Thirty one years ago I started growing rare lines of cold hardy northern corn for my family’s grain in Montana.  Modern corn wouldn’t mature in the mountains where I lived, so I had to work with heirloom Native corns.  I learned that about 12 lines of Mandan Indian corn had been saved in the national seed bank, but those lines appear somewhat inbred.  I began a search for corn still kept alive by Indian families and descendants of homesteaders.  After years of evaluation and crossing I eventually created a large and diverse gene pool. I exposed this corn to the severe stress of my Montana home, selecting only the hardiest to breed from.  I called this Painted Mountain Corn.

Photo: Dave showing select ears of Painted Mountain from a field in Montana.

http://seedweneed.com/index-1.html