-free crop that tastes great and is great for gifts, too! Continue Reading. Planting Your Homegrown Popcorn Once you've located fertile seeds, you are ready to grow your own popcorn. Harvesting Popcorn for Drying After 85 to days the time varies from species to species , the popcorn will be mature. Share your thoughts. Look for smut galls throughout the season and cut them out before they produce spores.
Remove these galls from the garden, and bury them in a location where you will not grow corn in the future. Do not compost them. Leaf rust appears as rusty orange streaks on leaves that release many powdery orange spores. Rust resistant varieties are available and are the best form of control. You can achieve maximum popping potential only if the corn reaches full maturity. Mature ears of popcorn have plump, hard, shiny kernels and dry husks.
Let popcorn remain in the garden as long as possible, to allow the kernels to dry on the stalks. If the weather turns rainy while the plants are drying in the garden, harvest the ears and bring them inside to continue drying. Remove the husks and put the cobs in mesh bags.
Hang the bags in a warm, well-ventilated area. If the kernels get too dry, they will not pop as well. Most gardeners have no way to measure kernel moisture except by popping performance. At least once a week, try popping 20 kernels. While the corn is still too moist, the kernels will pop, but may not be fluffy or crisp. If the popped kernels are chewy or tough, with hard edges, they are still too moist. With each sample, the corn should produce better quality popcorn.
When most of the kernels in the sample pop up crisp and fluffy, it is time to store the whole crop. You can store popcorn on the cob, but most gardeners will want to shell the kernels off the cob and store just the seeds. Wear a heavy glove and rub the kernels off the cob. Store popcorn in airtight containers to prevent it from drying out further. Always follow the pesticide label directions attached to the pesticide container you are using.
Remember, the label is the law. All rights reserved. The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity educator and employer. Home Yard and garden Find plants Vegetables Growing popcorn. Quick facts Direct seed in the garden after soil has warmed.
You must isolate popcorn from other types of corn. Let popcorn remain in the garden as long as possible to allow the kernels to dry on the stalks. There are 9 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been viewed , times. Popcorn is a little different from regular corn, most notably in that it pops after being dried if heated in a popcorn popper or other utensil. It also has slightly different requirements for planting and growing.
With a little knowledge, you can plant, grow, and care for popcorn. In no time, you'll have a harvest of popcorn that you can cook and enjoy. To grow popcorn, start by buying fertile popcorn seeds and soaking the corn kernels in warm water for 12 hours. Next, pick a growing spot that will get a lot of sunlight, and where the soil drains easily.
When the seedlings are 4 inches tall, replant them so that they're about inches apart to ensure they have plenty of space to grow. Afterwards, you can expect your corn to mature in days. For more tips from our Horticultural reviewer, including how to store your corn properly, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No. Log in Social login does not work in incognito and private browsers.
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Related Articles. Article Summary. Part 1. All rights reserved. This image may not be used by other entities without the express written consent of wikiHow, Inc. Buy some fertile popcorn seeds. You can use plain popcorn from a bag, but you will want to do a fertility test first. Not all store-bought popcorn will be fertile because of the heating and sterilization processes popcorn goes through before being packaged and sold.
You can also buy popcorn seeds from a seed company or from a farmer. If the corn grows in about a week, you have fertile seeds. If 2 weeks pass, and you still don't see any sprouts emerging, you have infertile seeds. The seeds must be fertile in order to grow. Soak the corn kernels in warm water for 12 hours.
This helps moisten them so they will germinate faster. Choose the right spot. Make sure that the spot will receive lots of sunlight and that the soil drains easily. You will need lots of room to grow corn. Don't plant within feet This could result in hybrids, and may affect the flavor. Plant the kernels after the danger of frost has passed. Depending on where you live, this will be sometime between the first week in March and the middle of May.
If you are planting in rows, space the rows 18 to 24 inches Plant the corn 2 inches 5. Thank you! Follow the links above to our affiliates for purchasing info. We grew popcorn for the first time this year with excellent results. Since it is a hybrid, can the corn be used for seed next year?
I typically purchase seeds each year and have a sufficent supply for next year, but am curious. Also, my father back in the s grew a black popcorn with small kernels. He was given seed from a grower in St. Francisville, Il. It was outstanding tasting. There is a commercial popcorn on the market called Black … Read more ». Hi Ed! Thanks so much for your comment. As for the black popcorn seeds, these from Amazon look like the kernels Black Jewell uses.
Best of luck! The Best 7 Varieties of Popcorn Ready to get started? Here are my favorite cultivars for growing at home: 1. Carousel I personally have a real penchant for rainbow colored veggies. Glass Gem The first time I saw and then planted this crop, I fell irrevocably in love with it. Heirloom Popcorn This somewhat uninventively named cultivar is an heirloom variety that has been traced back to ancient Native American tribes.
Heirloom Popcorn Seeds This cultivar preserves perfectly, so you can keep enjoying your corn all throughout the cold winter months. This variety is ready to harvest in about days. Robust Yellow Hulles Hybrid Thanks to thin hulls, which make for easy popping, this Native American corn is known for its tasty, exploding kernels, perfectly adapted for making delicious popcorn. This variety will grow happily in hardiness zones , and grows best in full sun.
Snow Puff This F1 hybrid produces high yields of delicious, sweet, white corn, which expands to an enormous size when popped — perfect for movie nights.
Time to Get Popping!
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