CORN IS
KING
FOR YOUR
TABLE AND YOUR LIVESTOCK
by
New England Gardener
Part 1 - Selecting the type to
grow
Anywhere field corn can be grown; it
is usually the most important crop. Farmers love it for
animal feed. Let's take a close look at home production
for grain.
There are four general types of corn,
the vegetable sweet corn, pop corn,
flint corn and dent corn. To grind for
flour, flint is considered the best, but the yield is low
for commercial production, and it's hard to find seed
for. I have grown heirloom flint corn, but I didn't
continue to do so because of the lower yields. Dent corn
is the usual choice, but any kind can be grown to full
maturity, and dried. There are both white and yellow
kernel varieties; in general the white will have more
fiber and the yellow more vitamins. So called Indian corn
comes in other colors too. Some of these are the
traditional heirloom varieties Native Americans developed
for their own climate, and others have been bred as
decorations, not for food.
Field corn may cross breed with late
Sweet [vegetable] corn. The Flint and Indian varieties
are more likely to do so. That would result in the ears
of your sweet corn being tough and starchy, rather than
sweet. Any seed saved would be a cross or Hybrid, not the
same as either parent. The usual advice to prevent cross
pollination in Sweet Corn is to plant varieties that
mature10 days to two weeks apart. The meaning of the word
"Mature", in Sweet Corn is the succulent "green" stage,
and "Mature" for field corn is dry, so you can't figure
when pollination occurs from the number of days shown in
a catalog. The Flint and Indian corn varieties I have
grown here pollinated at about the same time as Silver
Queen and late Heirloom Sweet Corn. The Dent corn I have
grown was later, but it might be a problem for you. If
you grow both Sweet and Field Corn, stick to early
varieties of Sweet Corn. To determine if you can grow a
later Sweet Corn, mark on your calendar when the tops of
each kind tassel out.[ That is when the vertical spike at
the top of the plant opens to have side shoots ]. You
need ten days between these dates. Pollination is needed
for each kernel to form. Plant corn in blocks of four or
more rows, is the usual recommendation, but I can get by
with less than four rows, especially if it's planted in
hills. For saving pure seed, distances of 1/4 mile or
more are needed between varieties that may pollinate at
the same time.
[Note from Miles. Corn is "open
pollinated," or pollinated by the wind...honeybees are
not needed. For that reason, the distance of 1/4 mile
separation for different varieties of corn to be saved as
pure stock for seed is quite critical. For more
information on pollination, read my article by clicking here.]
The amount of protein in dry corn is
usually 7 to 8%, similar to wheat, rye and rice. The
Krugs dent field corn I have been growing for the past
few years is 10% protein, which is why I was eager to
breed a local strain of it here on my farm.
Part 2 - Growing the corn
I fertilize heavily with aged chicken
manure, or you could use 10-10-10. Put it directly under
where the seed will go, but deeper, so it doesn't touch.
The soil must be warmed well by the sun. A common
expression around here is, "don't plant your corn until
the oak leaves are as big as a mouse's ear", but that may
be a little too early.
If working the soil with hand tools,
usually corn is grown in hills with about 5 seeds
arranged in an 8 inch circle. With a Garden Tractor,
furrows are made, and the seed is set about 4 inches
apart. Either way is fine, but hills are more resistant
to being blown over by the wind. I have heavy, but
fertile soil here. If you are short of seed, or have
sandy weak ground, you may want to plant it farther
apart.
Cover the seed with 1-2 inches of
soil. Enough so the birds can't easily find it. If a
heavy rain comes shortly after planting, the dry seed may
'float' up to the surface. This can be prevented by
soaking the seed overnight, which will also give them a
head start at germinating if it's dry.
Corn likes a lot of cultivation to
loosen and aerate the soil. Deeply dig the soil 4 or 5
inches to the sides of the plants, so the roots have an
easy place to spread into. As it grows, keep moving a
little farther away until the corn is knee high. Now it's
time to hill the corn, [ mound loose soil against the
plants from the sides ]. With a Garden Tractor, I
broadcast winter rye over the standing corn just before
hilling it. Rye gives off something in its roots that
weeds do not like. I don't bother to cut each corn stalk,
and let the winter rye mature the next summer, but if
food was scarce, I would.
Corn loves hot humid weather and lots
of rainfall through the summer. If corn borers may be a
problem, when silk first appears on the ears, brush or
spray mineral oil into it. This will coat the skin of the
borer worms, and kill them, as they try to get to the
kernels inside. It will not need any other attention.
Dent corn gets its name from the kernels "denting" in at
the tips when it's mature.
Part - 3 Harvesting and drying corn
for the table
If you have very clear weather in the
fall, you may be able to just let it dry on the stalk;
otherwise you will get some mold in it. Cows don't mind a
little mold, but I don't want any in my food. Leave it on
the cob. You may be able to store it in a corn crib. This
is a very well ventilated shed, with a good roof in a
sunny, breezy spot. You should mouse proof all around the
corn with two layers of hardware cloth spaced about an
inch apart. [heavy mesh, like a screen, but welded, not
just woven]. It should be elevated on legs rodents can't
climb, and high enough so they can't jump up onto it, and
the air moves freely under it. The topsoil should be
removed from under and around the crib, and replaced with
stone for drainage. Some farmers use a fan with duct work
to help dry there crop. A solar corn crib could be made,
but for just a few bushels, your home food dehydrator, or
kitchen Range oven set very low will work.
|
This is a small patch of four ten foot
rows of my high yielding Indian Flint corn. The
seed for this planting all came from one single
ear of corn.
Click on photos to enlarge.
|
This year I will be trying something
new. I have purchased an electric smoker like hunters
might use, and plan to dry my corn in that. For long term
use, I will be working on converting it to solar power.
Select the biggest, well filled ears, and keep them
separate for seed next year. Make sure these ears don't
get over heated while drying. The cob helps wick away
moisture. The kernels will come off if you wring the ear
with your hands, twisting in opposite directions.
Lehman's Hardware offers a cast aluminum 'ring' that fits
over the ear, giving you better leverage and saving your
hands. I have one of those, and use it if I am shelling
1/2 bushel or more.
|
At
harvest, the large ears filled the three half
bushel baskets shown in the photo. They are
drying in the sunshine on racks. |
I spread out the kernels on a screen
to check them over and remove any foreign material. Store
them in rodent proof containers. Once dry, you can let
them freeze in the barn. If you will be keeping them
inside the house, or you live in a warm climate, it's
good to put them in a freezer for at least four days.
When you take the container out, insulate it to prevent
condensation forming on it. You can put it in a picnic
cooler, or wrap it with blankets.
|
When the rainy weather came, I
brought the corn inside to finish drying. The
yield from that single ear of corn was 25 pounds
of dry grain. The best ears were selected to be
saved for seed, and dried in the electric food
dehydrator, set at the lowest temperature. It's
at the bottom left in the photo. It's
Lehman's #
83700. On the right is a meat smoker
which holds far more, but operates at too high a
temperature for the corn to be good for seed. It
is sold by
Cabela's as #QW-515477. The smoker
could be modified by using a light dimmer to
lower the heat output, or painting it with flat
black paint, and allowing the sun to heat it
up. |
Don't grind the corn, or any other
grain, until just before you use it. You might be able to
use a stone mill for Flint corn, but the cheaper, simpler
mill with steel burs is needed for Dent corn.
Part 4 - Corn for livestock
feed
All livestock seem to love the dry
corn like we would eat, but they don't need it ground
into flour. You should be able to adjust most steel bur
hand mills to crack the kernels into several pieces. Hand
crank corn shellers are also available from Lehmans, and
Antique shops may have the old fashion type that looks
like an enclosed saw horse, with a big flywheel on the
side.
Most animals also love the ears
freshly picked green [like sweet corn], or dried ears
that have been thoroughly soaked under water for a day.
They will get every single kernel off them. This saves
you a lot of work. Pigs and chickens will readily eat
rotten and moldy food we couldn't, but I try to keep it
reasonably clean. To grow or lay eggs, they need a diet
that averages 16% protein, and corn averages 8%. You will
need to supplement with waste milk from dairy animals, or
crops like sunflower seed, flax seed, amaranth seed or
beans.
Sheep and goats will eat the leaves
and the tops off the corn stalks, and cattle can eat most
all of the plant when it is still green. They have to be
really hungry to eat dry corn stalks. Over the winter,
they need hay AND 16% protein grain OR silage instead.
These three animals are grazers, and they can convert
plant fiber into protein. With a hammer mill or chipper
shredder, the whole dry corn on the cob can be ground and
fed dry like grain. This is called coble. This is still
only around 7% protein, so it needs to be supplemented
too.
The whole plant can be chopped while
still green, and made into silage. The ground material
must be tightly packed to get the air out of it, and
sealed. It will gradually ferment, similar to sauerkraut.
Once opened to the air again, it will spoil in a couple
days, but it does keep longer in the winter. The silo or
bunker has to be the right size so you feed off the
'top', or end before that happens. I have made silage in
large leaf bags and plastic trash cans for a few goats,
but it takes a lot or fussing. It's not practical, but
growing high protein crops to supplement the common
grains isn't so easy either. Now most everyone buys feeds
mixed with high protein supplements at a grain mill.
Throwing green ears of corn directly to pigs and chickens
is the simplest way to use it. Other small grains can be
sprouted, but corn kernels that have damage will spoil.
Chickens won't mind though. - New England Gardener