Glass Gem Corn- Heirloom seed spotlight

A few years ago i had seen an article on facebook about Glass Gem corn. i immediately searched online and bought some seeds. i then immediately forgot about them for two year.  Last year, i finally remembered my seeds and planted them, but they didn't do well at all. i got them in too late and it got too cold before they ever formed ears. 

i was happy to see the seeds were still viable after two years, and decided to give it a try again this year not really sure what to expect. i put in one row when we planted to sweet corn and then proceeded to neglect it all season.  When Kenan harvested the sweet corn he let me know that there were ears on the glass gem corn.  So i went out to check it. 

i admit, i kind of thought all those photos i'd seen online had been altered. It couldn't possibly look like that could it?? Yeah, it really does. Everyone i opened was a completely different. 

Some prettier than others, but all really unique and amazing!  The translucent kernels really do look like glass. Each ear looks like it has been decorated in glass beads.

This pink/lavender one is a favorite.  i only had one in these colors.

An unbelievably stunning corn bred by part-Cherokee farmer, Carl Barnes, from ancestral, Native American corn. Ears are a kaleidoscope of gem-like, rainbow kernels. 'Glass Gem  ' goes beyond pretty ornamental corn, it can also be used to make cornmeal, flour, popcorn, or traditional parched corn.  It is available on the Botanical Interests website.

i'm planning to use some of it for decoration and some for popcorn and the saving the seeds on the rest. i grew it near our sweet corn, so i'm not sure if it will have cross pollinated, but i will probably grow a row of the original seeds and a row of the new seeds just to see.  i will say i was very impressed how well the corn germinated after sitting for 3 years and how well it grew despite drought conditions here. This is definitely a variety you are going to want to grow at least once!

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