Corn Planting

I'm not an expert in this field, but I have taken note of a few things.  First and foremost, due to genetic engineering and genetic modification, true unadulterated corn, as our Creator intended is becoming very difficult to protect and ensure.  Wind pollination can theoretically carry for up to two miles, and corn is a big crop, but the big yields are a result of genetic tampering.  This makes it very difficult for the organic, natural, hobby, homesteading, or heirloom farmer to maintain their goal.  Meanwhile, back at the "ranch" the genetic engineering companies can taint pure products AND sue for seed ownership due to the tainting!

In my quest to continue to plant and harvest heirloom produce, I do my best to keep cross pollination from occurring.  The biggest areas in which I struggle are the squash, melons, and corn.  There truly has to be some serious distance between even zucchini and cantaloupe.  One year there was zucchaloupe.  I've pretty well resolved that problem with "scatter gardening."

In the effort to prevent corn from hybridizing, the best way I've discovered to date is to space the planting, by a few weeks, so the tasseling does not occur simultaneously.  I plant sweet corn in March and field and pop corn in April.  Since corn is primarily wind pollinated, I'm also mindful of the directions of the crop in relationship to each other.  Let me explain.  I reserve the space for the field corn to be planted  to grow north and east of the sweet corn and the popcorn.  This year my garden rows run east and west, so in the middle of the garden, many rows south and on the other side of the okra, I've planted the "sweet corn."  The end of April, I'll plant the popcorn in a small garden spot well south of the sweet corn.

Since most summer winds come from the south or the west, if some of the field corn is pollinated by the sweet corn, the quality will not be altered much, and the seeds I harvest will be from stalks on the far row from the sweet corn.  If the sweet corn is by chance pollinated by the popcorn, the texture can be slightly altered, but in planting a month apart, it's not been an issue to date.  Popcorn is the tricky one, which is why it's planted as far away as possible and to the south.  Popcorn won't pop right if it's cross pollinated with sweet corn.  I'm still adjusting to heirloom corns, as we've become so accustomed to GMO.