Grow it! Grain
(Page 5 of 11)
November/December 1973
By the Mother Earth News editors
Seven to ten days after planting, the seedlings will break ground. While you might not hear the corn grow-then again you might - its progress is very rapid. Mark the top of one plant's growth on a stick early some day after a night of rain. Come back after supper for a surprise.
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HARVESTING
You'll probably find the smallest farms in your area utilizing a corn picker, even if it means renting one or bringing in a custom man. It is a significant time-saver. Picking an acre's worth of corn takes an experienced man about eight hours. A two-row picker will harvest and husk it in under two.
With only an acre or two of corn, you'll have little difficulty hand-harvesting, even with the seventy-five to one hundred bushels of corn on the cob you can expect to pick per acre. But remember, when you get to the husking stage, your hands are going to feel it unless they've built up some good hard calluses from other farm work.
As opposed to your small plot of sweet corn, which is harvested by the ear the very day it ripens sweet and milky, feed corn is harvested when the upper leaves have lost half their color and the lower ones all of it. The husks should be dry, and in the case of dent corn, the dent, appropriately enough, should be well dented. Harvesting is usually best after a frost.
If you intend to use the cornstalks as bedding for your livestock, cut individual stalks with a corn knife. Bind ten to fifteen stalks into a bundle and shock ten to fifteen bundles together. Let the shocks field-dry for a couple of weeks. The precise drying time will depend on the weather. Ears will break off crisply from their stalks when ready. Haul the shocks of corn to the barn and stack them. Pick the ears off when you have time.
If you plan on plowing under the following spring (remember to go over the stalks with a disc harrow before plowing) drive a wagon into the field when the ears are ready to be picked and do just that. Haul the dry ears back to the barn.
Husk the corn for animal feed the way you would sweet corn for the pot. It will be easier, because it's dry, but count on getting those calluses all the same. In the old traditional husking bees whoever drew a red ear of corn got to kiss the partner of his choice. So the clever farmer slipped some
Indian corn into his planting to assure eager workers. Ten percent red ears is about maximum, however, if you intend to get any work out of your crew, and, as one farmer put it, it takes a lot of advance planning to make sure the right people show up.
Pigs will eat whole corn on the cob happily. For your chickens, however, it must be shelled. This is done by running the cob through a sheller...by hand it would take forever. A hand-crank model suffices for the small farmer. For goats and other ruminating livestock, the best use is made of corn when it is ground whole, cobs and all. Take it to your local mill for grinding.
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