Author Topic: Sweet Corn fields (Read 10636 times)

brooksbeefarm · « **on:** June 27, 2014, 05:04:53 pm »

My corn is tasseling and silking so i put up a 4 wire elec. fence to keep the coons out, took a day and a half to get everything together and set up

. Sprayed the silks once already( late in the evening) bees don't work the silks, and will spray one or two moore times for corn worms. While putting up the fence a flock of Red Wing Black birds were watching from the trees. I have 3 one acre fields out and going to put one more out, but fighting deer, coons, birds, and insects,this may be my last year selling corn at the farmers market.Plus the 90F + hot weather is starting to wear on this 76 yr. old man. Jack
PS. Anyone know an easy way to fight all these varmints.

tbonekel · « **Reply #1 on:** June 27, 2014, 06:04:04 pm »

I was going to say you must really like to grow corn.

riverbee · « **Reply #2 on:** June 27, 2014, 06:59:20 pm »

no easy way jack.......for sweet corn? for critters just the electric fence..........its a PITA anymore....

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #3 on:** June 27, 2014, 08:19:56 pm »

My bees SWARM the corn when it is tasseling. Wife refuses to go into the garden because of the vast amount of bees in it...
I set two live traps, spray it with deer repellant and keep a couple boxes of 7 and a half shot ready for the birds... Unfortunately they usually learn not to fly past when I set up my chair and table with the rum and coke on the table and the browning leaned up against it... I average two coons, a skunk and half a dozen blackbirds a year.. my worst loss is to the corn worms because I wont spray.

Jen · « **Reply #4 on:** June 27, 2014, 08:38:45 pm »

"my worst loss is to the corn worms because I wont spray."

Thank You!

Jen · « **Reply #5 on:** June 27, 2014, 08:44:25 pm »

For about 3 winters we had a "buck a bird" going for anyone who dropped a starling in our back yard, flying rats if ya ask me. They are such squirely birds that that we lost more bb's (within the city limits) to our maple tree than bird kill. So we stopped. But one winter I gained a 20 spot in my wallet. I was the winner of course

Hey! That would make good smilie!.. a pat on the back..

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #6 on:** June 28, 2014, 06:14:40 pm »

A buck a bird is almost the cost of the bullet now a day.

Speaking of cost, heard from a cousin today that went to the Springfield, Mo. Farmers Market and payed $3.00 a lb. for tomato's and just about everything (veggies) she looked at has increased in price.

Fore the last 3 years i've sold sweet corn for $5.00 a dozen ( the going price) and thought that was a little high? When i put a pencil to the price of seed, fertilizer, cost of, plowing, disc,cultivating,spraying,fighting Varmints, and not counting labor i now think they are getting a bargain.

Jack

Beeboy · « **Reply #7 on:** June 28, 2014, 06:20:57 pm »

What do you spray on the silks? I need to spray mine with something.

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brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #8 on:** June 28, 2014, 06:28:32 pm »

Asana,you have to have a lic. to obtain it. You can spray the silks (only,bees work the tassels for pollen) and is eatable the next day. I have used it for several years and never had a bee problem. It's when and how you spray that makes it safe. Jack

riverbee · « **Reply #9 on:** June 28, 2014, 06:39:28 pm »

"Fore the last 3 years i've sold sweet corn for $5.00 a dozen ( the going price) and thought that was a little high?"

jack, last year we paid 6 bucks a dozen here locally, so 5 bucks a dozen is not overpriced. might want to up your price this year. towards the end of the sweet corn season, we purchase quite a bit......blanche the cobs, say for 4 or 5 minutes, ice bath it about the same amount of time, de-cob.....hmmm, is that a word?.......

then freeze in servings for the two of us in ziploc bags for winter......mmmmm, mmmmm!

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #10 on:** June 28, 2014, 07:25:19 pm »

We do the same rb. I have people say they freeze it on the cob and it taste just like it came from the field? We have froze it on the cob just about every way possible, but it has never taste like it came from the field fresh

Jack
PS. I plant Ambrosa corn seed $50.00 for a 5lb. bag.

Bamabww · « **Reply #11 on:** June 28, 2014, 08:48:03 pm »

Quote from: brooksbeefarm on June 27, 2014, 05:04:53 pm

a flock of Red Wing Black birds were watching from the trees.
Jack
PS. Anyone know an easy way to fight all these varmints.

My late father-in-law used to grow enough sweet corn to feed the whole county and he had trouble with crows and coons. He trapped the coons and whenever he'd kill a crow, he'd hang it up just higher than the corn. After hanging two or three dead ones up, they'd leave it alone for a few days. But it was a constant battle.

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #12 on:** June 28, 2014, 08:53:48 pm »

I have tried freezing it on the cob, but I don't like it after its finally cooked.
I have;
Frozen straight from the field in ziplock bags.
Frozen from the field in vacuum bags.
Blanched and frozen both ways
Fully cooked and frozen both ways.
I have never had it taste anything like it did when taken from the stalk to the pot.
Last year we cut the kernels off and bagged/froze. Both fresh and blanched. We only did it in the vacuum bags, not ziplocks, but I was content with how it tasted and chewed. wasnt chewy and tasted good. We will probably do that again this year with the extra corn we cant eat as it comes from the garden. I need to make a knife with a curved blade or something of the like to liberate the kernels from the cob nicer.

riverbee · « **Reply #13 on:** June 28, 2014, 09:30:40 pm »

scott, there is a kitchen gadget made to de-cob corn with a curved blade.

the sweet corn we prepare tastes pretty fresh. blanching.......you don't need to boil the heck out of it.....and give lots of room for the cobs, don't pile them all in your pot, do a few at a time.... bring water to about a boil, put your cobs in shut the heat down a little, 4-5 minutes is good enough even for larger cobs. ice bath about the same amount of time.....4-5 minutes that's it. ziploc, get the air out, or vaccum bags. freeze.

frozen cobs straight from the field or, blanched and frozen cobs gets you soggy corn......yuk!

Gypsi · « **Reply #14 on:** June 28, 2014, 10:16:48 pm »

All good things to learn. Still in "pond season" so I didn't get any corn planted this year.. Heck my zucchini and yellow squash plants are still in the greenhouse. Except tomatoes on the pond.

I no longer buy sweet corn so the only way I would get it would be to grow it. Unless one of you wants to ship it in.

Around here it's neonic pesticides on GMO corn drenched in roundup, I wouldn't feed it to my dog. Literally. lost one to pancreatic cancer from feeding him purina full of corn coated in roundup. Buried him in January 2013 and quit buying produce...

brooksbeefarm · « **Reply #15 on:** July 01, 2014, 11:59:09 pm »

Put out the fourth sweet corn field today, my first field should be ready to pick next week. So far the 4 wire elec. fence is working to keep the coons out, my 20 ga. has stopped 16 gackles(sp?) and others

, i have seen deer at the lower end of the corn field where i have an acre of buckwheat that i think they like better??They show up between 8:00 and 8:30 pm , i will disc the buckwheat in before long for another crop and that's when the trouble with them will start, for them

. Jack

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #16 on:** July 03, 2014, 12:01:48 am »

They make slugs for 16 Gauge Jack!
My first two rows of sweet corn are tasseling. Got the live traps ready, hoping to avoid the skunks!

Wife was complaining about something eating the cat food in the wood shed.. I said probably a danged skunk.. her reply was.. Cant be a skunk.. a skunk couldnt drag the container across the floor and get it open like a coon could.....
I made a deal with her... If its a coon I will deal with it when caught, if its a skunk, like I say it is, YOU have to deal with it..
She agreed... the trap was set... the next morning... We had a skunk....
Guess who had to deal with it?

Beeboy · « **Reply #17 on:** July 03, 2014, 12:20:43 pm »

Quote from: LazyBkpr on July 03, 2014, 12:01:48 am

They make slugs for 16 Gauge Jack!
My first two rows of sweet corn are tasseling. Got the live traps ready, hoping to avoid the skunks!

Wife was complaining about something eating the cat food in the wood shed.. I said probably a danged skunk.. her reply was.. Cant be a skunk.. a skunk couldnt drag the container across the floor and get it open like a coon could.....
I made a deal with her... If its a coon I will deal with it when caught, if its a skunk, like I say it is, YOU have to deal with it..
She agreed... the trap was set... the next morning... We had a skunk....
Guess who had to deal with it?

That's funny! I bet you took care of it didn't you, because you didn't want to sleep outside tonight with the skunks family!

LazyBkpr · « **Reply #18 on:** July 03, 2014, 05:00:52 pm »

Yup.. doesnt matter how many times I have done it.. sneaking up on a live trap holding a sheet out in front of me to drape the trap with is an adrenalin rush... Not so sure my heart is still up to that... so I opened the door, walked away about 25 yards and shot it in the cage... Wood shed smells now, but it will fade with time...

Gypsi · « **Reply #19 on:** July 04, 2014, 12:49:44 am »

Jack,

You PLANTED corn on July 1st? Does that mean it's not too late for me to plant? I'm in Texas

Author Topic: Sweet Corn fields (Read 10636 times)

Gypsi

Gypsi