Image via Wikipedia
Thyme and a few others asked me about corn and how I could possibly grow an ear of corn without having a bunch or pollinating via the wind. Well Corn is a pretty simple plant. It is self pollinating! What most farmers wouldn’t want is a bad time when their corn was in the perfect and prime time for fertilization and NO WIND. But since I only planted 6 originally, and only had 3 stalks live… I really didn’t know what to expect. When I saw the beginning of the silks, I honestly thought they were a variant growth and I may have to pull the plant because I didn’t want the rest of the stalks to become contaminated. Yes, you can laugh NOW. I am a real Alaskan and I have never seen corn grow! How was I suppose to know?
So, I decide to leave the weird growth, go grab my lap top and look up corn… hey maybe it was an ear?! Well when I read up on the corn I was pleasantly surprised. But I really want to grow an ear.. so I looked into what I may have to do to pollinate my corn. I looked at the pictures and was told to do the “shake method” and then ignore the stalks. Heck, I can do THAT! I am good at that! Ignoring that is. Well a few weeks of ignoring, or more or less not being near it to notice and forgetting about it all together and then thinking I need to compost left me with ONE ear, that I didn’t notice until after I pulled it. LOL oh well… I did it, I just wasn’t paying attention.
Well last night I found a new blog concerning heirloom seeds and selling them online. Very Cool! And they are from Amish families… even better! So if you are curious, I would take a gander at them and they are called Seeds by Faith. They are just a small starter farm with some neat heirloom seeds that I have no problems supporting, especially since they are little guys. You never know as these may be the seed distributors of the future!
I am a huge seed fan. I will try to grow anything if you have a seed for it. Don’t believe me? I have a boss whom got Giant Red Wood tree seeds and asked if I wanted some. Well of COURSE I said yes as the Red Wood can live up to -30 degrees and can grow 3 feet a year. Boy was I in for some interesting learning experiences. Well for one thing, when you plant the seed of a Sequoia, it must have damp soil at all times. Second, it sunburns so you have to be careful on how much light to give them, partial is good. And the rate of growth is impressive! For a tree that can grow over 100 feet in a few years, you will need to repot often! I have now 5 of them which have to stay indoors for 5 years before planting outside.. they will be stunted as for Alaska the growth rate is good in the summer and they go dormant in the winter. But stunted Red Wood’s in Alaska….. yep, I am going to have a good time! I am just curious how big they will be by the time I can plant them.
Image via Rob Blaker’s Art Gallery.
So.. with that said. You can tell I am into growing anything! What about you… are you willing to try something different?
Gardening Gone Bad 