sweetcorn, is it mould?

[JerseyJimbo]

i have picked my first sweetcorn tonite, but the first few ears that i have taken when opened the top inch or so is like a black and white powder? it does not seem to affect the rest of the ear so i have just chopped it of and eaten them they tasted fine btw

my question is if i leave the rest of the ears on the plants ( i estimate that i have 25-30 more ears) will this spread through them, assuming this is not normal? or should i harvest the rest of them, if i do that what is the best way to keep them so i dont have a glut, should they be boiled then frozen ???

[Geordie]

As ever a picture is often much easier to see what the problem might be. There is something called sweetcorn smut, which is a swelling that ruptures to release black powdery spores. As they are spread by the wind they will infect your other plants, but will aslo live on in the ground.
Try searcing for some images of this to see if it resembles your sweetcorn....I hope not!

[Two_Sheds]

They be cobs, not ears. Corn on the Ear doesn't sound as good!

Anyway, as to freezing: just freeze the whole thing, don't bother blanching. I ran out of space for cobs, so I just froze the kernels (cut them off with a very sharp knife).

For freeflow corn, not a big lump, space them out on a tray to freeze, then put into a bag.