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Post by raymondo on Oct 30, 2013 5:21:24 GMT -5
I had been planning on a big lot of my version of AD and had asked the family who I let use my yard to sow only su corn. So they went and sowed a heap of sh2 corn! Not completely their fault though. The seller told them it was not sh2 corn but a quick search on the internet soon revealed that it was. I've decided not to worry about saving corn seed this season so I started my planting with a few rows of Kelvedon Glory F1 a few days ago. The nights are still cool but Jack appears to have moved on.
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Post by templeton on Nov 19, 2013 1:19:17 GMT -5
No corn at all here this year. I stressed too much last year, and had a shocker of a year anyway, so made an unusually firm resolution to not plant any - and somehow stuck to it.Good luck, Ray. T
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Post by raymondo on Nov 19, 2013 5:30:25 GMT -5
No point in growing something that causes grief T. Best left alone.
The Kelvedon Glory must have been old seed. The germination was very patchy with only a little over half showing themselves. I'll stick to my own seed for the remainder of the patch.
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Post by richardw on Nov 19, 2013 13:15:43 GMT -5
My corn planting is Inca but the seed was over 5 years old so i had a poor strike,ended up digging up and moving what did come up into one block,at least i'm breeding from the longest striving seed
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Post by copse on Nov 19, 2013 15:43:37 GMT -5
I'm growing three plots sown "three sisters" style, with blue hopi, black navajo and blue aztec corn. They've just started to really take off and the biggest are probably a foot high or so, which I think is related to me bothering to water them each evening. As this is my first year growing, it has been a learning experience and mistakes have been made.
The three plots are beside each other, so on one hand I am worried about cross-pollination should I decide to save some seed. And on the other hand, I never propagated enough seed and each variety of corn doesn't fill enough of it's bed for me to be sure they can pollinate each other reliably. And because I propagated more seed to fill gaps, there's going to be corn in each bed flowering and maturing at different times.
I ran out of "Indian" bean seeds and just used whatever other varieties I had around. In "three sisters" the beans are supposed to climb up the corn, but maybe I've planted some varieties which won't.
I don't know what squash is. Apparently, in the "three sisters" approach, it serves as a form of mulch stopping water loss. Instead I've planted whatever pumpkin seeds I could find.
I'm surprised how resilient all the plants are. On one hand, for some reason I started germinating the seed kernels when it was still frosting, and just threw the trays outside on the porch. About 57 out of 60 seeds were planted out. Then there's the hard life they have in the plots. Either I'm in there digging around them, getting the thistle out, or birds are digging and throwing plants around requiring me to replant them.
It's a fun experiment.
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Post by templeton on Nov 19, 2013 16:37:53 GMT -5
I'm growing three plots sown "three sisters" style, with blue hopi, black navajo and blue aztec corn. They've just started to really take off and the biggest are probably a foot high or so, which I think is related to me bothering to water them each evening. As this is my first year growing, it has been a learning experience and mistakes have been made. The three plots are beside each other, so on one hand I am worried about cross-pollination should I decide to save some seed. And on the other hand, I never propagated enough seed and each variety of corn doesn't fill enough of it's bed for me to be sure they can pollinate each other reliably. And because I propagated more seed to fill gaps, there's going to be corn in each bed flowering and maturing at different times. I ran out of "Indian" bean seeds and just used whatever other varieties I had around. In "three sisters" the beans are supposed to climb up the corn, but maybe I've planted some varieties which won't. I don't know what squash is. Apparently, in the "three sisters" approach, it serves as a form of mulch stopping water loss. Instead I've planted whatever pumpkin seeds I could find. I'm surprised how resilient all the plants are. On one hand, for some reason I started germinating the seed kernels when it was still frosting, and just threw the trays outside on the porch. About 57 out of 60 seeds were planted out. Then there's the hard life they have in the plots. Either I'm in there digging around them, getting the thistle out, or birds are digging and throwing plants around requiring me to replant them. It's a fun experiment. if the corns mature at different times, you might get away with it. Otherwise detassel and bag - tedious. The bean experiment sounds fun - at least you will find out what works. I've heard that Kentucky Wonder is a good corn patch bean, but not tried it. It grew well in my vege garden by itself. And squash is the North American term for any members of what we in the southern hemisphere would call squash, marrow or pumpkin. Th Northern Hemisphere reserves the term pumpkin for big orange things that get carved into lanterns. So you did the right thing. Where are you, Copse?
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Post by copse on Nov 19, 2013 22:46:24 GMT -5
if the corns mature at different times, you might get away with it. Otherwise detassel and bag - tedious. The bean experiment sounds fun - at least you will find out what works. I've heard that Kentucky Wonder is a good corn patch bean, but not tried it. It grew well in my vege garden by itself. And squash is the North American term for any members of what we in the southern hemisphere would call squash, marrow or pumpkin. Th Northern Hemisphere reserves the term pumpkin for big orange things that get carved into lanterns. So you did the right thing. Where are you, Copse? Ah, I figured squash was the long narrow pumpkin thing. I'm in the south island of New Zealand. What's involved in the detasseling and bagging? It sounds like too much bother. If there's one thing I should especially note this year, it's when each variety flowers and how long, so that I can also do that part better next year.
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Post by RpR on Nov 20, 2013 13:20:56 GMT -5
I'm growing three plots sown "three sisters" style, with blue hopi, black navajo and blue aztec corn. They've just started to really take off and the biggest are probably a foot high or so, which I think is related to me bothering to water them each evening. As this is my first year growing, it has been a learning experience and mistakes have been made. The three plots are beside each other, so on one hand I am worried about cross-pollination should I decide to save some seed. And on the other hand, I never propagated enough seed and each variety of corn doesn't fill enough of it's bed for me to be sure they can pollinate each other reliably. And because I propagated more seed to fill gaps, there's going to be corn in each bed flowering and maturing at different times. I ran out of "Indian" bean seeds and just used whatever other varieties I had around. In "three sisters" the beans are supposed to climb up the corn, but maybe I've planted some varieties which won't. I don't know what squash is. Apparently, in the "three sisters" approach, it serves as a form of mulch stopping water loss. Instead I've planted whatever pumpkin seeds I could find. I'm surprised how resilient all the plants are. On one hand, for some reason I started germinating the seed kernels when it was still frosting, and just threw the trays outside on the porch. About 57 out of 60 seeds were planted out. Then there's the hard life they have in the plots. Either I'm in there digging around them, getting the thistle out, or birds are digging and throwing plants around requiring me to replant them. It's a fun experiment. The Black Navajo and Blue Aztec may be pretty much the same corn under different names. Both are sweet white in the milk stage and turn blue-black when beyond, as will the Blue Hopi. If they cross you will not know it. I have planted the Navajo and Aztec and mine both exceeded seven feet in height. The three sisters is not good, unless you are short of space, as they do not help each other, one will suffer while one may benefit. Indians did this of necessity, to conserve water and make more efficient use of fertilizer. A book I have from Redwood Nursery, where they ran tests, says it absolutely causes one to suffer, and possibly both.
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Post by copse on Nov 20, 2013 21:18:22 GMT -5
The Black Navajo and Blue Aztec may be pretty much the same corn under different names. Both are sweet white in the milk stage and turn blue-black when beyond, as will the Blue Hopi. If they cross you will not know it. I have planted the Navajo and Aztec and mine both exceeded seven feet in height. The three sisters is not good, unless you are short of space, as they do not help each other, one will suffer while one may benefit. Indians did this of necessity, to conserve water and make more efficient use of fertilizer. A book I have from Redwood Nursery, where they ran tests, says it absolutely causes one to suffer, and possibly both. Interesting, thanks for the heads up. To be honest, I don't really like eating unprocessed corn that much, so I'm quite happy to do this just because I find the three sisters process arcane and interesting. But if this does look like the case, I'll reconsider the sisters approach next year.
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Post by nathanp on Nov 20, 2013 23:23:30 GMT -5
I would think that is very debatable. What book is that? I would like to take a look.
I would think that making more efficient use of fertilizer would be a good thing, as is conserving water.
There are possibly many holes in that theory, including what type of corn is being grown, whether you are using organic, chemical, or no fertilizers, what the climate is like, where the seed is sourced from, etc... There are a lot of variables to consider.
And frankly, even if some of the crops do not produce to maximum yield per acre, if you are spending less money and resources on water, fertilizer, etc., and growing more organically, that's a tradeoff I'd choose to make.
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Post by steev on Nov 20, 2013 23:37:40 GMT -5
Certainly, these things are always about how things balance: land area; climate; fertility; labor; cultivars; need; use.
If I were working my soil with a digging stick, I'd sure work up the smallest area that would get me through the year.
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Post by copse on Nov 21, 2013 0:52:57 GMT -5
Certainly, these things are always about how things balance: land area; climate; fertility; labor; cultivars; need; use. If I were working my soil with a digging stick, I'd sure work up the smallest area that would get me through the year. In my case, the ground is littered with thistles. So when I dig up a patch, I spend ages grubbing thistles at least once a week. Smaller area and less thistle grubbing sounds good me to.
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Post by steev on Nov 21, 2013 1:44:52 GMT -5
So long as you get enough beans, corn, and squash to get through the Winter, what else is there?
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Post by richardw on Nov 21, 2013 3:20:04 GMT -5
If I were working my soil with a digging stick, I'd sure work up the smallest area that would get me through the year. In my case, the ground is littered with thistles. So when I dig up a patch, I spend ages grubbing thistles at least once a week. Smaller area and less thistle grubbing sounds good me to.[/quote] What type of thistles do you mainly do battle with
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Post by templeton on Nov 21, 2013 4:22:12 GMT -5
While this discussion is taking us a bit off-thread, I've got to chuck in my two bob's worth. I've learnt to take universal statements like 'The Indians did it" with a bit of scepticism. Perhaps "Some Indians did it, in some locations, some of the time, subject to these conditions..." might be a bit more accurate. What are fantastic solutions for growing veges in some locations often don't work elsewhere. While it's intriguing to learn about square foot gardening, vertical gardening in apartments, Joseph's landraces, and having to cope with feet of snow every year, none of these work for me. To think that the indigenous people across the breadth of North America utilised the one horticultural practice seems unlikely.And to think that that one technique is therefore universally applicable is naive.Have a go, modify, adapt, pay homage, but don't expect it to work without some modification. T
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