The dried corn I ground for tortillas two years ago turned out too sticky to use. Naturally, this required a little research, which revealed that the sweet corn I had grown was not a variety used for tortilla flour. Flint or dent corn were what I should have been growing, so I am growing both flint and sweet varieties this year, in separate beds and three weeks apart in the hope they won’t cross-pollinate.
Last year my sweet corn was consumed by varmints, so I sowed leftover seed from two years ago on the chance they would still be viable. If that had worked this would be an entirely different column because I would be using the fresh seed from that crop; instead I found myself searching for new seed, Golden Bantam, an heirloom variety that is my favourite. By the time I realized it was not available I bought and sowed whatever I could get. I found some from Pacific Coast Seeds, based in Vernon, that gratified me with a 95 per cent germination rate in the field! They are sold locally at the Duncan Shar Kare.
Last year was the first time in years I didn’t plant vining squash among my corn, and I think that may be why the ears got scavenged. Previously I had been using the Mesoamerican Three Sisters method, in which corn, squash and beans grow together.
The beans pulled down the corn stalks, so I dispensed with them, but the varmints didn’t bother the corn, perhaps because the squash vines are covered in spikey hairs that discourage tiny paws. I henceforth planted a squash plant at both ends of the corn bed and a few in the centre every year, and encouraged the vines to surround the bed and weave among the stalks, keeping them from climbing the stalks.
Given the consequences of failure to do so I have decided to follow this policy in the future. What a lot of work last year for NO CROP! Provided the squash vines keep out varmints and we actually get to have some ourselves I plan on saving seed from two best plants of each variety.
Corn are heavy feeders so on the regular beds I spread a half inch layer of compost, and organic fertilizer at the rate of four litres per hundred square feet. Some I planted on beds that had been tarped since last year, which killed off the cover crop of vetch and fall rye that had been growing for three years. I did no tilling and added no amendments, sowing the corn two and a half feet apart in rows three feet apart. Vining squash plants went in on all the corners and six feet apart along the rows. Crows have learned to pull up freshly grown corn sprouts to access the bugs underneath, so I protected the beds until they were about eight inches high and too difficult for crows to tug at. Once the stalks are a foot high, I’ll spread more fertilizer along the rows at half strength and again three weeks later and I’ll spray compost tea on them along with the rest of the garden.
To ensure pollination, I run my hand along the tops when the corn starts pollinating, allowing the pollen to fall onto the ears below so they end up setting kernels. Since I have also had to hand pollinate my fruit trees David insists I have become a vegisexual. I notice he still ate the cherries. He’ll eat the corn, too.
Please contact mary_lowther@yahoo.ca with questions and suggestions since I need all the help I can get.
