QUERENCIA
COLLECTIVE
FARM
DENVER/ARVADA AREA
FLOWERS & NATIVE FOODS
WORKER OWNED, COMMUNITY LOVED
CORN
PAGE CONTENTS
OUR
CORN
VARIETIES
Navajo Robin's Egg
Developed in the arid southwest by Dine people. This variety is nearly dwarf (3-4' tall), super drought tolerant, and matures in a short growing season. The kernels are relatively soft and easy to grind for a flour corn.
Montana Morado
Developed in Montana, a descendant of both drought tolerant southwest varieties and cold tolerant northern varieties. The result is an incredibly resilient plant that matures in a short growing season. It also has a very soft form of starch that grinds more easily into flour.
LINEAGE
IN OUR
Stevie's History with Corn
COMING SOON!
IN OUR
GARDENS
Corn is a member of the grass family, which includes all "true" grains like rice and wheat. Indigenous people domesticated corn around 9000 years ago in what is now southern Mexico.
Along with beans and squash, corn is part of the ancient three sisters interplanting strategy. Its stalks provide support for beans to climb up. Corn generally thrives in rich soil (which beans help to provide), though indigenous people have developed 1000's of varieties that thrive in particular conditions from hot, cool, arid, humid, high and low altitude.
Corn can be planted directly in the ground after the danger of frost has passed, or started in trays and transplanted. Dry corn (like flour corn and popcorn) is allowed to dry on the plant before harvesting, while sweet corn is harvested fresh. Any type of corn seed can be saved by simply allowing it to dry on the plant before storing for next season!
IN OUR
KITCHENS
Real talk folks: turning whole dry corn kernels into something delicious is not straightforward in the typical US kitchen that lacks traditional food preparation tools. But if you are curious and committed, I promise there are ways! And they are incredibly rewarding with magical aromas, satisfying flavors, deep nourishment, and connection to an ancient history of love and relationship to land.
So here's the deal:
1) the flour corn we grow is not popcorn, you will be disappointed if you try to pop it lol
2) it can be toasted whole in a dry pan and steeped to make corn tea!
3) if you have a way to grind the dry kernels (relatively affordable options include using a blender, food processor, or hand cranked mill from a latin supermarket), you've opened up a world of cornmeal (omg cornbread), polenta, grits, etc.
4) With some patience, love, and lime (the mineral, not the fruit), aka calcium hydroxide, pickling lime, or "cal" in a latin grocery store--you can open up a world of precolonial flavor and nutrition through the process of nixtamalization. Here's how.
You'll end up with whole, nixtamalized, partially cooked kernels that can be boiled to make hominy for pozole. If you want to take it a step further, you can grind the kernels to make fresh masa, which has literally nourished empires and countless generations of people across the "americas" in the form of tortillas, tamales, pupusas, huaraches, atoles, tlayudas, and more. You can use a blender or food processor, but you will have to add water for it to grind properly. Then the mixture will be too soupy, and you will have to thicken it up again by either letting it dry out for a while, or adding a little masa harina. It's a roundabout process without a traditional metate, but once you've smelled and tasted that first homemade tortilla or tamal or pupusa...damn. You'll never be the same.