First things first, we are off to The Original Pancake House for a grab-and-run breakfast. We took it to Jan’s and had breakfast with her, an excellent way to start Sunday morning.
Every day at breakfast, I announce that I’m going for a jog, and then I don’t. It’s my longest-running joke of the year.
Time for breakfast!
The Silver Fox took us home, and on the four-minute journey, we decided what order to work in the garden. We were already in our “grubbies,” so it was VFR to the south forty for another six hours in the garden! We invited Jan to come over in the afternoon and see all the work we put into our garden, but alas, she was not up to the journey.
The corn was finally planted, and in about 90 days, we will be harvesting! Today it was white sweetcorn. Each corn plant produces one ear of corn. There are 600 kernels per ear.
Without mulch, the sun will dry the ground forming a crust, and water will evaporate instantly.
Did you know there’s an app for corn growers? It’s made in Sili-corn Valley.
Our plot is 5 x 7 or 35 corn stalks; we will plant another 5×7 section in a month and another in two months. They need to be planted in a block so fertilization by the wind is possible.
The corn is finally in!
Corn is an interesting vegetable! Our first planting will produce 40 or more pieces of corn.
2-3 inches of straw mulch does the trick! It will lower the soil temperature by 20 degrees on a hot day and virtually eliminates evaporation. We plan to run a drip line with holes every 12″ around each of the stalks. Using a 1/2 gallons per hour drip, we will run the line one hour a day in the early morning during the peak growing season. Corn needs about 1 inch of water a week, particularly when the stalks begin to tassel.
It needs mulch! These guys will be six feet tall in two months!
Mary was busy planting many other items we got yesterday and assisting me in planting corn, watermelon, and crook-necked squash!
The chief mulcher comes to the rescue!
I had my tools, amendments, and peat moss with me as I planted the veggies! It was pretty warm today, so I ensured the babies got a load of water to start.
PAul gets to mulch the watermelons!
We planted almost 200 square feet of ground in the big garden. It was designed to be large to handle the watermelons which spread out all over. One watermelon pant can easily cover 25 square feet of land.
Watermelon is one of the only foods to be classified as both a fruit and a vegetable.
The 25′ by 8′ garden is now officially mulched!
We were done for the day, so we had a nice dinner while watching Tom Selleck’s movies and series. We crashed at 9:30 pm.
Scout and I went to the backyard and got ready for beddy! Scout watered the lawn while I strolled the garden one last time. Scout tripped the light sensor, and voila, it was noon!
Scout set off the security alarm/lights during his pre-bed wee-wee run!
We hit the sack at 9:30 pm after a small dinner of homemade bean soup and potatoes au gratin!
