So Ted, What are you going to do with all of that blue corn anyway?

**Ozark Ridge Rider** · 8th December 10, 06:24 PM

I got a few kernals of blue (almost black) at the Grand Canyon one year. It proved very drought resistant, and made almost black cornbread.

Bloody Butcher variety also made black cornbread, even though the meal was pink.

**Bugbear** · 8th December 10, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Ozark Ridge Rider

I got a few kernals of blue (almost black) at the Grand Canyon one year. It proved very drought resistant, and made almost black cornbread.

Bloody Butcher variety also made black cornbread, even though the meal was pink.

That might have been Hopi blue maize, and yes it is very drought resistant, it can also be planted very deeply and still germinate making it even more drought resistant.

I'm guessing you used baking soda in the corn bread, and it released the Bloody Butcher's colors with the PH change.

**artificer** · 8th December 10, 08:16 PM

And here I was hoping to hear that Bugbear was secretly developing the first 'blue corn syrup'

**ali8780** · 8th December 10, 08:27 PM

Ted--

That was fascinating. I'm unbelievably glad I asked. I as well would love to see pictures of the blue corn, especially one that spirals, that sounds beautiful.

So, what is the ultimate goal here, to study the plant? or to develop a plant that you can enjoy as a food source? Also, do you sell your seeds?

**Bugbear** · 8th December 10, 09:07 PM

Originally Posted by ali8780

Ted--

That was fascinating. I'm unbelievably glad I asked. I as well would love to see pictures of the blue corn, especially one that spirals, that sounds beautiful.

So, what is the ultimate goal here, to study the plant? or to develop a plant that you can enjoy as a food source? Also, do you sell your seeds?

What does your new signature mean, Ali?
"Running Barefoot: Not just for children anymore."

No, I won't be selling any of my seeds; but will be giving some to a few people here and there for them to grow.

I am only continuing the tradition of growing and selecting the corn. It's not really for a food source, though it could be; there is a cultural side to the project.

The point is to work directly with the plants as they develop and adapt over several generations and become a new variety. That's more difficult to do with trees unless you are monkeying around with the genes or find a mutant growth.

I agree that it would be beneficial to have a few pictures, I could even include them in my records, so I will try to get someone to take some.

Thanks for asking, Ali.

**ali8780** · 8th December 10, 11:11 PM

Asking is easy Ted, thanks for the info

as for my signature:

I'm training barefoot (running). It's an amazing feeling, and a somewhat controversial but newly popular way to run. Some love it passionately, and some hate it passionately. You can count me in with the first group

**Bugbear** · 8th December 10, 11:38 PM

Originally Posted by ali8780

Asking is easy Ted, thanks for the info

as for my signature:

I'm training barefoot (running). It's an amazing feeling, and a somewhat controversial but newly popular way to run. Some love it passionately, and some hate it passionately. You can count me in with the first group

Ah, I have heard of that, Ali. Also the people who are barefoot full time. Very fascinating.

I wear either sandals or I think they're called closed toe slides most of the time. There is a small area of Bermuda grass where I can walk around barefoot, but I don't trust the rest of my yard. Sometimes I'll go walk around that area when I flood water it.

Good luck with your barefoot running and hope you have fun, Ali.

**ali8780** · 9th December 10, 09:46 AM

Originally Posted by Bugbear

Ah, I have heard of that, Ali. Also the people who are barefoot full time. Very fascinating.

I wear either sandals or I think they're called closed toe slides most of the time. There is a small area of Bermuda grass where I can walk around barefoot, but I don't trust the rest of my yard. Sometimes I'll go walk around that area when I flood water it.

Good luck with your barefoot running and hope you have fun, Ali.

Thanks Ted, I am having loads of fun

**Old Hippie** · 9th December 10, 04:30 PM

Originally Posted by Bugbear

I am only continuing the tradition of growing and selecting the corn. It's not really for a food source, though it could be; there is a cultural side to the project.

It's interesting in Carol Deppe's "The Resilient Gardener" that she's spent a fair amount of time on selecting corn. She noticed that some desirable characteristics of various varieties were linked to colour, and so she's selected for pure-colour strains of one mixed-colour variety, to get cream, white, brown and red kernels. Each strain has its own best use -- as flour or cornmeal, for polenta or for parching. Being all sisters of the same variety, she can grow them all in the same plot. She puts them in squares, and harvests her seed stock from the centre of each square and eats the rest.

She doesn't spend much time on nixtamalizing, which is something I would do because I make a lot of tortillas and would like to grow the corn for them instead of relying on agribusiness for it. We also like hominy in several forms and have grits at least as often as oatmeal.

I'm interested to get some of her seeds, because she's also selected for short season and dry conditions, which both we have here in the Desert Southwest of Canada.

**Bugbear** · 9th December 10, 05:49 PM

Originally Posted by Old Hippie

It's interesting in Carol Deppe's "The Resilient Gardener" that she's spent a fair amount of time on selecting corn. She noticed that some desirable characteristics of various varieties were linked to colour, and so she's selected for pure-colour strains of one mixed-colour variety, to get cream, white, brown and red kernels. Each strain has its own best use -- as flour or cornmeal, for polenta or for parching. Being all sisters of the same variety, she can grow them all in the same plot. She puts them in squares, and harvests her seed stock from the centre of each square and eats the rest.

She doesn't spend much time on nixtamalizing, which is something I would do because I make a lot of tortillas and would like to grow the corn for them instead of relying on agribusiness for it. We also like hominy in several forms and have grits at least as often as oatmeal.

I'm interested to get some of her seeds, because she's also selected for short season and dry conditions, which both we have here in the Desert Southwest of Canada.

I don't have her book, Old Hippie, but the corn plants will swap genes if the tassels are producing pollen at the same time as the emergence of silks. Also, the kernel will express the genetics it has been pollinated with, so having blue flour corn in a yellow sweet corn planting will make a bunch of blue starchy kernels throughout all the sweet corn; it's a dominant trait. The tassels only make pollen for about five days and peak around the third, if I remember correctly, so you can plant one variety two weeks later than another and have a good chance they will not cross pollinate. Corn genetics are a little bit weird, as well.
I use tons of online information from university and county extensions, sometimes you can talk to the local people, too.

You might be interested in Native Seeds.
Here's the "Tohono O'odham 60-Day" maize I brought up in another post that you might be interested in:
http://www.nativeseeds.org/catalog/p...products_id=15
And this is the variety of blue maize I am growing, "Mt. Pima Maiz Azul":
http://www.nativeseeds.org/catalog/p...roducts_id=894

You might want to look around the site, Old Hippie; there's a whole bunch of corn and other stuff. Even some information on how to cultivate for seed saving and so on.