Opt for smaller to medium-sized ears of corn for sweeter, more tender kernels. • Look for ears with green, moist husks and avoid those with brown or dried husks. • If you can, buy corn directly from a farm stand or farmers market because it will be the freshest. I had been clueless about how to pick ears of corn at the grocery store or farmers market. Bigger is better, right? No way, says Mike Buis, a Martinsville, Indiana, farmer who farms 3,000 acres of corn and soybeans with his brother.