BY JANE BLOODWORTH ROWE
PUNGO — Despite a sluggish start because of the cool spring, the summer produce season is in full swing now, and there’s a bountiful crop of sweet white corn.
The corn season began with bicolor corn, which matures earlier because it’s more cool-weather tolerant than heat-loving white corn. With the July heat, white corn’s coming in. Growers hope to have an ample supply throughout the summer.
Sweet corn is such an integral part of local culture that it’s the largest produce crop in Virginia Beach, said Virginia Beach Extension Agent Roy Flanagan. There were about 110 to 140 acres being cultivated commercially this year, he said. [Ed. – Flanagan is kin to John Doucette, editor of The Independent News.]
Most of that is sold directly to consumers by growers, but corn grown at Land of Promise Farms in Blackwater is marketed at some local Harris Teeter stores.
About 14 acres of corn is grown at the farm along Land of Promise Road. This is marketed directly to consumers or sold at groceries, said Ryan Horsley, whose family owns the farm. They market white corn wholesale because that’s the most popular in this area, he said.
“Some people like it white, and they don’t want it any other way,” said Steve Barnes of BayBreeze Farms on Sandbridge Road. The white also has a longer season and produces for 82 days rather than about 72 days for bicolor.
Still, Barnes likes to kick-start the season with bicolor corn. The market for it has increased with the influx of people from outside the area, particularly those who move here from further north.
Elizabeth Cromwell of Cromwell’s Produce on New Bridge Road is also cutting white corn now, and she’s growing several varieties, including Illusion, Freedom and Coronado.
Many varieties are grown locally, but the first variety to be cultivated was Silver Queen, Flanagan said. “That was the first crop with sugar. Before that, people just ate immature field corn.”
Silver Queen isn’t grown commercially anymore, but it’s still popular with home gardeners, he said. Most commercial growers are growing varieties such as Silver King and Silver Princess.
Growers tend to stagger planting so that the corn will come in succession throughout the summer. Most years, planting begins in April, but Barnes said it was a bad spring. “Nothing can grow when it’s that wet and cold,” he said.
Cromwell’s season started slow but is catching up. “We definitely needed this hot weather,” she said, “and the corn should go until the end of August.
“We’ve had nice rains this year,” Flanagan said, “and it looks good.”
Growers also have advice for consumers before they cook their corn.
“My favorite way is just plain old-fashioned boiling it,” said Cromwell. She occasionally puts it in the oven or on the grill. If you’re going to roast or grill it, don’t shuck it first, she advises, because it is easier to shuck after it cooks.
Flanagan likes it boiled, but his favorite way is to cut kernels off of the cob and fry them in bacon grease. No matter the method, don’t overdo it, he advised.
“The longer you cook corn, the less flavor it will have,” he said.
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