plainly , since I ’ve noticed that , it makes me entirely superficial .
Other grain do n’t do it for me . They do n’t look like jewels when they ’re convulse , hulled , cleaned or whatever you postulate to do to them to get them quick for deplete ; corn , however , is in a class of its own .
That ear to the left hand ? That is n’t sugared maize – it ’s caryopsis Indian corn . Those kernels , though not all dried yet , are really hard . The color is astounding , is n’t it ? Like gold .
Growing Grain Corn for Survival
Sweet corn whisky is for fun : grain Indian corn is for survival .
The trouble with clavus is that it ’s become a byword for the immorality of modern agriculture . The works has been used to make evil high - fructose corn whisky syrup and had its gene scrambled into genetically modified form that can stand being sprayed with poisons that would put us in a comatoseness .
Corn is also a greedy craw that like a lot of fertilizer as well as disturbed soil . When you grow it conventionally , you end up with erosion , run off , etc .
In another negatively charged , maize , when used as a staple fibre ( and notnixtamalized ) , is also linked topellagra , a niacin deficiency that can make you go en . You may even start casual gardening blog .
BUT !
maize also has a lot of positives going for it ( other than being pretty ) .
It ’s :
1 . Easy to grow2 . Productive3 . leisurely to clean and utilize4 . Storable5 . kilocalorie dense6 . A dense biomass producer7 . Great for volaille feed8 . Delicious
corn whisky is n’t quite as gentle to acquire in Florida as it is in some body politic . Sometimes cover rains will ruin some of your crop around harvest home time … sometimes the bugs take over … and sometimes a foul blow of wind will blow all your stalks sideways .
Yet even with those drawbacks , it ’s commonly simple to grow caryopsis corn . Over the last brace of years , I ’ve tested five different varieties here in North Central Florida : Hickory King , Tex Cuban , Floriani Red Flint , Green Dent and an un - named flint corn from the USDA germplasm repository .
Out of these , Tex Cuban and Hickory King stand head and shoulders above the rest . Both are “ dent ” corn whiskey , and both take a prospicient time to farm . The green dent and the Floriani produced quickly – and poorly . They exhibited little ear with bunch of skips , pest trouble , less vigor and many straw that betray to bear anything . The un - describe flint clavus was a full fail , which I blame on tough seed . In a really good bottom they only grew a couple of feet tall and did n’t bother make up ears . Heck with that . I ’ll give both another attempt next year , but thus far I am not impressed .
Three years ago we had a great stand of Hickory King that produced excellently on tilled ground amended with moo-cow manure . This twelvemonth I planted Tex Cuban on tilled grunge and fecundate it with Gallus gallus manure tea and it ’s done quite well . The ear are n’t as large as the Hickory King ears , but that may be the result of genetic depression or lower stain fertility in the plot of land . It ’s hard to differentiate when you do n’t grow thing side - by - side in the same season .
All that stuff apart , grain clavus is a lot easier to produce than sweet corn . It ’s more tolerant of temperature fluctuations and pesterer , as well as lower dirt rankness .
We do n’t exhaust genetically modify intellectual nourishment , if we can help it , which meansI’ve been go without my beloved grits for years … except when I grow my own . The first time I ground gritrock from heart harvested from my own garden , I was blown by by the rich corn whisky flavor of homegrownheirlooms . There ’s nothing like it . Here ’s how I make grits .
Interestingly , I ’ve taken ear with me to church and other venue to show off . The question I commonly get is “ So what do you do with it ? ”
That ’s the fun part . If you pick them in the “ Milk River stage , ” they make a decent , full - flavored mellifluous Zea mays . In the mature stage , other than grits , you could sour the substance into cakes , chips , tortillas , cornbread and other delicacies.Amazon.com Widgets
To moil the corn into meal or grits , one of theseworks fine . For fine grinds , though , you ’ll need to get a better grinder . I have a Country Living Grain Mill which is supposed to grind edible corn ( I have the right screw auger for it ) yet refuses to do a decent caper , in all probability because the proportional humidity is too high . Whatever . You buy an expensive prick and think it ’s just gon na work …
That aside , clavus make for great chicken provender if you “ crack ” it roughly in your manufacturing plant so the bird can eat it . Whole kernels can be wield by big birds , but I ’d rather give them easier to manage size .
Incidentally , if you have them , small bamboo stems make just pipe stems , as do dry out elderberry twig or any other pin you may clean the center pith from . I ’ve made my own pipe from various materials … and can attest to the fact that nothing try as pleasant as a corn cob .
A final bank bill on corn : the stalks are great forage for grazing animals , as well as being a good addition to the compost deal . I stack them on the bottom of a raw mickle to add air , then pile smaller stuff on top . By spring you ’ll have plenty of compost to fertilise the next crop of corn .
If you have n’t examine growing grain corn , give it a go . You might fall in passion at first glance , just like I did .
SPUDOMETER RATING:
4 Spuds !
Name : Zea mays , dentLatin Name : Zea MaysType : AnnualSize:8 - 12′Nitrogen Fixer : NoMedicinal : NoCold - hardy : NoExposure : Full sunPart Used : EarsPropagation : SeedTaste : GoodMethod of preparation : Young ear as a veg , mature kernels ground for flour and sand , cob for smoke pipes . Storability : Excellent when mature and dryEase of growing : EasyNutrition : So - soRecognizability : HighAvailability : gamy
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