How to Grow Shelled Corn

Select your growing location. Pick a spot that gets full daytime sunlight. Corn should be planted in three or four rows, each about 4 feet long, spaced 3 feet apart. This is the optimal arrangement for the plants to pollinate.

Wait for the right growing conditions. Corn is very sensitive to cold and it won't mature properly if you plant it at the wrong time of year. Martha Stewart recommends waiting until nighttime temperatures are consistently above 50 degrees Fahrenheit, usually in late spring or early summer.

Add compost to the soil before planting. Buy bagged compost at hardware and garden stores. Stir heaping scoops of compost into the soil where your corn will be planted. Let it sit for a few days before planting your seeds; this gives the compost enough time to deposit the necessary nitrogen into the soil.

Plant your seeds an inch deep in the soil, about 5 inches apart from each other. Once you see green shoots coming up out of the ground, keep the soil pushed up in a hill formation around the base of the shoot, giving it stability and keeping it moist.

Fertilize the soil at the base of the corn stalk. Buy a granular organic fertilizer at most hardware and garden stores. Follow package directions to make sure you use the right amount. Reapply fertilizer every two to three weeks.

Monitor the corn's water usage. Corn needs lots of water, especially on hot days. If it's not getting enough water, the corn plant will produce small, unformed ears with unripened kernels. Water the plants often enough to keep the soil consistently moist.

Pull any weeds that sprout near the corn plants. The weeds will steal the water and nutrients your corn plants need to thrive.

Harvest the corn. It's ready to pick when the silk strands on the outside of the ear are brown and dry, about 65 to 95 days after planning, depending on the variety.

Shuck the corn. Remove the outer husk by peeling it away from the ear of corn and snapping it off. Wash the corn to remove dirt and corn silk strands.

Shell the corn. With one hand, hold the ear of corn on a flat surface, large end down. With your other hand, use a paring knife to slice the kernels from the cob. Try to slice them off in one clean stroke, from the tip to the base.