Glass Gem corn, the iridescent flint corn that looks like little jewels on a cob is both ornamental and edible. You wouldn't want to eat it straight off the cob but it grinds into perfect cornmeal and used for popcorn.
I was at my neighbour's house the other day dropping off some chives from my garden for her when I said something that felt a little ridiculous. Not Westboro Baptist ridiculous, just normal ridiculous. You may know the fun loving Westboro Baptists from their hit single, "God Hates the World" or one of their catchy mottos, "The Only True Jews are Christians" and "1, 2, 3, 4, God Hates the Marine Corps". They also hate "fags", flags, Catholics, the Pope, Barrack Obama, Sweden, Apple (even though they use iPhones), Leonard Nimoy, pink buses, life, death, air, rainbows and anti-psychotic medications apparently.
What I said to my neighbour was "this is a very busy time of year for me with the harvest and all". The harvest and all. Firstly, when did I learn to speak yokel? And secondly ... the harvest? I have a 20x40 foot community garden and a patch of front yard and I'm referring to "the harvest".
But I'm telling you now, with Sweden as my witness, every spare second I have at the moment is taken up by picking vegetables, storing vegetables, canning or otherwise preserving vegetables. The harvest.
One of the things I happen to be harvesting is Glass Gem corn. Reader Kat mailed the seeds to me last year. I didn't really know what they were at the time which isn't surprising since Glass Gem corn was only unveiled to the world in 2012.
Glass Gem corn is a variety that almost didn't exist. You see, years ago a part-Cherokee farmer in Oklahoma was known for being a bit of a corn breeding genius. His name was Carl Barnes. Carl mixed and matched and bred different varieties of corn. He planted and created corn that produced translucent, gem-like kernels. He did this for years until he was satisfied he had created a variety of corn that would reliably reproduce what he had in his head. A corn that looked like it was made up of translucent glass gems. Glass Gem corn.
When Carl started to get on (there's that yokel talk about), he passed his seed collection onto his seed saving protege Greg Schoen. Greg was the one person that Carl trusted with his decades of work. In 2010, while in the process of moving and not wanting to lose track of the thousands of seeds, Greg took a small portion of his collection to a seed saving institution, Seeds Trust.
Curious about these seeds, in 2012 someone from Seeds Trust planted a handful of them in their garden to see what this Glass Gem corn would look like.
They were stunned to find corn with see through kernels in gemstone colours. And every single cob was different. The company posted photos of the corn on their Facebook page and within hours the corn pictures went viral, crashing their Facebook page. EVERYONE wanted to buy the seeds. The problem was, there weren't any for sale.
Over the next couple of years Seeds Trust worked to produce enough seeds to be able to sell to the public.
I have no idea how my reader got these seeds, but I'm hoping she'll let us all know in the comment section. I take my seed responsibility very seriously so I'll be getting a separate garden next year just for my glass gem corn. I'm hoping to grow 100 plants.
If YOU want to buy Glass Gem corn, there are many places that sell it on Amazon.com but if I were you I'd buy it from the original source Seed Trust. By buying from them you'll be guaranteed you're getting a properly bred and selected seed.
I know you're all excited about the possibility of eating this now, but Glass Gem isn't an eat off of the cob type of corn. It's a grind into flour type of corn; a flint corn. Before you get too disappointed, there are 2 other things you can do with this corn. Use it for fall decorating because it's SO much more impressive than the regular Indian corn you can buy. OR ... and this is the fun part ... you can use it for popcorn.
Coming up on Wednesday I'll be showing you 4 ways to decorate with Indian Corn using my Glass Gem corn because no matter what Pinterest tells you, tying 3 cobs of Indian corn together isn't as easy as it looks. For real. Once Autumn decorating season is over I'll be removing the best kernels for seed saving and the rest will get put into a glass jar for popcorn.
Because who doesn't like popcorn?! Then again. Who doesn't like rainbows?
Cindy
Beautiful! Perhaps you intend to explain how to dry the corn in Wednesday's post but I wondered if you peel back the husk before or after it dries.
I really want to grow this corn but I don't have enough sun on our property. Perhaps I can beg my BIL to use some space on his farm. It is gorgeous but popcorn, too- I love it.
Karen
Hi Cindy. Technically you're supposed to wait until the corn has dried on the stalks before you pick it but there was no way I could wait for that. Besides, bugs and stuff were starting to eat it so I picked it when you would normally pick corn, peeled the husks up and let it dry. I actually have NO idea if this is the right way to do it but it's worked so far for me. ~ karen!
Christine
What fun! Think I'll order a packet. Anyway, corn needs to be planted so rows are tight and close together for good pollination. Also plant flowers nearby to encourage bees and hummingbirds. Maybe hang a hummingbird feeder nearby.
Karen
Hi Christine. I should have mentioned that I planted my corn in a 4' x 4' square bed with 4 plants per square foot. So 64 stalks of corn! The ones on the inside didn't do great and were a bit shaded but all the corn on the outside was perfect. I'll just plant a little earlier next year. ~ karen!
Christine Mortimer
Me too Karen but what I did but not so much on purpose was do a staggered planting so I'd have corn longer. Maybe that helped as it didn't come up all at one time.Plus watered the dickens out of it. I already ordered a packet of the corn and am excited to try it next Spring.
I love your blog and look forward to your weekly installments.
Lisa
Westboro probably hates Gem Corn too! lol
Karen
Oh I'm sure they do! ~ karen
Liz M
Thanks for giving the details on this corn. It is absolutely stunning!
marilyn
it is simply beautiful!
Chris
I don't think I've ever bought anything just from reading someone's blog, but I just went over to the seed trust site and bought two packets.
Beckie
I bought some when you posted this back in the spring. I picked one ear (so far) because I was impatient and NEEDED to see it. So pretty.
My ears are a bit smallish, but filled out quite nicely.
I grow corn mainly to have the stalks for fall decorating, so if I get corn of any sort, it's a bonus for me.
Jillian
You made my morning with your opening few paragraphs, I am cracking up! lol
I am in the same boat, between work and sleep, I am only harvesting, canning, drying, storing, etc. I feel very blessed with the abundance yet keep finding myself saying "what was I thinking planting so much!" I am so sick of green beans.....
AND the harvest, and all comment. If I didn't know you went to Tennessee, I would have said "have you visited Tennessee lately?" lol This is what they say in the South, along with "Y'all" My oldest daughter lives in Kentucky and fills me in when I"m not speaking proper Southern lol even though I live in the North
Thanks for the laughs and of course, your info on glassgem corn. I will have to grow it next year.
Karol
Isn't Mother Nature a marvelous thing... and the scientists who manipulate it! Beautiful corn!
mayr
Couldja tell us how to undo the corn from the cob fer poppin?
Karen
I will when I get to that post a little later in the season mayr. There are two ways to generally do it though. Just by rubbing the dried kernels off with your finger or rubbing two cobs together over a bowl. ~ karen!
Sarah
In 2013, we grew what we thought was traditional corn, from seeds purchased from Walmart. It was a fun thing to add to our "kids garden". What we ended up with was very similar to your photos! Each cob was different. Some were blood red (very creepy) and others had pale jewel-like kernels. Of course we didn't didn't try eating any of it, but we had lovely fall displays all over the porch and dining table.
BJ
How cool! I might look into growing some myself or get some for my niece's son to grow! Oh and I live in Oklahoma - apparently the Westboro Psycho Church (my term since they aren't the kind of Baptist I know) doesn't like weather forecasters either. They're coming to Norman this week to picket NOAA Weather Station! I firmly believe there is a special place waiting for this type of hate filled, judgemental person, and it ain't a'gonna be (yokel talk) the golden streets they're thinking of!! I enjoy reading your blog, you're very real. Oh, does the popped corn take on the same colors or just the kennel part?
Karen
Sadly it looks just the same as normal popcorn BJ. It does however taste better. Smaller kernels that are fluffy and crisp. Not tough and chewy. Yes I'm sure the regular old Baptists of the world are thrilled that the Westboro's have for some reason put "Baptist" into their name, lol. ~ karen!
Debbie Bashford
The seeds are $6.50 US for a package of 80, to ship this package the only option to Canada appears to be UPS Standard at a cost of $34.84
Karen
Hi ... I find many times if you just email the company and say HEY there, what's with the huge shipping cost? they'll find a cheaper way to ship. So much of shipping costs is automated that it's sometimes difficult for a seller to adjust shipping types or costs to other countries in their "shop program". ~ karen!
Hudson Valley
yes, you can have your corn and wear it too.
eons ago, I made some necklaces with regular hard corn.
Simply soak in water to soften.
not long enough for it to sproat. sprout.
Then string using heavy needle, and, if you smart, use a thimble. Even soaked, it wasn't easy to get the needle thru. gol dang, these w make a rootin tootin necklace.
maybe even an ankle bracelet.
send pix if you do this,
me,
ruth
Lady Dream
Oooo shinies!
Can't grow any where I'm at now, but will want some in the future! Thanks for bringing it to my attention.
SeaDee
I. Want!
SeaDee
And I ordered! And there a local Colorado company, so I'm going to pick up tomorrow. Julia from Seeds Trust is great so call her with any questions, especially about shipping.
The best part is that the seeds are on sale right now! Support them!
Alexandra
For those people who are "blacklisted" from the Seeds Trust (site): You could try finding a specialist seeds seller in your country. When I read about the Glass Gem Corn the last time Karen wrote about it, I found it here in a German online seed shop; which would be easier anyway with ordering/customs/whatnot. (I didn't buy it because I don't have space for corn on my balcony.)
Personally I'd assume it might be better to buy seeds from a shop in your own country, because those will have been treated according to the law of the land, so for example in Australia you wouldn't be planting illegal corn. :)
janeasinner
I thought they were Beads. I've got Beads on my mind. Lovely photos. Thanks for sharing! and for the Seeds Trust link
Indy
I have lovely corns too, but they don't look like gemstones :p
Alex Grady
That's such lovely corns! Didn''t knew it existed till now!