Shucks, corn season is here

Fireworks, swimming, and barbecues. These are all activities that scream “summer.� While fireworks are a rare occurrence and swimming a leisure-time activity, barbecues and eating outdoors can be almost daily occurrences.

It is this part of summer that can really bring families together as everyone gathers around a table, in the cooler evening air,  chowing down on a New England foot-long delicacy.

I’m not talking about hot dogs. I’m talking about corn.

Corn is one of those foods that remains long after everyone is done eating it. Kernels get stuck in teeth, greasy hands and faces persist around the dinner table, cobs litter the plates and of course there are always the wispy strands of “hair� in the butter dish. Now that it’s late-July, local corn is just starting to be harvested. Farmers are watching the ears ripen and working hard to get this treat to their farmstands — and our tables.

This summer has been interesting so far for farmers. Hot, humid weather is perfect for growing corn. But corn also needs rain, and with the spotty downpours the region has been experiencing,  growing conditions have been varying from farm to farm.

Paley’s Farm Market in Sharon is looking to this weekend for a first big harvest. Freund’s Farm in East Canaan is harvesting already and McEnroe  Organic Farm in Millerton began harvesting last weekend. Sweet corn from Howden Farm in Ashley Falls, Mass., is already being sold at LaBonne’s Market in Salisbury.

While the difference in harvest dates might not seem enormous, it does make a difference. The rush for summer corn is on, and while pests and critters take their toll on the crops, so does over production. If too much corn is harvested at one point, any that is unsold will go to waste. This is why the farmers stagger their crops. They start to plant in mid-April and then wait a few days to plant more, and continue this process throughout the summer, shortening the intervals between plantings as the season progresses.

As close as these farms are in proximity with each other, they are worlds apart in terms of what type of corn they grow.

Howden Farm grows Howden’s Sweet Corn, bred by farmer Bruce Howden’s father in the 1940s. McEnroe grows a few types of corn, but their popular white corn is called Sugar Pearl, and it is (you guessed it) organic. Freund’s Farm is constantly changing the types of corn it uses, keeping customer favorites and using new corns to replace ones that did not grow well or meet their taste standards. They do however seem to have a few staples, including the famous Silver Queen.

While farmers all across the Tri-State area are busy harvesting their crops and fighting off raccoons, the customers truly benefit from the diverse products grown in the area. Some corns may be sweeter or have firmer kernels, but which corn is the best is all a matter of opinion. Theresa Freund asserts that using manure to fertilize the crops makes the corn sweeter. Julie Schroeder of Silamar Farm had no comment about this, and Bruce Howden flatly disagreed, “Our corn is the sweetest, and we use fertilizer, not manure!�

Perhaps a corn-tasting is in the near future, but until then try sampling corn from any local farmer. Summer just wouldn’t be complete without it.