The corn harvest season is beginning. It is a welcome summer treat and best of all, the crop grows and produces well in this area.

When the first company of Mormon pioneers crossed through Wyoming on their way to the valley of the Great Salt Lake, they met a fur trapper, Jim Bridger. He was well versed in the climate and conditions of this area and he told them he would pay them $50 for the first bushel of corn they harvested here. The story goes that Brigham Young assured him that they would not only grow corn, they would grow a wide range of other crops as well.

No one says whether or not Brigham Young ever collected on that offer, but we have been growing corn in these valleys ever since.

Various varieties of corn have different periods from seeding to harvest. You can extend the harvest by either planting an early corn along with a later variety or by planting varieties with the same seed to harvest period at two week intervals. The earlier corn reportedly is less severely damaged by corn earworms than later types. The earlier varieties ripen in 60 to 80 days. Later varieties require 80 to 100 or more days.

If you are diligent, you may be able to prevent such an attack by the caterpillars. Check out your corn patch when you first see tassels emerge. Shortly after, you will see one or two ears developing on each stalk. Plan on one ear per plant, but plants may produce two ears if plants have plenty of room, water and fertilizer.

As soon as the greenish-yellow silks emerge from the top of the ear, a moth visits the plants and lays eggs in it. The egg hatches into a 1 to 1 1/2-inch-long green, reddish or brown larva that quickly grows fat on your food.

You can treat a garden-sized patch ear by ear so you don't have to do an overall spray, which could be harmful to the bee populations.

You can apply Sevin dust to the developing silks using a soft paint brush or use a trigger-bottle sprayer with liquid Sevin. You will need to re-apply this pesticide twice more two or three days apart. If you missed the time frame and the silks are long and brown, it is too late. You and the caterpillars will both enjoy the corn you have provided.

Bt in the form of Dipel or Thuricide is also an excellent control. A few drops of mineral oil, dripped from an oil can also offers control. Make three to four applications at two- or three-day intervals. After the silk has turned brown and dried up, the sprays will do no good. Bt is bacillus thuriengensis, a bacteria that infects the caterpillars of moths only and kills them in a few days. It can be considered an organic control since it uses a natural organism.

You can also apply a couple of drops of mineral oil to each ear at that same time for a more organic way to control these pests.

These treatments will also help protect against earwigs and nutalids, the tiny beetles often found in the ear eating kernels.

If only it were just insects that wanted to share our corn crops. Unfortunately, a number of mammals and birds are anxious to indulge as well. We may lose the ears to birds, skunks, raccoons and cats.

I cannot offer much help against animals other than to trap them and remove them to safer premises. While skunks will lift up and chew on corn ear on the stalks, raccoons blatantly walk up the corn stalk knocking it down so they can eat the ears off at ground level. Birds peck at the ears through the shucks.

If you planted a nice patch of corn and the plants have had the audacity not to produce any ears at all, you probably put the plants too close together. Corn should not be planted less than 10 inches apart down a row with rows about three to four feet apart. When using drip irrigation, try putting the plants down both sides of the drip tube about six inches apart. The plants in a row should not be placed straight across from the plants in another row -- instead alternate them down the length of the tube.

The pollen is distributed by wind and falls from the tassels to the silks. If the plants are too close together most of the pollen does not reach the silks through the mass of leaves. If you plant corn in less than four-row blocks, you likely won't get much production either, since the pollen blows away rather than falling directly on the silks below.

The corn is generally mature about three weeks after the silks first appear. Check the corn by feeling it. It should be full and plump when it is ready to harvest. You can tear a small slit through the shucks to see what the kernels look like but you are making a way for insects to enter if the corn is not yet ready.

The ideal time to harvest is in the morning or evening when the corn is fullest. Make sure the silks turn brown, dry, and the ears feel firm. Check kernels on the end of the ear to make sure they are firm and milky.

For optimum sweetness, cook corn as soon as possible after picking it. The Supersweet and Sugary enhanced varieties will hold their flavor longer, both on the stalk and after picking. These varieties should be cooked and eaten within 12 hours.

Corn can be stored in the refrigerator if left in the husk, but it loses some of its sweet flavor as time passes.

Tips for the week

* Harvest vegetables at peak quality.

* Plant a fall garden including cool-season crops (radishes, carrots, lettuce, peas, etc.)

* Plant spinach, kale or P until August 15.

* Watch for slugs and snails in dark, cool, damp places. Bait or control by hand.

* In hot weather, cool soil by mulching.