Quote:
Originally Posted by joseph
Growing staples is my passion: Beans, corn, squash, peas, and potatoes. I grow lots of tomatoes to help the staples go down more smoothly.
It was raining at the beginning of this week so I repaired and refurbished a cast iron corn sheller from about the 1880s.
Then I shelled corn until I had about 20 gallons of seed:
Popcorn:
Flour Corn:
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Joseph, this is my first time to see this thread. So far, I've just looked at the pictures. That 1880s Sheller-wow! And the corn, it sparked an idea.
Our new garden is a raised bed. Our youngest child (He's 25 now) used my tractor to move loam soil to the garden. It's sitting on top of red clay. I fenced in 18' x 60', but after looking at it and observing many factors, we are going to increase the dimensions to around 24'-30' x 60'. I want to improve the soil structure organically. I had in mind to add oak leaves and mowed grass/weeds, and then grow legumes. Corn grown with legumes would add a whole lot of organic materials as well as adding lots of nitrogen.
Growing corn for us to eat is basically useless because we where live is surrounded by huge corn fields everywhere. Corn usually sells for 4-for-a-dollar, and from July through September 8-for-a-dollar.
The loam soil we added came from under oak trees. I personally, wouldn't call it "Sandy Loam" to me it's more of a "Silty Loam". Growing corn makes sense to me now because of how deep the roots grow, and corn husks, silks will add to the soil organics. And it also gives me a "Reason" to buy a the shredder/chipper that I've wanted for years.
The deep corn roots will help break up the clay underneath. Those roots will feed on the Johnson Grass roots that were buried underneath the newly added soil. The last recommended plant out date is May 1 for corn here. Looks like I'm about to plant some corn. I am very glad I found this thread today.