Sweet corn
Zea mays
Plant in blocks, not one long row, so the wind can pollinate it.
Hardiness: zones 3 to 11
Light: full sun
Size: about 7 ft tall, 1.5 ft wide
Harvest: July to September
From: Mexico
Here: Hardy in the Lake Erie shore climate (zone 6b to 7a), so it can live outdoors in the ground.
Good for: food.
Native to: Mexico, Central America & the Caribbean. Hardy in zones 3 to 11.
The story
Corn was bred from a Mexican grass, teosinte, 9,000 years ago and became the centre of Indigenous agriculture across the Americas; sweet corn is a mutation the Haudenosaunee grew, and settlers took it from them in the 1770s. The three sisters planting, corn with beans and squash, is older than any written record.
Planting
Full sun, rich soil, and a block of at least four short rows for wind pollination; sow after the soil warms, an inch deep, 10 inches apart.
Growing
Water deeply when tassels and silks show, feed with compost or nitrogen when knee-high, and hill soil around the stalks.
Harvest and use
Pick when silks brown and a kernel squirts milk, about three weeks after silking; eat the same day for sweetness.
What to watch for
Corn earworm, raccoons the night before you pick, and corn smut (edible, if you dare).
See if Sweet corn fits your yard
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More annual vegetables, herbs and grains
General guidance, not professional advice. Conditions vary by yard and year; for local specifics ask your county extension office. Never eat a wild plant you cannot identify with certainty. Traditional uses are shared as history, not medical advice. © 2026 Sean Priest · Irie Orchard. Terms & credits · Privacy · Home