The most unusual corn in the world

The history of Glass Gem corn begins with Carl Barnes, an Oklahoma farmer with Cherokee, Scotch, and Irish blood in his veins. Mr. Barnes is a corn grower. And, quite unusual! In 1994, Carl met Greg Schoen at a local agricultural fair. The farmers were united by their love for corn, and they became business partners and friends. Now Barnes is over 80 years old, and he revealed to his friend all the secrets of growing unusual colored corn.

(Total 11 photos)

1. Glass Gem corn produces a wide variety of translucent cobs in the most incredible colors. And each of them is unique. (Photograph by GREG SCHOEN)

2. This is a type of flint corn, and its grains can be ground to make grits and made into popcorn. Unlike sweet corn, this one is not eaten as grains. However, its unusual iridescent beauty has made it one of the newest mediums for creating decorative art.

3. Carl Barnes says: “In 2005, I met José Lucero in Santa Clara Pueblo, north of Santa Fe. We became good friends, and I agreed to grow rainbow corn on his land… From 2005 to 2007, we harvested several crops from the many cobs of this corn…”

4. “This ‘new blood’ has helped strengthen the genetic pool of colored corn… In 2008, we planted only colored corn. I selected the best grains and cobs and planted them for even more color combinations.”

5. His friend Shoen advised everyone to sell colored corn kernels.

6. The seeds went to Kenya, Mexico, Israel and India. Schoen wants as many people as possible to know about this rainbow miracle.

7. In 2009, Schoen also donated many of these seeds to Native Seeds/SEARCH, a nonprofit research organization in Tuscany, Arizona. Now these grains are also sold there.

8. Glass Gem corn is one of nearly 2,000 unique and rare corn varieties in the Native Seeds/SEARCH seed bank.

9. This organization conserves, distributes and documents many types of agricultural seeds and their wild relatives. They are studying the role these seeds play in the cultures of the southeastern United States and northwestern Mexico.

10. They promote the use of these ancient crops and their wild relatives by collecting, protecting and distributing them.

11. All funds raised from sales of Glass Gem corn seeds go to support this cause.