814-Lancaster Farming, Saturday, July 20, 2002
Pennsylvania ‘Simply Delicious’ Sweet Com Is On Schedule
HARRISBURG (Dauphin
Co.) “Good supplies of the bet
ter early season varieties of sweet
com are coming on the market
now,” reports Fred Funk, Lan
caster County vegetable grower
and vice chairman of the Penn
sylvania Vegetable Marketing
and Research Program. “We
started pulling our first corn
grown under low tunnels the
middle of June and our full-sea
son varieties by the end of June,”
he added. That is about right on
schedule for Lancaster County.
The beginning of the sweet
corn harvest also coincides with
the debut of the Pennsylvania
Department of Agriculture’s mil
lion dollar “Simply Delicious”
Produce Promotion campaign. In
mid-June, Governor Mark
Schweiker and Secretary of Agri
culture Samuel Hayes introduced
the campaign’s first ever televi
sion commercial that will air over
2,000 times this summer. The
30-second commercial features
Pennsylvania’s number one vege
table crop, sweet com.
Most growers expect to begin
harvesting sweet com grown
without plastic mulch about the
second week of July. Some areas
of the state have experienced a
challenging spring with abundant
rainfall interrupting planned
planting schedules. Still, at this
point, the outlook is promising
for a good supply throughout the
summer this year.
The first com to be harvested
is that grown under clear plastic
covers placed over the rows of
com. The clear plastic acts as a
miniature greenhouse, trapping
the heat from the sun and con
serving soil moisture. This warm
moist environment is ideal for
rapid seed germination and seed
ling development in cool April
days. Planting under the plastic
mulch represents a greater in
vestment for the grower in terms
of time, equipment and supplies
but enables the grower to hit the
early market.
In the southeastern part and
ith itral of the state’ hich '
Granddaddy Craft Event Has New Twists
LANCASTER (Lancaster Co.)
The oldest craft fair in Penn
sylvania, the 56th Annual State
Craft Fair, will be offering 15
unique craft seminars free to the
public, July 26, 27, 28 from 11
a.m. at the Franklin and Mar
shall College Sports and Fitness
Center in Lancaster.
These IS unique seminars are
designed to offer both novices
and experts a small group atmos
phere where enthusiasts can dis
cuss, one-on-one, craft tech
niques, theories and history with
professionals in their field.
Seminars include the follow
ing:
• Construction of a Garment,
learn about fabric design, pat
terning and details for “real”
women’s clothes.
• Faceting Gemstones, what
makes a stone sparkle?
• Slip Trailing in Clay, learn
how to band pieces with colored
slips and intricate trailed designs.
• Cold Joinery Techniques in
Jewelry, leam about wire work as
a jeweb-y medium.
See this fellow advertising Pennsylvania Simply Deli
cious sweet corn on television.
still experiencing drought condi
tions, Funk reports that more
and more growers are using
trickle irrigation for their sweet
com. With this method of irriga
tion, a plastic tube with tiny
emitters is laid down between
every other row of com. Water,
and oftentimes, fertilizer, is
pumped into the tubes and trick
les out to the roots of the sweet
com crop. It is the most water-ef
ficient method of irrigation avail
able.
The key to good sweet com is
freshness. The sugar in sweet
com rapidly begins turning to
starch within hours after being
harvested. About 40 percent of
the sugar can be lost in six hours
at room temperature. Refrigera
tion slows this process, but the
sooner com is eaten after har
vesting, the better.
Many growers are growing
sugar-enhanced or super-sweet
varieties that genetically have
more sugar in the kernels. Some
of these early sugar-enhanced va
rieties were developed at Penn
State University. Because they
have more sugar to begin with,
they can be stored for longer peri
ods and still have acceptable
sweetness. However, standard
---o varieties, when -
• Sustainable Forestry, discov
er why protecting the environ
ment and managing the re
sources is important to
craftspeople, collectors and the
world at large.
• From Fiber to Fabric, learn
how fiber turns into fabric
through spinning and weaving
techniques.
• Construction of a Leather
Handbag, from raw material to
an incredible piece of usable art.
• Decorating Techniques in
Clay, a mind-opening discussion
about the myriad of techniques
available.
• Materials, an open discus
sion on where ideas come from
and how to look at the world’s
natural materials as an inspira
tional art supply store.
• History and Techniques of
Raku Pottery, a time-honored
Japanese technique where tech
niques and secrets of creating
metallic lusters will be discussed.
• Difference Between Hand
crafted and Manufactured Wind
have a delicious, traditional com
flavor and sweetness.
According to growers across
the state most Pennsylvanians
prefer bi-color com, traditionally
known as Butter and Sugar.
However, in south central and
southeastern Pennsylvania, white
is the preferred com. Certain lo
calities and clienteles still like
their com to be yellow so many
growers also grow some yellow
varieties.
Regardless of the color, Penn
sylvanians can expect to enjoy an
abundant supply of sweet com
each year. It is the leading vege
table crop in the commonwealth
with about 23,000 acres grown
annually. Ninety percent of this
sweet com acreage is grown for
fresh market sales. As a result,
Pennsylvania ranks as the sev
enth largest fresh-market sweet
com producing state in the na
tion. Fresh com will be available
from July into October. About
2,300 acres of the sweet com
acreage are grown to be pro
cessed into frozen, dried or
canned com products available
year around.
While fresh sweet com is a de
licious ingredient in many reci
pes, it is most popular served
right on the cob, and is so simple
to prepare. Simply boil husked
ears for about five minutes, or
grill the ears in the husk for
15-20 minutes after soaking them
in water for about 10 minutes.
Fresh corn on the cob is also easi
ly prepared in the microwave by
wrapping two husked ears in a
damp paper towel and cooking
them for seven minutes on high
power, turning the ears once.
Noted Lancaster County cook-
sor Chairs, learn the aspects of
quality, construction and materi
als that separate handcrafted
pieces from manufactured.
• Brass and Copper: What’s
the Difference?, learn about these
metals, their history.
• Spinning Natural Fiber,
spinning natural fibers to create
designs that are classic pieces of
art-to-wear.
• Reverse Painting on Glass,
learn the age old Oriental tech
nique that is experiencing a re
surgence in calculability.
• Clay: A Brief History of the
Wheel, learn about the geology
and history of clay and how
many civilizations have used this
treasure of the earth.
With admission to the 56th
State Craft Fair, all seminars are
free and prior registration is not
necessary. Seminars are open to
adults as well as children. Dis
count admission coupons are
available at www.pennsylvania
crafts.com.
book author Betty Groff says,
“Corn is the most versatile and
easy to prepare of ail Pennsylva
nia vegetables.” Following are
some of Mrs. Groffs sweet com
recipes from her cookbooks:
CORN’N SALMON SKILLET
2 cups cucumbers, thinly sliced
4 ounces onion, chopped
1 teaspoon dill weed
VA cup canned salmon, drain
ed and flaked
2 cups creamed com
1 cup plain unllavored yogurt,
divided in half
Spray vegetable oil in a medi
um nonstick skillet and cook cu
cumber, onion and dill weed till
clear, approximately five min
utes. Stir in salmon, com and
half of the yogurt. Cook over low
heat, stirring until mixture is hot
but not boiling. Spoon mixture
into a heated serving dish and
top with remaining yogurt and a
dash of paprika. Serves 4.
CORN AND
CLAM CHOWDER
1 tablespoon butter
1 small onion, sliced thin
12 large fresh clams or 2 cups
chopped clams, plus 2 cups
clam broth
8 cups fresh or frozen white or
yellow com kernels
1 teaspoon salt
'A teaspoon freshly ground
black pepper
1 tablespoon chopped fresh
parsley
4 cups milk
'A cup evaporated milk
Melt the butter in a heavy
four-quart pot, add the onion,
and saute until soft. When using
fresh clams, chop them, and re
serve the clam juice separately.
There should be 2 cups of liquid.
When using canned clams, drain
them and add enough bottled
clam broth to make up the 2
cups. Add the clam liquid, the
chopped clams, com kernels, salt,
pepper, and parsley to the onion
and bring to a boil. Stir in the
milk and evaporated milk. Re
duce the heat and simmer for ap
proximately 30 minutes, stirring
often to prevent the milk from
sticking. The longer the soup
simmers, the thicker it becomes
and the better it tastes.
Variation: For a really thick
chowder, add two potatoes,
peeled and sliced.
Microwave: Melt butter in a
covered four-quart glass pot and
add the onion. Follow the above
Kutztown Plans Sweet Com Meeting
KUTZTOWN (Berks Co.)
The Kutztown Produce Auction
Education Committee and Penn
State Cooperative Extension will
conduct their annual sweet com
meeting at the Kutztown Produce
Auction Wednesday, July 31,
from 3:30 p.m.-8:30 p.ra.
Numerous educational sessions
as well as an all-you-can-eat
sweet com dinner will keep the
evening full of activity.
Sessions include. Home Well
Water Issues, Farm Tractor Safe
ty, Municipal Zoning, Enterprise
Budgeting, Ecological Sweet
Com Practices and Vegetable
Disease Control. Three vegetable
category (03) pesticide update
credits will be given.
This event is being co-spon
sored by Mid-Atlantic Farm
Credit, Moyer and Son, Inc., Base
Organics and Penns Creek MFG.
Preregistration is requested.
Registration fee is $5 and should
be mailed to: Sweet Com Meet
ing, Penn State Cooperative Ex
tension, Berks County Ag Center,
P.O. Box 520, Leesport, PA
recipe and bring to boil about
eight minutes. Stir in milk and
cook about seven minutes. Stir in
clams and let stand for three
minutes before serving.
Serves 6.
SAUSAGE, CORN
AND PEPPERS
VA-2 pounds sausage
3 cups corn kernels
3 medium red or green bell
peppers, diced
1 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
Sprig fresh rosemary, chopped
fine
Form sausage into bite-size
balls. Fry in wok or heavy skillet
until golden brown approxi
mately eight minutes. Remove all
but 2 tablespoons fat, then add
com, peppers, salt, and pepper,
and rosemary. Stir-fry until pep
pers are tender approximately
five minutes covering pan with
lid for the last three minutes.
Serves 4-6.
The following com recipe is
from Belinda Myers of Dallas
town who won first prize in the
Lebanon Area Fair 2002 “Simply
Delicious” Vegetable Quick
Bread Contest:
KORN Y KORN BREAD
VA cup milk
Vj cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup com meal
2 tablespoons sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
Vi teaspoon salt
VA cup grated fresh sweet com
2 tablespoons finely diced red
pepper
Vi cup shredded Cheddar
cheese
2 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
'A teaspoon minced garlic
x h teaspoon dried basil
'A teaspoon ground pepper
Blend milk, butter and eggs in
a large mixing bowl. Add flour,
corn meal, sugar, baking powder,
salt, sweet corn, red pepper, gar
lic, basil and ground pepper.
Blend well. Fold in cheeses last.
Place in a nine-inch loaf pan
which has been greased. Bake at
350 degrees for SO to 60 minutes
or until the center comes clean.
19533-0520. Laura McNutt at
(610) 378-1327 can be contacted
for more information.
Buying
Tips For
Sweet Corn
The Pennsylvania Vege
table Marketing and Re
search Program offers these
tips when buying sweet
corn:
• Look for fresh green
husks and ears that are
filled all the way to the tip.
• Kernels should be ten
der, full and firm enough to
puncture easily under the
slightest pressure.
• To preserve the corn’s
sugar content and flavor,
refrigerate immediately
after purchase.