Moe DeLoughan wrote in rec.food.cooking:

> 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.

Works for me! I don't want corn that tastes like it was dipped in
sugar.

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