dewdropsinwv
Garden Addicted
Thunderstorm and winds are rolling threw for the next few hours, looked out at the garden and some of the corn is laying over again..... not completely on the ground but pretty close.
Me and the Corn!
- Thread starter baymule
- Start date
Thunderstorm and winds are rolling threw for the next few hours, looked out at the garden and some of the corn is laying over again..... not completely on the ground but pretty close.- Thread starter
- #32
baymule
Garden Master
QUICK DEW!!!!! Whomp MontyJ up side of the head with a WARSH pan and send him out in the corn patch! (it won't do anything for the corn, but it will make me feel better)dewdropsinwv said:
Jared77
Garden Addicted
Dew she said that since she throws like a girl and knows her only shot is to hit poor Monty. She'd never be able to get a warsh pan this far north to brain me with it 
MontyJ
Deeply Rooted
Now that's not very nice Bay Dew doesn't have a warsh pan...we do have several cast iron skillets though :/
Dew doesn't have a warsh pan...we do have several cast iron skillets though :/
dewdropsinwv
Garden Addicted
Yes we do have cast iron pans,but I wouldn't want to ruin them on MontyJ's head. :/ I'm sure I can find a warsh pan at M&M hard ware in Ohio 
If I cant find one there I'll never find one.
If I cant find one there I'll never find one.- Thread starter
- #36
baymule
Garden Master
Ok, it was a dumb idea to plant the butterbeans in the corn. Then I cut off the corn stalks and made bean poles! That made me feel not so dumb. I am back to feeling reeeeeely dumb again. What happens when bean vines grow wild, swarm all over the corn/bean poles? I got lots of butterbeans! What happens when the corn stalk/bean poles finally dry out and start to decompose? The roots turn loose and the stalks start to fall over. 
Back to being dumb again. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID.
It is supposed to rain for the next 2 days, which will probably flatten the butterbeans. Half the butterbeans are on rebar posts and corn stalks, the other half is on corn stalks only.
I drove another rebar pole in the middle of the corn stalk only patch, hoping to avert disaster before DH gets home this evening with some T-posts so I can prop up the rest of the butterbeans. 
A couple of days ago, I felt all kitchen-industrious, so I got down the grain mill and went to work. I milled corn into cornmeal, had to mill it 3 times, starting with cracking the corn to milling it finer twice. Funny-I baked cornbread with a cup of red corn that I milled and instead of red or pink cornbread, I got a almost turquoise color. It was delicious!
What happens when the corn stalk/bean poles finally dry out and start to decompose? The roots turn loose and the stalks start to fall over. Back to being dumb again. STUPID. STUPID. STUPID. It is supposed to rain for the next 2 days, which will probably flatten the butterbeans. Half the butterbeans are on rebar posts and corn stalks, the other half is on corn stalks only.
I drove another rebar pole in the middle of the corn stalk only patch, hoping to avert disaster before DH gets home this evening with some T-posts so I can prop up the rest of the butterbeans. A couple of days ago, I felt all kitchen-industrious, so I got down the grain mill and went to work. I milled corn into cornmeal, had to mill it 3 times, starting with cracking the corn to milling it finer twice. Funny-I baked cornbread with a cup of red corn that I milled and instead of red or pink cornbread, I got a almost turquoise color. It was delicious!
journey11
Garden Master
Oh no. They would probably keep growing, just be hard to pick from off the ground. Maybe get a couple of tomato stakes pounded in, in pairs down either end of a row and run some twine or clothesline between them (one line to each side) for support, kinda like some folks do blackberries or raspberries.
digitS'
Garden Master
My first try at a Sisters Garden kept me from trying it again for 35 years!
The runner beans so suppressed the sweet corn that it couldn't produce and barely provided any support whatsoever! I was so afraid of walking on the squash that I could hardly get to any greenbeans!
Just a few years ago, I decided to try it again. This time - everything was for fall harvest! Winter squash. No sweet corn - it was Painted Mountain flour corn and rattlesnake beans. If I could reach a few beans, they would be eaten green but otherwise, they were for the winter bean pot.
Unfortunately, the beans still suppressed the corn! Seeing that, I immediately went in and drove stakes for teepees. It was okay but kind of defeated one of the ideas for having a Sisters Garden.
I have gone back to my TEG post of the results and edited in just one of pictures. You can just go down to the bottom of the post, thru those symbols Picasa decided to use in place of my pictures (grrrrrr!) to see the little lunch that I made for myself: 11/06/2011 TEG The picture will probably only last a few days and then Picasa will change everything again!
Steve
The runner beans so suppressed the sweet corn that it couldn't produce and barely provided any support whatsoever! I was so afraid of walking on the squash that I could hardly get to any greenbeans!
Just a few years ago, I decided to try it again. This time - everything was for fall harvest! Winter squash. No sweet corn - it was Painted Mountain flour corn and rattlesnake beans. If I could reach a few beans, they would be eaten green but otherwise, they were for the winter bean pot.
Unfortunately, the beans still suppressed the corn! Seeing that, I immediately went in and drove stakes for teepees. It was okay but kind of defeated one of the ideas for having a Sisters Garden.
I have gone back to my TEG post of the results and edited in just one of pictures. You can just go down to the bottom of the post, thru those symbols Picasa decided to use in place of my pictures (grrrrrr!) to see the little lunch that I made for myself: 11/06/2011 TEG The picture will probably only last a few days and then Picasa will change everything again!
Steve
- Thread starter
- #39
baymule
Garden Master
DH came home Saturday evening with T-posts, but it took us until today to get them pounded in. The butterbeans are saved from flattened out destruction and I can go pick without scrabbling around on the ground for them. They will be ready to pick again tomorrow, they are soooooo good! 
The corn stalks are absolutely rotted off at the roots. I'll plant corn and butterbeans together again next year, but T-posts WILL be in place before anything gets planted!
The corn stalks are absolutely rotted off at the roots. I'll plant corn and butterbeans together again next year, but T-posts WILL be in place before anything gets planted!
Smart Red
Garden Master
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You should know that sweet corn is not a good trellis for a Sisters planting. It is generally too short and has stems that are weaker than the beans need. Native Americans planted their corn first. It was a sturdy corn for grinding into flour. Once the corn was the right height, the beans were planted around the corn stalks. If you had planted drying corn and drying beans you would have little reason to try getting to either until both were dry and ready for harvest.
The squash was planted last and left to cover the ground around the corn and beans - giving some protection from weeds and plenty of good food in the fall just about the same time as the corn and beans were ready. Many Indian groups actually planted four sisters rather than the three most often discussed. Europeans seeing the plantings discounted the flowers as worthless and took away the idea of combining the three foods as the Native Americans did. Most often the fourth sister was the sunflower. It attracted pollinators as well as predators (birds and insects) who fed on garden pests.
The squash was planted last and left to cover the ground around the corn and beans - giving some protection from weeds and plenty of good food in the fall just about the same time as the corn and beans were ready. Many Indian groups actually planted four sisters rather than the three most often discussed. Europeans seeing the plantings discounted the flowers as worthless and took away the idea of combining the three foods as the Native Americans did. Most often the fourth sister was the sunflower. It attracted pollinators as well as predators (birds and insects) who fed on garden pests.
