Its an old saying I remember reading: "Plant corn when the oak leaves are a big as squirrels ears." My guess is this weekend will be perfect timing for planting corn.
A couple months ago my son asked me to plant popcorn again this year. I had decided I didn't have enough room and hadn't set aside space for popcorn. But I'm not one to refuse a gardening request. So I revised my plan (below) to make room for corn.
In addition to the added popcorn, when I went to prepare the bed for the potatoes as planned, I can across two giant underground rocks that I couldn't move. So the potato bed had to be moved too. Here is the revised plan. We'll see how well I follow this.
this year i'm pre-sprouting my popcorn before planting it, and fertilizing with bird doo ("chickety doo doo" from the lawn section of the store) before planting. so far, the pre-sprouting is doing *great* for my peas (every single one came up) and i'm pretty happy with how the corn is looking.
ReplyDeleteYou sure do squeeze a lot of crops into a tight space. I may have to swing by this summer to take a look at the real thing.
ReplyDeleteOur plans always get changed, usually because we seed too many veggies, so they have to be fitted in somewhere!
ReplyDeleteI know that breaks the crop rotation law a bit, but hey I think you can get away with it a little.
Marian (LondonUK)
i'm doing popcorn again this year, though trying a 3 sisters configuration for the first time. also tried pre-sprouting the popcorn and am liking the results: worked like a charm with the peas, and boy it was easy to handle and plant the pre-sprouted popcorns.
ReplyDeleteYou should definitely swing by and walk through the Belmont Victory Gardens. There are MANY fantastic gardens this your!
ReplyDeletePre-sprouting sounds like a great idea. I may have to try this for my popcorn. Then I won't worry that my old seed isn't good any more - I'll know if its sprouting. I remember doing this as a kid in a baby food jar with paper towels. We'd stuff towels in the jar, put the seeds along the glass between glass and towel, water the towels and then watch the seeds sprout. Thanks for the good idea.
i found the sprouts got lodged in the paper towels, so re-did it just loose in the jar (mason jar with wet paper towel for a lid under the band, rinse the whole shebang daily). turns out my year-old seeds germinated near 100%.
ReplyDeleteMy seeds are 3 years old. I expect good germination still. I will sprout them loose as you suggest.
ReplyDelete