when is corn ready to pick off the stalk
Sweet corn: About 18 days after silks appear, when they're dark and dry, make a small slit in the husk (don't pull the silks down), and pierce the kernel with a fingernail. If the liquid is (1) clear, wait a few days to pick, (2) milky, pick and eat, or (3) pasty, the ear is past its prime and best for canning. Popcorn: Pick when the husks are brown and partly dried. Finish drying corn on the husks. A solar drier is the most rapid method, drying the corn in about 5 days.