On 11/10/2015 6:54 PM, cshenk wrote:
> Moe DeLoughan wrote in rec.food.cooking:
>
>> On 11/10/2015 2:12 PM, sf wrote:
>>> On Tue, 10 Nov 2015 12:47:11 -0600, Moe DeLoughan >
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> Then again, the same can be said for the so-called 'survival'
>>>> seeds. Just plain old open-pollinated seeds that can be
>>>> purchased in bulk for about one one-hundredth of the price from
>>>> actual seed companies.
>>>
>>> If I was saving seeds for the apocalypse, it would be heirloom
>>> varieties because I think they'd have the best chance at making it
>>> to harvest.
>>>
>>
>> There's no legal definition of "heirloom seeds", so I'm not sure what
>> you mean by that. Open pollinated seeds are not hybrids, so they will
>> breed true from seed kept from year to year. The two basic issues
>> with such varieties are yield quantity and quality. It generally
>> seems that if the quality is outstanding, the yield is poor. A lot of
>> the old-time varieties are very good and good yielders, too, but a
>> lot of others are not the quality of newer hybrids. People who've
>> never tasted Golden Bantam sweet corn (one of the original old time
>> sweet corn varieties) would be in for a shock. Newer varieties are
>> much sweeter, crisper, better-yielding, and convert their sugar into
>> starch much more slowly. In short, the sweet corn you are eating now
>> is nothing at all like your grandparent's sweet corn. - it's a hell
>> of a lot better.
>
> Depends on what you want. I like the older versions of corn that dont
> taste like they've been rolled in sugar. They actually taste like CORN.
>

One of the earlier extrasweet (versus supersweet) hybrids to hit the
market was 'Sweetie' a yellow extrasweet corn. It retained the real
corn flavor and traditional texture, it was just about a third
sweeter, and the sugar changed to starch much more slowly. It could be
stored, refrigerated for about a week without significantly impairing
its sweetness and texture*. Alas, the supersweets quickly overwhelmed
the extrasweets in popularity. Apparently the general public decided
it liked corn that was decidedly sweet (instead of just sweeter) and
crispier, too.

You can still find Sweetie seed for sale at some of the bulk seed
merchants. I got my brother growing it when it was first introduced in
the 1980s and he won't grow anything else.

*I recall a very warm autumn where a farmer friend harvested the very
last of his Sweetie at the end of October. We kept in our coolers
until Thanksgiving, and served corn on the cob as part of our dinner.
It was still very good, though not at its best, but - locally grown
corn on the cob in Minnesota in November was quite the remarkable thing.