Tacoma Harvest

It's not much, but rather amazing considering the weather we have had.  What do I do with it now?  Is there a process for letting it become seed for next year?

The Harvest Rolls In

My harvest from the big garden I worked on.

From Chester in New Mexico -
YOUR CORN HAS BEEN GROWING WELL. I WILL SEND YOU SOME WHEN IT IS READY......... IT HAS BEEN PLANTED WITH ABOUT 150 OTHER PLANTS OF BLUE CORN BUT AS YOU REMEMBER, IT IS ABOUT 2-3 WEEKS BEHIND SCHEDULE. TOO DATE 4 CORNIES HAVE BEEN OBSERVED ON THE PLANT. THEY WERE PLANTED THE OLD NATIVE AMERICAN STYLE.... IN A CLUMP MIXED WITH BEANS.......

WILL KEEP YOU POSTED.......... CHEERS



From Julie here in Lubbock -



Hello Bob,

Yesterday Darin and I pulled the corn and unwrapped beautiful blue kernels. This year was sparce in the garden. As you can see, there was no much of a bounty but what there was is gorgeous. This is my favorite shade of blue.

Please see attached and add to your blog as you see fit. Back to the 'rillo, look out for Darin!

Regards,

Julie

Seed Harvesting in the Great NW

Here's a ear I pulled because I was worried about some bugs. I cut the stalk and husked this one. The other few plants/ears appear insect free from the outside. I'm drying this one in the sun hoping to obtain some seeds. I'll be lucky to have four good mature ears. I read that it's best to let ears dry out of the stalk and then harvest, husk, kernel and save them in a cool dry spot. Can I get an "amen" or "you're screwed"on this from all you farmers :-) TIA

summer's done......the spiders are croaking in their webs and the horrendous heat, while not over, is at least tempered now and then by tolerable winds........this particular summer's hand was dealt by Cbob's Blue Corn-a-palooza with joedon for musical acrompinerance.........it, for one thing, made for one of the more pleasing heat spells i've ever had to endure here in this mosquito infested festerously humid paradise.........checking the corn.......

times was when at the onslaught of this heat you'd find any number of rogues, blackguards, crabbers, farmers and musicians mysteriously appearing at Hart's shrimp dock.........there would be mason jars............with ice....and shrimp......and crabs.......and geetars.......

The shrimp dock of course has been sold and mr hart has gone to be with his chicago ancestors......I assume that's the price one pays for dying..........

Blue corn as opposed to white corn and next year it's gonna be a whole damn field.............

Salute Corno

Corn harvest, the first hill

This is a picture of the Blue corn I grew in my back yard. Next week I will harvest the corn planted next door on the bank owned house.

I cut and shocked the corn or at least I tried to get it in a shock. It takes at least three stalks for a shock to stand. I have only two so I leaned them up against the pitchfork.
Shocking fodder is one of those lost farming arts. I was on the tail end of it and learned it as a child when my father borrowed a corn binder to bind his crop of sorghum. It would cut the long stalks and tie them into a bundle of 8to10 stalks and would lay it on the ground. We would pick up the bundles and shock them. To form a shock you would gather 4 or 5bundles together, tie them at the top with a piece of twine, then spread them out at the bottom so that they would stand. Then you would pickup the surrounding bundles and lay them against the shock being sure to distribute them equally. Think of a tepee looking structure made of corn stalks.

By the time I was in high school a neighbor bought a silage chopper and we had him chop it up into pieces an inch long, put it in a pit in the ground, where it would ferment. Some of the fermented juice would run out and collect at the end of the pit. Our cows would gather there and drink it then stagger up the hill. Bet you didn't know cows could be alcoholics.

Not worthy of being involved in your experiment Bob

Well after two plantings and building that darn rabbit excluding enclosure, I failed to fertilize my corn. No fish heads, no Miracle Grow, nada. I guess I was hoping the Hopi would do the rest of the work for me. I will have to blame some of it on that rabbit exluding enclosure. It not only kept the rabbits out but it kept me from getting close too. It made it difficult to mow around. Then the grass got really high. Then I was sure some snake would be lurking, waiting for me. And then, the garden was 1.7 miles away and I couldn't see it everyday. I have at least a dozen more excuses if anyone is interested.

Warning, those ears are smaller than they appear.

Bob, I just hope you won't exclude me for any other experiments. Don't make me turn in my project card. I just might be better at the next one.

Carol

Hot Damn, We've Got Tassels!

Wasn't completely confident I'd see the day. I'm not the photographer you all are, but hopefully you can see the three sisters at work. Additionally in the photo on the left, in the top right hand corner is my new hammock, strategically placed overlooking the harbor and corn. What a combo!