July 26, 2026
The corn in and around Greene County is showing its tassels. I used to have a quirky evil inward smile when I worked in the Lucas Building at the Capitol Complex. I smirked as I told my city slicker friends that “the corn was having sex at this time of the year.”
The tassel is the male flowering part of the corn plant and for the non-farmer readers, the pollen is released from the tassel and carried to the silks seen at the upper end of the ear. In what always amazes me, each silk is connected to a potential kernel.
My parents raised seed corn, and during the summer before I was ready to enter kindergarten, I joined the detasslers as they gathered for lunch in the yard of our home. Being an only child sitting with those bigger girls who were having their lunches seemed a highlight of the summer.
My first off-the-farm job as a kid was detasseling. Removing the tassel prevented self-pollination so that controlled pollination could produce hybrid seeds with desirable traits.
It was physically a tough job. I was part of a crew supervised by the father of a grade school classmate. I was in 8th grade, but tall enough to reach the tassel above my head. We started about daybreak, but the corn was usually laden with dew, so the first round of walking resulted in wet clothing. Later in the morning as the sun went to the middle of the sky it was a blessing to aid in cooling.
It was also a social outing, having lunch with those older high school girls, who seemed to have experienced so much of life. I listened intently as they described their dates, and their experimenting with smoking. This time frame was in the late 1950’s.
The pay was 65 cents an hour, but a dime bonus became available if a person stayed on for the whole tour of detasseling duty.
As a crew we started to fall behind in the acres assigned, so a machine was dispatched to us. There were six stands where we could ride. It was like a tractor and was driven by the supervisor. This certainly beat walking and many more acres could be detasseled.
At about the same time of the summer season another task involving corn is/was freezing sweet corn.
As some readers may recall, it became a family endeavor. First the advancement and readiness were monitored. This readiness was also being monitored by the raccoons living in the area. An electric fence about 6 inches above the ground was installed to thwart the racoons as they could clean out a patch the night before the planned freezing was to occur.
In our family the men would pick and shuck the sweet corn, monitoring and discussing the length and circumference of the ears. A good large ear, filled with kernels to the end of the cob, was an indicator of the quality fall yield.
The females would be assembling the needed kitchen utensils. Sharpening the knives, finding the large containers for cooking the corn, searching for at least 100 plastic bags, and securing enough ice to cool following the cooking.
The cooled corn was cut from the cob and even the smallest child, assisted by scooping the corn into the plastic sacks. Counts of 10 were carried to the freezer, and when 100 were reached we were satisfied the goal had been completed.
When finished, the cobs were taken to the pigs or the chickens by the men. The women diligently cleaned the counters and the floor as the corn kernels seemed to be every place resulting in a sticky mess. The large cooking pots were returned to their places in anticipation of the following year.
It is always interesting to ask others about their freezing methods. Sometimes it is just freezing shucks and all, cooking, and seasoning, or just cutting the corn from the cob. Many methods, but all resulting in better than store bought corn.
Extra note: The corn growing season has been exceptionally good in central Iowa this year. Many stalks have two ears, occasionally even three. Fingers crossed for no adverse weather.
~View from my Window is shared by Mary Weaver of rural Rippey.
