It’s corn season in Alberta. In this part of the woods this means that we
look for corn coming from Southern Alberta.
A lot of that corn comes from Taber. This is because there are families like the
Jensen’s that have been growing corn there for years and are really great at
it.
This season we’ve had enough rain
and enough sun and heat to start corn season in early August. If the frost holds off we’ll be eating corn
well into September. The reason we can’t
grow corn here in the foothills is that we don’t have enough heat. The nights cool off and we don’t get enough
frost free days. At my place west of
Millarville we get anywhere from 40 to 80 days between the last frost in the
spring and the first frost in the fall.
Down by Taber they can get 100 to 120 frost free days. Corn loves to grow at between 25-30 C but is sensitive to frost damage.
Taber is famous for its corn due to the large amounts of
sunshine the area receives. It is therefore known as the Corn Capital of Canada
and holds an annual "Corn Fest" in the last week of August. http://www.taber.ca/calendar.aspx?EID=152
But not all corn is from Taber. Some is from BC, some from Medicine Hat and
other areas of Alberta. Lots of roadside
vendors try to pass off any corn as Taber corn.
"It’s a challenge that happens every year,” explains David
Jensen, with the Alberta Corn Growers Association. “We try to do some control
of that by having certificates that we issue to people we sell to, that gives
the growers name and where the corn is from.” The certificate of authenticity will also have a raised
emblem on it to try to limit the amount of fake certificates being displayed at
counterfeit corn stands.
“There are people out selling corn, and that corn is not
originally from Taber, and they’re calling it Taber corn,” says Jensen. (http://www.globaltvedmonton.com/pages/story.aspx?id=6442693253)
Here at the market we have two corn vendors who are the real
deal farmers. One is Jensen’s which
helped to start the branding of Taber Corn twenty five years ago.
The other is the Magill family corn which is from near
Lethbridge. I like them both. Some of our other vegetable growers like
Michelle’s Market and Mr. Hiebert grown
corn as well. Think of it a great
research to try all the different kinds.
Different varieties, growing conditions, water, picking time, all affect
flavour.
One thing that really affects the sweetness, flavour and
texture of corn is how fresh it is. As
soon as it’s picked the sugars start to turn to starch. This is slowed by cooling, but the fresher
it is, the better it will be. Another
reason to buy locally.
Everybody has a favourite way to cook corn. Mine is to drop it into boiling salted water
for 5 min and add butter. Say no more
it’s corn time.
No comments:
Post a Comment