Sweet Corn: An Accidental Family Tradition

From the very first ears in 2012, to moving to a new location in 2022, sweet corn has been a huge part of our life together. So much, that we've been called the Corn King and Corn Queen by some locals in our area. :) I wouldn't call us that, but it definitely does rule our summers! (Pun intended.)

It's hard to believe this will be our 12th year growing and selling sweet corn!

Some of you have been with us since the beginning, meeting up with Joe at the Farmer's Market on Holton's downtown square, or stopping by our old place on Hwy 16. Here's little Henry, our oldest, helping Joe out. In case you're wondering, he was a customer magnet!

What made us start in the first place? After we got married, we would get sweet corn from a man East of Holton with my (Kelsey's) family and put it up, which gave Joe an idea. We had about an acre plot behind our house that wasn't being used for anything, and we definitely didn't want to mow it! So he planted a few rows of sweet corn with his two row planter, just enough for the family to put up. Eventually, it yielded so much that we had extra, so Joe took it to the Farmer's Market to sell the rest on a Saturday morning, and the rest is history!

The kids always love following Joe through the rows. Hannah is usually the most eager, exclaiming, "Let's go check the sweet corn!" any chance she can get when we are out and about. We can't wait to see how our youngest, Ivan, reacts this year!

There are so many sweet memories with my family coming over to help us shuck, cook, cut, bag, and label each and every bag of corn. We are so grateful for all of their help over the years, and I cherish the time we have spent together. Usually the men are outside shucking, cooking, and blanching in the heat (August in Kansas - woof!), and the women are inside jamming out to music while cutting off the cob, measuring it out into bags, and labeling them. It's quite the operation, and totally worth it, because who doesn't love summer corn in the middle of winter?

We always measured the corn with our babies: Henry in 2016, Isaac in 2018, Hannah in 2020, and Ivan in 2022. Enjoy some sweet pics of ours over the years of growing sweet corn, and growing our family. ❤️