Olathe corn should be hitting stores soon

Annette Espinoza
The Denver Post

William Woody, Special to the Post Luciano Movillo, a migrant worker from Mexico, tosses ears of Olathe Sweet Sweet Corn towards packers on a mechanical harvester in a field west of Olathe Colo., Thursday morning July 16, 2009. Tuxedo Corn owner John Harold, creator of Olathe Sweet Sweet Corn, said the migrant worker is crucial to his harvesting operation. Grown on the Western Slope, the popular Olathe corn is delivered to a variety stores from Alaska to Virginia. Harold said his company planted 20 percent more corn this year making the harvest one of the biggest yielding crops in years. Harold also added that he has hired more local workers this year due to the job market and recession. 1,300 acres of corn was planted consisting of half of the crop grown in the Olathe and Montrose area. 95-98 percent of the crop is shipped out of the area with 318 truck loads remaining this month alone. John Harold can be reached at 970-596-2620.
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The sweet corn harvest began in Olathe on Wednesday, which means one of the Western Slope’s sweetest delicacies will soon be in farmers markets and grocery vegetable bins in Colorado, and in markets as far away as Alaska, Arizona, Georgia, Texas and Washington.

This year’s harvest is sizing up to about 550,000 cases of corn that each contain 48 ears, said John Harold, owner of the 1,300-acre Tuxedo Corn Co. farm. He has been been growing corn for 28 years.

He said this year’s quirky weather moved the harvest up two days earlier than last year.

“Temperatures rose and fell from 45 to 35 degrees within a 24-hour period, and cooler nights and warmer days helped contribute to the growth and sweetness,” Harold said. “The weather turned around good, and the market’s great.”

Harold sells his corn to Kroger, owner of King Soopers and City Market chains.

Read the rest at http://www.denverpost.com/ci_12856859

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