# Painted Mountain Corn



## siletz

We grew Painted Mountain corn for the first time this year. We chose it because it is open pollenated and short season, so would help us be more self-sufficient. It is a flour corn that can be dried and ground into cornmeal, fried in a skillet to make parched corn, or fed to our animals. Our question had been if it would be suitable for corn-on-the-cob as well. Well, we harvested a couple of ears yesterday, and thought I'd share our thoughts. We were pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't too bad. It is not as sweet or tender as normal sweet corn, but we all finished our ear. Even the kids said they could eat this corn. I definitely wouldn't grow it if we just needed it as sweet corn, but as we were looking for a multi-purpose corn, we will definitely be growing it next year.

More info can be found at their website if you're interested: http://www.seedweneed.com/


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## Emerald

I grew up eating field corn... When it was ready Uncle would holler to Aunty and say get the water boiling and then we would pick and shuck as fast as we could and get it in the water and eat it up with fresh melting butter and salt and pepper.. it didn't get any better... but corn now a days is too soft mushy and sweet.. doesn't even taste like corn. Okay if I am standing in the field eating it raw but not my favorite.


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## Graebarde

Thanks for the insight. Field corns, atleast the old varieties, are generally good multipurpose corns. We used field corn instead of sweet for eating and never suffered for it. Sweet corn is good, but it is really a single purpose corn, much better to have something that is multiple use. And that goes for other things to raise besides corn. FB


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## lhalfcent

speaking of corn there is a guy and his wife who invented biodegradable yarn made from ....wait for it.... CORN! lol I kid you not!
check it out here. 
Home yarn ingeo corn fiber knit knitting crochet minnesota hand dyed


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## MichaelK

Hi Siletz

Question for you. Here are the environmental conditions around our retreat.

Elevation: 5000 feet at 34 degrees North, oak/pine woodland habitat.

Soil: Fine silty-loam (wind-blown leoss soil) 4-6 feet deep with 24-30 inches of topsoil.

Last spring frost May 31st, First autumn frost after November 1st. Winter lows in the teens. Summer highs in the 90s.

Precipitation: Annual rain 20 inches (long term average) with 95% of it between November and May. Little or no rain at all in the growing season.

My personal observations is that there is soil moisture at the surface till about June 1'st, with grass under the trees going completely dead by July 1st.

With growing conditions like that do you think that painted mountain would give a crop without irrigation?


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## Graebarde

MichaelK said:


> Hi Siletz
> 
> Question for you. Here are the environmental conditions around our retreat.
> 
> Elevation: 5000 feet at 34 degrees North, oak/pine woodland habitat.
> 
> Soil: Fine silty-loam (wind-blown leoss soil) 4-6 feet deep with 24-30 inches of topsoil.
> 
> Last spring frost May 31st, First autumn frost after November 1st. Winter lows in the teens. Summer highs in the 90s.
> 
> Precipitation: Annual rain 20 inches (long term average) with 95% of it between November and May. Little or no rain at all in the growing season.
> 
> My personal observations is that there is soil moisture at the surface till about June 1'st, with grass under the trees going completely dead by July 1st.
> 
> With growing conditions like that do you think that painted mountain would give a crop without irrigation?


Note I'm not Siletz, but I'll give you my 2-cents anyways. Corn requires a LOT of water to grow compared to other grass crops ie wheat. With no rainfall in the growing season and high temps, I would predict a crop failure. However, there are ways to increase the probability of success with minimal irrigation. You hill the corn, and have depressions around the base of the plants. Make it small plots of four to six plants per, and plant squash and beans with it: The 'Trinity'. Yes you water the plot, but the squash shades the root area and helps keep the evaporation from the soil down. All the plants benefit from the water, and you get three compatable foods from a smaller area. It has been done in the southwest for centuries. Just and idea. ps: you could also irrigate with buckets that have small seep holes in the bottom. Five gallon plastic works fine. Put a heavy rock in the bottom if your in windy country. Put the bucket in the plot and let it seep down. Not sure how it would work, but that's how we've kept the young trees alive in the drought.

FB


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## Graebarde

lhalfcent said:


> speaking of corn there is a guy and his wife who invented biodegradable yarn made from ....wait for it.... CORN! lol I kid you not!
> check it out here.
> Home yarn ingeo corn fiber knit knitting crochet minnesota hand dyed


Interesting, but I see it's not what I though it would be at first. I though they were using the plant fiber itself, instead it's polymer from the kernals. Kind of hard to do at home I think, but a good idea none the less IMO. Another unique use for corn.

FB


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## siletz

Michael: I don't know how it would grow in your locale, as I am in a very different climate than yours. I do know that it was developed by a man that lives in the high desert area of Montana and was bred to grow where other corn could not. I got the following quote off of his website that you might find helpful:

"Painted Mountain grows fast even in cold climates where other corns struggle to stay alive in early spring. It also pollinates and fills out ears during the searing heat of the dry Montana summer. It takes 90 days to mature as dry grain in my cold mountain climate, about 2-4 weeks ahead of other "90 day" corn. Some people say the Painted Mountain makes dry grain in only 70 days when taken to a warmer climate. I have received many reports of yields around 50 bu/acre and often to 60 or 70 bu.acre. This is very good for a very early corn in a stressed location. Keep in mind that the hybrid varieties often fail completely in these high stress locations. I have gotten good production reports from every part of the USA , and many parts of the world from Siberia to South Africa . Painted Mountain will grow food where many varieties will fail."

Hope this helps!
Siletz


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## BayouShaman

Graebarde said:


> ps: you could also irrigate with buckets that have small seep holes in the bottom. Five gallon plastic works fine. Put a heavy rock in the bottom if your in windy country. Put the bucket in the plot and let it seep down. Not sure how it would work, but that's how we've kept the young trees alive in the drought.
> 
> FB


Brilliant . Thanks!


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## Emerald

Look up Zuni waffle gardens-they developed these to conserve the water in deserts.


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## siletz

Thought I'd post a pic of our harvest. This was from a 4x8 test plot as it was an experiment this year. We plan to grow a 50x50 area with this next year and save seed from it. It was fun to harvest as we never knew what color we were going to get. They're drying now, but I will post back when we make them into flour and parch them to let you know what we think.


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## Graebarde

Siletz,

Nice.. And 32 ears from a 4x8 (32 sf) plot is some doings too. One thing I have been trying to find out is if this an open pollinated line. If your planning to save seed next year (though you have quite a bit of seed there if it was mature at harvest) I guess I can assume it is, though I realize risk in making an assumption carries.

FB


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## goshengirl

Aren't all Indian corns OPs? Although that's just an assumption on my part, too.

Thanks for posting your experience with this corn. We tried growing a few varieties for saving and grinding into cornmeal: Oaxacan, Mandan (red) and Hopi Blue. We had very poor germination and what did germinate didn't do well, but our whole season was out of whack due to rain/saturation issues. We will definitely be doing the Mandan and Hopi Blue varieties again. But due to this thread we'll try Painted Mountain as well - and due to another thread we'll try Bloody Butcher, too.

I just love all the Indian corn varieties. So many colors - so much history.


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## Emerald

Corn is more tricky when it comes to being OP -Corn is the veggie world's "loose woman". it will readily cross pollinate with any other corn in the area.
I live in the middle of big areas of corn/soybeans/wheat. Corn pollen can travel over a mile and pollinate your corn. 
When I want to keep mine pure I just put those white paper lunch sacks over the ears before they start showing silk. When the tassels start making good pollen I then remove the bags shake the stalks or even hand pollinate the silks with the pollen and then put the bags back on till the silks start to dry and it shows that the ears are plumping up. It is a lot of work.
I usually only do it for my popcorn.
I am more worried that my heirloom corn will be contaminated by Monsatanos franken corn pollen.

ETA: not all ornamental corns are OP or Heirloom.. they make new types every year by crossing to find better colors or certain colors.


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## siletz

Yes, Painted Mountain is an OP corn. It was bred from 70 different northern indian corn varieties to be able to grow in harsher conditions than the average corn. We're kind of on the edge of being able to grow a corn crop each year here because of our cooler climate, but this corn did a great job for us. We will be trying to save seed from this next year, as you should not save corn seed from less than 200 plants to avoid inbreeding problems. We won't have problems with cross pollenation like Emerald does, as we don't have any fields of any corn near us. 

Goshengirl: I'm sorry your corn did not grow so well for you this year, but I would love to hear how your corn does for you next year! It has been a fun experiment so far to see another side of what corn can be other than just the extra sweet corn on the cob once a year.


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## whome

That is great info to know as I bought some of that seed to try next year.

We also use the 5 gal bucket with a hole to water squash and tomatoes and new trees and bushes. It does work great.


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## lickit

*6" or so of hay mulch will help tremendously.*

Very little irrigation will be needed, the mulch reduces evaporation so much. Probably need to create trenches around the corn hills, to keep the water mostly off of the mulch, until the soil is at least semi-dry, then use a rake to pull the mulch back up closer to the corn stalks. Watch the plants closely for root rot, fungi, etc, tho. Exposure to sun for a short time usually takes care of such problems, tho. Just a bit of work with the leaf rake is normally all that's required.


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