What are you planting in your garden this year?

[Lazy Gardener]

NOT GROWING: okra, artichokes of any kind, parsnips, English peas, Lima beans, dry beans.

All time favorite varieties: Fortex pole bean. All Red or Adirondack Red potato. Sun Gold Cherry tomato. Amish Paste tomato. Must have lots of garlic. Sugar snap peas.

 

[Beekissed]

I added a new seed...but an old one. Going to plant Golden Bantam corn~just 4 rows or so~for pickling in a crock. Haven't had pickled corn done right since the 70s and early 80s, so I'm sure missing it. You really can't do it good with a sweet corn, so the old timey corniness of the Golden Bantam should be perfect. Was first put on the market in 1922.

 

[FarmerJamie]

I added a new seed...but an old one. Going to plant Golden Bantam corn~just 4 rows or so~for pickling in a crock. Haven't had pickled corn done right since the 70s and early 80s, so I'm sure missing it. You really can't do it good with a sweet corn, so the old timey corniness of the Golden Bantam should be perfect. Was first put on the market in 1922.

I am intrigued by this. More details, please?

 

[BarredBuff]

Granny used to make pickled corn, and I'd rather eat manure.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

 

[Beekissed]

I am intrigued by this. More details, please?

Well, you really can't make good pickled corn out of sweet corn...the best pickled corn is made from plain ol' field corn that's picked when it's tender and young. Back in the day folks used field corn for sweet corn...but it wasn't all that sweet. Had a corny, nutty flavor. They grew it for livestock, but would pick it early and tender for eating or pickling.

Pickling corn using sweet corn gives it a flavor somewhat like puke~a sickly sweet/sour taste that leaves a bad backnote...might have been what BB's granny did wrong.

Another thing I'm finding....the original pickled corn seems to have gotten lost a generation or two back. Now the only thing you get when googling info on it are people who have recipes or instructions for "quick pickled corn", which is NOTHING like pickled corn. They even put vegetables and jalapenos in it!!! Those are two flavors that should NOT go together. Nor should pickled corn be cut off the cob if one is a purist...it's pickled properly in a crock, whole cob. Cut off the cob and pickled it will turn to mush. They also try to blanch it before pickling...another mush maker.

Simply put, folks have forgotten how to pickle corn along the way, as the older generations died out and didn't pass that info along.

Granny used to make pickled corn, and I'd rather eat manure.

Done right, BB, it's addictive. Just need the right corn, which is harder and harder to find nowadays. I looked at several mags and they didn't even sell a corn that wasn't sugar enhanced, popcorn or dent corn. Finally found one~Baker's Creek~that had ONE variety I would consider good for pickling.

Will let you all know how it turned out if it grows well.

 

[BarredBuff]

Done right, BB, it's addictive. Just need the right corn, which is harder and harder to find nowadays. I looked at several mags and they didn't even sell a corn that wasn't sugar enhanced, popcorn or dent corn. Finally found one~Baker's Creek~that had ONE variety I would consider good for pickling.

Will let you all know how it turned out if it grows well.

That's probably the problem. It is the triple sweet stuff. Gran insists that is what we grow. I personally would like to try an OP variety or a F1 variety. They're definitely better suited for canning. She also cuts it off the cob and make it in a jar. She says that when she was a girl they had a big barrel full and it was done whole cob.

 

[Beekissed]

She says that when she was a girl they had a big barrel full and it was done whole cob.

Yep...that's how it's done best. One year we did a whole whiskey barrel of pickled corn and that whiskey sure did give it an extra bite...best pickled corn EVER.

This year we'll do it the traditional way, in a large crock.

 

[sumi]

Yep...that's how it's done best. One year we did a whole whiskey barrel of pickled corn and that whiskey sure did give it an extra bite...best pickled corn EVER.

This year we'll do it the traditional way, in a large crock.

Bee, please let us know how you do this and how it goes, when the time comes? I've never heard of this either and I'm so curious now!

 

[Beekissed]

Bee, please let us know how you do this and how it goes, when the time comes? I've never heard of this either and I'm so curious now!

Sumi, it's the easiest thing....corn, water and salt. I forget the ratio of salt to water but it's just your typical brine solution to support fermentation of a vegetable. Then you put it somewhere the temps aren't too hot nor too cold...usually done in a cellar or basement, a cool pantry if lacking those, and let the fermentation begin.

Usually takes about 2 wks for fermentation to set in well~depending on ambient temps and yeast capture in the environment~ but longer to get truly good pickled corn...one looks for the scoby to form on the top. Sometimes a yeast/mold will form on top of that film of scoby...you just brush it aside~or remove it~ when removing your corn for eating, rinse off the ear, eat it right out of the crock or use it in any recipe you'd like. We like it fresh out of the crock, no cooking of any kind.

No blanching of the corn prior to pickling or you'll have mushy corn and it's just not needed.

A lot of times the crock is lined with a pillow case or small sheet or cheesecloth so that you can fold that over the contents and place a wt. on it to keep the corn below the liquid. Typical wt. are a plate with a rock on it, canning jars filled with water, etc.