'Sac Blue' Flint Corn (Zea mays)

This beautiful pink and white flint corn belongs to the Sac/Sauk and Fox/Meskwaki nations of the St. Lawrence River Valley and present day Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Missouri, and Iowa. The nations' Great Sauk Trail (present day US 12) ran from the Mississippi River, through Illinois and Northern Indiana (near present day Chicago), and across Southern Michigan to present day Detroit. Thanks to selective breeding by generations of Sauk and Meskwaki seed savers, this very rare corn is well-adapted to the region and deserves to be grown and celebrated throughout it once again.

While 2024 is our first year growing Sac Blue, other stewards have described it as follows: 

• a mid-season corn (62-65 days to silk)
• Plants rarely tiller
• Strong cob butts/shanks with excellent attachment to the plants
• 8-10 rows on most cobs 
  
• regular row arrangement (some semi-irregular 
• Excellent for braiding and hanging

We recommend mulching Sac Blue with straw, undersowing with Kickapoo beans, and inoculating it all with winecap mushrooms (Stropharia rugosoannulata) for reliably productive, sustainable, and multi-functional yields from the same beds.

Planting depth: 1.5 - 2 in.
Plant spacing: 12 in. (1 ft.)
Row spacing: 2 ft.

To improve pollination and seed set for fuller ears, plant in blocks of 4-8 rows, not in a long, individual row. Hill soil liberally around growing stalks to promote growth of stabilizing roots, if needed.