Worldwide Beekeeping
Sustainable Living => Gardening => Topic started by: 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.???
-
I was going to say you must really like to grow corn.
-
no easy way jack.......for sweet corn? for critters just the electric fence..........its a PITA anymore....
-
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.
-
"my worst loss is to the corn worms because I wont spray."
Thank You! ;)
-
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 ;) 8)
Hey! That would make good smilie!.. a pat on the back.. :)
-
A buck a bird is almost the cost of the bullet now a day. :sad: 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. :o 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. :yes: Jack
-
What do you spray on the silks? I need to spray mine with something.
Sent from my SCH-R970 using Tapatalk
-
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
-
"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?....... :D then freeze in servings for the two of us in ziploc bags for winter......mmmmm, mmmmm!
-
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.
-
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.
-
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.
-
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!
-
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...
-
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 ;D, 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 :-X. Jack
-
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?
-
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!
-
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... :laugh:
-
Jack,
You PLANTED corn on July 1st? Does that mean it's not too late for me to plant? I'm in Texas
-
The corn i plant is 65 day corn, of course it's the lack of rain i worry about, not the frost. Farming is like a box of chocolates, you do know what your going to get. :laugh: Jack
-
"Farming is like a box of chocolates, you do know what your going to get. :laugh:"
................. :D :D :D
-
OK. I have a question. Why do I have silk and tassels coming out from the same place in my corn? Smut?
-
tap tap tap...is this thing on...?
-
it is on beeboy!...... :D
it's just quiet around here lately, i can't help you out on your question but i am sure when jack wanders in here, he might know....
-
I'm here just never hsd that problem that i know of? are the silks coming out on top around the tassels? I've had stunted corn stalks that looked that way. Jack
-
I'll post a pic later.
-
(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F14%2F07%2F11%2F7ygyqupa.jpg&hash=658fe205c9a87a6383b4099376a2d1a8783d44dc)(https://worldwidebeekeeping.com/forum/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fimg.tapatalk.com%2Fd%2F14%2F07%2F11%2F6uhujeja.jpg&hash=7665727947e636b7eccf04cfa741fa58309b0a80)
-
wow... Do you by chance live near a nuc plant? ;D
Are there ears trying to grow under those silks? Can't say I have ever seen that before.. Been in and around corn all my life.
-
Like Lazy i've never seen that before either?? I guess it corn could give each other a wedgee, that's what it probably would look like. :laugh: Sorry beeboy, couldn't help it. ??? Jack
-
Lazy. I plan on making up some nucs after I harvest some honey here in a few day but as of right now, no I do not live near a nuc plant. ;-)
Yes those are little ears of corn trying to grow in the middle of all that. Silk, tassles, & little ears of corn all in one spot.
The corn looks good other than that. I'm expecting a pretty good harvest probably starting next week.
-
Beeboy, what variety of corn do you plant?? Every one at the Farmers Market wants me to stay with Ambrosia sweet corn. Jack
-
Candy corn. That's about all I ever raised. I been thinking of trying another kind, I'm not sure what one though.
-
Hrm.. Ambrosia is a bicolor and pretty good stuff. I have a couple rows in there with the Sugar baby and Silver King.. Sugar baby has a short growing time, SIlver King takes a bit longer, but works out good because I can plant at the same time for a longer picking time.. Kandy Korn I think is a longer variety too? 80+ days?
-
Yes. I believe it is a 90 day corn. There are many different kinds I would love to try. I just raise a couple of rows about 60 feet long. Just enough to eat fresh and freeze to last until next year.
-
I emailed a pic of my corn to a local guy here that is a master gardener that I listen to on the radio.
This was his reply.
Hi Phillip,
This is an abnormality that occurs from time to time, probably due to inferior genetics on the seed that produced this corn stalk. It likely won't produce any corn and can be discarded....best regards, Allan
Sent from my iPhone