Alien Corn!

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not to be indelicate, but what the hell is this? i've grown corn a lot of times; i have never seen/heard of anything like this. i opened several more ears; NONE pollinated well, in spite of the nice, square patch i had them in (it's not my first rodeo, but out of seven tries to grow corn in texas, i've succeeded twice). this is the only "pod cob" i found (i'm afraid to even touch it). it's golden bantam corn, grown from seed in a packet from a new seed vault.

btw, i'm jesse, female despite the spelling, and new here. greetings.
DSCN5676.JPG
DSCN5679.JPG
 

alp

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Welcome to the forum, @tempestborn !

Yuck! Don't think I will forget you in a hurry! What a gruesome photo. Now, you put me off sweetcorn! I thought they were slugs on cob:eek::eek::eek::LOL:!
 
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Welcome to the forum, @tempestborn !

Yuck! Don't think I will forget you in a hurry! What a gruesome photo. Now, you put me off sweetcorn! I thought they were slugs on cob:eek::eek::eek::LOL:!
but they're not! they're like horrible, deformed kernels! i'm sorry, but take comfort. i think i'm off sweet corn, too!
 
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that's it! OMG!!! how awful! i lived two and a half blocks down this same street and gardened for 8 years; nothing like this. second planting, two and a half blocks away... it had to be in this soil. now i must research how to kill it, because it is NOT coming to my table. i make it a rule not to eat grey things, i don't care how great they tell me it is: snails, oysters, THIS--NO. i must kill it. i wonder, down the way my budget wasn't quite so tight and i could get beneficial nematodes for the garden (if you haven't tried them, they're great. they eat the larvae of everything that develops in the ground, EXCEPT earthworms, and that includes fleas. my dogs never needed flea meds as long as i had nematodes.), i wonder do they maybe eat some fungi, too. it's a risky thing to research. last time i did, i accidentally viewed a picture that will never leave my brain. ew! dude, durgan! thank you for solving the mystery!
 
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I collected some fungus from a commercial corn field several years ago. In my area I find it is difficult to get in pristine condition. Th fungus in the picture is perfect. Objections to it can be overcome. Seldom is a cornfield without the smut. Just another food. I can't locate the pictures but here is my write up.
Corn Smut (Ustilago maydis)
Posted on August 19, 2011 by Durgan
19 August 2011 Corn Smut (Ustilago maydis)

Being curious about the edibility of Corn Smut, it was decided to give it a try. In my garden there were four plants infected so these were tried first. The fungus was cooked in butter with garlic and onions and a tomato. It tasted just fine, but really did not give me the flavor of the fungus. The “nut”,my own description, reminds me of a mushroom only grown on corn.

I went to a commercial corn grower and asked to check their field of sweet corn. About a pound of Corn Smut was collected and cooked. This time the Smut was cooked in butter and a splash of soy sauce was added. I ate the half pound, and found it quite good. There was a slight corn taste and the texture was slightly chewy. It would probably make a nice side dish for a typical meal if cooked in the manner described. Apparently the product is touted to be nutritious. There are many recipes touting how to cook on the Internet.

Huitlacoche (WEET-LA-KO-CHEE),(also cuitlacoche), corn smut is highly rated and consumed in Mexico, and is being touted as a nascent gourmet food to the USA.

The membrane surrounding the “egg” if not broken makes for a quality “nut”. Spores form when the membrane is broken, but this portion my be cut away or even utilized.The spores remind me of the billions of spores that emulate from a puff ball,when dry. I will keep some spores and use them to inoculate my corn patch in 2012 to determine if quantity and quality of the smut can be increased.
 

alp

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but they're not! they're like horrible, deformed kernels! i'm sorry, but take comfort. i think i'm off sweet corn, too!
:LOL::ROFLMAO:

Only joking! If this heat continues, I might have some HORROR to share with you here! I have about 10 sweetcorn. Funny enough, I grew them from the sweetcorn sold for making popcorn!
 
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:LOL::ROFLMAO:

Only joking! If this heat continues, I might have some HORROR to share with you here! I have about 10 sweetcorn. Funny enough, I grew them from the sweetcorn sold for making popcorn!
well, me and my research... i've decided i must cook it and taste it (even though it violates my rules against eating grey things) 'cuz everyone says it's delicious. i'll let you know if i become that brave.
 

alp

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well, me and my research... i've decided i must cook it and taste it (even though it violates my rules against eating grey things) 'cuz everyone says it's delicious. i'll let you know if i become that brave.

Oh, no please! Don't expose yourself to such freak - perhaps it's a danger warning! Like those weird looking frogs - touch me at your perils.. Good night!
 

alp

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Truffles and every Mycological treasure that come from the ground are the most interesting things.

Talking about truffles. I once paid £45 for some spores infused hazelnut tree hoping they would yield truffles. In the end, all the spores died as it was too hot for them to survive here and the hazel nut trees became magnets for squirrels. We still have squirrels running around. I was so scared of squirrels chewing up wires or hiding in car bonnet that I killed the hazelnut trees. Also, I never got to eat the nuts. The closest things I could see were the empty shells left by the squirrels. As my garden was small, I had to remove the trees.
 
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experiment done. what i read was right; it takes like nothing else. i've never tasted truffles; i know they're a sort of mushroom but these don't taste mushroomy. maybe they taste truffle-y? they taste warm and brown, in a good way. i just simmered them in some butter and garlic salt till they were tender. i saved a few. i'm not sure how to best dry the spores, but i'm going to try to grow it on purpose next year.
 

alp

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I love that video with either Americans or Australian pouring the spores of Morel mushrooms in their yards and they grew everywhere. How I wish I could do the same.


Just watching it is fun!
 

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