SRS- You'll have to check an ear to see if the corn is ready. I look for brown silk and feel for plump kernels. You can carefully peel back the sheath to check an ear by sight, and you can pull an ear off to check it for taste- the kernels should be plump, and the taste sweet and milky. If you need to pick more ears than you can eat right away, store it in the 'fridge with the husks on.

Hilling- Yes, if they need extra support just hoe (or dump) extra soil around the base of the stalk. Corn grows extra roots to stabilize the top-heavy stalks. One way some folks handle it is to plant the seed in troughs, using a hoe to pull the higher soil in as the stalk grows. Corn is a heavy feeder, so we also throw in organic fertilizer and compost as it grows, and use squash and legumes as an understory planting to stabilize the corn and make extra nitrogen available. It worked very well when last year's strong winds blew everything else flat.

Enjoy! There's nothing like fresh sweet corn.

m