Square-Foot Garden - Corn in my Dining Room

Though I live in the suburbs of Kansas City, I maintain a square-foot garden year-round to help supplement my family's dinner table and to provide a source of plant fiber and dye materials for my fiber arts business. For anyone not familiar with square-foot gardening, it is the practice of creating a small, but intensively planted garden by dividing the space into well-planned areas and placing companion plants near each other.

In the planting zone I am in, I don't leave much in the ground over winter, beyond carrots, onions and garlic. Instead, I move a little bit of my garden inside. This year, I decided to plant some strawberry popcorn. Strawberry popcorn is a variety of popcorn with bright red kernels and short, 2" cobs. The tiny cobs resemble strawberries; thus the name. I chose this variety because it seems weird. I also picked it for its quick maturing time, roughly 100 days and because it tolerates cooler temperatures than some varieties.

Using a potting medium and garden compost, I planted the seeds roughly 6" apart in a tray planter. The recommended distance is 9-12" apart. Crowding the plants a bit (though not too much) will result in somewhat smaller plants, but shouldn't impact the yield, as long as the quality of the soil is maintained. The tray is near a window to get as much natural light as possible. I've got a little 50-watt grow light on it as well to supplement the light. That's why the photo appears purple.

With my timeline, I'll be expecting a February yield. Chances are I'll grind the corn for corn flour, since I'm not a huge fan of popcorn. It is nice being able to add it into muffins and pancakes!