Galloway Farm

Maybe one of our most fun experiments in the garden this year was to grow, harvest, and eat our very own popcorn. It’s the perfect combination of gardening, learning and eating! Here’s how:

– Buy popcorn seed (it’s a certain variety of corn; not just normal corn) and plant it in your garden. Don’t plant popcorn and corn in the same garden. They cross pollinate and ruin both.
– Let your popcorn stalks grow all summer long. Don’t be in a hurry to pick it.
– In late August or early September, the leaves on your popcorn stalks and ears will turn brown. Now it’s time to pick your popcorn ears.
– Popcorn needs to continue drying out and the kernels will continue to harden. To do this, strip the husks off and put your ears of popcorn in a dry place for about two weeks.
– Next, the fun begins as your twist your ears (think Indian burn when you were a kid) and the kernels start going everywhere. You’ll need a large bowl to keep the kernels in.
– Now you’re ready to cook. Heat up a little oil on the stove and put a single layer of your kernels in to cook. In a few minutes the popping action begins and you’re ready to add your favorite salt/butter to make it just the way you like.
– It’s all much easier than it sounds and you can bet you’ll never want any more microwave popcorn again.

Here are a few pics from our popcorn adventure at Galloway Farm:

Not only was this a lot of fun; but it also begins to give adults and kids alike a sense of just how much time and work families once put into things as simple as a bowl of popcorn. I know popcorn will be in our garden again next year.