POPCORN!!

My hubby just mowed down a large area of overgrown grass/weeds. He said he wants to plant popcorn there next spring. Does anyone have any ideas, thoughts, know-how on popcorn? My 18 y/o (who was raised in the larger city) told us to plant a few different varieties, like you can get in the store like kettlecorn, etc... I asked her if that was something like buying a brown cow for the choc. milk? Needless to say my farm-boy hubby got a good laugh out of it. But, needless to say, it's totally new territory for us! Any ideas are welcome.

Popcorn is as easy to grow as any other corn. It takes more nutrients than other vegetables and responds to heavy fertilization. Most cultivars will have smaller stalks and ears than sweetcorn and much smaller than field corn. The untreated grocery store popcorn will work, but it will be a hybrid so it won't be exactly what you planted. You may want to plant a cultivar that is not readily available in the commercial trade. Some of it doubles nicely as decorative corn. Here is the list of available cultivars. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=popcorn&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=zea&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search

my dad grew a patch when i was a kid. he stored it in glass gallon mayo jars. they eventually fermented and exploded. Just make sure you find out the proper storeage methods lol!

Just make sure it is completely dry before storing in an airtight container.

Now that sounds like something we would do, exploded popcorn!!!!!! lol

I'm not sure how to make sure any corn is completely dry, but I'm sure I'll learn. He's the farm boy, I'm the city girl. Farmerdill, you said something about other cultivars being decorative corn. Someone at work told me today that he had heard of strawberry popcorn...or something like that. It cob grew in the shape of a strawberry and was pink. I'd also like to try Indian corn while we're at it.

i wouldn't dry it out too much because i thought the moisture content was what made it pop. sounds like a question for orville redenbacher to me. lol

There are multi-colored popcorns. Straw berry of course is a red, just look through the list and you should find something that suits you. One beware tho. Popcorn has to be isolated. Cross pollination with any other type of corn seriously impairs its popping qualities. Wet corn won't pop, but if dried completly on the stalk, then stored on the cob for a couple of weeks in a dry place, It should be ready upon shelling. I prefer to store in paper, but at that point it can be stored in glass or other airtight container. It has to be pretty green to ferment, mold is the greater danger if it has just a smidgen too much moisture.

I live in Iowa....I'm surrounded by corn! lol. Hopefully the farmer will plant beans in the field next to us this spring. Of course, with the ethanol boom the whole world it seems is growing corn.....therefore, who is growing the beans! Call me silly, but I'm thinking basic supply and demand economics there has got to be a good market on beans everyone is ignoring.
I'll stick to my popcorn!

they're down here. lol! i'm in the middle of bean fields. last year i had corn on my west side but this year it's all soybeans.I even let the farmer that surrounds me to plant beans on some of my property so i don't have to mow that section.

I planted popcorn about 3 years ago and let it dry for a few months before putting it in the freezer. Some of the bags got lost in the back of the freezer and I didn't find them until I was moving a few months ago. I didn't think they would still pop up since they'd been in there for so long, but I thought I'd give it a try. It popped up just as good as when it was fresh off the stalk, so my recommendation would be to store it in a freezer bag in the freezer. I didn't have any problems with explosions this way. Good luck, and believe me there is nothing as good as homegrown popcorn, you're in for a real treat!!