Corn, Hopi Blue

Zea mays

Ancient, blue flour corn--grind and nixtamalize to make delicious blue tortillas!

The story of corn and people is a beautiful one of co-creation. Thousands of years ago, Indigenous people in modern-day Central America worked side-by-side with a wild grass named Teosinte until it became what we know as maize, or corn. From there, it traveled north and south all over the Western hemisphere along trade routes, and hundreds of different indigenous groups adapted it for their unique place on earth, where it shaped their diets and cultures. For thousands of years, Native communities have cared for their maize despite colonizers trying to separate them from it in order to control them. Both the corn and the corn stewards have survived, and it is through the generosity of both of them that we have the gift of corn today.

Hopi seed stewards have grown this corn for thousands of years, and in the 1970s, Hopi elder Thomas Banyaca gifted it to Idaho seed steward Suzanne Lewis and asked her to grow it in Idaho. As she stepped away from farming, she passed the variety along to us, and we have been growing it through the Co-op ever since. After over 40 years of growing in Idaho, it looks quite different than it does when grown on Hopi land in the southwest--these Idaho plants are very tall, like 10-11', and it's one of the latest maturing varieties we grow. The graceful, feminine plants are drought-tolerant and produce long cobs with starchy, deep blue kernels perfect for grinding into flour. Open-pollinated.

Seeds grown by Sonshine Acres in Emmett, Idaho.

70 seeds.

Directions: Direct seed after last frost. Corn is wind-pollinated and should be planted in at least 4'x4' blocks to achieve full cobs. Harvest when cobs have dried completely on the plant.

We have a lot to learn from Hopi farmers about how to farm in true cooperation with the land. Please refer to these videos to learn more about the traditional Hopi growing methods.

The Resiliency of Hopi Agriculture: 2000 Years of Planting

"Hopi Dry Farming" Ahkima's Field Hopi Reservation