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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 2, 2022 14:18:39 GMT -6
I will admit that I had to chuckle at the idea of my planting 250 corn plants in my current garden situation. I have a total of 15 raised beds, the largest of which is 64 square feet (and is planted with asparagus so is not available for anything else), the smallest of which are just 16 square feet. I’d love to be able to have a field of corn, but It’s not something I can do here in Texas with my land and water and deer situation. I do appreciate your saying, though, that some corn is better than no corn, and saving seed imperfectly is better than not saving seed. That’s definitely where we are, but I am going to look for ways to increase diversity whether that be getting seed from someone else or buying another package from a different company. I did harvest a third ear yesterday because I found the stalk broken over. It looks similar to the second ear in that it’s only filled out at the bottom, and that colors are similar. It has some lighter and more pearly shades, though. I do find it very pretty. It doesn’t show up in the thumbnail of the picture, but if you click on it, it’s the last one on the right. I have the ears hanging on a little rack I made for hanging fireplace gloves and tools. I figured it was a good place to finish drying the corn.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 5, 2022 20:54:08 GMT -6
I wanted to update this thread with the two little ears of corn that I harvested today from stalks that had broken over. One had the same pattern of colors that a few earlier ones had had. The other had lots of pastel pinks and other lighter colors. I don’t know if the lightness is just genetic or if it was just younger. (I’ve heard that harvesting too early makes the colors less vivid.). The family really liked getting the pink cob, though, and I’ve hung these new ones up to dry with the others. I think there are two more cobs out on the stalks. One silk is still not completely dry, so I hope that stalk holds up for longer.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 5, 2022 21:59:02 GMT -6
So cute, chrysanthemum. I want to grow some of that someday, it's just too hard to resist...
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 6, 2022 5:24:20 GMT -6
They are cute, Woodeye. They’re really small, only a few inches even on the ear that is entirely filled out. All the rest of my cobs that lack kernels on the tops, I’ve decided to call “earlobes” since it’s just he bottom portion of an ear. I’m really thankful, though, that my kids are excited whenever we get to peel back the husks. They are excited to see what’s underneath and like turning them around and pointing out the colors. I didn’t get as much corn as I wanted, but I’m really thankful that they’re still getting pleasure from what we have gotten.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Oct 6, 2022 14:05:45 GMT -6
I love that 'Earlobes' definition.
You've added a new word to my gardening vocabulary.
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Post by hmoosek on Oct 6, 2022 15:45:39 GMT -6
I like growing corn, but I don’t try and save seed. Just about every year including this one, one of the farmers around me plants corn. The land in front of me is 600 acres, both farms to the left and right of me are over 200 acres. I’m purely guessing on the amount of land, but it’s a big farm out of n front of me. Behind me is a cow pasture. There is next to zero chance of me being able to save seed without a whole lot of work on my part. It’d be nice though.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 6, 2022 19:05:04 GMT -6
I live in a neighborhood. There is a ranch across the main road, but there’s no farming that I know of. It is possible that a neighbor that I don’t know plants corn, but I don’t know of any in the immediate area. I don’t know if my seed will be any good just because of my conditions this year, but I’ll give it a try. I hope to have a larger patch next year for better pollination.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 16, 2022 17:26:34 GMT -6
Just in case we get some wet and cold tomorrow, I decided to pick the last two ears of my Glass Gem Corn. The first was better filled out but just a couple of inches long. It had a lot of dark blue but in a slightly different shade from some others. The second was white and blue and purple. It has now officially become my kids’ favorite. The ears are all curing now on my fireplace tool rack. I have to admit that I was expecting red in the ears just because there was red on some leaves and those vivid red brace roots that I had. I would have liked some red ears, but at this point I’m delighted to have gotten ears and seeds at all. Next year I’ll plant more of my original seeds as well as some of my saved seed if it germinates.
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Post by hmoosek on Oct 16, 2022 17:41:45 GMT -6
chrysanthemumDon’t forget to pop a couple tablespoons. My three stalks didn’t make ears. It was fun growing though.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 16, 2022 19:08:43 GMT -6
You have gorgeous ears and earlobes, chrysanthemum. Good going, you got it done. If it is your kids' favorite, it'll be in your garden every year. Cool...
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Post by hmoosek on Oct 17, 2022 17:23:26 GMT -6
My corn didn’t do so well, but I know these have to qualify for some type of prize. I should have put a quarter there for size, but they are about 1.5 inches long.
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Post by woodeye on Oct 17, 2022 18:10:04 GMT -6
As a disclaimer I don't have any idea how tough it might be, but before I made compost out of it, I'd see if it would get tender in stir fry.
All you needed was more time, hmoosek, the ears were there...Cool
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Post by chrysanthemum on Oct 17, 2022 20:57:11 GMT -6
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Post by hmoosek on Oct 17, 2022 21:07:20 GMT -6
I just ate them raw. They were pretty good actually. I like raw corn. I’ve been known to grab an ear out in the field and get after it. After shucking it of course.
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Post by chrysanthemum on Nov 12, 2022 22:26:08 GMT -6
I lit our woodstove for the first time this season this evening. In preparation for that, though, I took down the Glass Gem corn that had been hanging on the rack where we keep our gloves. I enjoyed having it for decoration, but I decided that we could try to get the seeds off it tonight as a family activity after dinner. Everybody did a little. Here’s what we got in the big bowl. These are the mixed colors we picked out for planting. This is the jar that’s left after I poured it back and forth a few times to help remove some chaff. Next time we’re planning to make popcorn we’ll test out a few seeds to see if they pop or not. (I’ve read that they can get too dry and need to be soaked a bit or slowly rehydrated to increase the likelihood of popping.)
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