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Me and Sweet Corn ©

By: Arlene Wright Correll

Corn has always been a staple of Americans. We were brought up on the Pilgrims and Indians sharing the first Thanksgiving with corn and how the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to keep from starving by planting corn and putting a fish head or fish guts in with the hill of corn seed.

Corn on the cob is great summer memories to be looked upon with a smile especially after you have gotten false teeth. However, corn on the cob in the summer can still be enjoyed by simply cutting it off the cob.

Corn on the cob can be enjoyed many ways, steamed, boiled, roasted and even soaked in water in its husk and stuck in the microwave oven.

When corn on the cob comes into season we either harvest it or buy it and freeze it whole on the cob, can it, make succotash out of it; give tons of it to our friends and neighbors … that is if you know how to grow this simple vegetable.

When we had the dairy farms back in the 50’s we grew tons of corn, field corn that is, for silage as winter feed for our dairy cows and we always made sure that one of the farm hand tilled up a big garden spot near the home farm for some wonderful sweet corn. We planted plenty or at least the farm hand did. We told them to plant some for us and our needs and some for the raccoons because once the corn was ready the raccoons were sure to be there.

Over the years, since then, whenever I have planted our vegetable garden the corn on the cob God has decided not to smile on me.

No matter what the heck I do, I manage to get the worse looking spindly looking corn stalks that one can imagine. That is if the crows or birds have not managed to dig up the seeds and eat them or my daughter-in-law’s three cats have not decided this is a great new area to raise havoc in, defecate in and generally act like three animal roto tillers!

Why does this happen to me? I know all the corn rules! I direct seed it after all danger of frost is passed and I know it does better when planted in blocks as opposed to rows. I know that pollen from the male tassels needs to make contact with female silks so close planting means more contact for easy cross-pollination. I know to keep different types of corn separated by at least 25 feet of plant varieties that mature at different times. I know that the soil should be loose and the pH should neutral (6.0-7.0). I know all this stuff, so why does my sweet corn never arrive at our dinner table unless I buy it in the farmer’s market or from the Amish farmer who arrives on a Friday across from our county court house?

I don’t know. I don’t even get a chance to fight corn Borers or flea beetles or pray that the raccoons don’t get into it or that the wind will flatten it down before I get a chance to harvest it. Maybe I was not born with a good Corn on the Cob gardening gene!


Author Resource:-> For more gardening or cooking information click http://www.learn-america.com/
To see Arlene’s Gardens and to read her gardening diaries or click on Arlene’s Books where you can download or buy her gardening & cook books. Arlene says, "All my royalties from the sale of my books go to the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and I thank you for visiting my site."

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