Our Golden Cross Bantam corn is just coming up.

 Our Golden Cross Bantam corn and an Excerpt From 'Food Self Sufficiency: How We Do It In A Severe Climate.'

Golden Cross Bantam

Corn:
Corn is planted in raised rows which are about 6 inches wide.  Each seed is pushed about an inch deep into the ground, and spaced two or three inches apart.  The corn needs to be planted in a square or rectangle patch as opposed to a single row, so that the wind can pollinate each stalk from the stalk next to it.  If it is planted in a single row it will not pollinate itself, and then no ears will develop.  Typically pollinated corn will produce one to two ears per stalk.  When the ears are close to harvest time, the ears turn dark green, and after 20 days of appearing, the silk strands at the end of the ears will turn brown and wilt.  To check the ear, we peal back the husk leaves and take a look at the corn kernels.  If the kernels are of adequate size and show a milky juice when punctured with our thumb nail, then the ear can be harvested. We harvest the corn by grasping the ear and giving it a sharp downward twist.    

We have found that corn is affected by a freeze, depending upon its size.  If it is smaller, or taller than 3 or 4 inches, it seems to have a tough time with an overnight light freeze.  We don’t know why the 3 or 4 inch size isn't affected as much, but precautions should be taken in case of an unusual overnight freeze.  One thing that works well is to cover the sprouting corn with loose straw which insulates the plants against light freezes, and the sprouts simply grow up through the straw.  In some years our corn produces many ears, and in other years we don’t get very many.  It just seems to depend on if the growing season is cold and overcast both early and late in the season, which slows down the plants growth and doesn't give it the necessary growing time to mature.

The corn variety which we usually grow is called Early Sun Glow.  This variety will germinate when the ground is still cold, which is a beneficial feature in planting because of our long winters.  Another corn variety which we grow is Golden Cross Bantam.    

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