It’s Silver Queen corn season, but it can be hard to find. Where (and why) to search.

It’s Silver Queen corn season — but the popular “old timey” corn is not always easy to find.

When searching for fresh summer produce in Raleigh, the first stop for many is the State Farmers Market, so that’s where we started. We found one stand selling the elusive corn variety: Penny’s Produce.

Laura Penny confirmed that their family-owned and operated farm in the Johnston County town of Willow Spring, is the only Silver Queen vendor at the State Farmers Market. Penny’s father-in-law started the farm, and it’s been in operation for 45 years.

What’s so special about Silver Queen corn?

“Silver queen is just an old fashioned corn, a lot of people, especially from older generations want it. That’s all my family has ever grown,” Penny said. “That’s what we grew up on. That’s what my daddy grew, his daddy’s daddy grew — it’s the best. It’s just so old-timey that a lot of people have gone to this new stuff.”

The reason Silver Queen is harder to find is because fewer farmers grow it now, Penny said. It takes Silver Queen about 120 days to yield, while newer varieties take between 70 and 80 days, she said. Plus, newer corn varieties are sweeter — “a whole lot more sugar” — with bigger kernels.

“This is an old-fashioned variety, it’s just a good ole sweet corn,” Penny said of Silver Queen.

Bigger, faster and sweeter corn doesn’t always mean better corn, said Lisbeth Rasmussen, an owner of Split Acre Farm in Rougemont.

Split Acre Farm doesn’t grow or sell Silver Queen — they have nearly everything else, though — but Rasmussen appreciates its heirloom qualities.

“It’s very similar to an heirloom tomato — there’s an heirloom for any vegetable,” Rasmussen said. “It’s not bred to be the biggest and the fastest, but it’s a great flavor and people remember it!

“It’s how they expect corn to taste, and people love Silver Queen for that.”

Look for under-the-radar produce

Over the next few weeks of the late-summer-market season, farmers encourage their patrons to arrive early and snag irregular findings.

“Things are starting to pop up in little bits,” Rasmussen said. “At this time of year especially, it’s really important to get to the market early and ask the farmer, ‘What’s something new this week?’ See if there’s anything that’s worth giving a try. It might just be a handful of an experimental crop or something you don’t really see a lot of.”

At Split Acre Farm, for example, the cantaloupe season is fairly short. Patrons can buy cantaloupe now, but they only have a few weeks left. (You can find Split Acre Farm stands at the Chapel Hill and Carrboro farmers markets.)

“These are pretty exclusive, I’d say, because we’re not growing a crazy volume,” Rasmussen said. “Other farms will have them for longer, but they’re one of our smaller crops this year.”

Visit the NC State Farmers Market

The State Farmers Market is located at 1201 Agriculture St, Raleigh.

Brooke Cain contributed to this report.