There has been a lot of press lately about so called “Frankencorn”, the genetically modified crop brought to us by the biotech industry. Many are justifiably concerned about the unintended consequences and the possible environmental impact. Consumers, for their part, seem to be worried about the health effects of GMO corn, which produces BT, and organic pesticide in use for decades.
These are of course important questions, but I can't help but find it ironic that we are worrying so much about this, yet the ingredients that go into microwave popcorn go largely ignored. As a child of the eighties, I can still remember popping corn with the air popper, and melting butter on the stove top. This movie night tradition was challenged with the advent of the microwave. Our first machine was a hulking monstrosity, controlled with a dial. It seems quaint now, but at the time it was miraculous.
Soon after the microwave, came microwave popcorn. Ahh, that smell! It was intoxicating. And the convenience of the bag was revolutionary. If you didn't pour it into a bowl, the mess was completely contained and easily disposed of. It's no surprise that this novelty muscled aside its boring and messy competition in no time.
That signature buttery aroma is due to a substance called diacetyl, which has been linked to an otherwise rare lung disease in factory workers who are chronically exposed to it over the course of decades. Although no risk has been shown to affect the average popcorn consumer (there is one case of an obsessive consumer developing "popcorn lung"), many manufacturers pulled it from their products (or have they?) when the problem came to light. Most have also removed the trans-fats, once an industry standard, when the health risks associated with them made national news.
In any case, as in many processed foods, the ingredients list on a box of microwave popcorn still reads like a science lab experiment. I more or less vowed off the stuff years ago. I discovered you can still buy it the old fashioned way – really! (There will usually be one jar or bag tucked in at the edge of a massive assortment of sizes, flavors, low sugar, low fat, low sodium etc etc microwave popcorn) My husband likes to pop it on the stove top, but I have learned how to reproduce the convenience of microwave corn using nothing more than a plain paper lunch bag.
Growing Popcorn
About a year ago, perhaps, I began to wonder if we could grow our own popcorn. At the time, I had never even grown sweet corn. Honestly, I didn’t even know how corn was made into popcorn. Did you just grow the regular kind and let it dry or something? Not really, it turns out There are several varieties of corn frequently used as popcorn. They are higher in starch and much more similar in composition to field corn than sweet corn. After doing some reading, I settled on Tom Thumb, a dwarf variety that would work well in my small 3x6 bed. The name “thumb” comes, I presume, from the size of the ears, which are an adorable 3-4 inches in length. Popcorn seeds are pretty much impossible to find in the stores around here, so I ordered mine from an akamai online supplier that is quickly becoming one of my favorite sources of seed – High Mowing Organic Seeds. You can see what they carry here.
Once I had my seed, I prepared a bed. In this picture you see pole beans growing up a trellis at the north end of the bed. Beans and corn are reportedly good pals when grown together. Actually, this picture is a bit of a cheat because this is the bed where I planted the sweet corn later on – you can see my maturing popcorn plants at the right side of the image. The planting method I used is the same.
Corn grows fast and needs to be well fed and watered. This bed has been reworked with lots of compost, chicken manure and whatever else I had. Greater than 90% of my gardening problems stem from lack of water, so the time and effort involved in drip irrigation set to a timer has been worth it. These systems are highly customizable and can be reconfigured as needed.
For my corn, I ran two lines of 1/4” poly tubing down each side of the box, then connected a line of 1/4” soaker hose between the two wherever I planned to put a row. Individual drippers would work even better, but I was too lazy for that.
This next technique was adapted from the book Cubed Foot Gardening by Christopher Bird. I cut the bottom out of some of the cheap 4 inch plastic pots that seedlings come in (I just knew I was saving them for a reason). I dug a hole about three inches deep for each plant, then sank the pot into the hole with the cut side down. I filled in the dirt around the pot but left the inside empty. This created a well for each plant.
The recommendations for row spacing on seed packets does not apply when you are planting in a raised bed. These are intended to allow space to walk between rows and to account for the compaction of the dirt. None of this applies in a system like this, which is great because it means more room for plants!
For raised beds, I take the plant spacing recommendation for the mature plant and arrange my first row of seeds according to that. For the next row, I stagger the formation so that the seed is equal in distance from the other seeds in every direction (so on the diagonal with the plants in the next row; see picture). When using the pots like this, I measure from the center of each hole to the next to determine spacing, as that will ultimately be the distance between seeds. I buried the seeds at the depth recommended on the packet and threw an extra in each hole as insurance, since I wouldn't be thinning them later. This proved unnecessary as almost every single seed germinated (I simply snipped the weaker plant at the base when they were a few inches tall).
When the young plants were about nine inches high total, I carefully removed the pots and filled in the soil around them, essentially burying them an extra 3 inches deep. The buried part of the plant would now form additional roots and provide a nice, strong anchor in the case of a heavy windstorm.
My corn plants grew amazingly fast. On some days, it seemed that I would head off to work and return home in the evening to plants that were an inch or two taller. Many of them ended up as tall as me or higher, despite Tom Thumb being a dwarf variety that is only supposed to reach about three feet in height. When I removed the pots, I side dressed the plants with blood meal, and they were planted, as previously noted, in rich soil. The extra nitrogen isn't supposed to hinder seed production, but maybe this is why my corn plants were so tall.In the photo above, you can see the tassel forming on the “female” flower of the plant. Each tassel, if pollinated, will correspond to one kernel of corn. The male flower, below, blooms at the top of the plant. Corn is wind-pollinated, so as the wind knocks the plants around, pollen goes everywhere and hopefully falls to the female flowers below. Several corn plants in close proximity are needed to ensure adequate pollination and nice, full ears. Another note while we are on the subject of pollination: if you plan to plant another variety of corn in your garden, you will want it separated from the popcorn in either time or space to prevent cross-pollination and contamination. You can either stagger your crops so that they flower a minimum of two weeks apart, or keep them at least 100 feet away from each other.
The usual recommendation to ensure good pollination is a minimum of four rows, or a block of plants like I have here. It probably wasn’t necessary, but when I was out in the garden I’d mess around with the corn plants, waving them around and scattering the pollen. Even if it didn't help, it was fun to watch the magic fairy dust billow around the plants. I had expected the flowers to fade after they had done their thing, but they didn't (and to think, I grew up in the Midwest).
The tassel will turn a lovely red as the kernels are developing beneath the husk. It takes several more weeks for popcorn to be ready for harvest (sweet corn would be picked around this point). Reading around, I discovered it was generally agreed that popcorn should be allowed to dry on the plant for as long as possible. In parts of the world with a shorter growing season, the fall rains will often cause the plant to start rotting before it has fully dried. I started my popcorn in late winter, and so it was maturing in the midst of a hot, dry summer. My plants were nearly completely brown by the time I was forced (by bugs, not moisture) to go ahead and harvest. When I peeled back the husks, I found these insanely cute little ears of hard, round kernels, much more reminiscent of maize than of sweet corn:
This is more or less the product of the contents of a 3x6 bed. Each plant yielded 2-4 ears (although the 3rd and 4th would be substantially smaller).
The next step is to let them dry until ready to pop. The drier the ears, the easier it is to shell them (I hear you can also pop the corn right on the ear, but they take up a lot more space in storage). When I first harvested, I tried shelling a few ears by twisting them and then scraping off the kernels with my thumb. Not too difficult, but would definitely result in a sore thumb after I got through the bowl.
I found several descriptions of how to make a homemade corn sheller on the internet. Take an old board, cut a hole somewhat larger than the largest ear of corn in it, then drive four nails (at 12, 3, 6 and 9 o'clock positions) at an angle so that the points protrude about an inch or so into the circle. The ear of corn is shoved through the hole, and the nails loosen the seed from the cob.
The trickiest part of the entire process was getting the kernels dry to the correct point. The only way to know for sure is to test pop a few kernels in the microwave or on the stove top. I found this post at The Frugal Life to be most helpful in determining when my corn was ready for storage.
Popping Popcorn
Finally, the moment we have been waiting for! My faithful assistant was on hand to help pop the corn. I will describe the microwave method here.
You will need:
- 1/2 cup dried popcorn kernels
- 1 lunch size paper bag
- stapler (optional)
- butter
- salt (preferably popcorn salt)
Put 1/2 cup kernels in paper bag. Lay bag flat and fold the end over three times, 1/2 inch per fold. At this point, you can staple each corner of the bag to hold it closed. So long as the staples are at least a few inches apart, and you only use two, it should be OK. I did this for years without ever having a problem. However, I take no responsibility if you burn down your house, blow up the microwave or electrocute yourself, so if in doubt, don't do it. I have dropped this habit over the last few years because the bag seems to stay shut just fine without the staples.
Place your bag in the microwave, with the fold facing down. You can now set the popcorn button on your microwave if you have one, or just microwave on high until it sounds done. The technique is the same as for pre-packaged popcorn. I find that my ears and nose are the most reliable indicators of done- ness. I try to wait until the popping slows to once every second or two, but if there is even a hint of burning smell, it's outta there. The next steps are buttering and salting, but I think you can handle that. Bon appetit!
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| The final product! |
