Heritage Corn Programme

Overview

A Corn Worth Saving

A neighbour handed us a jar of corn seed her grandfather had grown in this valley for decades — tall plants, deep golden kernels, and flavour our modern sweetcorn never had. We planted a trial strip, saved the best ears, and replanted. Three seasons on, it fills our summer veg boxes.

The Challenge

Old varieties are fussier than modern hybrids: uneven germination, taller stalks that lodge in wind, and ears that ripen across two weeks instead of two days. Our first trial strip looked ragged beside the hybrid rows, and the picking crew needed retraining to judge ripeness ear by ear.

Our Approach

• Selected seed only from the earliest, fullest ears to tighten the harvest window.
• Planted in blocks rather than long rows so wind passes through instead of flattening stalks.
• Picked at dawn into cold water, so sugars stay sweet until the box reaches the doorstep.

Outcome

Corn season is now the most talked-about stretch of our veg-box year. Families ask for it by name, the seed line improves every season, and we keep a reserve jar in the barn — this time labelled, dated, and shared with two neighbouring growers so the variety is safe whatever happens here.

See how we manage crops