Review of 2015 corns

Corn!

Because of the drought we planted early, April 19, 2015.  This is year 5 of the drought, and we irrigated before planting!  There was no residual soil moisture, even in April.  I direct seeded 4 corns, Ottofile, Supai Chinmark, Hunhi 60 Day, and Victor Kuyuk Early.  Our corn is always planted on drip irrigation, so I let it run 30 minutes before planting, and then 30 minutes after planting.

These first four photos are from May 15, 2015,

Supai Chinmark

almost a month later.  Note the bird on the green flag just waiting for me to leave.  Bird predation

Victor Kuyuk Early

was very heavy this year, and we never did get a crop of lettuce.  The Victor was especially spotty. Birds or germination? 

Ottofile

Huhni 60 Day

Ottofile

Huhni 60 Day

The boards in the field are what I stand on to plant them.  Remember the soil is so dry, that you can sink 6 inches in just the dust!  We don't even like to till when it's this dry, as the soil just blows away.
The corn is planted on 18" centers, 24" apart and was irrigated once a week, one gallon per plant.

Okay so here we are on June 28, 2015 (Next 4 photos).
Note the Huhni is already tasseling!

Supai Chinmark

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Victor Kuyuk Early is also tasseling.

Victor Kuyuk Early

Note the tomatillos coming up in the corn.  This variety isn't called Purple de Milpa for nothing!  Also, we haven't really planted tomatillos in 20 years.  They just live here now. 

Victor Kuyuk

Okay, On to July 13, 2015:
Victor Kuyuk and Huhni 60 Day both have silked and the corn is on.

Huhni

Ottofile

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Ottofile continues to grow, and has just begun to tassel.  The Supai, which is a very short corn is just beginning to tassel.  To put this in perspective, those of you know me are aware that I am vertically challenged.  The Chinmark and I are the same height!  5' and a few inches.  The Ottofile is TALL! 

Supai Chinmark

At the same time the Chinmark began tasseling, it also became very dense and totally shaded the ground.  The Victory was harvested on 8/10/2016, as it dried, the wrappers began to open and the birds began to feast.  It was a very pretty corn.  I tried some out on the chickens and they went nuts too!

Victor Kuyuk

Victor Kuyuk

From 130 ears, I harvested 24 pounds of corn!  Once the birds got at the corn, the ear worms started as well.  I can never figure this out, are the birds trying to get the earworms or are the earworms invited because the birds are nibbling the ends?  I did not eat this corn, but put it all in the chicken's rations.  There was just too much damage to the corn to chance eating it.  The ear worm brings molds, which doesn't bother the chicken, fed in moderation.

Huhni

I harvested the Huhni the day after.  The stalks averaged 5'6" tall with 3 stalks per seed planted.  This is not a corn to hoe the side shoots on, because each side shoot makes another corn.  This is a prolific corn, and I've grown it before.  I'll add the harvest weight here soon.  This makes a good flour corn.  Good, not great, but it is drought tolerant, and fast fast fast.  As you can see, it's already dry.

Supai Chinmark

The Supai Chinmark is a pretty corn.  It's really fat, and I really had to reset the sheller before I got these corn off the cob.  I also pulled them out of the field before they were completely dry.
The yield on this corn was 16 pounds.  It's a beast to grind, as it's very hard.  I haven't eaten it yet, but it's ground and waiting for me.

Ottofile

Now the Ottofile.  This is a corn that really surprised me. Hard as a rock to grind, but such a delicate flavor.  The corn in the photo was not done yet, and it needed a few more days out in the field.  The yield on the Ottofile was 20 pounds.  This basically does not have a very corny flavor profile.  It's very light.  No one could tell that they were corn waffles!  Now that's a surprise.  Ottofile, or 8 row flint is a wonderful polenta corn.   Longer to grow, longer to cook, this is the white
corn grown by the Mulino family in Italy.  I guess somethings are just worth waiting for.

Despite the drought, it was a good year for corn.  In early, out early.  By August 22, all of the corn was out of the field and hung up to dry, and the water to that field was shut off.  Nice!

Once again, thank you to the USDA Grin project and Mark Millard for making these trials possible.