Blue Jade

I am rather excited about my corn crop!  Granted, it fits in a 4x4 raised bed, but still, it's a crop.  I started it several weeks ago indoors, using Rootrainers growing containers.  These are designed like little plastic "books" that nestle into a frame, and encourage healthy straight root growth.  Corn doesn't particularly like to be transplanted, but giving it a head start allows me to avoid some of the cross-contamination concerns with the GMO corn being grown all around the Farmlette.  Since corn is wind pollinated, it is hard to avoid contamination unless you trick the schedule (by starting early indoors or planting a couple weeks later) or do the whole hand pollination-bagging thing. 

The variety I am growing is a dwarf sweet corn called Blue Jade.  It's an heirloom variety from Seed Savers Exchange, and is reported to grow only to about five feet tall.  It produces steel blue ears of corn that when cooked turn bright blue.  Imagine, blue sweet corn!  I can hardly wait to try it. 

So far, it's taking well to being transplanted and has grown seemingly overnight in the warm compost of the garden bed.  With any luck, I'll be enjoying fresh homegrown blue sweet corn in July!