Lecture / tour / tasting: "Corn - the vegetable of the year"

As every year, the Tropical Greenhouse is organizing a themed afternoon for the vegetable of the year. On Sunday, September 4, we cordially invite you to learn a lot about the vegetable of the year, corn.
It is more than just biogas, animal feed and wallpaper paste - it is an ancient crop that comes in countless varieties. It is the world's most important grain, even ahead of wheat and rice: over a billion tons are produced! In our country, maize is mainly seen as a large-scale monoculture with high pesticide and fertilizer requirements. Around two thirds of maize ends up in the feed trough; in many regions of the world, however, maize is a staple food and is part of the daily food supply. The majority of the maize varieties grown here, namely 90%, are so-called "hybrids". You cannot obtain seed from the grains yourself. We will show you how you can produce your own seed and what you need to do to do so.
Corn began its triumphal march around the world from South America in the 16th century. Do you already know the three sisters from the "Milpa"? In this mixed crop from South America, maize, pumpkin and beans thrive together. From an ecological point of view, this is a very advantageous, site-appropriate, sustainable cultivation system. The three species complement each other in terms of soil requirements, space utilization and nutrition.
The Verein zur Erhaltung der Nutzpflanzenvielfalt e.V. (VEN - Association for the Conservation of Crop Diversity) is particularly keen to present the considerable diversity of varieties, which is threatened by mass cultivation, to a wider public. VEN would like to contribute to the preservation and dissemination of little-known wild species and cultivated varieties with special characteristics and has named vegetable maize - young cobs harvested at milk maturity - the vegetable of the year 2021/22.
There will be a presentation entitled "A foray into maize diversity" from the VEN conservation group and a hands-on tour of the garden with agricultural engineer and vegetable gardener Cathrin Merx. Here you will get to know the different varieties such as vegetable, popcorn and starch maize and see a colorful diversity of varieties such as `Bloody Butcher' `Oaxacan Green' and `Painted Mountain'.
In a small tasting session, we will also give you a culinary introduction to various varieties of vegetable maize.


University of Kassel / Greenhouse for tropical crops, Steinstraße 19, 37213 Witzenhausen

Admission 5€. Registration by August 31 at tropengewaechshaus[at]uni-kassel[dot]de or 05542-981231