As another Lame Cherry exclusive in matter anti matter.
This is a review of the Mandan Indian squaw corn called Mandan Bride.
It is like all non Americanized corns in being quite variable and not productive. There are though good qualities of this corn and the following is my experience.
My first try with this corn had me planting like 50 plants, and I ended up with a surprise in it rained in September and the corn ears do not all bend down, so they molded, sprouted and rotted in a few of them. What was left was crappy little ears as is squaw corn, and then just a few decent ears.
The one I chose was a pretty striped red and yellowish kernel type which was large, as I liked that pretty and thought I would try and grow that.
I grew the next years crop, and harvested that crop, which was without rain, but still held more crappy corn or stalks that did not produce. Yes I know about planting only the large kernels.
There were no striped ears though, just a colored maze of corn from white, yellow, blue, red and striped.
This year was the big year, and I had around 150 plants to try and gain some productiong as I assumed I would not have any old maid stalks in the rows.....but oh yes I did.
I also had coon problems as they decided after satan flattened my sweet corn to chew on this squaw corn.
That means though that this squaw corn has a sweetness to it. I "think" that the corn the coons preferred was the white, yellow and blue kernel types, which were earlier. Then again they might have just been in the stage to chew on while the others were not.
I noted as I was frowning over this and salvaging the ears, that were ripe enough, that I had about a half dozen green stalks and ears in the rows. Meaning there is late corn in this Mandan Bride too. So I conclude that I have around 80 day corn and something like 115 day corn or later in this type. I have not opened the green ears to pick yet as I type this as they are too green, but one was striped that was broken off. I will know more of this in the future month.
What I have though is pictured above. Ears, none of which, are alike, run a range of white and blue, to red, and some new colors which impressed me in oranges and pinks. I even so a few green kernels in these ears.
Mandan Bride has even more vast genetic diversity than I had assumed, as year three, some really interesting and bright colors started appearing. There was a Minnesota artist named Strubbe who used to make corn art paintings from kernels, sort of like the Mitchell Corn Palace in South Dakota, and he developed some interesting colors in how he pollinated his varieties.
I will be honest in I really do not care about corn colors that much and how genetics work, even if I have a rudimentary undestanding of it. I was simply surprised that this corn has mutated to higher stages of color and development than I had witnessed or seen examples of previously.
The reality is, I have a lovely Oscar Will variety called Dakota White which had foot long ears this year, yes 8 rows so narrow, but this corn outproduced the Mandan and I only had like a dozen stalks, as it suckered and really did well.
I love opening husks though and being surprised as to what is inside of them. It delights to see the color patterns that God designs and creates like sunsets.
If I have money and time, and land, next seaon, I would like to take each of the above ears, and then plant them in a row and mark them, so as to ascertain if any would be more true to type even with pollination. Every farmer has unNatural selection in what is pleasing to the eye in being prejudice and bias. I am watching the coon ears though, as if a coon is chewing on something it is the best flavor and sweetest or they would not be gnawing on it. In that, it seems the whites are better and the reds are less attractive, at least to coons.
There is never enough time to learn of crops. I am guessing this type I would glean maybe 15 bushels to the acre, which I would not starve over, but all the same this corn has got to get on the stick a little bit. I am sort of surprised that as Americans have had access to this corn for over 100 years, that it was not a bit better in stalk, production and conformity. People just naturally plant things better, but this one really is still in the planning stages yet.
I planted red striped corn, and got all of these varieties. I planted all the varieties and then they produced even more intense color patterns. I suppose I could try and select out, but my focus is now on production and flavor, and not on colors......as long as they do not look washed out. Thing is there are other Oscar Will introductions which have striped corns, yellow corns or blue and white corns, so there is not much sense in making selections. It does seem though that the white and blue variety is not as pervalent as the browns and reds.
It is a little dudder corn in size, around 6 feet tall, does sucker at times and it does have a variety of thin stalks to some which are thicker. I like it, but will mainline the Dakota White as it produces better as a flint and that corn amazes me as I planted very old seed and it still sprouted well.
Enough of this.
agtG
agtG
