Saving seed from corn

I planted a small patch of rainbow earth tones dent corn this year. I have it isolated from our sweet corn by over 100 ft, and the house is between the gardens. Can I save seed from it? If I do will it grow (mostly) true next year?

Cathy O.
Amherst, New York

You can sure save seed, but the purity of it is subject to debate. Usually, corn that has crossed will show signs. For instance, your rainbow colors might have all yellow or half yellow if it has crossed with sweet corn. Or your sweet corn may have some colored kernels. Corn is wind pollinated and the wind can carry pollen up to a mile, so sometimes even if your neighbor half a mile away grows corn it can pollinate with yours. In a homestead situation this isn’t a huge problem; just save seed from the corn ears that most closely resemble your Earth Tones dent. — Jackie

Water level in canner

I was just doing some water bath canning of tomatoes and the water level went below the top of one set of jars. They seem to have sealed, but should I/can I reprocess them? Am I missing anything? Do I need replace the lids?

Michael Lowery
Dekalb, Illinois

While it’s definitely best to have at least 2 inches over the tops of the jars during water bath processing, if that dropped for a short time, the tomatoes should be fine. If it was for much longer, I’d reprocess them, using new lids. — Jackie

5 COMMENTS

  1. Tami/TX

    I’ve seen this, too. Yes, the 9 qt canners are taller. Another option is to buy a large stock pot w/cover and insert a homemade rack such as the small grill rack I found at the Dollar Store.

  2. As to the water in the HWB canner going below the tops of the jars. I have found it virtually IMPOSSIBLE to prevent with the new canners!!!!! Even though they say they can quart jars………. They will ONLY hold about 1/2″ water above the jar (leaving an additional 1/2″ or less of air from the rim). Sigh. Our 7 qt. canners are way to short. If you can find a 9 qt. canner they appear to be taller.

  3. As to the “oops” dry corn……. Yes, chickens and stock will eat it. ALSO…… It can be ground into meal and flour!

  4. Thanks Jackie. So far all of our sweet corn has been OK, no cross pollination that I can see (or taste) anyway, it’s good this year too! I haven’t picked the earth tones dent yet. I’m drying it. So I am not sure how it came out. I tried to separate by tassel time, but I planned wrong and they went almost at the same time….along with the third planting (100 feet the other way) of Native American ornamental…Whoops! So we may have some interesting crosses. I’ll save seed anyway from the rainbow dent and see what happens. If we get something weird next year, the chickens’ll eat it.

  5. Thanks Jackie. So far all of our sweet corn has been OK, no cross pollination that I can see (or taste) anyway, it’s good this year too! I haven’t picked the earth tones dent yet. I’m drying it. So I am not sure how it came out. I tried to separate by tassel time, but I planned wrong and they went almost at the same time….along with the third planting (100 feet the other way) of Native American ornamental…Whoops! So we may have some interesting crosses. I’ll save seed anyway from the rainbow dent and see what happens. If we get something weird nest year, the chickens’ll eat it.

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