Corn, Blue Star (breeder's selection), Flour (75-110 days)  ORGANIC This is a collection of all of the most unique ears in a very diverse gene pool that was rogued from the Hopi Blue flour corn.  This will still yield good flour corn, but it is a more diverse assortment of light blue to purple with non-linear rows of kernels in spirals, star and other interesting patterns.  It also has a good amount of dented kernels and strange forked ears.  A novelty for the curious gardener!  Can be eaten as sweet corn when picked young and roasted, but is best known for making an excellent, sweet blue corn flour that has 30% higher protein levels than dent corns. Plants are 5 ft. tall and bushy with many tillering side shoots.  Ears are a beautiful smooth silvery blue that are 8-10” long with usually 2, but up to 7 per stalk. There is still much variability in this strain with respect to kernel color and degree of kernel denting.  Expect ears to mature into shades of light gray/slate blue, to dark blue and purple.  Robust, drought-tolerant cultivar selected over many generations. HEIRLOOM, SSF    CO20:  Packet (One Ounce) - $3.95...

More details ➞

Corn, Glass Gem, Flint (100 days)  ORGANIC This is a flint corn used for making flour or as a popping corn. Unlike sweet corn, it is not edible right off the cob.  It was likely bred as an ornamental variety - for obvious reasons. Many of these exquisite ears are simply too beautiful to eat.  Like many heirloom treasures, Glass Gem corn has a name, a place, and a story. Its origin traces back to Carl Barnes, a part-Cherokee farmer living in Oklahoma.  Carl Barnes’ (pictured in his corn field) kaleidoscopic corn has become a beacon - and perhaps an inspiring symbol - for the global seed-saving revival.  Barnes had an uncanny knack for corn breeding. More specifically, he excelled at selecting and saving seed from those cobs that exhibited vivid, translucent colors. Like other flint corn it is excellent for polenta and hominy. HEIRLOOM, WDF (Whistling Duck Farm) CO16: Packet (Half Ounce) - $3.95 Quarter Pound - $15 Half pound - $25...

More details ➞

Magenta Parching  (100+ days)  ORGANIC   Parched corn offers yet another scrumptious way to eat non-sweet grain corn. Corn-breeders Carol Deppe and Alan Kapuler developed this OP variety from 7 sweet corn strains and 7 Hopi strains obtained from seedsman John Kimmey. It is cooked in a dry pan without oil for five minutes at medium-low heat, the toasting kernels start to swell and split, releasing a wonderful aroma. The best parching corns are slow to burn, though, it is important to keep them moving by stirring or shaking the pan. TRS.  CO18: Packet (One Ounce) - $3.95 1/4 pound - $18...

More details ➞

Maiz de Concho Flint (110-120 days) We are grateful to have obtained this beautiful heirloom from New Mexico seed keeper, Loretta Sandoval. Corn is strongly adapted to latitude, so when we grew this SW corn in Oregon it grew very tall (10-12’) and produced ears late. So, unless you are closer to 35 degrees Lati- tude, then allow for a very long season for this strain to mature. Maize de Concho is included in the Slow Food Ark of Taste collection because it has been used for preparing Chicos, a method of cooking involving harvest- ing at the green (milk) stage and prepared via an ancient technique through roasting in an earthen oven called an “Horno”. Chicos are still made by residents of the Upper Rio Grande and San Luis Valley where there is a revival of this endangered regional food in Acequia communities. This is an ancient flint type of corn that can periodically revert back to ancestral phenotypes indicative of its wild parentage from Teosinte. Ears are 9-14” long with pale, shell-white kernels. Can also be used for pozole, hominy, grits and polenta. HMF CO32: One Ounce (≈ 110 seeds) - $3.95 Quarter pound - $12.00 ...

More details ➞

Corn, Oregon Blue, Flour (75-110 days)  ORGANIC  We have created a strain cross between 3 blue flour corns (Hopi Blue, Rio Grande Pueblo from NM, and Pap's Blue - which is a blue strain of the short season Painted Mountain.) The goal is to eventually develop a well adapted, reliable staple Maiz for the PNW and similar climates. It will exhibit some variability, however all will make good flour corn.  If you save seed, particularly if you do it for numerous cycles, then you are on your way to having your own Heirloom of tomorrow! Can be eaten as sweet corn when picked young and roasted, but is best known for making an excellent, sweet blue corn flour that has 30% higher protein levels (up to 14%) than dent corns. Plants are 5-8 ft. tall and bushy with many tillering side shoots.  Ears are a beautiful smooth silvery blue that are 8-10” long with usually 2, but up to 7 per stalk. There is still some variability in this strain with respect to kernel color and degree of kernel denting.  Expect ears to mature into shades of light gray/slate blue, to dark blue and purple.  Robust, drought-tolerant cultivar selected over many generations.  Makes excellent corn meal (as pictured) HEIRLOOM, SSF     CO15:  Packet (One Ounce) - $3.95             Quarter Pound - $12.00...

More details ➞

Corn, Oregon Purple, Flour (85-95 days)  ORGANIC Rare traditional variety from the the Hopi nation from the Four Corners region. We no longer call the variety “Hopi” because, after talking with a number of Hopi people who related that in their view it’s only Hopi if grown on Hopi land.  Seeing as this has been growing here in Oregon for the past 30+ years, we’re calling it Oregon Purple corn. This lovely drought-tolerant open pollinated corn has 5-6 bushy stalks that produce 8" ears with pretty pink/purple kernels. Higher in protein than other flour corns - up to 14%.  Kernels grind into a soft, fine flour useful in baking and for tamales and tortillas.  HEIRLOOM, SSF   CO17:  Packet (One Ounce) - $3.95   ...

More details ➞

Corn, Painted Mountain, Flour (80-100 days)  ORGANIC A very widely adapted and diverse flour corn developed over many decades by Dave Christensen in Montana. Plants are short stalked (4-5' tall) and produce one or two 7-8" long ears with thin cobs in a magnificient array of colors sourced from dozens of Native corns. Painted Mountain is a great choice to grow if you want to produce corn as a staple in a short season area. It is also able to produce in cooler summer area or gardens with lower light levels due to partial shading. A proven workhorse variety over many years. "Painted Mountain grows fast even in cold climates where other corns struggle to stay alive in early spring. It also pollinates and fills out ears during the searing heat of the dry Montana summer. It takes 90 days to mature as dry grain in my cold climate, about 2-4 weeks ahead of other '90 day' corn. Some people say Painted Mountain makes dry grain in only 70 days when taken to a warmer climate. I have received many good reports of yields around 50 bu/acre and often 60 or 70 bu/acre. This is very good for a very early corn in a stressed location. Keep in mind that the hybrid varieties often fail completely in  high stress locations. I have gotten good production reports from every part of the USA, and many parts os the world from Siberia to South Africa. Painted Mountain will grow food where many varieties will fail. Farmers find it a very efficient food souurce if grazed by livestock right off the field. The lack of woodiness in the stalks and soft starch of the grain give it a higher digestibility to ani,als than other corns. The highly nutricious grain promises to have many uses for humans and farm animals. DCF CO28 - 1 oz = $3.95 1/4 lb = 10.00 1/2 lb = $18.00...

More details ➞

Corn, Papa’s Blue (80-90 days) Zea Mays We are grateful to Wayne Marshall of Banbury Farm in Buhl, Idaho for this gem that were bred out of Painted Mountain by seedsman Ed Schultz, also in Montana. Dave Christensen (breeder of Painted Mountain Corn) spoke very highly of this variety, describing them as very uniform and a brilliantly colored blue. Much like it’s Painted Mountain origins, Papa’s Blue is a short stature (4-5’), very early maturing flour corn with great culinary qualities.  SSF CO33: One Ounce (≈ 110 seeds) - $3.95...

More details ➞

Corn, Riverspirit Rainbow, Flour (90-110 days)  ORGANIC A stable & diverse gene pool of native flour corns including Anasazi, Hopi Blue, Hopi White and others that has been successfully grown on homesteads in OR & CA for decades. Tall (7-10’) plants produce 1-2 large (10-20”) ears in every color and pattern imaginable. Excellent for corn bread, masa, tamales and adding to any recipe that calls for wheat. Incredibly beautiful – shucking it is like opening a present from the Earth!  SSF CO5: Packet (one ounce) - $3.95           Half pound - $18.00...

More details ➞

CORN, Sunfire, Flour (100 days) - Zea Mays  ORGANIC A breeding project to stabilize a trait that we noticed in a landrace flour corn of sunburst patterns of red over yellow, white, orange or red kernels. Also known as Chinmark.  Gorgeous to grow!  Grows to about 6-7' with some tillering and 2 ears per plant. drought adapted.  SSF CO26: One Ounce - $3.95  ...

More details ➞

Corn, Sunrise (110 days) - Zea Mays ORGANIC This is a gene pool that came out of the southwest flour corns. It has a mix of yellow, orange, chinmark( stripped), lighter reds and dark red kernels.  The plants are 7-8 feet tall and produce 1-2 ears per plant that are 8-12 inches long. Tillers somewhat.   Drought adapted. We offer this warm hued mix to share the wonderful experience of discovering all the beautiful diversity in stalk color, silks, tassles, husks and ears. HEIRLOOM, SSF CO25: One Ounce - $3.95;  Half Pound - $18.00 ...

More details ➞

This is a collection of 8 packets: 1 Sweet corn, 2 flour corn, 2 pole beans, 2 winter squash,and 1 flower that is the perfect starting point to growing your own 3 Sisters staple crop garden.  8 packets (our choice of the mix): $28 ($4 savings) See Below for more background information: Three Sisters Companion Planting The three Sisters approach to growing corn, beans, and squash together as a polyculture developed in the arid Southwestern USA. In the sandy soils there, the early indigenous farmers would poke a hole with a planting stick 8-12” deep and pour the seeds of corn, pole beans and winter squash all into the same hole to encourage them to root where there was residual moisture. The corn, being a monocot would push up first and the beans and squash later, ensuring that they wouldn’t topple the corn. The Corn in clumps spaced 6-8 feet apart while the beans climbed its stalks and the squash trailed along the ground providing a living mulch. For most of us, if we were to plant these seeds a foot deep, the seeds would all rot, so we must adapt this strategy to our garden conditions. I suggest planting the corn 4-8 seeds in hills spaced 4-6 feet apart. Once it is 4” tall plant pole beans & winter squash next to the corn plants. This gives the corn a head start so it isn’t strangled by vining bean plants. The pole beans weave the corn stalks together, which helps to avoid the stalks from falling over (lodging). Three sisters is done with dry corn (flourtype), dry beans(shelling), and winter squash because the planting develops into such a jungle if done well, that you would not want to be traipsing through there to check if your sweet corn, snap peas or summer squash was ready.  Rather you simply allow it to flourish over the summer and harvest it all in the fall when mature. Many blessings on your gardening endeavors!...

More details ➞