A great year for corn — but for tomatoes, maybe not so much

In the Northwest Corner, the arrival of sweet corn from local farms is as big a story as, say, the arrival of the nouveau beaujolais is to French winemakers or the debut of a new blockbuster film is to Hollywood.

And so it is with great fanfare that we announce the arrival of the first local sweet corn at farmstands around the Tristate area. 

Overall, growers are saying that the intense heat and rain this summer have actually been a boon for the crop. 

Karen Conners at Daisey Hill Farm in Millerton said on Monday, July 26, that the corn was still somewhat immature but it was “maturing more fully” and the ears were growing “more voluptuous.”

The high temperatures and rain — and then the brief respite from the rain at the end of last week — helped the corn to mature a little earlier than usual. An added bonus: This year, so far, there haven’t been a lot of the pests that normally plague the farmers (and the corn).

Right now Daisey Hill has bicolor corn; the white corn will soon be ready to harvest.

Theresa Freund at Freund’s Farm in East Canaan also said that the hot weather and heavy rains have been a boon for the sweet corn crop. 

Freund’s Farm Market has had sweet corn for at least a week now, she said. They started planting in April and continued to plant into late June, so they expect to have sweet corn to sell through October.

While it’s hard to find anything nice to say about climate change, Freund said that it has actually benefited corn growth, from her point of view. In addition to the heat and rain, she said there are fewer early fall frosts, which has extended the corn season.

Tomatoes are another story, however. This summer has been humid and hot with lots of rain —which is perfect for sweet corn but not so great for tomatoes, which prefer weather that is hot and dry. 

Many of the Freund’s tomatoes are grown in enclosed spaces, so they’ve been somewhat protected but Freund said  there could be a tomato shortage this summer at many farms.

Paley’s in Sharon is also planning to have its own sweet corn for sale by this weekend. There is local corn for sale at the market already, but it’s not (yet) from the Paley fields. 

Alexander Wilburn and Whitney Joseph contributed reporting for this article.