There’s no denying the simple summertime pleasure of a fresh ear of sweet corn. And for more than three decades, Candy and Ed Simpson have been supplying that pleasure in bags by the dozen.
What started as a simple way for their three children (and then thirteen grandchildren) to earn college money has grown through the years into a community staple. You can find Simpson’s Sweet Corn every summer across from the Amalgamated Sugar factory on Karcher Road in Nampa. Underneath four awnings, grandchildren and other kids determined to earn college money sack up the ears from two large flatbed trailers, accept the cash for dozens of ears, and send loyal customers on their way to barbecues, parties, and other meals.
“Our thing has been we pick the same day we sell, and we sell till we're sold out,” Candy Simpson said. “We've sold out every day, probably for at least five years, with nothing left over. And if we did have any left over, we would just feed it to the cows. A few days we go longer, but usually by 1 p.m. we’re gone, and we start at 9:30.”
In the early days, the Simpsons would sell to local farmstands, like Pollard’s Fruit Stand and the Karcher Ranch Market. They’d also sell it themselves, with Ed’s father, Myron, bouncing around town and selling from the back of his orange pickup truck. Eventually, they decided to open up their own stand, and ended up in their sugar beet factory-adjacent location.
“Ed's always been the one that's farmed it, but his dad started selling it in the beginning,” Simpson said. “But people still ask about him, and then they ask how many Simpsons are up there. They come up and they go, ‘How many of you guys are Simpsons? Raise your hand.’ They ask how many generations, which if you count Ed's dad, and then our kids and grandkids, we're on the fourth generation that's been doing this. So, it's kind of fun to see.”
The Simpsons have grown multiple varieties through the years, but have settled on two super-sweet corns from Caldwell’s Crookham Company: an early corn so they can start the season, and a standard corn to finish it off. Nowadays, the season wraps up around Labor Day each year.
“We milked cows for 28 years at the same time, and we raise a lot of hay,” Simpson said. “But we're starting to transition to retirement a little bit.”
One of their sons, Ryan, has “his heart in farming,” Simpson said, and has taken over their acreage and his own. “We're just keeping the sweet corn business solely for the grandkids to do so they can get a job and earn college money. And we've got it so established now (that people know us) that we really hate to let it go.”
For the kids, the job imparts some important lessons.
“It teaches them really to work hard and be good workers,” Simpson said. “Farming in general does that. If there needs to be hoeing done…or trash picked up around the fields, they come over and do all that. They don't just pick (the corn). And we just have really enjoyed working with kids and teaching them good work ethic. That's just hard to come by anymore. It's something you have to work with them to learn.”
The Simpsons have appreciated the community support that’s only grown through the years.
“A lot of people just know us because we've been there,” Simpson said. “We've been in the same spot and they know our name. Sometimes you have good years and bad years, like to do with the weather. But the people, they just support you and they stand by you. And if there's a problem, you just make it right with them.”
And the corn lovers showed out at the start of the 2026 season.
“The first day we sold out at 10:15,” Simpson said. “And the second day I think it was 11:15, but we had a lot more corn on the second day. And we had kids come here for an hour-and-a-half before and bag up as much as we could bag up before we got up there. As soon as we pulled in, (the public) just started forming a line both days. And the second day, there were 55 cars there. The community's been very supportive.”
Candy’s local celebrity status pops up when she’s out in town.
“They remember us,” she said. “They'll say, ‘Oh, you're the corn people!’ I'm known as the ‘corn lady’ at church.”
As for the “Corn Lady’s” best way to eat sweet corn?
“We use a little butter is all,” Simpson said. “Sometimes nothing at all. Salt and pepper and butter if we cut it off the cob and freeze it for the winter. Tastes just as good as the day we pick it.”
To keep your eye on when corn is available in 2027, visit facebook.com/simpsonsweetcorn.