This little ear of mutie corn is only half-pollinated and appears to have a conjoined twin. There are plenty of full, healthy- looking ears still waiting to be picked (but not quite ready yet) but this one beat them all to the punch and for that it will have to be my favourite.
In honour of the mutie ear I thought it would be a good time to look back over the months and see the stages of the growth of these corn plants. I didn't grow them from seed - they were donated by a family friend - but they were only a few inches tall when I did get them.
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| + 1 tomato in the corner |
I got them in mid November and planted them out just over two weeks later. I didn't realise you aren't 'supposed' to plant corn and tomatoes together so into the same bed they went - I'm not sure if I've sabotaged anything that way, but both have flourished pretty well so I guess it's been okay!
They were already so much sturdier - I guess the most explosive growth is the stuff that happens early on! It's a little harder to pick out the progress at later stages, but initially it sure is exciting. You could just about take a measuring tape out each day and mark their height.
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| I've been told citrus will keep cats away - hopefully no more surprise dug up spots! |
It's been a pretty hot summer and the corn has flourished. I kept them pretty well watered but it was just about the only plant that never looked like the heat was getting to it.
The first tassels started popping up about a month after I planted them out. I had no idea what they were called and it was surprisingly difficult to google "what is this wheat-looking stuff growing out the top of my corn". I also had no idea about the whole pollination and fertilisation process for corn - the tassels, if you aren't aware, are the male flowering part. They produce the pollen.
By New Year's the first tassels were pretty well established. (In the background you can see the tomato plants - the bushy one is from the same pot as the corn babies: its tiny brothers from their own pot just never grew as well)
Just a few days later and the first silks appeared! The silks are the female flowering part - they're that stringy bit you peel off corn cobs later. Each one represents a kernel and if that silk is pollinated that kernel will grow. Pretty neat!
More ears and silks were quick to follow. This picture is about four days later. Once it starts happening it sure does all happen quickly!
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| The garden as a whole is a real work in progress - many weeds to hunt down! |
By the 18th the plants were pretty much as tall as they were going to get and laden with fruit. This is about nine weeks after the first picture of them in their pot. You can see behind them that I planted the tomatoes waaaaaay too close together (but they don't appear to have been harmed by their corn proximity).
And this is how the situation looks at the moment, ten weeks in. The silks are getting brown - I've been told they start to dry and drop off right around the time you want to harvest, but damn it is hard to wait. It's going to be sweet when I get to sink my teeth into the rest of these!
But for now I'll have to settle for my little sprinter, with half of its kernels unpollinated and a teeny extra brother ear attached to it. I can handle that.
EDIT: See? That wasn't that long of a wait! There's one slowbie still on the stalk but the rest of the corn is harvested and ready to make its way into my stomach. They're so beautiful!
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