Homegrown Popcorn!

In our garden this year we planted about 20 row feet of popcorn. Not being a necessary crop I demoted it to the newly turned ground with just enough composted cow's manure to give it a try. We had to be careful with our precious compost this year, and make sure that the food crops we really rely on would yield enough to feed us for the year. So the popcorn came up, but it never got too high, only about 3 feet tall. But they put out tassels, and eventally small ears. Again, not being high on my priority list, I did not give them the attention they deserve, and never checked the ears for worms. In fact, I really didn't think there would be much of a harvest there. But after the first frost, as I harvested all of the squash and other frost tender crops, I checked one of the popcorn ears to see if there was anything worth salvaging. I was pleasantly surprised with these diminutive cobs, only about 3 inches long, and many of them damaged by corn earworms, but none the less golden popcorn kernels.
The kernels were already hardened on the cobs, but I let them dry inside for a couple of weeks. Then on a rainy day I shelled the corn, and sorted out the damaged kernels. I also saved the best, undamaged cobs for seed next year.

And of course, I had to try popping the corn! I have a favorite popcorn pot because it has a tight fitting lid, covered the bottom with olive oil (when I have ghee on hand, that is even better), heated the oil and threw in about 1/4 cup of popcorn kernels. Then goes the lid, and the pot sits atop the hottest part of the cookstove with a roaring fire going. These kernels started popping almost right away, the ones from the bulk store take a minute or two to pop, but fresh must be best. Tastes great too, with sea salt and dried basil, a good rainy afternoon movie snack. We watched "Fiddler on the Roof".