Sweet Corn is About to Come in

A short while back I explained how some recent rain and winds had knocked down some sweet corn.  That's not a good thing when the corn is about to tassel.  If the pollen doesn't fall on the silk, you'll have "blank heads."  I made a redneck sweet corn propper-upper with t-posts and baling twine and the effort was met with success.  The corn is standing tall once again in our two-row corn plot.

Let's look at a couple of zoomed in photos of the sweet corn tassel.  Although you'd never know it, the tassel is the male reproductive organ.  It produces pollen.

If I had zoomed in on the following two photos, you'd be able to see the yellow pollen.

As the wind blows, the pollen drifts in the air, falling (hopefully) on the silk sticking out of the ears.  Each one of those silk threads shown below, goes into the corn cob and where it's attached to the cob, a kernel of corn will come to be.  Pollination done by the wind uses gravity too, and that's why it was critical that I stood the corn upright before corn tasseled.  If you ever shucked an ear of corn and the ear had a bunch of gaps in it, you didn't get good pollination.  It's another reason it is a good idea to plant your corn in blocks and planted close together.  We're not going to count our chickens before they hatch, but it looks pretty good so far.

A pretty redhead

I will be watching the silk.  Once it turns brown, the sweet corn is ready to harvest.  In a few days we'll be able to see if the sweet corn is healthy.  Fresh sweet corn lives up to its name.  So sweet.  So delicious!

Mother's Day 2025

God has blessed us with great mothers and mothers of our children and today was the day to celebrate them and show them our love for all they do and for the godly mothers they are.  We prayed and feasted and enjoyed conversation around the supper table.

L to R (Mom, my sister Jenny, and Tricia)

We had quite a menu: pastalaya with green onion and garlic sausage, spiral ham, pot roast and rice and gravy, fresh roasted vegetables, boudin, zucchini cake and ice cream.  We pushed away from the table with taut bellies, satisfied not only with the blessing of delicious food, but in the knowledge that God has given us wonderful Mothers.

My niece, Elle and daughter Mary Grace, Jenny, Mom & Tricia

All six of my sister's boys were here, but one son, Carson, had already left at the time of this photo.  Russ and Benjamin were here, but Laura Lee was unable to make it.  We missed her terribly.

Last but not least, my wonderful wife and mother of my children with her young men, of whom she is so proud:

Benjamin, Tricia, and Russ

Happy Mother's Day!

The Kidding Season Comes to a Close

We had five momma goats pregnant.  Popcorn, the billy, has proven to be quite the fertile fellow.  One by one, they kidded.  Bunny had a stillborn buckling.  But with three healthy baby goats running around the pasture, we were ready for the last one to be born.  It was time for Callie.  Her bags ballooned, letting us know that any minute, there would be a baby.  So far this year we have 1 doeling and 2 bucklings.

Tricia came around the corner of the barn and said, "We have a new baby.  It's a little buck."  Callie already had him all cleaned up.  They say the fruit doesn't fall far from the tree.  That means the offspring are often like the parents.  So is the case with Callie and her little boy.  This is Callie's face:

And this is her little buckling's face...  White, black and brown.  She marked him well.

The little fellow got right down to business, drinking his colostrum to ensure he gets a good start.  Since Bunny lost her baby, we're milking her twice a day and keeping the milk to make kefir and cheese.

We still have a little leftover goat milk that we feed to the laying hens.  They really enjoy it.

But they must drink fast.  Belle, our Great Pyrenees, has developed an affinity for goat milk.  She comes around the corner, chases off the hens, and makes quick work with her tongue of lapping up the goat milk!

All Things Bright and Beautiful, All Creatures Great and Small

In an up-coming post, I'll share some photos of the beauty of late spring around our parts.  Spring is just a wonderful time.  There is anticipation of the garden harvest, flowers abloom, and baby goats frolicking about in the pasture.  Last week I chronicled the momma wren nurturing her little babies in a nest in Tricia's planter.  God's creation and His creatures that inhabit the world are truly something to behold.

As I sat thinking about all God's creatures, I was reminded of this wonderful book that I read 18 years ago:

All things bright and beautiful,

All creatures great and small,

All things wise and wonderful,

The Lord God made them all.

The author's name is James Herriot, but that's just a pseudonym.  James Alfred Wight is his real name, and he was a real veterinarian in Yorkshire Dales of Northern England.  In "All Creatures Great and Small" he recounts actual stories in his experience as a veterinarian.  The book is beautifully written.  His love for the quirky people, the animals (from goldfish to race horses), and the stunning countryside of Yorkshire comes across in his descriptive writing style.  

Some stories are downright funny.  Others are emotional and hit you right in the feels.  The stories are true, but he's changed the names of all of the people to protect their privacy.  I've got All Creatures Great and Small out on my counter to re-read,  but I've just discovered Herriot's other works.

I checked out "All Things Bright and Beautiful" in audiobook format from the library and have been listening as I'm driving around for work.  So far it's just as good as All Creatures Great and Small.  His descriptions of making farm calls brings to my remembrance emergencies we've had on our farm, like, for instance, when Rosie stood up and stepped on her teat, tearing it with her hoof!  Or, just recently, having a stillborn goat, or milk cows with mastitis, goats with copper deficiency, or cows with parasites.  Every day is a new adventure being a steward of God's Creation.  Sometimes you meet with success and other times you find failure.

I think the author gives us a formula for success:  Have a love for people around you.  Have a love for the animals you encounter.  Have a love for the countryside.  James Herriot's book titles tell you the most important thing: Have a great love for the Lord.  He named four of his books after the verses in the hymn "All things bright and beautiful."  It's a beautiful hymn, praising God for creating such a majestic creation.  The hymn is in our church's hymn book, but we never sing it.  Perhaps we'll learn it and sing it soon.  Click the arrow below to listen:

A Better Moth Trap

Yes, you read that right.  A Moth Trap.  Last year we lost a hive of bees to wax moths.  I'd like to avoid that this year, if at all possible.  There are chemical treatments you can do, but we don't want to use chemicals.  I began to search for natural methods.  The reason this search was intensified was due to what I saw in the first hive on the left.

The two hives on the left that only have 1 deep box are two swarms that we caught in the yard.  While I was watching all the activity, I watched a MOTH crawl out of the box on the left!  Oh no.  The best way to ward off wax moths is to have a strong colony.  A healthy hive of bees will get rid of the wax moths and larvae because there are enough numbers to protect the hive.  We have a problem here.  The swarm is small.  The queen just started laying, so the numbers are low.  In about a week or so the colony should be growing exponentially, but will the hive be destroyed before the cavalry arrives?

I read about some traps that you can build to attract moths and kill them before they damage your hives.  The idea is to lure them away from your bees.  The trap is made with some plastic bottles that you cut a quarter-sized hole in the neck.  You make a concoction of 1 cup vinegar, 1 cup sugar, 1 cup warm water and a banana peel.  You put that concoction in the plastic bottle and hang it near your bee hives.  That's what I did.

I actually made two.  Now, we wait.  The moths will smell the decaying banana peel and sugar, vinegar and water fermenting.  They go into the bottle and never come out.  Or so I'm told.  Let's see what happens...

The same afternoon I went out to check the traps.  There was already a moth in one of them!

A day later, I checked them and there are drowned moths in both bottles.

These moth traps work.  Moths are drawn to them like... well, like a moth to a flame.  Hopefully, we can catch enough of them to put a dent in the wax moth population.

Dewberries... Woods To Table

It's dewberry time.  Dewberries are similar to blackberries, but better.  They are bigger and juicier.  They grow on vines that run along the ground in the woods and edges of fields.  They come our earlier than blackberries.  Years ago they grew in abundance in the ditch across the road from us.  They no longer grow there since the field is mowed frequently now.  

Not to worry.  I've found a 'honey hole' in the woods behind the henhouse.  I noticed all the white flowers and made a mental note to check back in a few weeks.  I'm glad I did.  Tricia and I walked back there yesterday with quart-sized yogurt containers.  In three shakes of a billy goat's tail, we had them filled up and were walking back to the house.  Here's a sneak peek at what dewberries look like:

I have a weakness for pies, so I was thinking homemade dewberry pie would be a nice dessert for Sunday after church with some coffee.  Tricia was thinking about making a homemade dewberry tart.  Well, I like them both.  I'm not gonna sit here and split hairs about which one is better.  Bright and early Sunday morning, the wife began making the dough and putting together the dewberry tart.  Doesn't that look nice?

After folding up the edges, she began applying an egg wash to the sides of the crust.

And then, yes, you can't forget to sprinkle some sugar on the edges...

This tart is so fresh.  Those dewberries slept in the field last night.

Speaking of fresh.  Here's the dewberry tart, fresh out of the oven.

We sliced that up and served homemade goat-milk ice cream on top.  So good!  I'll be checking the woods for more dewberries in a couple of days.  When picking there were some that were still red that will be ripening in a day or two.  We'll pick more and maybe make a pie or use them in a smoothie.

Falling Down, And Getting Back Up

For a righteous person falls seven times and rises again, But the wicked stumble in time of disaster.  Proverbs 24:16

The Bible is speaking of men who trust in the Lord, and though they may fall over and over again, he won't stay down.  He depends upon God to provide a means for him to get back up.  God sustains you.  He is the rigid framework that holds you up.  He dusts you off and sets you back on your way.

Speaking of falling down, we had a 1 inch rain yesterday.  It was pleasant, refreshing.  After the rain ended, I glanced in the garden and what I saw was a little discouraging.  I didn't think the rain and wind was bad, but it evidently was, because about a third of our sweet corn was lying on the ground, blown over.  It had fallen and on its own, it didn't look like it would rise again like our righteous man in the Proverb.  The sweet corn is beginning to tassel, and it's important for the corn to be standing tall so that all the kernels will be pollenated.

Tasseling

My mind began thinking of quick ways to stand it up and support it.  I grabbed the sledgehammer, some baling twine and four t-posts and went to work.  I hammered in a t-post at the beginning and end of both rows of corn.

Here is the second row:

I tied the baling twine together to make a long rope and I encircled all the corn and tied it back off.  The idea is that of a 'seat belt' for the corn.  It will hold the corn upright even when the strong winds blow.

Corn that was just blown over on the ground is now standing tall again.  Time will tell if my sweet corn seat belt will work, but at least for now, there will be no tickets for seat belt violations in our corn patch.

But wind blowing the corn over is not the only problem we have in the corn patch.  Take a look at this right here.  Can you see how the tops of the corn on the first several stalks have been eaten?  That damage is not from a bug, or worm.  No sir, that is damage from a goat (or nine others), but who's counting?   

The temptation is much too strong, and the goats fall to the temptation, leaning way over the fence to eat the corn.  What to do?  Barbeque the goat?  That will come later. 

For now, I'll simply build and obstacle.  The obstacle will prevent the goat from leaning in and eating our corn.  I simply got a cattle panel and tied it into the fence to prevent the goats from standing on h ground and gobbling up our corn.

Three days and counting and the cattle panel worked!  There was no new damage to the corn from the troublesome goats.  There are new challenges everyday - from wind knocking the corn down to meddling goats eating the stalk.  Every day is new.  Though we may fall, we get back up!