By: AMY MAYER
Even though the Midwest is tops in field corn production and grows row after row of it, these states don’t stand out when it comes to national production of sweet corn.
But for many in the region, nothing says summer quite like a fresh hot ear of sweet corn — plain, buttered or salted.
On the final Friday of the 2019 Iowa State Fair, more than 1,200 ears of donated sweet corn were boiled and handed out for free to anyone who waited in line. Volunteer Mary Smith had the job of squirting margarine on the corn, though she said with a chuckle that she’s in the minority: she doesn’t like any butter on her corn.
Deal’s Orchard displays the variety of sweet corn it’s selling at the Ames Farmers Market. Christy Deal completes an order for a customer. Her husband, Benji Deal, says Kristine has been a consistently sweet and tender variety. Most of his customers don’t pay attention to the name, though. They’re more likely to have a color request, such as all yellow.
