Sweet Corn

The sweet corn planted this year was NK199.
The name sounds like an experimental variety, certainly not the delicious summer vegetable
that we all can't live without with names like: sugar baby, peaches and cream, Kandy Korn or Bodacious.
NK stands for the breeder, Northrup King, and why the name 199 stuck is unknown to me.
NK199 was choosen because I've grown many other hybrids that have not met my standard
for vigor.
NK199 has been around since the 1950's. It's an old time standard corn that was developed for
Green Giant for processing into canned corn.
It grows very tall to over 8 foot, which makes it easier to pick since the ears are higher up on the stalk.
It did good this year during the June drought. It will also out yield other hybrids.
It is bright yellow with lots of big kernels on a large cob. All NK199 needs is butter and salt.



NK199 is as tall as the 9-10 foot sunflowers.










Supper tonight
4 big just picked ears on a plate
Thats a summer delight :)
and all I ate.

Cole Crops

First crops into the ground in spring are from the mustard Brassica family, also called
cruciferous vegetables or cole crops. I remember the word cruciferous by the 4 leaves of these plants resembling a cross from which the word comes from in Latin.

This family includes foods from the roots to seeds and oils.

Roots: turnips and rutabaga
Stems: kohlrabi
Leaves: cabbage and kale
Flowers: cauliflower, broccoli and brussel sprouts
Seeds: mustard seed
Oil: canola or rapeseed



4 leaves like a cross

These plants like lime (calcium), bone meal (phosphorus) and borax (boron) added to the soil.

planted 100 little broccoli and cabbage plants
what we don't eat or give away
the whitetails will love to nibble on

I'm thinking, feeding these cole crops, which contain lots of minerals, to the buck deer
may help their antlers grow larger.

Mulch Madness

Mulching time is here.

Give back to the soil what we've taken away.
Mother nature does this as seen in the woods by walking on the leaf cover.
Enrich the soil, retain moisture, suppress weeds and provide a protective barrier around young trees.

Mulching here begins with cleaning out the hen house, the chicken pens, and the goat barn. I shovel
and pitch fork and pile it all up in a mound. I then shovel it into the wagon attached to the 4-wheeler
and drive all around spreading the mulch around the trees, perennial beds, herb patch and

the vegetable garden.

I also use fall leaves and leftover hay to spread out on the gardens.

This is just the beginning of the Madness of Spring.

The list is growing:

spray fruit trees
start seed trays
sow grass in the pens and on the hillside for the goats
build cages to sell the chickens and guineas at market
build a strawberry raised bed using cedar

Spring chores completed

Thanks to the great February weather we were able to complete a few chores.


The goats are warm and happy and have a great place to get out of the rain.
The loft of the goat barn is used for storage
and a safe haven for hens to set on their eggs.

Rear side of the goat barn with the new metal siding
Home-made by Brenda & Donald



Shed added to corn crib to store the Grain Grinder

The beginnings of an antler chandelier





The grain grinder also needed to be put out of the rain. So a shed was built onto the corn crib to store the Grain Grinder where we just shovel the corn on the cob into the grinder from the crib to be ground into feed.  We add distillers grain, soybean meal, gluten, oats, dry molasses and minerals to the corn on the cob and grind all together to make a delicious and nutritious grain for all the animals.






The imaginarium now has lights, radio, electric drills and a fan for the summer heat. No excuse Brenda to get to work and create.

Arrowheads

My oldest antique which I found are the arrowheads.

I was planting lettuce down on the green river bottom land
when I saw a pink arrowhead.
I'm growing food where the Indians were camping and hunting.

Indian arrowheads found on our land
where the green river flows

I did a little reading and learned that Kentucky was an Indian hunting ground.
It was not permanently occupied by any tribes.
Kentucky land was considered sacred and the Indians lived elsewhere and
called this land  "The Great Meadows".
Tribes that crossed from Ohio to Tennesse and over to Virginia were the
Shawnee, Cherokee, Osage and Yuchi.
My arrowheads could be a minimum of 300 years old to thousands of years old.