Purple Dent

SSE co-founder Kent Whealy received this variety in 1982 from of amateur corn-breeder Ernest Strubbe (b. 1915, d. 1986) of Alberta, Minnesota, while interviewing him at his farm in western Minnesota. Ernest's interest in breeding began in 1929, and over the decades, he developed many selections of vibrantly-colored dent corn - every color was on display in Ernest's home. Ernest related his early efforts in trying to create a purple dent corn: “When I had most of these colors at least partially isolated, I'd take the purest seeds for my pure patches. The odds and ends I'd throw in a big wash tub and plant it for pheasant food. That produced some interesting results. Especially after I got it mixed up with this Purple Husked Corn. But the Brown Dent and the Purple Dent showed up in that mix. So I picked them out and isolated them. It didn't take very long to get them either. After the first couple of years, I was getting quite a few ears that were solid purple...that was exceptionally fast.”