Corn is one of the things we've struggled to grow for years here on the homestead. This year we actually managed to grow a pretty good crop, but it was almost entirely eaten by wild animals just before harvest. Although that sums it up pretty nicely, I thought I'd talk about it in a little more detail, with lots of pictures.
The old brassica bed didn't get planted last year, so it was fairly overgrown. It didn't get planted because I hadn't finished getting it leveled, but I'd gotten close enough that I could finish it with the rototiller.
The new bed I started for popcorn last year was still in very good shape, and one quick pass with the tiller had it looking like new.
The brassica bed took longer, because I pulled the larger clumps of weeds by hand first. By dragging the rototiller backwards, I was able to move the rest of the dirt I needed from the upper to the lower part of the garden. While it's still not exactly level, it's flat enough now that I don't experience washout during heavy rains. The weedy patches you still see in the pic below are asparagus, on the left, and peppermint, near the far edge in the middle.
I wanted to plant the corn in square patches instead of rows this year. By planting the corn about 8" apart, I could get 25 plants in a 4' by 4' square, so that was how I began to lay it out. Rather than measure and mark everything, I just used this 4' long piece of lumber, probably left over from building the chicken tractor.
I used rocks that I pulled from the soil to mark the edges of my squares. This garden bed isn't very rocky any more, so I didn't have enough to line all the way around the edges of every square. As I ran out of rocks, I began just marking around the corners of the squares.
I used a pointy stick to poke holes where I would plant my corn. I did all the holes in each square before planting and covering the seeds, so that I could be sure they were spaced as evenly as possible.
I planted three squares of sweet corn in the brassica bed, and one square of yellow beans. The beans (the square in the upper left corner) never sprouted, even after replanting.
I raked the popcorn bed into terraces, to help with water retention, and it worked really well this year. I planted Painted Gem corn on the top row, blue popcorn on the bottom, and used the middle row as my walking path.
I planted each tier in two sections of 24 plants, 3 deep by 8 wide, with a little square space in between them for some marijuana plants.
I poked holes with a stick like before, but paid less attention to whether or not everything lined up perfectly.
With everything planted and watered in, I was ready to set up my fences and wait for my bountiful corn crop to begin growing.
I didn't have enough fence at first to go around the entire brassica bed, so at first I just fenced off the corner that faces the woods. Deer are my biggest problem with the corn, but they're generally pretty lazy and just need enough deterrent to guide them around the gardens.
It worked for a while, but the very day I came home with the fence needed to finish the job, the deer ate the tops off almost all of my new corn!
I quickly replanted, and the corn quickly resprouted. I had nearly 100% germination rate on all my corn this year, so I had plenty of plants to keep my garden filled out.
Weeding was (and always is!) a chore, but I kept up with it very well. With the newly installed fences, I was happy to see my corn gardens flourishing, free from the ravaging influence of the local gangs of white-tailed deer.
The popcorn grew especially fast, with the stalks towering over everything so quickly, the only weeding I really needed to do for them was on my walking path!
The sweet corn did not grow tall, but every stalk set at least one ear of corn. Hedge Witch and I were able to enjoy a few ears of sweet corn before those furry brown devils jumped the fence and ate it all. I didn't get good pictures of the destruction, because I was so angry I had to just walk away, but it looked almost targeted. They decimated the corn, but left all the tomatoes, basil, and amaranth.
The popcorn grew amazing all year long, and each stalk set 2-3 ears. I was really looking forward to having enough corn for popping and milling to cover the next couple years, at least.
When I took the photo below, I figured I was about 2 weeks from harvest. If you look closely, you can see the stalks are practically covered in ears of corn.
Just a few days later, I went back to check on the popcorn, and the only things left standing were the small marijuana plants. They ate every ear so completely, I don't even have seeds to plant for next year. Hopefully I won't have a problem ordering in new seed in the spring.
It was more than a little heartbreaking to see all that work get eaten by a bunch of grazing herbivores that were already too fat this year, but I've learned that disappointment is a common feeling for a part time farmer!
To make my fences high enough that the deer won't jump over them, I'll have to get them at least 7' above the ground, which will require purchasing a lot more fence than I want to buy right now. Hopefully this winter I can get more work done on my 'zombie fence'... an 8'-10' tall wooden fence I began building at the edge of the woods to deter the deer around my property. Once I have that fence built all the way around the areas with gardens in them, the only pesky mammals I should have to worry about are the woodchucks and bunnies.
Thanks for stopping by to share my misery! I hope you all have had much better luck keeping your harvests than I've had this year! Until next time, I hope you get just enough rain, more than enough sunshine, and a refreshing amount of sleep!
