Putting up corn

Well we ate as much corn as we could that last 10 days or so, and it is just starting to get over the hill. After it reaches full maturity (when kernels are easily punctured by a fingernail and they exude milky fluid), corn has a small window where it has the maximum sugar content in each kernel, after which it begins to turn these sugars to starches, resulting in less sweet and chewier corn. Furthermore, it does not sit ripe on the plant for very long, especially if you grow anything other than modern, hybridized "super sweet" varieties. These are bred to stay sweeter for longer on the plant, and to stay sweeter for longer after being picked. I grew a hybrid "sweet corn", but not a "super sweet". So it's time to pick the rest of the mature ears and freeze them for storage.

With about 20 ears, shucking them was the worst part of the operation. You want to freeze them immediately after picking - I'm not kidding, they get less and less tasty every minute you wait...

After cleaning, they go into a big pot of boiling water for 5 minutes. This stops from working the enzymes that are turning the sugars into starches. Then they are quickly cooled in an ice water bath to stop the cooking.

Cut the kernels off the cob, and into a freezer bag. I got two gallon sized bags from 20 ears. We'll have some tasty corn this winter!

Big harvest!

We just got back from 10 days out of town. I take a week or so vacation every year in summer and I'm always amazed by how much the garden seems to take off when I'm gone. Things grow slower when you see them every day. We had tons of stuff ready so this is just a big picture post, get ready...

cUcumber

Lots of yellow onions.

Cascadia snap pea from the second sowing this year.

First corn!

Scarlet runners and tri-colored bean mix.

Red pontiac potatoes.

Tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, and lettuce too! We will eat well this week!

Hot weather!

The weather has been so good this year. The hot weather veggies are loving it, growing fast with lots of fruit coming on. This may be the best pepper year for a long time up here.

Hungarian Black peppers ripening up.

English bush cukes are flowering and setting fruit. They are a nice size so far, tidy enough to put small tomato cages around them for support. Next year I'll grow full size vines out in our field, so they can sprawl as much as they want.

My first try at corn is going well. It's pretty easy. I'd been foliar-feeding every 10 days or so with a weak fish emulsion to keep it growing fast until it began to set ears. This is an ultra-early 60 day variety (Earlivee Hybrid), so it has smaller ears on a smaller plant. Next year I'll grow a 6o day, a 70 day, and an 80 day variety to spread out the harvest.

Sowing seed in the garden

I have been working on getting more beds made each week, and sowing seed as I go.

This week I put in:
- 12' double row of snap peas (Sugar Snap)
- 4' bed of spinach (Olympia Hybrid)
- 12' triple row bulb onion (Yellow, from sets)
- 12' double row runner beans (Scarlet Emperor)
- 12' double row pole beans (Tri-color mix, Blue Lake, Yellow Pole Wax, Purple Peacock)
- 24' of 3 plant clumps 2' apart of corn (Earlivee Hybrid)

I also transplanted some things I started from seed:
- one row, 7 plants, tomatoes (in walls-o-water)
- 12' double row leeks (unknown variety grown by a friend)

Whew. Lots of seed to keep wet.