Beans and Corn Again?

Yes that is right it seems that my corn and pole beans are the best harvest that I am having this season at the moment.  It doesn't look like anything else is as productive as these two are.  That is great for me because I love beans and corn and I always grow them every season and enjoy it whenever they are around.

Summer comes just once a year here and it is important that I get as much out of my garden as possible.  This way I will have no regrets or disappointments at the end of the year.  So far this garden season is turning out quite well.  I can't complain about the small things that have been happening and I always try to take the good out of each season.

I check my corn at the beginning of this week and only a couple looked like they were ready to be picked while many others were still at the stage of ripening.  When I checked this past weekend many of them had become ripened and ready to be used for dinner.

Here are 24 ears of corn that were picked just yesterday.

I still have some left over from other harvests that I will have to eat first, but in time these will be used for the same reason and I am looking forward to this time.

It can be a tedious process to pick all the beans that I have received this year, but it is definitely very rewarding to see all the work I put into it was worth it.

The beans are very large and the vines are looking very healthy which means I might be getting more beans in the very near future again.

There are also a couple of plants that are starting to end the season early.  The zucchini had a good run and only a few are left still producing some fruit.  These will be small for the most part, but still edible.  I also am seeing some cucumber plants dying off and no longer producing any new leaves, flowers, or fruit.  A couple of them are still looking healthy, but for the most part they were not good as last season.

I Now Have Corn of my Own That I can Eat and Enjoy

Corn has finally arrived in time before the season starts winding down.  I knew I was going to get corn, but it all depended exactly when this would happen for me.  A few weeks into the month of August I was able to collect the corn that I needed for the summer.

Yesterday is when I did this fun and easy task of removing and checking the ears for ripe corn.  I didn't just want to go out there and start cutting down all the ears on the stalks because chances are that I would likely remove some there were still ripening.

The one thing that I did was check them pretty much every day until yesterday, so I knew that the corn would be coming out very soon.  Once I had pollinated them I could then wait a few weeks for them to develop and once they had reach their full size I could then look at them and wait until they were ripe.

Only 24 were cut from the stalks yesterday and weighed in at 15 pounds.  I was happy with this and I wasn't so worried about the weight and size as I was with the taste.  I cooked them like usual and they came out to be incredibly delicious.  Tender and sweet just like all corn should be.  Here are some photos that I took of the corn harvested yesterday.

Many Corn Plants are Beginning to Produce Silks and Tassels

Today was interesting because I saw my corn stalks and noticed that the hairy part of the corn or silks are being produced by some of the plants.  This is where the corn will reside until it is mature and ready for consumption.  Once it gets pollinated correctly then it will start growing and you will notice that it gets bigger each day.

I don't know if it has been pollinated until the ear begins to grow.  Most corn stalks are able to get as many as three per plant.  I am looking for quality rather than quantity when it comes to corn and any other type of gardening. 

This is the silk and if you have ever peeled corn before then you know exactly what this is.  What you don't know is that this is where the pollen needs to go in order to produce the corn that you and I consume. 

This is where the pollen comes from.  The tassels.

Like everything else in gardening time is what goes against these plants and with only a couple of months left I am confident that I will get plenty of delicious corn to enjoy for the rest of the season.

The First Planting Outside for 2014

Today I am here to discuss the first seeds that I have started outside this week in order to get the garden season going.  Corn and bush beans are the first that I planted, but I also had enough time to put carrots, celery, and pole beans as well.

I didn't fill the entire two rows with corn seeds because I want them to ripen at different times to prevent them from staying on the stalk and getting tough to eat.  If they ripen at the same time I will have about fifty ears of corn that I will have to eat and this is not something I can do. 

This year I am going to plant them at different times.  Basically once the first set starts sprouting I will then plant some more.  Now each section will ripen at different times and I will be able to eat them when they are good and ready.

I am also using seeds I have collected from previous years because these are heirloom corn seeds that I bought from Burpee.  They have been great and have produce very large and delicious ears that I can plant every single year.  All I do is save at least one ear and have it dry out for a month and then the next year remove the seeds and plant them in the soil.

I used about five feet from the two rows which will end up with corn plants.

I also planted some short rows of bush beans because I prefer pole beans because if done correctly you will have a much larger yield with pole beans than the bush types.  I had some extra room next to the rows where my pole beans are and decided to plant some bush beans anyways.

Celery was something that I decided on doing for the first time this year and it would be a good idea to plant it somewhat early because they are not good with hot weather.  They are similar to lettuce in that they tolerate some hot weather, but cannot withstand too much.

Carrots are very simple and do not need that much work except in the beginning.  When they are small they can be overtaken by many weeds and I will have to make sure that they are not near any weeds.  A good mulch will help out with this.

The two rows on the left have celery and carrots.