Harvesting Seed Corn

Seed corn's sugars have turned to starch.

Ripened corn is sweet and easy to bite, while seed corn is starchy and unappealing. Harvesting seed corn involves allowing ripe corn to complete another starch cycle, which makes it unpalatable but easy to store for planting next season. Harvesting seed corn is a simple process once the ears are totally dry. Once the ears dry, the kernels, which are the seeds, will come off with little effort.

Things You'll Need

• Bucket

Instructions

1. Wait for the corn to become ripe on the plant, which occurs when the end of the corn is no longer pointy and the silk begins to dry. Wait four to six more weeks after the corn ripens before picking it, or until the husks begin browning.

2. Pick the corn off the plant by twisting it at the base of the husk. Pull off the husks and the silk from the seed corn.

3. Store the husked corn ears in a dry, cool spot such as a basement or root cellar. Leave the corn there until it is completely dry. You can tell the corn is dry when the kernels pop off easily when you manipulate them on the ear. The exact drying time will vary with your climate and corn variety.

4. Hold the ear of corn over a large bucket. Grasp it by one end in one hand and twist it with the other hand. The kernels will fall off into the bucket. Move up the ear of corn, twisting the kernels off. Repeat with each ear of corn.

References

• National Gardening Association: Harvesting Corn
• International Seed Saving Institute: Corn