Monday, August 16, 2010

CORN!

We ate our first corn yesterday!  This is a big event at our house no matter when it is, but this year it is really, really big because I was not sure we would get any corn at all.  I am really surprised that we had corn by the the middle of August!  With all of the cloudy weather and the rain, I was sure that we would be lucky to get a few snaggely looking ears by the first of August. For corn to pollinate properly some dry weather is needed or many kernels never mature.  What we ate yesterday was great corn!  I was able to find enough for the whole family (all twenty of us including grandkids) to have an ear apiece.  It was so yummy!  Corn is so much work to grow that harvesting it is very rewarding.  Not everyone bothers to grow corn here, but the satisfaction of growing it is so worth it!  It isn't worth alot at the markets, although we sell it for $1.50-$2.00 per ear,  That may sound like a high price, but it is the most labor intensive and space intensive crop we grow.  When you consider that one zucchini plant will produce 15-20 zucchini in about the same space it takes to grown two ears of corn and that each zucchini sells for an average of $1.50 and zucchini is easy to grow, corn is a real bargain!  Just think, you can buy a whole ear of corn for the price of one fountain soda drink!  What a deal!