Thursday 13 August 2015

Test Harvests: One Successful, One Not So Much


I was checking some crops for "readiness" this past week.  First up was the Golden Bantam corn.  Now this is my first year growing corn, so I don't really know what I'm doing.  I've read about when corn should be ready, but I'm a bit anxious to get it picked before the critters get wind of it.  Like this guy here who I caught on my trail camera (night shot, hard to see, I know) - to be honest, I was checking for the very large groundhog that I spotted in my garden a couple of weeks ago but no sight of that one since.  I already knew I had a skunk as my trail camera had snapped it near the compost earlier this season.


So back to the corn.  I picked an ear.  It felt a bit small (like the husks weren't quite full) but I was actually not expecting it to be ready, I just wanted to take a look.  And what the heck, the kernels looked pretty plump to me! 


So then I cooked it.  Still looked okay.


Then I took a bite.  Blech ... mushy and tasteless.


I mentioned it to a gardener friend.  He told me I was too early - like a few weeks.  He said I would know when it was ready ... the stalks would all be knocked over and there would be nothing left because the critters will know it's ready before I do.  Ha ha.  Thanks Paul!

But my next trial was a success.  I picked one of the dried pods of the Black Turtle beans I am growing (also a first for me).  And they look just like I would expect them to.


But I picked a pod earlier in the week and the beans inside were still pretty purple.  However, after sitting on my table for a few days, they have continued to mature and are looking pretty reasonable as well. 


So, yay, I think I'll probably being pulling the beans this weekend but I'll check a few more to be sure.  I'm very excited about these beans which are definitely the bean I use the most, so I'm really looking forward to that harvest time.

If you have any advice on either the corn or the beans, I'd be happy to hear about it!  And here's a funny parting shot that was also snapped on my trail camera last week ... nothing but neck and head.


9 comments:

  1. Congrats on the beans! They are another crop that I really love growing & experimenting with - I seem to say that about a lot of veg ;) I have no advice on the corn, having had my own set of troubles & a corn patch that is pretty much a disaster of broken stalks. However, just today, I did take a bite of a tiny cob that was ripped off the plant by my mystery pest, but left totally intact, and it tasted really good, actually - a bit of a surprise that one.

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  2. The corn certainly looks like it should be tasty. But now I see the the silks haven't turned brown, my understanding is that the corn is ready when that happens. I'm not an expert on sweet corn though, I grow field corn and that's ready when the whole plant turns brown and dry. Actually, that's what I wait for with my dry beans too, I wait until the plants have pretty much dried up and dropped all their leaves.

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    1. The silk didn't turn brown but also hasn't really popped up through the top of the husk yet. That was one of the things I was watching for to decide to pull it or not.

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  3. I find sweet corn good anytime that the kernels plump up. If you wait too long it won't be as good. Basically I try to pick mine as soon as they are plump or a day or two after. I can tell by feel. I would guess that you picked it too late, not too early except that the silks aren't brown at all. I tend to grow the supersweet varieties though so not sure about the old fashioned sweet corn. One issue with sweet corn is if you grow another variety that doesn't have the same kind of sweet genes that yours does, when they cross they won't be sweet. And pollen is on the wind, so any corn in your neighbor's yard can cause problems too. Good luck figuring it out.

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    1. The problem was the "feel". I'm not totally sure what I'm doing but when I felt them, they felt so small in the husk - not filled out. I guess I should have just pulled one sooner. I picked two more just a few minutes ago - one had only a few plump kernels (but really plump) but the rest seemed like nothing. I think I need years of experience to figure this out.

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  4. I agree with Daphne; You waited too long. The most reliable test I've found (better than the state of the silks or the feel of the cob) is the "thumbnail test", Before you pick the corn, make sure it is in the “milk stage.” Carefully peel back the husk and puncture a kernel and look for milky liquid inside. If it is clear, the kernels aren’t quite ready. If there is no liquid, you’ve waited too long. Since this was Golden Bantam, an old variety, it doesn't have the supersweet genes, and the "good" period doesn't last long, The kernels in your picture just look too big (old) to me,

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    1. It didn't occur to me that I could peel back a husk while on the stalk. I pulled two more off tonight. One was only half grown, but definitely had a whitish liquid. The other had a yellowy liquid so too far gone I would guess. Oh well, good experiment, you have to learn somehow!

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  5. I'm not an expert, only grew it once. To me it was not worth the space it took up and the nutrients it sucks out of the garden soil (and the nuisances it attracts). But I think Michelle is right, the silk should be a browner color. If it was mushy and tasteless, seems like it was immature, not over-mature, which would make it tough and starchy. And HelenB has the acid test, peel back a bit of the husk from the top and use the thumbnail test to check for the milky stage. Then when you pick it, make sure you chill it right away to stop the sugars from converting to starch. Me, I just drive down the road to a farm stand and pick out all the perfect ears I want for 30 cents an ear.

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    1. Well, geez, I've gone and pulled most of it ... threw it in the compost and even the critters didn't want it (after just one night it was still there, but kind of surprising). I've left a few to see if they really were mature. But i'll try again next year probably.

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