and then it got bigger and started to tassel and it still looked very beautiful
and then, when the critters started letting us know it was ready,Will and Warren Dazzio (CSA member) got out there last Saturday morning and put up
3 Owls and a Big Balloon with EYES on it...
...and a Blow-Up Snake!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The raccoons didn't care about any of that, but all we really hoped for was to keep the birds out. And then, after two months of absolutely NO rain at all...we had a big bad violent rain storm that same Saturday afternoon...almost 2 whole inches of rain! yea! kind of. Because it blew the beautiful corn down. Not all the way into the dirt but very close. So the corn is on the ground. Oh well. It can still be picked, and we've been taking care of that (with help of course). 
So here is a closeup of the coon party - which takes place at night
But, you know, farming is like that. Win some, lose some...lost some corn but not a lot of it. It just didn't stay beautiful till the bitter end.We're at that moment in the garden when we say
The Earth Laughs.
Fun idea with the balloon!
ReplyDeleteThais, just curious--are you planting hybrid corn or heirloom? I was surprised that ours still stood after that storm, but just owed it to the fact that it's perhaps stronger b/c it's a hybrid variety. We had hail completely covering the ground, and the winds blew over all of our chairs, partially-filled garbage cans, etc...it was quite a storm.
ReplyDeletewell - we generally don't plant hierloom varities...little resistance to disease and bugs...and this organic life is hard enough already!
ReplyDeleteI don't think that there is any significant difference between hybrid or non-hybrid varieties of corn when it comes to ability to stand up during winds. The reason our corn fell over is twofold. First, it was in full ear and heavy. Second, I had been irrigating the corn pretty much continuously and the ground was already soft. With the additional rain and high winds, there was just not enough support for the plants to keep them upright. We generally have good luck with corn remaining upright as I can hill it up very high with the old Farmall tractor. And I think that if the ground had been dryer (like most of the rest of the garden) the coons today would be reaching up for the ears instead of looking at them eye-level. BTW, another reason we plant hybrid corn is flavor and tenderness. The newer corn varieties just cannot be beat in these respects.
ReplyDeleteWow :) Well, ours were loaded during the storm as well. I'd have to agree that it's probably b/c of the soil moisture. We hadn't watered beforehand, so the soil was pretty dry. I told Blake that the awful weeds probably held ours up ;) Maybe that's the trick! haha! So far, our only problem this year (other than-duh-the drought) was all the tomatoes have blossom end rot. I don't know that amending with calcium would have rescued them given the tremendous heat. Enjoyed reading about Warren's hijinks in the garden--he is one of Blake's clients :)
ReplyDeleteI'll leave the scientific particulars of the blossom end rot for Will to respond to - but I have to say...we have tomoatoes both in the field and in one of the high tunnel greenhouses...and the greenhouse tomatoes are nearly perfect - the ones in the field afflicted with all of the usual travails although still pretty nice. The only problem is going into the greenhouse! We call it 'Like Hell - With Tomatoes!'
ReplyDelete