This New Jersey man has cornered the market!
Matt Jacovelli is growing a stalk in his vegetable garden that has sprouted, at last count, 28 cobs — a staggering number that could smash the current world record.
Jacovelli — who lives in Deptford, a suburb of Philadelphia — noticed ears of corn “exploding” in his yard a few weeks ago.
“I started counting the cobs,” he told the Cherry Hill Courier-Post. “It was more than I’ve ever seen in my lifetime.”
His last tally was 28 ears of corn. The current Guinness World Record for “the most corn cobs on a single plant” is 16 — set in Swedesburg, Iowa, a decade ago.
The current record holder used kernels of Pioneer-brand seed and Miracle-Gro fertilizer to achieve the 16-ear total. But New Jersey’s green thumb didn’t even plant the seed on purpose.
“I feed the birds and rabbits and squirrels. The squirrels carried the seed all around my house and buried it,” Jacovelli said. “So the squirrels actually planted it.”
Being in contention for a Guinness record — and, he added, not using any chemicals on his maze of maize — is a happy accident.
“I was out here counting them one day, and I said, ‘I wonder what the record is,’ ” he said.
So his daughter Jean emailed Guinness to inquire about how to verify her father’s stalk. Turns out Jacovelli’s plant must be evaluated by a specialist with relevant expertise to qualify for the record. A professional from Rutgers New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station is set to come to the house on Tuesday.
If he were to break the record, Jacovelli said, “it would be nice for New Jersey.”
And, added Jean, “to beat Iowa.”
Come harvest time, the family isn’t excited to throw the corn on the grill. “I don’t think it’s sweet corn,” Jacovelli said. “It’s probably horse corn. I think it’s very difficult to make it soft enough to eat.”
A Guinness record victory, though, would sure be sweet.
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