i want to grow corn in my backyard

[cattail]

Hello,

i'm beginner gardener looking to transform a 6' x 20' area of my backyard into a corn crop.
What are the appropriate steps that i need to take?

I live in the pacific northwest. Can you recommend a species of corn that is suitable?
Its the end of April and i haven't worked the yard at all yet. What are my options?
Is it too late to plant from seed? Should i buy starts?

Sorry for the 20 questions.
Any input would be much appreciated.

Nick

Hi Nick,

you're not too late to start yet and you can sow the seeds directly into the garden soil. But you may need to wait another couple weeks for it to be consistently warm enough. You want soil temperatures above 65F as corn does not like cold wet soil. We're in the Pacific NW as well, and right now our soil temperature is in the high 50s, still too cold. We did start our corn in our greenhouse, but most people don't. We still have not outplanted our starts yet either.

As to what to plant, I would strongly suggest organic to make sure you avoid GMOs because they are not necessarily labeled as GMO. Here is a good article on what to plant in a vegetable garden that talks about growing corn and what you should consider when growing corn in a home vegetable garden.

This is the local corn we're growing: Golden Bantam Sweet Corn ACN111 from Abundant Life Seeds. They are an organic seed company local to the Pacific Northwest.

Hope this helps!