July 1, 2013

My Field Corn: Sock High by the 4th of July?

Our field corn is about mid-calf tall now

Even though I planted late, our field corn has a good start. I hate to admit that it's a rather sporadic showing, making me wonder if I grabbed the can of leftover 2011 corn seed instead of the batch from 2012. Also, I saw crows in this field after it was planted. That wasn't a good sign. Still, I'm thankful for what is growing and have just interplanted cowpeas between every other row. Here's hoping for a good harvest from both.

13 comments:

Benita said...

Love the socks!

Our field corn is almost tall enough for me to take a shower in the rain in the back yard. Give it another week.

Are you still getting lots of rain?

Anonymous said...

We are planting corn later this week if the garden area dries out enough so that we can finish turning it. For my son's sake, I hope it all comes up in time, but we will see. We eat so much of it in a year, I would have to plant an acre of just that, so I am going to buy a few grain sacks of it from one of the local produce stands so I can do some canning.

DFW said...

Good luck Leigh. Love the sock by the way.

vlb5757 said...

We had never grown bean for drying until we stumbled upon Jacob's Cattle. We love the beans and they are super easy to grow. We save them for winter dishes. No luck with corn because of Japanese beetles. We had to go to bush beans because for some reason the beetles loved the climbing green beans. So we planted gourds for birdhouses instead. We have a very small urban garden. I love reading how you are doing with the house and the garden. So inspiring.

Leigh said...

Benita, LOLOL. Love the image of showering in the rain.

Stephanie, I love that! All this time you've been waiting and planning, and now you get to do it. Welcome to to homesteading! (And I hope your corn does well.)


DFW, thanks!

Vlb5757, good to hear from you! It seems like ages. Interesting about your Jacob's Cattle beans and Japanese beetles. Sounds like you've made the best of the problems. Successful gardening is all about adapting.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Our little 4'x 4' raised bed using the square-foot method of gardening (which means we can plant four plants per square feet of corn) is going great. The critters did help themselves to a few of the newly sprouted tender plants, but we'll have plenty for the two of us to enjoy this summer. Our plants are about 4' high and we're excited!

Mama Pea said...

Our corn IS ankle high right now and we'll be lucky if it's top-of-the-sock high by the 4th! But with the cold June we've had, I'm thinking we're lucky it's come up at all!

The Stay @ Home-Gardener said...

To me... it appeared as you were speaking of tough love. "Either you grow up or you are getting the sock and the sandel covered foot with it!!" :)

matty said...

You are not the only one having corn issues this summer. My parents and several friends have had the same issue with it not coming up. It is random... a plant here... three there... it is odd. I am thinking it has to do with seeds and perhaps GMOs? They have contaminated so many plants, I have to wonder if they have heritage seeds as well... Good luck! I hope you have a good yield!

Leigh said...

Janice, I hope it does well! There's nothing better than fresh corn.

Mama Pea, we're even! Although we have the advantage of a later first frost. I hope we both get corn.

Cloud, some do recommend talking to one's plants! :)

Matty, interesting. I'm sure most seed is contaminated. Mine is saved seed, first purchased two summers ago. There is no commercially grown corn around here, but still, it is getting harder to get genetically pure seed.

Anonymous said...

Been lucky here, good temps and steady rain , will be picking sweet corn next week probably in zone 6..

luckybunny said...

Yes here's hoping for a very good harvest!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, sexy...hee hee! ;)

Good Crop Harvest Blessing coming your way! :)