How do you know when sweetcorn is ready to harvest? First, the peroxide blonde tops of the cobs age to matted brown. Then, when you pull back the leaves swaddling the corn, stick one nail into seed. If a little clear liquid runs out, it isn’t ready yet. But if the liquid is milky, then it is time to gently prise the cob from the plant, run inside and pop in a saucepan of boiling water for five minutes.
This is ‘Applause’, which I planted out a little earlier than the second batch of sweetcorn, ‘Supersweet’. This meant the different cultivars flowered at different times, so there was no cross pollination, which can leave the corn starchy and miserable.
And this corn really was marvellous. Such beautiful, pearlescent seeds. A perfect quick supper before dashing out of the door. I ate mine fresh from the pan, but someone else decided it would be better to slather it in butter and sugar before chomping on it. And it earned his hard-won approval. My husband doesn’t suffer fools or poor sweetcorn gladly.
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