We’re approaching the end of corn season, a bittersweet time of year for some of us. This year I’ve found a new, efficient way to enjoy corn on the cob.
I grab an ear and head to the compost pile, where I shuck the corn and eat it raw while standing in the garden. Saves cooking and cleanup—most importantly, the corn silk goes right into the compost and not all over my kitchen.
Like most fans of corn on the cob, I was not a fan of the silk. But I’ve developed a new appreciation for it.
You probably know there’s one strand of silk per kernel. Each strand emerges from an ovule, the female flower of the corn plant.
But, did you know that each strand can grow up to an inch and a half per day? Picture that: one cell produces a hollow tube that can grow several inches in just a few days.
When it emerges from the husk, it is ready to receive one pollen grain which comes from the corn tassel. That’s the aptly named male corn flower, that you might notice at the top of the plant.
The pollen is almost microscopic and is delivered either by wind or insects. Within minutes, it begins to grow a tube back down through the silk all the way to the ovule—within 24 hours!
Immediately, a single kernel of corn begins to grow.
Repeat that process about 500 times and you have the beginnings of one full ear of corn.
So rather than let the silk mar the corn experience, why not embrace the wonder? Peel an ear and examine the silk. Consider that each strand is a tube within a tube, produced by just two cells.
You might want to do this while standing over a compost pile.