Montrose - Daily Press

MONTROSE  — Just like the delicacies caviar and sushi, Mirai sweet corn can be savored — raw, sweet and tender — straight from the field. For almost two decades, Dave Mackenzie has been doing just that, sometimes tasting 500 ears a day to find the perfect parents for his next test row.

“Sometimes it’s breakfast and dinner out here,” Dan Blowers said. Blowers has teamed up with Mackenzie, plant geneticist, to introduce Mirai sweet corn to local Western Slope markets.

“What’s most fun is bringing something to the market that is new,” Mackenzie said. “The great taste and new appearance gets people’s attention.”

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Mackenzie’s work with sweet corn started in the early 1990s in Illinois. He moved to Montrose in 2004 and started planting about a 1,000 varieties of sweet corn a year on five acres of Keith Catlin’s property on Spring Creek Mesa. Of those varieties, about 25 will have desired characteristics and be recorded.

“Anything that has traits we don’t want, don’t move forward,” he said.

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Comments

terry moran wrote on Sep 12, 2009 10:41 AM:

" Nice story, FYI, racoons prefer Olathe sweet, that should tell us something... "




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chickenman wrote on Sep 5, 2009 7:38 AM:

" Genetic selection is better than genetic modification...Way to Go.....thanks CM "




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Jessi wrote on Sep 4, 2009 11:08 AM:

" Mirai Sweet Corn is not to be confused with Olathe Sweet Corn. Both are amazing and give us something to look forward to every year when August rolls around, but they are different and delicious in their own way. I think my kids are getting tired of eating corn on the cob. :-) Where would we be without our favorite plant geneticists finding these amazing formulas. We wouldn't even know how good corn could be! Thanks for all your hard work Dave M. "




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areader wrote on Sep 4, 2009 9:30 AM:

" Kudos to the team of O'Hare and Blocker--this is a very enjoyable read, with great photos. "




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