True Gold Sweet Corn seed Zea mays

LATIN NAME: Zea mays

COMMON NAME: Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is the summer crop that children remember. The tall, sturdy, annual grass carries the broad, arching leaves and the tasselled male flowers at the top, with the silky female flowers lower down, to be followed by the plump, green-husked cobs of the golden-yellow kernels. The kernels are at their sweetest within minutes of the picking, and the crop is one of the great, generous treats of the summer kitchen garden. It is a plant of the deep, rich, well-drained ground.

Scientific Research & Plant Biotechnology

The sweet corn is one of the great subjects of the plant science, studied for the plump, golden kernels and the way they hold their sugar. The genetics of the sweetness and the kernel colour has been studied closely, and the crop keeps showing up in the work on the staple grains, the breeding programmes and the members of the grass family. The tall, sturdy habit and the tasselled flowers have also made it a fine garden plant, and the sweet corn is a regular subject of the studies of the modern maize varieties.

Ecological & Economic Value & Wide Applications

The sweet corn is the great, generous crop of the summer kitchen garden. The plump, golden kernels are boiled, roasted, grilled and fried, eaten on the cob or cut into the salads, the soups and the fritters, and the crop is one of the treats that the summer garden gives at its best. The tall plants also make a fine, quick screen of the kitchen garden, and the whole plant is put to the feed and the compost after the harvest. It has been written up in the horticultural and the culinary papers for the sweet kernels and the summer ways, and it is a fine, generous crop of the deep, rich, well-drained garden.

Sweet corn is one of the great, generous treats of the summer kitchen garden, and the plump, golden kernels are at their sweetest within minutes of the picking. The tall plants also make a fine, quick screen of the kitchen garden.

To grow the sweet corn from seed, sow the seeds three centimetres deep in the open ground in blocks, after the frosts, spacing them a hand’s width apart, and keep the ground moist. The seedlings appear within a couple of weeks and grow on fast. With the sun and the deep, rich, well-drained ground, the plump cobs will be ready through the late summer.

An heirloom favourite with a truly delicious, buttery, rich flavour. Large 20cm/8in ears with golden-yellow kernels and long-lasting sweetness. Productive plants resist lodging. Excellent for chicos. 70-80 days.