| Archive for countrytalkandtips.myfreeforum.org ........................ smallholding, crafts and country life ................................................... IN IRELAND ....................................................... |
| GB |
Oh, fab. finally got to harvist my sweetcornJust brought in my sweetcorn last weekend and boy oh boy what a harvist I have a picture of my most prolific stalk and I have put in an easily recognizable object so you can get some idea of the size of the thing
http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w1/GBov/chickens104.jpg and a pickie of my best (only) cob http://i172.photobucket.com/albums/w1/GBov/chickens107.jpg gardening, eh, always good for a laugh  
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| chook |
 
Outdoors or tunnel? Sweetcorn outdoors here in Ireland is a waste of time IMHO, unless perhaps in a courtyard in the sunny southeast. But even in a tunnel this year it would have struggled I'd say. Had a lovely variety from your home country for a few years, from the NW (WA) to be precise, 'Hooker's Sweet Indian'. It was a blue short season variety and did well here in the tunnel. Ran out of seeds though and could not grow enough to save seed (minimum 100 plants required to prevent inbreeding depression in maize). Abundant Life who sold it, suffered an arson attack a few years back and stopped the whole seed business thingy. 
Must see if I can find it. Enjoy your corn on the cob 
chook |
| GB |
Eldist son ate it in one bite. Said it was nice but we needed more mummy
and it was outdoor grown as were my toms which produced one fruit as well. Very very small tomato it was
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| wayland |
I never used to grow it myself until I was given a few free seeds I would always take a freezer full from the fields. These f1 Jobie's produced for our climate grew to a miserly four feet and produced four sizable cobs each They where excellent especially on the Barbie. I do take the notion though of walking up to the plot and picking the cobs, but then running back to cook them. Loads of butter. Great.
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| David |
They were terrible here too...the outdoor ones were only fit for the pigs/goats. The tunnel was better, got about a dozen smallish cobs...but even then it would have been a waste of tunnel space if we hadn't grown pumpkins at the foot of the corn (good combination actually).
I keep giving up sweetcorn. Didn't grow any last year, and a friend was gloating about his huge crop (well, it was a good summer)...so in a fit of optimism I sowed a load this year, which was basically the kiss of death. In fact, now I think about it, it started raining more or less as soon as I planted the sweetcorn... D |
| GB |
So its all YOUR fault
The few times I have grown it and actually gotten any cobs they never even make it to the kitchen. Its great eaten raw in the garden as one of the gardeners perks 
How do the farmers who plant miles of the stuff manage to have such a beautiful crop and I get madam stunty stalk? |
| David |
Yeah, the rain was all my fault. Sorry!
i was on the train to dublin the other day going past rows of maize...was asking myself the same thing...how do they get it so lush? Mind you, on the field scale it's a fodder crop, so probably a different variety. I know a guy round here who grows it as fodder, and the whole crop is covered in some kind of plastic for months D |
| GB |
fodder corn has a window of oportunity for human consumption thats only about 10 days long but well worth trying for I find that over here people leave it WAY TOO LATE to harvist their corn and its gone over the hill and into starch land but if you try fodder corn when the curnels have plumped up but NOT started to square up, no corners on you curnels please and it will be as rich and nutty as you could ask for. Its really nice as creamed corn served with great thick slices of sun ripened beefsteak tomatoes.................That IT, I am moving back to the sun right now
Oh, and the secreat to making great creamed corn is to take a SHARP knife and just take off the tips of the curnels and then scrape the cob down to get out all the lovely insides. Put your oven dish in a hot oven with lots of bacon fat untill it sizzles and then put in you mush. Leave in for only 15 or 20 min depending on how much you are cooking as cook it too long and you may as well just wall paper with it
Ohhhhh, I am hungry now, off for some tea I think |