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Every summer, I fantasize about moving to Indiana. There I could live in an old farmhouse and look out my kitchen window onto a quarter-acre of corn, all mine and close enough that the cobs could be cooked and eaten within minutes of picking.

I need this fantasy because my record with raising corn in Fairbanks is so dismal. I have had some years with OK yields and taste, but most years I have little to show for the room I give over to this beloved vegetable. There was one year that I had corn as high as the proverbial elephant’s eye, but it was an usually hot summer and I had planted it in my 3-foot-high raised beds — I had to harvest standing on a ladder.

So I was most intrigued when I heard about Mardee Roth’s consistent success with corn. I contacted her to see if she would share her secrets, and she graciously agreed to send me a blurb that outlines her routine. What you are about to read is in her words, although a few sentences were removed to fit the word allowance of this column.

“I’ve enjoyed growing corn for many years. I’ve found a variety that is so successful I think others might want to try it … Seneca Horizon seed from Territorial Seed Company in Cottage Grove, Ore.” (Note: the catalog describes this variety as “one of the earliest to mature … 5-foot plant has attractive 8-10 inch ears that are filled to the tip with creamy, tender, pearly yellow kernels. Excellent cold tolerance and good early germination.” www.territorialseed.com)

“It works best to have several rows together so that the wind can blow pollen from one plant to the other, and you should use the warmest spot you have. (Using) 120 seeds gives 4 rows, each with 10 plants, and takes about an 11-by-11 foot space, by my method.”

“When the garden is workable (early to mid May), I plant the seeds directly in the ground. After the ground is leveled, I dig ditches a hoe’s width and about 6 inches deep and 32 inches apart. I put a couple of gallons of 20-20-20 water soluble fertilizer in each ditch, let it soak in and cover it with about 5 inches of soil so the seed doesn’t come directly in contact with the fertilizer.”

“The next step is to put three seeds, about an inch apart, in the now shallow ditches where I want the corn to grow. I plant them about a foot apart down each row. I cover them with about an inch of soil and part firmly. Once done, I sprinkle lightly with the hose. (I soak the seeds from an hour to overnight before planting them.)”

“As soon as the seeds are planted, I dig a ditch around the plot so I can cover it with clear plastic and bury the edges so that it is all enclosed. In recent years, I’ve put newspaper between the rows before putting on the plastic, to keep down the weeds. Particularly if it is windy, I dampen the paper. This is the hardest part of the project! I’ve learned that the plastic is very important. One summer I covered half the corn before going to Valdez for a week. I covered the rest when we got home, but it never caught up. I was always much shorter and slower to develop.”

“That’s all I do until the seeds germinate. When they are an inch or two high, I cut a hole about 5 inches across at each planting site. It doesn’t seem to hurt them to get bigger if it’s too cold for them to be let out of the plastic. Often more than one seed germinates in each spot but I give them a week or two before I take out the extras. I leave the strongest plant. I’ll transplant if I missed a place.”

“There isn’t a lot to do the rest of the summer except admire it. Once the plants are a few inches tall, I poke a few holes in the plastic where water gathers. I fertilize lightly every couple of weeks with the hose and the water-soluble fertilizer dispenser. As the cobs begin to form, I change to 10-50-10. If it is warm and we haven’t had rain for a week I might put the hose on for awhile.”

“A couple times a summer I fill gallon jugs with the fertilizer mix and crawl between the rows, pulling the main weeds around the corn and actually pouring the water in each place the corn is growing. I sometimes have to enlarge the hole if the plant has a large base and the plastic is cutting into it. According to my daughter-in-law’s father, who grows corn commercially in Oregon, there is no need to remove extra ears or the tassels that grow on top.”

Mardee would like readers to know that the Greater Fairbanks Woman’s Club, to which she belongs, is having a Corn Party. It will be held at 11 a.m. on May 17 at Funtime Park, located behind Hot Licks on College Road. (Formerly known as the College Woman’s Club back then, the group built the park in the ‘50s and a few years ago helped renovate it, so it could be given to the borough.)

You’ll have the opportunity for buy 120 Seneca Horizon seeds for $2, with instructions included, and to talk to Mardee. Come get the seeds and talk to the expert in person!