2024 garden season

[TNTreeHugger]

You are wasting people's time.

Are you my hostage? If I upset you so much, ignore me.

(Blah)
In less space than your doublewide takes up you could easily grow all of the corn, watermelons, cantaloupe, asparagus, etc., that you could ever want. Freeze and can, too.

It would still be a small garden.

I know I can grow all that in the garden space I already have.
In the space that one stalk of corn takes up, I can plant a squash, or tomato plant and have pounds of produce compared to a single ear of corn.

It's a single-wide.

 

[Del_]

Are you my hostage? If I upset you so much, ignore me.


I know I can grow all that in the garden space I already have.
In the space that one stalk of corn takes up, I can plant a squash, or tomato plant and have pounds of produce compared to a single ear of corn.

It's a single-wide.

Maybe you need to get outside a little bit more, a bicycle ride or something. LOL.


https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C905

Nothing can compare to the fresh, sweet, crisp taste of homegrown sweet corn that is picked and eaten on the same day. Sweet corn is certainly a favorite crop among home gardeners and, with the many varieties now available, there is one to suit every taste and need. Sweet corn is not difficult to grow and, by following the cultural guidelines provided in this publication, you too can enjoy this sweet delicacy.

 

[farmer steve]

That may well be but you didn't address my claim -
One stalk, one ear of corn, one serving.
Not only that, but it gets so tall it will block the sun from other plants.
How is that efficient gardening?

Of course, I'm talking about an average size residential garden, not acres, or a dedicated patch.
For a garden my size, it would be a huge waste of space.

Most of my corn will produce 2 ears per stalk. Granted the 2nd ear is smaller. I see a lot of small gardens around here with a small patch or 2 of corn in them. Not so much about the yield but the satisfaction of growing it and the taste of good eatin corn. Pole beans, cucumbers and squash can be interplanted with corn.

 

[djg james]

I buy a lot of seeds from Stokes. They used to sell a lot of their corn in 10M size bags but when they switched to 25M I went to another place. The 274A xtra-tender is what most of the guys at produce auction raise. I'm not a fan of the sh2 varieties due to the thicker pericarp on kernels. SE or SY are my favorites.

I tokk a look at the catalog and good heavens! I didn't know that many varieties of sweet corn existed. How do they keep their different varieties separate for seed generation to prevent cross pollination. Grown all over the states my guess. And packs of 2.5M (million?) seeds is the smallest you can buy? Still a good buy. Buy a 2.5M pack and then use 50 seeds for xx years .

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Most of my corn will produce 2 ears per stalk. Granted the 2nd ear is smaller. I see a lot of small gardens around here with a small patch or 2 of corn in them. Not so much about the yield but the satisfaction of growing it and the taste of good eatin corn. Pole beans, cucumbers and squash can be interplanted with corn.

Now, that makes sense - double planting in the same space.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

Maybe you need to get outside a little bit more, a bicycle ride or something. LOL.


https://extension.uga.edu/publications/detail.html?number=C905

Nothing can compare to the fresh, sweet, crisp taste of homegrown sweet corn that is picked and eaten on the same day. Sweet corn is certainly a favorite crop among home gardeners and, with the many varieties now available, there is one to suit every taste and need. Sweet corn is not difficult to grow and, by following the cultural guidelines provided in this publication, you too can enjoy this sweet delicacy.

Aww, you do still me - or, maybe it's Stockholm syndrome?

I don't dispute how good fresh sweet corn tastes... but I wouldn't say "nothing can compare to it."

 

[farmer steve]

I tokk a look at the catalog and good heavens! I didn't know that many varieties of sweet corn existed. How do they keep their different varieties separate for seed generation to prevent cross pollination. Grown all over the states my guess. And packs of 2.5M (million?) seeds is the smallest you can buy? Still a good buy. Buy a 2.5M pack and then use 50 seeds for xx years .

M is thousand. 2.5 M is 2,500 seeds. I've bought a couple 2.5m packs to try new varieties. It's not quite a pound of seed.

 

[TNTreeHugger]

What kind of squash would you plant with corn?

 

[farmer steve]

What kind of squash would you plant with corn?

Just about any kind. Something that vines would climb the stalks and act as a trellis. Pole beans would work too.

 

[cookies]

The silverqueen corn seed I used this year was purchased 3 years ago, stored in an envelope in a ziplock freezer bag kept in the climate controlled house. I'd say I saw 97% germination rate in all three patches planted.
If you are only seeing one ear per plant your planting too close together, not fertilizing with enough nitrogen or both. I use the arm method to plant corn, rows are planted a full arms length apart and seeds are planted wrist to elbow apart though next planting I will be trying fingertip to elbow to see if more ears are produced. I used ammonium nitrate on them twice this year, first time when they were approx a foot high I trenched 6 inches from the stalk and sprinkled a line all the way down. then for the second round when the tassels emerged I sprinkled at the base and added langbeinite as well. Your corn should be a darker green not emerald, it is hard to burn or damage corn from over fertilizing using the side sow method so thats the method I use.

 

[sonny580]

todays corn stalks wont hold up anything! My corn this year was barely 4 feet tall. Most had 3 decent ears on them even without rain. My GOOD corn, -- (only 7 plants ) -- is 8 feet tall, and has 4 to 8 ears set on it. Usually this is what we plant but cant get it anymore. These seeds were stuck in the planter box from last year and fell out during the third planting.
Wyffles had the best sweetcorn in the country but cant get it anymore for some reason.
Commercial canning company here plants NK 199, ---- not s'posed to know that! LOL!! and its GOOD stuff too!
Anyway most home gardens here have sweetcorn in them,---- only gets 4 feet tall and no it dont shade anything else.
I only plant 8 rows 130 feet long for first planting then 12 rows second planting and 8 rows third planting and 4 rows fourth planting. --- last planting here being July 10 and it usually makes it and is the better of the plantings.

 

[Del_]

I don't interplant these days but I have hundreds of times in the past. It's been done for thousands of years.



A most interesting book. So interesting to me that I read it twice. Once in the early eighties and the second time around 2005.

https://search.brave.com/search?q=f...b&summary=1&summary_og=0048a1e7a6ef515fd03998



Three sisters:

https://search.brave.com/search?q=t...p&summary=1&summary_og=bce886247fa5773266cc3a



Cornfield beans:

https://www.southernexposure.com/products/genuine-cornfield-pole-snap-bean/

 

[cookies]

todays corn stalks wont hold up anything! My corn this year was barely 4 feet tall. Most had 3 decent ears on them even without rain. My GOOD corn, -- (only 7 plants ) -- is 8 feet tall, and has 4 to 8 ears set on it. Usually this is what we plant but cant get it anymore. These seeds were stuck in the planter box from last year and fell out during the third planting.
Wyffles had the best sweetcorn in the country but cant get it anymore for some reason.
Commercial canning company here plants NK 199, ---- not s'posed to know that! LOL!! and its GOOD stuff too!
Anyway most home gardens here have sweetcorn in them,---- only gets 4 feet tall and no it dont shade anything else.
I only plant 8 rows 130 feet long for first planting then 12 rows second planting and 8 rows third planting and 4 rows fourth planting. --- last planting here being July 10 and it usually makes it and is the better of the plantings.

Sounds like a bad batch of seed, its quite easy to have entire fields ruined by nearby plantings of non sweet corn cross pollinating with it. I try to buy 3 years worth of seed at a time to reduce the chances of this and save seeds for replanting. I did sister one patch this year planting zipper peas in between the rows of corn as a experiment since zipper cream peas grow 3-5x as many peas when they vine out.

 

[Del_]

The silverqueen corn seed I used this year was purchased 3 years ago, stored in an envelope in a ziplock freezer bag kept in the climate controlled house. I'd say I saw 97% germination rate in all three patches planted.
If you are only seeing one ear per plant your planting too close together, not fertilizing with enough nitrogen or both. I use the arm method to plant corn, rows are planted a full arms length apart and seeds are planted wrist to elbow apart though next planting I will be trying fingertip to elbow to see if more ears are produced. I used ammonium nitrate on them twice this year, first time when they were approx a foot high I trenched 6 inches from the stalk and sprinkled a line all the way down. then for the second round when the tassels emerged I sprinkled at the base and added langbeinite as well. Your corn should be a darker green not emerald, it is hard to burn or damage corn from over fertilizing using the side sow method so thats the method I use.

Yes corn is quite the heavy feeder.

The only fertilizer I've used on corn for the past ten years is my urine mixed one gallon in six gallons of water and top dressed using a sump pump, 55 gallon barrel and a 150ft. garden hose.

Corn loves it.

Here's a drawing of how I grow corn in our beds:

 

[cookies]

Yes corn is quite the heavy feeder.

The only fertilizer I've used on corn for the past ten years is my urine mixed one gallon in six gallons of water and top dressed using a sump pump, 55 gallon barrel and a 150ft. garden hose.

Corn loves it.

Here's a drawing of how I grow corn in our beds:

View attachment 1193848

Using my urine or other human body excretions to fertilize a food source might be viewed as taboo by the neighbors that share in eating the crops. I have been seeing a few reports of folks diluting diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) (urea) for use as a lawn fertilizer.

 

[Del_]

Using my urine or other human body excretions to fertilize a food source might be viewed as taboo by the neighbors that share in eating the crops. I have been seeing a few reports of folks diluting diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) (urea) for use as a lawn fertilizer.

I understand.

The only body excretion I use in the garden is urine, and have for decades. It's almost taboo to even vegetable garden these days. Or to mow your own lawn. Signs of being of the working class and all that.

Home grown urine is a wasted resource. If I have extra, and I do, I use it diluted around trees and shrubs. Perennials like hostas, daylilies and daffs like it too.

I believe it also works as a deer repellant.

 

[djg james]

...... I believe it also works as a deer repellent.

I believe so too. Sprinkle around pine trees in the Fall before the rut protects them from rubs.

 

[jolj]

And while we're on tomatoes .
View attachment 1187232

But the joy of knowing that you can survive after the FALL, on tomatoes, okra,corn, onions & beans!

 

[muddstopper]

Now, that makes sense - double planting in the same space.

I wish I could download the pic of my one row garden bed. Its 30ft long and butts up against my back porch. It has asparigus, corn, tomatoes, squash growing right now. In early spring it was sweet peas. When the peas where about finished producing, I introduced the corn. the corn was just coming up when I pulled up the peas and planted beans. when the corn was about 4ft high and the beans just staarting to climb, I planted squash. I know you have heard of three sisters planting. The old folks used to plant that way all the time. Right now the corn is 13ft tall with beans hanging off the tassel. 2 ears per stalk. Squash full of big blooms. That one little row wont keep the family fed for long, but it will provide more than one or two meals.

 

[muddstopper]

Cornfield beans:

https://www.southernexposure.com/products/genuine-cornfield-pole-snap-bean/

I grow a pole bean that my grandmother brought with her when the TVA ran them off their farm in 1938. Ir isnt the pole bean mentioned in your link. It is a white bean much like a white half runner. Might even be a WHR, but my uncle the went to school for such things said it isnt. Anyway, I started with just a small handfull of seed I got from a cousin and planted it in my one row garden and saved it for seed. I now have about a gallon bag full I have saved from the last few years. Same with my field corn. white polific grows 113ft tall and two long ears per stalk. My one row garden is a perfect place to grow heritage seeds because there is nothing being planted anywhere close so cross pollination isnt a problem.