ThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnailThumbnail

Orchard Baby Sweet Corn

Zea mays subsp. mays

Price: $3.49

SKU: 31401911

Choose a variant:
Orchard Baby
Sweet Corn

65 days โ€” A very early, and quite unique and interesting variety of sweet corn for home gardeners. Bred by a Mr. Orchard of Canada, this variety was introduced by Oscar H. Will & Company of Bismarck, North Dakota in their 1947 catalog. They continued to offer the variety until they went out of business in 1959, at which point it all but disappeared.

The stalks are short (three to five feet tall) and produce two small, five to six inch ears that have eight to ten rows of sweet, yellow kernels. The flavor is delicious - tender, not starchy, flavorful and just the right amount of sweet - not too overpoweringly sweet like modern super sweet varieties. The plants commonly produce side shoots that provide additional, although usually smaller, ears.

Because 'Orchard Baby' corn is physically compact in size, it is an ideal candidate for folks who want to experiment with, or just have some fun, growing corn in containers. It is also a perfect choice for folks with small vegetable gardens and those who live in areas that have short growing seasons. If you do raise it in containers, keep in mind that like all corn varieties, it is wind pollinated, needs to be planted in blocks, and you should grow as many stalks as practical. This will help to ensure good pollination resulting in ears full of kernels. Our original source was the USDA's accession number PI 219872. Each 0.5 ounce is approximately 80 seeds.
Planting Instructions: Soil must be at least 65ยบF to germinate. Be patient and do not plant too early or you will waste a lot of seed! Plant in full sun and keep it watered. Corn is a wind-pollinated plant. Plant in blocks several rows wide to ensure full ears.

Sow seeds about 1ยฝ to 2ยฝ inch deep, 3 to 4 inches apart, in rows spaced 24 to 30 inches apart. Thin to 6 to 12 inches apart.

Customer Reviews:

Do you have experience with this one? ๐Ÿ“ ๐Ÿ“ฃ Write a review!
โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜† Tasty little corn.
By Steven Parker on July 22, 2018

We just harvested our first batch for this Summer. The ears are definitely small, but the flavor is great. Five stars for flavor, but only four in total due to the small size.

โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜…โ˜… Should be in every short season garden.
By Gingersue Hilliard on August 29, 2016

Should be in every short season garden. This little cutie is fast, has short strong stalks and easy to grow. These ears are short, chubby, fully kerneled, very good flavor and texture, meaty, sweet and almost buttery. My only regret, is that we should have planted more of it. Orchard Baby is definitely our go to for corn.