Corn!

When we moved into our new house 3 months ago, I knew I wanted to get something - anything - in the ground. Because I finally could. It was to be a celebration of finally having a home with enough land to plant a productive garden. By the time we moved in and were quasi-settled, it was late June - late for planting, but buying and planting seeds were to be my reward for the stressful, rough 6 months that we endured to get where we were. So, I though, corn! We had this crazy 3-sided stockade fence in the backyard, so I thought that would be a good place to plant the corn. In the ground it went. I wasn't optimistic, with the clay and rock we have for "soil." But green shoots started coming up, and lo and behold, we might actually get a few ears!

I'm still not optimistic, however, because I did it all wrong. First, I planted 2 different varieties. After some research, I found that you should only plant one variety, as if the corn cross-pollinates, then they end up tough. Tough corn is not my ideal. Next, I found out that because corn is wind-pollinated, you should plant in blocks, for the best chance of the flowers (ears) being pollinated. No pollination = no corn. My rows and widely spaced corn didn't stand much of a chance by itself, so I've been hand pollinating. One variety has a possibility of all of 3 ears (!) and the other just one. Oh well. I'm excited that something came up that even resembles corn. And the good thing is, now I know much better ways to set up for success next year!