Okay city girl. I’m going to give you a big hint today. You country folk can really just skip this because it will seem too elementary. There are two different kids of corn you need to know about. No, I’m not about to get into the GMO versus non-GMO debate. Or a lengthy discussion about varieties. I am going to tell you that there are two kinds of corn.
Field Corn and Sweet Corn
Field corn is what they grow to feed animals. It is taller, harvested later, and it is what you will see growing for miles and miles.
Sweet corn is what they feed to humans. Shorter, and harvested in the summer. This will be growing in a small patch..
Now, if you already know this then pat yourself on the back. You are one step ahead of me when I was a city girl. Allow me to tell you a true story:
Before my farmer and I were married I was finishing up college, and living in a house with a few other girls. I was all about learning to be domestic and impress my soon-to-be-husband with my ability to cook spaghetti and dust.
A couple of towns away is a farm that my grandparents own, and rent out to someone else. Well, one particular summer day my Grandma gave my roommates and I a bag full of delicious corn. I was so excited! I was going to learn how to prepare corn on the cob. Certainly I would be a fabulous farm wife after I learned the art of boiling corn.
So I found a recipe for cooking corn. {Yes, a recipe to tell me how to put the corn in after the water is boiling and how long it should stay in the water.} My roomies and I prepared a feast and sat down for our awesome dinner, including my first ever batch of corn on the cob! It looked fabulous. Until we took a bite. Seriously, I didn’t grow up with fresh sweet corn all the time, but there was something very wrong. A couple girls tried to help me feel a little better and eat some. But it was flat out disgusting. I could not believe I had ruined boiling corn. At that moment I was certain I was doomed to be the worst farm wife ever.
Fast forward a couple of days, my grandma calls me asking if I had eaten the corn. Too embarrassed to tell her I ruined it I told her that yes, we had it for supper. She was horrified! It was field corn! They accidentally picked field corn and didn’t realize it until they went to prepare their own. Field corn, the stuff they grind for animals. I was so happy! All hope was not lost! It wasn’t my fault after all! I’m pretty sure I confused Grandma by being so excited by the news we had eaten field corn…
And so sweet naive city girl please remember there is a difference. And if you are ever given the opportunity to go pick your own corn, make sure you know just where their patch of sweet corn is located. Because you can just take my word for it, field corn is not very tasty, no matter how much butter and salt you add.
Katie @ On the Banks of Squaw Creek says
Love this!