September gardening tips: Harvest sweetcorn

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Sweetcorn, the form of maize in which much of the starch is converted to sugar, is rather a novel sight in the kitchen garden, being grown in blocks rather than rows because, being a grass, its pollen is distributed by the wind rather than by insects. The tall plants are now papery-yellow and the crop about ready for harvest.

Test this by pressing your thumbnail into a few seeds. If milk squirts out, it needs longer. If a creamy liquid emerges, now is the hour. Off with the husk, boil for a few minutes, smear with butter and munch away.

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