Knee High by the Fourth of July

About author / Victoria Wesseler

Healthy eating advocate; master gardener; local food expert. Even veggie haters love her recipes.

Every gentleman farmer knows that corn in the fields should be knee high by the fourth of July. It’s an eagerly anticipated sign that the corn crop is on schedule for maturing on time. Our sweet corn is just about knee right now and I can hardly wait for that first ear to mature.

Sweet corn is a popular planting for the home gardener. If you have the available space (you’ll have to plant it in several rows or a block to assure proper pollination) and the proper environment (a long growing season of about 90 warm days), try growing some of your own sweet corn. The minute you harvest it, husk it, and immediately nibble on the raw corn. Could anything be more creamy and sweet?

Just picked sweet corn is succulent, milky, and tender. It bears little resemblance to the corn on the supermarket shelves or in the produce bins. The sweet corn you purchase at the local grocery is probably a few days to a week or more old and has lost most of its true flavor. That’s because with corn, timing is everything. The minute you pick sweet corn, it will begin to convert its sugar to starch. The longer the corn sits at warm temperatures, even room temperature, the faster the conversion. Sweet corn that has been sitting for even a few hours begins to lose its signature sweetness. This explains the need to slather it in butter and salt before eating it or why some cooks add sugar to the water when they boil it.

Although most of the newer sweet corn cultivars have “extended storage qualities,” many sweet corn lovers complain that these sacrifice flavor for storage qualities and deem them less creamy and not nearly as tasty as the older varieties. According to the experts at Purdue University, 50% of the corn’s flavor will be lost within 12 hours of picking if the corn is left unrefrigerated or not held on ice. For the best sweet corn experience, grow your own. But that may not be a practical option for many. The next best thing is to purchase it at a Farmers’ Market or a roadside stand where, hopefully, it was just picked prior to selling. If the vendor has it stored on ice or in a cooler packed with ice, you know that it has a good chance of being nearly as tasty as straight from the garden.

When selecting corn look for unblemished husks, glossy silks and ears that feel heavy for their size. Once you buy it, use it immediately. If you have to store it, put it unwrapped in your refrigerator’s vegetable bin and use it within a few hours. Don’t store it longer than a day if you are planning on eating it on the cob. Corn stored for longer periods may still be used in recipes such as corn soup, fritters, salads, and custards where the addition of other ingredients will help mitigate the corn’s loss of flavor.

Sweet corn is a healthy addition to your summer eating plan. Although commonly referred to as a vegetable, it’s really a whole grain. One ear has about 85 calories, 20 carbohydrates, and 4.5 grams of fiber. It’s a good source of vitamin A, magnesium and potassium.

My favorite way to prepare sweet corn is in the microwave. Just remove the husks and silks of the corn and place the ears side by side in a glass microwave safe dish. Add 2-3 tablespoons of water to the dish. Cover the dish with microwave safe plastic wrap and microwave for 5 minutes of 80% power. Using a dish towel to protect your hands, remove the dish from the microwave. Carefully remove the plastic wrap to avoid being burned by the steam; turn the corn over, recover and microwave for another 5 minutes. Remove the dish from the microwave and let it sit for 3 minutes. Carefully remove the plastic wrap and serve immediately. Resist the temptation to add anything else. Put away the salt, pepper, herbs, butter, mayonnaise, and Parmesan cheese. Nothing needs to come between you and the luscious taste of summer’s sweet perfection.