The garden is a little "out of shape" also. Even though I've always thought I didn't spend a lot of time on a daily basis in the garden, that little bit each and every day does serve to keep things under control. Out of control is more what the garden feels like now after being neglected for a week.
My main task today was to pick strawberries. I brought in nineteen pounds and twelve ounces. Tomorrow my kitchen will be full of the wonderful aroma of strawberry jam burbling in big pots.
Last Thursday we got 3 and 8/10ths inches of rain along with terrific winds. (Papa Pea's brother had made this whole family reunion/vacation possible by renting a large house on a nearby lake for the week and that's where we spent most of the time.) The whole bunch of us were at the lake in the late afternoon Thursday when the heaviest of the rain and winds hit. Coming home around 10:30 that night, hubby and I encountered a big tree blocking our driveway about one-third of the way in. Once we got to our house, I pointed the big beam flashlight out into the garden and was dismayed to see that my main crop of corn hadn't fared too well in the winds.
This is what it looked like early Friday morning when I went out to more closely survey the damage. I didn't think there was any way the stalks of corn would stand up again and tossed around various ideas all that day as to how I could stake them back up. I so didn't want to lose all that potential corn harvest. I even counted the stalks. One hundred and fifty stakes would be needed if I tried to stake them up. Should I get some rebar and have Papa Pea cut it to the right lengths? Did we have any wood we could cut to use? Would a heavy stake at each end of each row and rope keep the corn in an upright position?
My
A couple more days and the garden and my creaky body will be back in tip-top shape. Well, I know the garden will be anyway.
16 comments:
Goodness that must have been a strong wind to lay your corn flat like that! I'm glad to hear it's recovering. Now I'm craving fresh corn. Yum!
Hope your corn starts reaching for the sun, it doesn't have a deep root system. But yes I would do the 2 stakes and a rope per row to save it if necessary, may need a stake or two in the middle but that is too much to leave on the ground. Don't forget if they don't stand back up to look for baby corn. Hate to see you go thru all that and only have cornstalks for Halloween decorations.
We had that same corn fiasco a couple of years ago...we never plant corn, because it is so persnickety and also readily available all around us. lol The one time we did, we lost the whole dang crop.
Glad you had a lovely break--vacations with family are grand !!
Wow, definitely strong storms. At least you will have extra wood for the stove (assuming that tree was not pine lol). Glad to hear you didn't have worse damage from the storm. The jam sounds fabulous!! I can smell it all the way from here :)
It sounds like you had fun with your family reunion. And then to come home to a tree down in your driveway and your corn in a laying position from the wind. I would go through and make sure the dirt is packed around the base of each corn stalk. We had that happen to our corn, I didn't have 100+ but I did have 30 or 40, we packed the ground and placed a post on each end of the row along with a long piece of wood to help hold up the stalks. At least until they held there own.
Sparkless - Yep, we've been getting some unusually strong winds for the past several years. Kinda scary 'cause they always make me think of the tornadoes we experienced when we lived in Illinois. The good news is that the corn IS almost all back up standing straight.
Tombstone Livestock - Without any more misfortune, it's looking like we will have corn along with some corn stalks for Halloween decorations!
Akannie - Like all crops, corn can be touchy. Too cold. Too dry. Too much rain. Too much sun without moisture. And, of course, those darn high winds!
Stephanie - We do always use the wood from trees that come down . . . even pine! We were lucky that with the high winds and so much rain we didn't have much damage at all.
The smell of strawberry jam in the making is almost as good as the aroma of an apple pie baking!
Sandy - You would think planting a crop, weeding and watering it would be enough, wouldn't you? But then there are the times when you have to prop it up, tie it up or otherwise give it a helping hand. I'm happy to say all but a few of the stalks came back up on their own. I really didn't think that would happen!
Hope it all turns out for you. We put so much time into our gardens that it beaks our heart to see something happen to them
Oh no, your poor corn! Poor you! Some of my corn has lodged, but not that badly! Your strawberry harvest, however, is seriously impressive.
Geez, it must be hard to live with someone who is not only right so often, but so darn calm about it! I'm glad your corn recovered -- have you?
Michelle - I have to remember to put it into perspective. When a crop failure (for one reason or another) happens to an independent farmer, he loses his income for the year!
Leigh - Doesn't it always seem when one crop turns out poorly, another is over-abundant? For that I know we're all always grateful!
Susan - He brings out my weak points very clearly. ;o]
Have I recovered? Not yet.
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