Freezing Sweet Corn

Fresh sweet corn, full yellow kernels bursting with flavor, lasts only for a short time in the summer, but freezing this corn on the same day it is picked preserves this peak fresh flavor all winter long.  My dad's sister and her husband raised sweet corn and other crops on their farm about 70 miles from the ranch.  Every year my aunts, mother, brother, sister and cousins would load up and drive to their farm early in the morning to pick the sweet corn.  The thick rows of corn filtered the hot sun, but the moist soil in the irrigation rows made the humidity rise.  Corn stalks offered multiple ears  sprouting transparent silk with brown tips.  We had empty burlap sacks to fill with ripe corn, pulling back the husk slightly to see if the kernels were filled out enough. With so many people picking we soon had the back of the pickup filled with sacks of corn.  After a quick lunch, we headed back home to preserve our harvest.

All the kids were sent to the garage which had a dirt floor and provided a shady place to work to shuck all those ears of corn.  We all had something to sit on and a box to put the corn in.  We had a great time laughing, teasing, and working together.  Sometimes we would find a big fat corn worm eating away at the tender kernels, which we would flick onto the ground and squish--disgusting! The silk on each ear of corn needed to be carefully removed as well.  One of the kids would take the full box into the kitchen where our moms were busy preparing the ears of corn for freezing.  One would wash the ears, check for any remaining silks, and cut off the worm-damaged portion.  Another put the ears into a pot of boiling water to blanch for several minutes.  Once the hot ears came out of the boiling water, another mom plunged these into a sink of ice water to cool them down.  Then another person cut the kernels from each ear and finally bags were filled with these kernels to be put into the freezer. We all kept at this process until all the corn, except for what we would eat in the next several days, was tucked away in the freezer to enjoy throughout the year.  This might take until way into the night, but we saw it through to completion.  We would put up enough corn to feed four families until the next year's harvest.

The kids loved being together and had a great time.  Moms were exhausted but satisfied with their work, and our dads enjoyed the fruits of our labor.  These memories make me appreciate the extended family circle we enjoyed.