Very pleased with how things are going so far in spite of the bad weather. It's only a average year for tomatoes for me but everything else has been doing pretty well. Peppers always do good, but was happy to see potatoes, squash, melons and corn working out this year.
Happy with how the corn turned out.....
Might be my biggest bell pepper ever....
I'm all shucked up....
..
Hey Sherri,
That was from 1 EB(12 plants) and 4 ten gallon containers(3 stalks per). The smaller ears are the 2nd lower ones on the plant. I was happy/lucky to get a second ear on most of my corn. There's still a few left to pick.....guessing about a dozen. I definitely will be planting more corn when I am finished harvesting. Thinking of setting up 3 for corn this time.
Looks like a mighty good day Ray. Good looking eats.
Ray: What kind is your corn? Mine is picked and shucked and going in the belly tomorrow. Having my grandangel over for lunch along with my neice. Your veggies look great, my peppers are so small.
joy
Nice haul, Ray! I can almost taste the corn. I'm wondering why you picked the tomatoes so green? Is that to beat the birds? Will they ripen fully? Lise
Joy, that is Silver Queen. Think you are growing the same. I ate 3 ears last night, probably eat 3 or 4 today.
Lisa, well, I usually wait until they're vine ripe but I accidentally knocked of a truss of tomatoes while tying up. They should ripen on the counter but they will never taste like a vine ripened one. I'll probably make some more fried green tomatoes with them. The others I picked a day or two early. I picked them because the plant they came off of was looking suspicious. I'm chopping it down and replanting.
Ray: Some of my ears had little kernals on it, I think I planted too many in one box, I had 16 per box and was thinking on maybe 10 next time. Your veggies are great looking.
joy
Time for a corny corn story.:-) Twenty or so years ago when I lived in southwest Louisiana, I took up gardening in a big way. My ex-wife and in-laws considered themselves to be experts on all things farming and grew and sold a few acres of corn every year. To them, there was only one way to grow corn. Plant it in rows, cultivate between rows to keep down the weeds, and at a certain amount of growth, add nitrogen fertilizer down the middle between rows. The nitrogen was very important to the final growth and finish of the corn.
I was experimenting around with different ways of growing stuff........much different from my in-laws way of doing things, and they considered me some kind of nut. I read about growing corn planted about 6 inches apart and fertilizing with liquid miracle gro fertilizer. I thought that would be interesting to try so I planted a block of corn of about 4x 4 feet, each plant 6 inches apart. My in-laws screamed bloody murder. "How you gonna put the nitrogen to it when it needs it?" they asked. I told them it was in the miracle gro. They didn't buy that.
My dad became ill and I had to go stay with him for a couple of weeks.......about 200 miles away from home. I showed my ex-wife how to squirt the soluable fert's to my corn patch and she was kind of dubious about the whole thing. My corn was really looking good when I left.
While I was gone, it came time for the in-laws to put the nitrogen to their corn crop. They had a family conference concerning what to do about my little 4x4 ft corn patch. My ex-wife said she was just supposed to keep squirting that green miracle grow stuff on it but her mom and dad and older brother poo pooed that silly idea and gave her some granular nitrogen to sprinkle in my little corn patch. After all, my ex-wife and her brother both had college educations and her parents had almost 50 years of truck farming experience. My ex-wife must have figgered if a little bit of nitrogen did a little bit of good,, a whole bunch would do a whole bunch of good because she throwed it in there by the handfuls.
When I returned, my little cornpatch was chemically burned to a crisp.....very brown and crisp. With my in-laws looking on, I struck a match to it and it went up in a fast and furious blast of fire.
And that is the memory that comes to me when you all discuss how close together you can plant corn in an earthbox. My advise...........if you have any old time farmers in the family.........Keep them away from your earthboxes!
Um, ya'll, next time ya'll pick that corn, PLEASE don't bother shucking it to cook it.
Leave it in the husks. Put the whole ear, husk and all, in the microwave on high for 3 minutes (large ear), 2.5 minutes (medium ear) or 2 minutes (small ear). After the microwave "dings" let your corn rest in the husk another minute.
NOW, take the husk off (it'll be really HOT. I use two paper towels -- one to hold the corn, and one to wipe the husk down, silk and all, in one motion. Now eat it.
I guarantee, you'll never want to shuck and boil another ear of corn! Nor, will you want to put anything on that corn to eat it -- not even salt! All the natural sweetness is actually enhanced by the steam in the husk.
Try it, and LMK what ya'll think.. TPlant's been doing this ever since I told him how -- and he's growing LOTS of corn!
Enjoy
Linda
HA! Thanks for the story Jay!! Earthboxes are an abomination to old time farmers.
Linda, gonna try that with the remaining 10-20 ears I have left. Getting ready to replant a few EB's of corn.
I know what I'll be doing with this corn I just picked. :)
Gymgirl: I have already shucked most my corn sniffles, but, if I can find one more, I'm gonna give it a try you can count on that one. LOL
joy
Hi All,
I've been lurking for a couple of weeks and have just finished reading all the posts since the forum started. I don't have an Earthbox and you probably can't buy them here in Australia anyway, but I find the whole concept fascinating, so I might try to make one to trial the concept in my garden, especially for sweetcorn, which I haven't had much luck with, because I can't find a spot that gets the right kind of sunshine for long enough in the growing season - an earthbox type container on castors might very well solve the problem. I have two questions though -
Firstly, every self watering container I have ever seen turns out to bred mosquitoes by the hundreds in the water reservoir - how do you get around that?
Secondly, to Gymgirl: I like the sound of the corn in the microwave idea, can you tell me how many ears you can do at once, as we usually boil three or four in a pot for a meal. If you have to do them one at a time in the microwave it sounds a bit fiddly. Also when you shuck them, do ALL the silks come off - I am one or those people who sits there picking off every last silk strand before they will eat the corn (I just can't stand getting it stuck in my teeth!)
Thanks in advance for any info,
Ciao, KK.
PS: This is a photo of my "tiny" vegetable garden - 5 foam veggie boxes elevated on an old wooden palette - like some of you, I have found that elevation helps a great deal with keeping the critters down, although it didn't defeat our small plague of grasshoppers this year, hence the annoying holes in my otherwise beautiful Kale (Brassica oleracea 'Toscano'). By the way this stuff is THE most amazing tasting green vegetable - I now prefer it to Chard, Spinach, Cabbage etc.
Addendum to the above:
After I posted I realised you can't see why I have a space problem - here is a wider shot showing the whole palette etc arrangement. Mind you I would have plenty of room for veggies if I didn't have to fit a couple of thousand other ornamental plants into my garden! LOL!
Bye for now, KK.
KaelKitty,
What's up down under, Sheila?! OK, that's all the Australian I know!
Re: multiple ears of fresh corn.
I have nuked as many as 6-8 ears (or however many would fit and still let the plate rotate) at a time. I "guess-ti-mated" the time calculation by multiplying the number of ears by the minutes recommended for the size of the ear (see post above).
I think I did about 6 large ears for about 15 minutes, just to make sure each one received enough heat to steam it through, then let them all rest for that extra one minute. I have never run into a problem of "over" cooking multiple ears. Just try to make sure your ears are roughly the same size, for equal distribution of the heat.
Now, regarding the silks. I am generally able to get all but a few silks (and sometimes ALL the silks) off when I run that paper towel down the ear. Wrap one towel around and grip the corn in one hand. Use the other towel and firmly wipe down all the husks and the silks with the other hand. I think the steaming loostens the kernels so the silks aren't jammed in so tightly.
Ok now, Kitty, don't hold me to the silk part if they don't all come off, ok? MOST of them will come off....
Hope this helps! Enjoy your corn!
Linda
Hi Kaelkitty
Loved the color of the Kale. I'll have to hunt the seed. Overflowing with cherry tomatoes!
We don't notice mosquitos in our EB reservoir. Probably when we fill it up it drains the larva out as the overflow goes out the hole. I'm in low country GA and the mosquitoes line up and take a number for new places to breed. Any one else have problems with their EB's?
Sherri
Sherry,
That's a nice pic. You should enter it into the DG photo contest this year.
Sherry: That is a lovely pic of cherry tomatoes, they look spectacular and the styrofoam idea is innovative.
joy
Thanks Gymgirl,
I tried your corn in the husks tonight. Delicious! Every silk slid right off no problelm. The corn had a roasted taste without the crunch. Very nice.
Hey Joy! I found a great recipe for these little guys. Thought your daughter might enjoy it. I added cucumbers to it. :) What innovative styrofoam idea? LOL
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Summer-Tomato-Salad/Detail.aspx
Sherri
Seray53,
Thanks for the affirmation!
Regarding mosquitoes in reservoirs. Never really even thought or worried about it. If I felt it could be a problem I think i would just duct tape (the fix all product) a flap of either a screen or a piece of cloth like material so it draped loosely over the hole. For the fill pipe just drop a little cover (maybe a small can) over it. All you would have to do would be lift it off to fill.
Sherri: That sounds like a good recipe. I saved the tops off the candy apple onions when I dug them up, and froze them, they will make good for green onion recipes. Been cutting and freezing all my okra too.
I used some of the onions and peppers in my brats dish. I took 6 brats, some lager beer (6 - 12 oz bottles), 6 onions and 6 bell peppers. I pricked the brats and boiled them in beer and onions while I cooked the other half of the onions and peppers in olive oil. Then I drained the Hebrew national kraut, added what was left off the brat mixture to it and cooked it. Served them on Hoagie rolls, yummy for the tummy.
joy
Hi Joy! Your recipe sounds good!!!!! I like the idea about freezing the onion tops. Our tomatoes are coming in strong now. They are so good. I roast them before I freeze them. They're great for sauces that way. I decided not to can this year. Too much going on! Are your beans still producing?
Sherri
About the mosquitos...I crumbled up half of a mosquito dunk and dropped it in the fill tube of my 2 EBs. Seems to work.
Carol
WHAT is a mosquito dunk?
Curious, KK.
loved your corn batch story jay...
gymg...that recipe for micro corn is fantastic!!! i'm going to try that one for sure...
and
sherri...that tomato pic looks positively luscious!!
Hey Virginbred You'll love the corn. No pan to wash. :)
Kaelkitty: Mosquito dunks are small peat cakes with bacillus thuringiensis. We use them in standing water or ponds to cut down on the larva. Not harmful and very effective. Developed by the Israelis. I bet you could find them there.
Sherri
Sherri: My beans bit the dust a long time ago, they just didn't do very well, of course I had them growing in hanging grow bags which I don't recommend to anyone, they are utter failure, now the lay flat grow bags with coconut coir in them is a totatally different story, my melons are doing great in those. I recommend the topsy turvy over the revolutionary planter also. And I recommend the EB over the HEBs and GPs also. The 5 gallon grow bags with coir I used to grow my tomatoes in, and if you decide to start them earlier on like I did, as in the Spring we get these nonstop showers of rain, you might want to take a sharp knife and add a few more holes to the bottom of the bags so that it drains better. My favorite of course, is the EB. Less work, less problems and it produces.
joy
Hi Joy
Thanks for the info. We haven't used any system but the EB's consistently. We did try the grow bags (disaster :) and a topsy turvy thingy (dangerous :). We're beginning to move to coir and I think we'll like that better. Here's my tomatoes from yesterday. I've got my work cut out for me today. I'm roasting these.
Found squash borers today. Out with the squash! Lucky we have more coming on in a different location. Beans are gone for us. More on the way!! I know you're hot down there. We're 100 here.
Sherri
Sherry: Beautiful tomatoes and lots of them, it's been so hot and the bugs seem to be taking over the cucumbers and now my peppers, the plants growth seems to be getting stunted too. I have huge tomatoes but they are green not red, standing here licking my chops just waiting. LOL The topsy's and revolutionary planters are starting to wilt, waiting for the toms on the one to ripen. My best toms and peppers are coming out of the 5 gallon grow bags and EBs thus far. I hate gardening in the summer though, too hot, too many bugs to contend with, so next year will try and find an early huge tomato to grow I think.
joy
Sherry: Yes, the only veggies I have left that I am concerned about are my toms, peppers, eggplants and melons, my cukes are pretty much bug food by now and I'm sick of them anyways. Good thing though, the veggies on the tables are doing the best as they are further from the bugs, was going to spray; but it decided to rain, so will get around to it hopefully, Weds.
joy
