One month into the project...

Hey folks...I thought I saved my post from a couple of weeks ago but apparently I didn't so here is my update...

This picture is from when I planted into my garden a couple of weeks ago. These were my two seedlings. I started them in pots and transplanted them at two weeks.

I am trying to grow my entire garden using organic fertilizers, pest protection, etc. One of the first things I need to do is get rid of the wood frame. I figured it would be a good use of wood from an old swing set in the yard, but treated wood is an organic no no so I am now looking for stone to build a border with instead. since my yard is fenced, critters aren't an issue, unless you count my dog who likes to sniff the squash and beans in another part of the garden.

Now here is a picture I took of the same two plants today. It looks like they've grown about a foot in the past couple of weeks and I just gave them their first meal of Garrett Juice so I'm expecting a big pop soon...Happy growing everyone!

Good Bye May , Hello June

Share Croppin' with Shere

I got to the garden about 9:45 this morning, sorry I forgot my camera. We all need to say thanks one more time to Ronnie. We started putting the water to the garden at 10:30, and it was still running when I left at 1:30 . Ronnie said he would turn the water off about 3 or 4 this afternoon. So we got it all pretty wet for the next week. We'll need it folks.

My Blue Corn is up in the big garden, 6 days to sprout. Ronnie told me a few weeks back that the Thrips, would becoming out of a wheat field to our northeast. That is what is attacking the beans, peas, and peppers right now.
See the little tiny holes in the leaves ? That's Thrips sucking the juices. I'm going to figure out how to crush this garlic I still have , and using the the mix below we'll see if it helps.
Blooms on the squash, and tomatoes ........ they look good by the way.

Garlic Sprays -

Repel everything from insects to rabbits, kill mold, fungus or mildew, and exterminate pests... all with natural or organic pesticide alternatives to chemical pesticides.
Garlic for organic gardening pest control, natural pesticide and insect repellant
Garlic pesticide spray
Soak 3 to 4 ounces of chopped garlic bulbs in 2 tablespoons of mineral oil for one day. Dissolve 1 tsp of fish emulsion in a pint of water and add it to your solution. Stir. Strain liquid and store in a glass container - not metal! Dilute 1 part solution to every 20 parts of water. Kills aphids, mosquitoes, and onion flies.
Garlic pest control and insect repellant
1. If you plant garlic with tomatoes, it will keep away red spider mites.

2. If you plant garlic around fruit trees, it will repel borers.
3. Spray garlic pesticide on sweet potatoes to repel rabbits.
4. Spray ponds with garlic-based oil to kill mosquitoes.
An insect repellent spray made of tomato leaves
Add four or five pints of water and 1 tablespoon of cornstarch

Lusting in his heart.

I caught the critter that has been terrorizing the corn. Hope that rabbit excluding enclosure works. I will see. Not enough corn up yet to be a real temptation.

Carol

Catching Up

Some pictures that have come in this week , been pretty busy .
As always the view from Blonde Wino's house is pretty good.

I had to get a new cast, still Hopi blue....first one was too tight, mal-formed. : ( Really caused more probs.

Sorry I haven't posted my photos myself. Will attempt after cast is off next week. Hope you have been enjoying the bird photos. I tried to photograph a roadrunner running across my neighbors rock wall as he jumped in to the tree to get to the mockingbird's nest, but the mockingbirds chased him across the road to the other side of the arroyo. Too slow with my hand in a cast to capture it all. Need to bring out the video.

Corn is fine...


Gambel's Quail dashing across rock wall.



And Flatus has sent pictures of his grandson Adam and their family planting in South Carolina.

Bob, these pictures are of 'planting day' for Toots, her husband
Denny, and son Adam doing their good work on the South side of their
house here in Columbia, SC.

They planted all the seeds except for the one that Adam ate.

When they were over to our house on Monday, they reported that all the
seeds had emerged from the ground within a few days. Trying to pin
them down, they thought three days.

Three days may be plausible as the weather was quite warm and the
planting medium was ideal.

As you can see, they worked hard to make our South Carolina sand into
a fertile garden spot for the blue corn.

Corn fields everywhere

I didn't think they grew corn in our little corner of Texas, but it turns out that there are huge fields only a few miles from here. I don't think it's Hopi Blue Corn, but still, it was a site to see.

The picture I took doesn't pick up the expanse of it, as I couldn't get up high enough to take the shot. But the corn was about 6 feet tall (or so) and was as far as we could see. It was out in the country, and I've probably driven that way in the past (although not often) and never noticed those fields. Thanks to CBob, I'm becoming more aware.

Now all of a sudden I'm a man outstanding in my field. It's a little field......8 strong plants 3 feet high and growing hard, reaching for the sky............when my ship comes in over at the airport later this week I'll get a new digital camera to replace the broken one and maybe I'll get a picture going on...............

The Last Seeds

I bought 1/2 lb of seed to do this , and today I sent out the last of it. The last letters went to Santa Rosa, Calif. and Corbett, Ore. on the shoulder of Mount Hood. So I suppose I'll try and count exactly how many of these 15 seed things I gave away. It's now up to you folks to post here, and tell us all about where your seeds ended up. Please accept the author invites, and post right here, no need to email me. If you have questions about working the thing ask, I'll be happy to help.

Well I just did the math and it came to 40 plots, 7 here locally and 33 on the Google map.
They really went to some cool places , thanks again for doing this with me.

The summer is still ahead of us.

I've tossed all these bottles in the ocean they're all still at sea ..... tell us about their trip.

Tacoma West 40 (Inches)

I must have picked exactly the right Washington moment because the plants practically leaped from down below to find the sunshine.

The dutiful son has laid out a place to transfer them from the planter, but still need to get some good topsoil for the final resting place. More pictures to follow.

Big Garden 5-24-09

An update from Kansas City

I planted 2 hills of corn, one in my yard and one in the yard of the house next door, which is owned by the bank. The one in my yard is struggling, only half the seeds germinated and one of them was an albino plant.

Albino corn

Also, the other day the wife was weeding her irises and guess where she was standing? I thought there was enough sun where I planted them but they are slow growing, they probably need more light. Right now there are 3 stalks still standing , 2 of them look very weak and the strong one got badly mauled last night.



The hill I planted next door is doing very well and will make a good hill of corn if it isn't cut down by the bank's lawn maintenance crew.




Here they are 2 weeks ago, when the crew came by and mowed, fortunately, they were too short and the weed eater passed over them but got the tomato plant besides them and 2 sunflower volunteers that I moved into the bed. It looked like the only place in the yard where they used the weed eater. The hill now has a wire protector around them and are 7 inches high. When the crew came by yesterday to mow they didn't even bother to weed eat. (Keeping the fingers crossed) maybe the corn and zinnias I planted over there are safe.

Jack

Sat May 23rd ...Share Cropin' With Shere

C-Bob,

There are a couple of cute chicks that want to say hi.

Was going through my pics in the camera and hadn't even noticed this one before.

Carol

Corn Do Over

C-Bob,

I want you to know I have spent considerable amount of time and energy on your corn project even though I have nothing to show for it. First it was fixing the tiller, then preparing and planting, then fighting critters and then a scavenger hunt for the materials to make my protective enclosure to protect this last planting.

The chicken wire didn't turn out to be as substantial as I thought it would be. I had to use all sorts of things to put this enclosure together. I needed some tent stakes but had painted the little door to a storage area shut so I couldn't get in. I tried to make due with a couple of wooden stakes. Hope I don't need them later for a vampire but I do have plenty of garlic so I ought to be OK.

Well I hope this works. I surrounded it with that Repel as an added protection. I noticed today that what the rabbits hadn't eaten the armadillos dug up.

Now it is up to the spirit of the Hopi.

Carol

I Have Rain Jealousy

we had a great rain...turtles are fine.


And Tortoise Envy

Ouch and Ahhhhh

From Blonde Wino -

broke my left hand...5th metacarpal fracture...limiting at the moment...especially this typing!

more turtle photos...the original corn stalk is still thriving

The Sunday Garden Shots

turtle amuck

The male yard turtle blundered his way through the corn patch on Thursday...I came home to find the original stalk laying on the ground. He bit the outer stalk leaves, but I have the entire mound in recovery right now. Although the turtle is part of the Hopi creation myth...he was destructive on Thursday. Our female turtle is now missing and we fear she has escaped...she really didn't like his intentions and attentions.

I don't know how the Hopi protected their corn....I am ready for kachinas and fetishes.

My first marigold is blooming...I still have plenty of seeds from last year's crop. Would you like some seeds? Great flowers.

BW

Blue Corn in the NW rain forest

I'm not sure the time someone tried to grow corn in the rain forest but I'm giving it hell. The floor is pretty sandy and I think a little too much acidity. I did condition the immediate surrounding soil so we'll see. There are about six plants that survived the re-potting and transplant. They have been in the ground for about two weeks. BTW you can see my critter guard/weather protector in the background. I used an old t-shirt tub (opaque) and it works great for the small area I 'm dealing with. Anyway, future updates as things progress, hopefully. Looks like we might get some Spring weather for a week or so. It's 72 degrees today. Heat spell!. LOL Also this post works okay. I'm not fimiliar with the formatting.

Hopi Blue Corn Project....... Reporting in from Houston

I waited too long to plant, but the corn is doing great, and you can almost stand there and watch it grow. With only a few precautions, the predators are keeping their distance. My cats seem to have lost interest too, for some unknown reason, maybe because I sprinkle it with the hose every so often. Cats normally hate water and rain.

Houston climate loves to grow things (especially things you don't want) because it's so hot and humid. So hopefully it'll work with me now. I'l do my best and thanks to CBob.

Report From the Front Lines

The above beasts may not look as fearsome as rabbits, armadillos, and other denizens of the great outdoors. Trust me, they are equally predatory when it comes to Blue Hopi Corn. The Tacoma branch of the great experiment has gone into the patio planter with the goal of transplant to the back yard once the sky has stopped falling, the ground has thawed, and my son operates his end of the shovel.

When awake and not looking trusting and angelic, the pictured felines, Mefis and Saki, love nothing better than digging in dirt. My job is to wall off the planter in such a manner that they can not access one of their favorite playgrounds. Wish me luck.

Share Croppin' With Shere ...... 5 - 10 Planting

We keep planting , and the garden keeps getting bigger. Got a good soak on the soil Sunday. That was followed by some drizzly weather , good news for all the young seedlings we've been planting.

Blonde Wino in New Mexico sez -

The original stalk is still growing...I have planted more seeds in the corn plot. I may need the rabbit pellet fertilizer as your plants look marvelous. This flower is a great attraction for hummingbirds, sphinx moth and bees. Our temps are near 100 degrees these days...

Happy corn dogs -



beautiful flowers.

My Rabbit Guy

I drove around a looking for Chuck .  Rabbit manure is the best stuff to garden with.
It's easy to get , ..... it's in a pile under the cages. You can put it in old plastic bags. Doesn't smell. . Great stuff. 
So for over a year now, I've been getting 4 or 5 bags from Chuck when I re-pot in the green house. 
Chuck keeps chickens and I bought some eggs to take out to the big garden for Shere. Her brother asked me where I got them , and I said my rabbit guy Chuck.
Turn's out Terry, Shere's bother lives 2 blocks over from Chuck.  Then, Terry tells me that Chuck is the great grandson of Quannah Parker. 
Charles Parker, on east 4th street. 

Chuck raises eggs too. Brown ones with Van Gough yellow yolks. He had 25 dozen on hand. I think I'm about to go in the egg business with the great grandson of Quannah Parker.

The Downtown Art Market

My friends and I are starting up an Art Market , today was our first monthly show. Pretty good turn out, even though we had cold , cloudy, and very windy conditions.

Craig's Corn Comes Up

D.C. gets it's seeds here :



And Craig reports we have sprouts in D.C. today :

Biggest news of the day -- my Blue Corn Breaks Ground!..

Here's yer "Atta Boy" .

Things are late this year.

I pay attention to nature and this year everything seems to be late in coming. The love bugs, usually here in April, haven't shown up yet. The lubber grasshopper, a real nuisance, hatched out late, and my gardenia, again late. Not exactly sure why but there must be a reason. Maybe it was because we had a little cooler weather later in the Spring this year.

That lubber grasshopper is starting to hatch. They are a problem in areas close to the river. They hatch out hundreds of babies and as I walk around and find them, I step on as many babies as I can because I won't use any poison. I have started a few new dance routines doing it. If I miss smushing them, they grow up and when they get big the devour everything they can get there teeth on.

My Maggie found one last year. She caught it caught trying to steal some sunglasses. She is a little sleuth alright.

Carol

8 Weeks ..... One foot

8 weeks ago tonight , I typed out this offer, on another thread, as a balm for people I'll never meet. Here's the best 2 plots I have tonight. They're both about a foot tall.

CBob may I?

Well, things have stalled a bit here.  My sturdy lads were so enthusiastic that they broke the pitch fork.  I will replace it with my next paycheck.  In the meantime while waiting to finish  prepping the garden I've had a vision- a symbiotic relationship between the corn and the bean.  Glorious companions each supporting the other.

So I've come to pose this question. Oh great giver of sacred blue corn seeds, Is it permissable to plant pole beans within the sacred corn circle?

spiritual renewal

I always stop here for a moment of silent meditation. Well I am silent but the woods are filled with a symphony of music from the crickets, tree frogs, the bass of an old bull frog and some things I am not sure I want identified. It is a place for spiritual renewal but so far it hasn't helped the corn. It's gonna take a nightwatchmen and I haven't found one yet. Could someone lend me a mountain lion?

What is the name of the Mayan corn god?

An Update on the Experiment



Well , it seems either you get this or you don't. Either you're a " kernel head ", or you're not. I'm not exactly sure how many plots I've given away. I passed out several here to people who I know . Maybe 6.

Another 21 via the internet . Including the postage, I'm out about $40 bucks. And I still have about 1/8 of a pound in seeds. I always was taken by the message in a bottle.

This is way better.


One of those local plots told me they are growing some in peat pots to take to Penn. to plant near a friend's grave. Not bad for an old man's wild hair. I added a Google map, I think everyone is where they're supposed to be ........ At first, I put Sturgeon's plot in the Atlantic Ocean.
Ocean Blue Corn ?

There's a cluster map below Google, it's a fun thing as well.

A:
Yum Kaax

A DEFENSELESS GOD

As is to be expected, there was a god of corn among the ancient Maya. In general, anthropologists concur that this god was Yum K'aax, who was depicted as a young man with long, silky tresses —symbolizing the long filaments or 'hair' on the cobs— and a beautiful face with classic Maya profile, who wore a headdress made of a corn stalk surrounded by leaves. In their hieroglyphic writing system, the head of the god was depicted by the number "8", over which he is the lord, and the sign which indicates his name, Kan, is also the eighth day, or corn day, just as our Monday is the day dedicated to the goddess of the moon or Friday to the German goddess Frig.

However, there are certain doubts or contrary opinions about Yum K'aax being the original corn god since records from the colonial period indicate other names by which he was known —Kauil, Ah Uaxac Yol Kauil, and Itzam Na Kauil. Uil means sustenance and Kaa is the root word which means "excess" or "abundance." However, it may be that the god of corn was characterized as a passive and defenseless creature, victim of all kinds of attacks by birds, insects or rodents, one whose survival depended on the help of the god of rain in the form of timely rainfall. But man was also Corn's ally, with his rituals and offerings to attract rain, weeding out the plants that robbed Corn of space and nutrients, scaring off predators and, above all, giving life to the god by planting him. In gratitude for all man's care, Corn fed him.

Mayan Gods and Mythology

Yum Kaax: the Maize god, god of cacao, god of wild plants and animals important to the hunters. He is equally a protector of the fields against the incursions of wild nature and invoked by traditional farmers.

Purple Opal Basil

Been waiting on these babies, I just like saying the words Purple Opal Basil

Why I Say " Sandbilly"

Share Croppin' with Shere
We put in our 3rd & 4th plantings this weekend. That would be the clip below.
We're still planting phases of sweet corn ,
so I haven't been able to plant some Hopi Blue in this big garden. Being an open pollinator , we want at least 100 feet between it, and the sweet corn.

Angry sky

I love it when the sky gets angry before a storm. We caught a 1-1/2 inch rain here this afternoon. It may give the gnawed down corn another boost. I circled the plants again with the Repel after the rain. We'll see what comes. It is still unknown critter 3, corn 0. Not sure when the corn will just give up. Here's hoping the Hopi's help out. Maybe one of those hats pictured on your blog might do the trick.

CT in La.

Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme....

Bless that corn, it is still trying to come up. It's providing nourishment for something. Even though I may not do well with corn I have managed to keep my parsley, sage, rosemary, thyme, sweet marjorum, and chives.... going for a couple of years plus. I did replant the basil this year.

The owls live up in the big bald cypress to the left of my camp in the first pic. Very tall tree.

CT in La.

Eight plants holding steady as she grows..........the nitrogen may be working, but it's not like I'll be climbing up the stalks to meet the cloud-giant any time soon........

Don't wish to count my kernals before they grow, but do I get seeds for next year from this year's plants?