**I LOVE plants that can be neglected and still thrive well!**



**GROWN ON OUR FARM HERE IN TENNESSEE**











**McCORMACK BLUE GIANT CORN**



Blue corn is botanically identical to yellow corn but with one important difference. Its deep blue-purple color is the result of its rich anthocyanin content — with a concentration equal to or greater than the anthocyanin concentration of blueberries and a higher antioxidant capacity.



Photo









85/95 days. [Introduced 1994 by SESE. Jeff McCormack from a cross between Hickory King and an unnamed heirloom blue dent.] The large, wide, smoky blue kernels can be ground into a light blue flour, suited for blue tortillas and blue corn chips. Also good as a roasting ear corn (old fashioned corn on the cob). Especially suited to the eastern U.S., clay soils, and drought-prone areas. The tall 10–12 ft. stalks. One or two 7–8 1/2 in. ears per stalk. Good tolerance to leaf blights.



Photo









Corn, indigenous to the Americas, is one of its oldest vegetables. Blue corn is one of the oldest varieties. The Pueblo tribe in the Southwestern United States was using it at least as far back as 1540, when Spanish explorers discovered the region. But this type of corn certainly goes back to the pre-Colombian era.











Photo







Blue corn is open-pollinated, It is a floury corn, and has about 30 percent more protein than the average hybrid corn. It is still widely used in the Southwest and Mexico, where it is a staple food. It can be used to make tortillas, chaquegue, a type of gruel, and nixtamal, which is a type of hominy. Blue corn was also reputed to have healing properties when offered as a beverage.



Photo

Nixtamal is made of corn kernels that have had their hulls removed in a lime water. The result may be cooked into hominy or ground into masa flour, suitable for tamale dough and many other uses in that cuisine. Atole de maiz is a beverage made of ground corn with add-ins like chocolate or chiles.



Photo





Height:

10-12 ft.









Photo







Seed Collecting:

Allow seedheads to dry on plants; remove and collect seeds

Properly cleaned, seed can be successfully stored







Photo



.#1302