Country Gentleman is a variety introduced by by S.D. Woodruff & Sons in 1890, a cross between "Ne Plus Ultra," and "Stowell's Evergreen."  This made for longer ears with the unusual patterning that has become known as "Shoepeg" and made the corn excellent for freezing and canning, though is favored as a fresh vegetable.  Country Gentleman sweet corn is entirely non-GMO, heirloom, and open pollinated.  Country Gentleman grows between 6 and 8 feet tall, with bright maroon colored silks, and when grown under the best conditions, can produce 3 - 7 inch (180 mm) long ears per stalk, and can produce 2 or more tillers.

Tillers (or this PDF), are side shoots from the main stalk sometimes called "suckers," and develop through several processes.  Either damage to the main stalk, stress from poor nutrition, lack of light, or lack of moisture, too wide a space between plants, or most of all, a really happy and well taken care of maize plant.  Because of these factors, it may be more harmful to remove them than leave them alone.

I'm offering 10 grams (1/3 oz), around 80 seeds organically grown in my handmade hot compost/potting soil, in no-till beds.  This will be enough to plant 50 square feet (4.6 square meter), 3 "square foot gardens," or a row 4 feet wide and 12 feet long (1.2 x 3.6 m).  I say "4 feet wide," because walking on the soil will compact it.  Leaving a path between beds, usually planted with White "Dutch" Clover and other cover like lawn grass, will keep your feet out of the mud and allow you to reach in from either side to maintain the planting.

Most of the ears of Country Gentleman will display the kernel pattern known as Shoepeg.  The kernels don't grow in the usual rows, but rather in a "zig-zag" pattern giving them a random appearence.  Shoe pegs are wooden pegs that heels and soles were fastened to the shoe with in the 19th century, and I'm guessing when in a pile look something like the kernel's arrangement on the cob.  Alternatively it's possible the term comes from the way the kernels look when removed from the cob; in a pile or bowl.

Country Gentleman and other Sweet corns, are a genetic variant of grain corn which prone to produce more sugar, the "sweet" in the name, and hold those sugars instead of converting them to starch.&nbp; These genes are described as SU, SE, and SH2.  Country Gentleman belongs to the SU class, which means it should be picked and eaten almost immediately, canned, or frozen.  Country Gentleman has a very short window to enjoy as a fresh vegetable, since converting the sugar to starch is part of the maturation process.  To enjoy as a fresh vegetable, when Country Gentleman's red colored silks start to dry and brown, between 18 and 22 days after the silks emerge, check to see if the kernels will spurt a milky liquid.  If the liquid is still clear, it's too early.  The ears should be harvested in the early morning, when the sugars are at their highest, refrigerated, and eaten within 5 days.
Maize is a hot weather gross feeder, so needs a lot of nitrogen, other nutrients, and warm temperatures.  For Country Gentleman, soil temperatures need to be above 60°F (16°C), and the season 85 to 90 days long.  Research at Michigan State University showed that maize uses a tiny 6% of its total nitrogen in its first month, 25% in the second stage or development of the tassels, 25% during pollination, and the remaining 39% as the ears are developing.  The garden soil should be thoroughly enriched.  High nitrogen, organic, fertilizers include:

Fish Emulsion Blood Meal Poultry manure "Green" manures or Cover crops

Grass Clippings used as a mulch Sea bird or Bat Guano Urine Alfalfa, Soybean, Cottonseed meals

Composts are generally lower in nutrients, but provide very necessary Nitrogen, Potassium, Phosphorus as well as micronutrients, soil structure, and scaffolding for healthy soil organisms.  It's important to remember to "feed the soil, not the plant," as it's an ecology that all the organisms share toward a healthy commonwealth, chemical fertilizers only being available when they've been applied and are soon leached out by the elements.

Sweet Corn and all maizes should be planted in blocks rather than rows.  You may find bees collecting some pollen from the tassels, but all grasses are wind pollinated.  If planted in rows, the corn will possibly not get enough pollen to the silks, and as a result you will end up with spotty kernels on the cob.

Country Gentleman does well at a spacing of 8 inches (200 mm) between plants, and I try to pack as many plants in a block as is possible.  I usually plant 3 seeds then 4 seeds in alternating rows so the spacing is on the diagonal as in the diagram above left.  No-till gardening means not disturbing the soil, so the seeds are first soaked overnight, then laid directly on the soil and covered with an inch (25 mm) of finished compost and watered in well.  Additional soil heaped around the roots as the plants grow higher will help to sturdy them as they reach higher toward the sky.

Maizes also have shallow root systems that do NOT like to be disturbed.  To avoid tearing the shallow root systems out, corn should be mulched with at least 6 inches (150 mm) of organic mulches instead of weeding.  When plants are 10 inches high (250 mm) apply the mulch around the base of the plants, being careful to not crush them.  My favorite is dried Grass clippings I've collected from mowing.  I place them in the sunshine, turn them with a rake several times a day for around 3 days, so it takes a little luck and some attention to the weather reports.  Other, lower nitrogen, mulches are also successful, but in a low nutrient situation can actually rob the soil, and consequently the plants, of nitrogen to decompose the low nitrogen organic material.  This is called Nitrogen Immobilization.  The nitrogen is there, but not usable to the plants or other soil organisms.  Soil should be placed at the base of the plants as they grow, to sturdy them from wind.  As soils are built up around the base of the plants, the 6 inches of mulch needs to be maintained on top of it.

Donna's Square Foot Garden Part 49 Country Gentleman Corn  -  Rainbow Gardens

Ears of corn on the suckers stalks   -  Michigansnowpony