Sweet corn makes its annual return to Kansas

Tag : frozen sweet corn

LAWRENCE, Kan. Sweet corn - it is the taste of summer.
Its appearance signals the true beginning of the nostalgichappenings of the season - backyard barbecues, pool parties and90-degree heat.
Its disappearance by mid-August means it's time for the kids to goback-to-school shopping and cooler weather is around the corner.
"It's a rite of summer," says Connie Landes as she picked up sixears from Peters Family Farm at Thursday's Lawrence Farmers'Market. "This time of the year, you wait for this all year long,because the only time it's really that good is in the summertime."
The highly anticipated summer vegetable made its appearance as alocal product of Douglas County at the beginning of the month, andnow most growers are finally ready to get a glut of ears, just intime for the high heat of mid-July.
Nancy Ross of Bismarck Gardens in North Lawrence says she'll lookout her window and see cars slowly driving past the BismarckGardens building, located behind her house. Regulars know Bismarckopens when the sweet corn is ready, and they're not shy aboutshowing their anticipation.
"A lot of people come out and just see, and I know a lot of peoplejust drive by the road right there and they call," Ross says. "Idon't mind them calling."
For Ted Grinter of Grinter Farms, the calls start with snow stillon the ground.
"I've had people ask about it back in January," Grinter says.
The persistence is for good reason, says Nancy O'Connor, directorof education and outreach at the Community Mercantile in Lawrence.O'Connor says that if a farmer knows his or her crop, the corn isas perfect as it's going to get.
"The job of the farmers is to know when to pick their corn,"O'Connor says. "When corn starts to mature, the sugars areconverted to starches. And it's less delicious and sweet. So whatyou really need to do and want to do is pick corn literally at thepeak. ... It's mature enough to eat, but not so mature it'sstarting to get starchy."
O'Connor says there's an old joke that the best way to eat corn onthe cob is to bring a pot of boiling water into the field and cookit right there - something Marcia Peters of Peters Family Farm saysis nearly true.