Hopi Pink Flour Corn is a rare heirloom variety bred by the Hopi nation, prized for its stunning kernels in shades of pink, mauve, and salmon clustered on 8-inch ears. This drought-tolerant flour corn thrives in zones 2-10, reaching harvest in 95 days and producing grain exceptionally high in protein with a fine texture that yields remarkably soft tortillas and tamales. It stands as one of the toughest and most beautiful flour corns available, particularly suited to dry farming conditions where other varieties struggle.
Full Sun
Moderate
2-10
?in H x ?in W
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High
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The kernels display an arresting palette of pink, mauve, and salmon tones that make these ears as lovely to look at as they are practical to grow. Bred by the Hopi nation over generations, this variety combines extraordinary drought tolerance with flour that's unusually high in protein and remarkably fine-textured. It performs where many corns fail, handling dry conditions with the resilience of a crop shaped by centuries of cultivation in the American Southwest.
This corn is grown specifically for flour production rather than eating fresh off the cob. The kernels are dried and then ground into flour with an impressively fine texture, making it exceptional for soft tortillas and tamales. The high protein content of the flour makes it nutritionally valuable for traditional and contemporary cooking that honors Southwest indigenous foodways.
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Sow seeds directly into the garden once soil temperatures consistently reach 60 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit and all frost danger has passed. Plant at the recommended spacing of 30 inches apart.
Allow ears to fully mature on the plant; for flour corn, harvest when the kernels have hardened completely and the husks have dried. The ears should feel solid when squeezed, indicating the kernels have reached their full dry-grain stage suitable for milling. Cut or snap the ears from the stalk and allow them to cure further in a dry location before shelling and grinding into flour.
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“Hopi Pink Flour Corn represents the agricultural legacy of the Hopi nation, a variety developed through generations of careful selection and seed saving in the arid Southwest. The Hopi people bred this corn to thrive in dry conditions where water is scarce and precious, embedding into its genetics the resilience needed to flourish in their traditional lands. This variety survived and persisted through the dedication of Hopi farmers and seed keepers, eventually reaching the broader gardening community through heirloom seed preservation networks. The remarkable work of the Hopi nation in developing one of the toughest and most beautiful flour corns underscores how indigenous agricultural knowledge produces varieties of genuine distinction.”