Tuesday 9 October 2012

A Sweet Discovery

You may remember that at the start of the season, I christened this year The Year Of The Sweet Corn. This is my fourth year growing veg on the allotment, and even though I've tried growing sweet corn every year, I've had no success. I used to grow it in containers in the garden with no problems at all, so I just couldn't understand why I was failing every year on the allotment. At the start of the growing season, I decided that I would lavish my sweet corn with lots of care and attention and do my best this year to change the outcome I've had for the past three years. Of course, I didn't realise at that point that we were going to have such a cold, wet summer, something which sweet corn doesn't particularly like. The plants produced cobs, as well as tassels and silks, but I couldn't feel anything inside the cobs at all so I thought this year would be much the same as the previous three. Imagine my surprise when I peeled back the covering on the cobs and discovered that there was something there. So they're not full cobs, only the ends had been pollinated, but it's more corn than I've managed to grow yet at the allotment, so I'm going to call it a success of sorts. I'll be able to remove the individual kernels from the cobs, and as there's only myself who likes sweet corn, it should last for a few meals.

 It's a shame that the season won't last a little bit longer as both the Uchiki Kuri and Sunburst squash are making some attempt to fruit. It's so late though now that I doubt they'll mature. The courgettes are starting to slow down a little now, as are the runner beans. I only managed one picking of the dwarf French beans, but I've had several from the runners so it was certainly worth doing a late sowing.

It's been a bright, sunny day today, but it's rather cold. I've noticed lots of berries on the trees, which some say is an indication of a harsh winter. Surely we're due a let up in the weather after the summer we've just had, a mild winter would be nice this year.

34 comments:

  1. Well, your corn is certainly better than mine was! Why do you think that the squashes left it so late to "start a family" this year?

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    1. I'm blaming everything on the weather this year. Even my courgettes were really late, so I'm sure it must be down to the cold, wet summer.

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  2. I think based on the rubbish weather this summer that you can call your corn a definite success!! Mine failed miserably!

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    1. Thank you for visiting and leaving a comment. Sorry to hear that your corn failed, though I'm really surprised that I managed anything at all from mine.

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  3. We thought our corn would be empty too - so like you we had a nice surprise!

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    1. Your corn did considerably better than mine though. I'll give it yet another go next year.

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  4. Well done on your corn success. I composted 3 out of our 4 courgette plants as they had finished producing. The 4th one still has 3 baby courgettes. It's getting colder now though and I'll probably pull that one out at the end of the week.
    Love from Mum
    xx

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    1. My courgettes are definitely slowing down now, though they're not at a standstill yet. I'm sure there'll still be more to come.

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  5. Well done with your corn. I decided not to bother this year as I never was very sucessfull with it.

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    1. It's taken me four years on the allotment to get even this meagre harvest, but I won't give up. I'll be trying for better results again next year.

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  6. Oh there's enough there for a good nibble Jo and so much sweeter for being fresh. It has turned much colder here too though we've had some most welcome sunshine and dry weather :)

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    1. Home grown corn is so delicious, that's why I won't give up trying to grow it. We had a lovely sunny day yesterday but it's turned dull today.

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  7. Congratulations on your harvest! I chose not to grow it this year as the badgers seem to wolf the lot as soon as it ripens on our site. To get any cobs at all is an achievement with the summer we've just had.

    Enjoy!

    Ryan

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    1. I haven't heard of badgers being a pest on allotment sites before. I'm lucky really, the only pest I know about on our site is slugs, though they can do just as much damage as anything.

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  8. Well done with the sweetcorn, especially as it's been such a difficult year. I grow it every year with varying degrees of success, this year being surprising good.
    You certainly did better than me with courgettes and climbing beans.
    A nice, mild winter would be most welcome, so fingers crossed. Flighty xx

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    1. It's funny how we all have different successes and failures, keeps it interesting if nothing else.

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  9. Sweetcorn was one of my good crops this year,but not going to mention my mini corn:-/ the less said about that the better. looks like you have enough for a meal there though cant beat allotment grown corn.

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    1. It's funny how the corn did well but not the mini corn, can't beat them all. I love home grown corn, it tastes so different to shop bought.

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  10. I'm going to attempt sweetcorn next year, if I get a crop like yours I will be happy.

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    1. Good luck for next year. My crop isn't great, but it's the best I've done on the allotment so far.

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  11. Well done on getting so much in a bad year. Of course you'll have to continue to grow it, if you give up for one year, the weather conditions will be perfect.

    It is a shame about the squash - I, too, was hoping for a long and sunny autumn.

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    1. That's true, Sod's law. I think we've had it for a long, sunny autumn. Fingers crossed that the weather next year is all we hope for.

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  12. Congratulations. I've tried sweetcorn a few times and given up. The weather here is just dull and grey and damp. We haven't had any frost yet. I'm hoping for a dry, sunny weekend so I can get out and catch up on the plot and in the garden after being away.

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    1. Hope the weather stays fine for you at the weekend. It's a mixed bag here. It was lovely and sunny yesterday, but it's very dull and damp today.

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  13. Your corn looks like it will taste good. When I was in the Cotswolds I was amazed at all the corn growing in the fields. Some additional investment for farmers was announced in Northern Ireland this week because of the poor season farmers have had.

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    1. I'm sure the farmers must have really struggled this year because of the weather, it's good that it's been recognised. I bet the food prices will be rising though.

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  14. Well done on getting a crop - I have given up on sweetcorn after many failures - I'll stick to tinned.

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    1. I've had to resort to tinned for the past three years. I'm hoping to improve on this year's harvest next year.

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  15. Conngratulations. Those are cute looking corns!!

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    1. They're certainly small. They should be ok once they're taken off the cobs, they'll do for a few meals.

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  16. I have never been able to grow corn here either but I do intend to try again eventually.

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    1. There's nothing quite like home grown corn, definitely worth the perseverance.

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  17. I have had successful years of sweetcorn down the allotment in the past years but mine look pretty much like your this year Jo.

    How will you remove the corn from the cobs? I have always blanched and frozen mine whole.

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    1. I think all the rain we had was bad for pollination. I didn't remove the corn from the cob in the end, nor did I blanch it. I just froze it as it was, and I've eaten some since and it was delicious.

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