On a cooler Afternoon....

As anyone following this blog knows we try weird things....plants that are not main stream and have "Character". The HUGE Incan corn is one of these experiments.

I was picking corn for supper, the old variety Country Gentleman...it has character too and like us is non-conformist. It is a shoepeg corn so it does not have neat tidy rows of kernels. The kernels grow any which way!

The cobs are long and thinner but full of wonderful kernels, not a sweet corn but a regular corn that tastes really good with salt and butter. The stalks are tall, at least 6 feet or more and they have two sometimes three cobs of corn per stalk.

Some of the Country Gentleman corn

Anyway it happens to grow next to the Incan corn....Yurackkallhua Incan Giant Corn that is!

Its  kernels are bigger than a penny and it needs a very very long season but we thought we would try it anyway.

Photo from Baker Creek Seeds.

         

 Well it is a strange plant and is heading past 12 feet in height, the enormous stalks have strange rootlets growing in stages at the base to make the plant stronger.

Here is a photo of two sets of the rootlets....one well into the ground and one started at a plant joint about a foot from the ground and just starting to dig in.

This is a set of rootlets just starting to grow, they are about two feet from the ground.

 

 Here you can see the huge leaved stalks of the Incan corn. We did not have great germination but we were pleased we got some to start.

Here is one of the Incan corn starting to tassle. This stalk has two small cobs just starting to grow...small is relative as they are about a foot long!

It is fun to watch this rare plant grow. We suspect we have had cross germination as it is in the house garden where we were not as concerned with seed purity as fresh eating. Next year we have big plans for this big corn, a secluded isolated patch in a corner of the farm no where near anything else.

The Litchi tomatoes are still growing hideous thorns! It is also growing scads of tiny cherry sized, thorn and husk covered fruit!

We look at them and wonder when they will start to ripen and then we wonder if welding gloves will be enough to deal with the thorns. The chickens avoid the row of Litchi like the plague and even the cottontail rabbits go around them!

 

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It is a bit cooler today and the poultry is enjoying it, out in the yard much earlier to graze and gossip around the "waterer".

The ducks....yakking around the waterer......

The poults love shade and perching....here they are enjoying both. From the car they will fly up into the oak tree and that leads to climbing as far up as they can. It is pretty horrendous to watch them when they decide to fly to the ground from the highest point the get to!

 This is the view from Ralph's computer room. It has been interesting to watch the view change, from a fresh broken new garden area, to little corn sprouts and now this wild and crazy corn patch!

We are struggling with the heat and humidity as I am sure a huge amount of the country is. The locals here say this is an unusual summer, wetter and way more humid than normal. We continue to learn about the climate and soil, how the weeds come along and what new and huge weeds we have here. We are enjoying eating our own produce and I am canning and freezing for the coming winter. The afternoon seista has become normal to us as has working after supper until dark when is it much more bearable. As anyone on a small farm or homestead knows there simply are not enough hours in a day but we would not trade what we are doing for anything.

God Bless you all and keep safe.