WANATAH – They came to the Pinney Purdue Agriculture Center to learn about vegetable production and high tunnels. But they stayed for the sweet corn.
Experts from Purdue, Michigan State and Indiana universities were on hand to answer questions posed by the 85 registered visitors who toured some of the farm’s 664-acres on tractor-pulled people movers to examine the tomatoes, sweet corn and pumpkins (among other crops) grown at the farm.
“This field day was a great success,” said Gene Matzat, an Extension Educator in LaPorte County and one of the event organizers.
“It’s great to see whole families come out and learn more about vegetables, have area growers network with Extension specialists and other growers and to see our Extension educators work together with specialists on a common project is really special,” Matzat said.
Field day participants who agreed to eat sweet corn without butter or seasoning were designated as “super tasters,” sampling as many as 18 varieties of sweet corn provided by area growers and from variety trials at Pinney.
To accommodate many area producers who also hold fulltime jobs, the field day was billed as a twilight event, starting at 5 p.m.
“With so many people working during the day, we hold this event early in the evening,” Matzat said. “It allows more families to participate in something a little less formal than in a classroom environment.”
The Pinney Purdue Agriculture Center is the northernmost of eight agriculture centers operated in Indiana by the Purdue College of Agriculture.
The center will host an additional field day on August 23rd, focusing on corn and soybean production, fertilizer and weed management, genetic engineering and farm worker safety.
In the completely non-scientific sweet corn study conducted at the field day, designated sweet corn super tasters identified Nirvana, Elle, DeVries Sweetcorn-20173, Kate and a variety from Sweet Corn Charlie, a Millersburg, IN grower, as being the most flavorful.