So, if you read my blog, you’ll know that I have relatively recently become obsessed with gardening. But I don’t have a traditional garden – my garden is a container garden on my roof. So, what I choose to grow must do well in my climate, and also perform well in containers. 

I’m also trying to get my kids to eat more veggies. And one of the tricks is to have then eat the veggies they grow. Most kids like to plant seeds that they recognize – pumpkin, watermelon, and, of course, corn.

I’ve been wanting to grow sweet corn, but most sweet corn does not perform well in containers. I did try some last year, but I really didn’t get much of a yield. And that’s the problem – corn grown in containers doesn’t seem to produce much of a  yield for how much space the corn requires. The best approach is to try for dwarf varieties.

So, I was super excited to learn about Blue Jade Corn (Zea mays). It only grows around 3 feet high, and bears 3 to 6 ears with steel blue kernels that turn jade blue when boiled. Talk about perfect – corn that performs well in containers and that is a bright color that my kids will love and a sweet corn at that? Heaven. I first learned about it on Subsistence Pattern – his blog about corn being his nemesis made me feel like a kindred spirit. It seems like I can grow most anything else but never did well with corn. I was excited about his success.

So, I was going to order some seeds from Seed Savers Exchange, but I was shopping at my current favorite nursery, H & H Nursery in Lakewood, California, and they had seedlings. Whoot! So now I have some planted and will let you know how it goes. Not sure if the kids will like the flavor - I understand if you are used to the super sweet flavor of today’s varieties the less than super sweet heirloom taste may not be to your liking. I’m just glad to find a heirloom, non GMO corn to grow in my containers.