Corn (also known as sugar corn or sweet corn), is a hybridized variety of maize (Zea mays), specifically bred to increase the sugar content. Corn originated in Mesoamerica and spread to the rest of the world after European contact with the Americas in the late 1400's and early 1500's. The fruit of the corn plant is the corn kernel, a type of fruit called a caryopsis. The ear is a collection of kernels on the cob. Tightly wrapped leaves called the husk cover the ear. Silk is the name for the styles of the pistillate flowers, which emerge from the husk. The husk and silk are removed by hand, before boiling (but not before roasting) in a process called husking or shucking. Corn is commonly eaten as a vegetable, rather than a grain. The cobs are picked for relatively rapid distribution before the fruits mature into hard grains.
Sweet corn is a warm-season vegetable that can be grown easily in any garden with sufficient light, fertility, growing season and space. It is especially popular with home gardeners because it tastes appreciably better when it is harvested and eaten fresh from the garden. Successive plantings can yield continual harvests from early summer until frost if the weather cooperates.
Plant the kernels (seeds) 1/2 inch deep in cool, moist soils and 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep in warm, dry soils. Space the kernels 9 to 12 inches apart in the row. Plant two or more rows of each variety side by side to ensure good pollination and ear development. Allow 30 to 36 inches between rows.