gabriola garden

Wednesday, February 07, 2007





































Making Sweet Corn Even Sweeter

Hedgehog came in all excited yesterday and said that her mother’s spring bulbs grew another couple of inches in the rain. It’s been mild here on Canada’s Wet Coast, but there seems to be constant drizzle, which is great for the garden.

Sara took the kids horseback riding and picked up about ten containers of composted horse manure, which she proceeded to spread all over her part of the garden where the flowers are. “Hey, what about my vegetables?” I asked, so she allowed me two out of the eight buckets. “Gee, thanks,” I said.

I guess I’ll have to drive to the stables on my own and pick up some more. Our tomato plants rewarded us with so many prize-winning tomatoes last year, it’s the least I can do.

Composted manure is one of the top dressings that make for fertile soil. The question of how good soil supports healthy vegetable growing came up in Eloise’s most recent e-mail from New Zealand.

“As you know, Tim and Sara, John and I own about five acres of land. We were planning to plant corn on several acres, until the Advanced Nutrients tech guys told us that corn tends to suck the soil dry of nutrition, and such soil has to lie fallow for a number of years after corn has been grown on it.”

“Shows our ignorance, that we weren’t aware of this, so we only planted an acre of corn, an acre of assorted vegetables, and left three acres unplanted, waiting for the corn planting next year.”

“If each year we leave three acres lying fallow, that will give them a chance to recharge their batteries, or so we thought. However, the more time we spend on the phone with the Advanced Nutrients experts, the more we find out.”

“Tech Mike, as he refers to himself, told us that if we treat the soil with SensiZym and the three other root colonizers—Piranha, Tarantula, and Voodoo Juice—in between plantings of corn, we could recharge the soil that much faster. So instead of having to leave three acres fallow, we could get away with leaving two, since we could plant corn in those plots every three years, instead of every four.”

“This makes sense to John and I and we plan to do exactly as we were advised. The over 80 different types of living enzymes in SensiZym munch on plant debris in the soil and turn it into easily absorbable nutrients. This miracle product has been found to be 300% more bioactive and potent than any of their competitors’ products.”

“The beneficial fungi, bacteria, and microbes in Piranha, Tarantula, and Voodoo Juice colonize the root system of the corn, and if the silage is left in and on the soil to decompose, these microorganisms will continue to perform their very valuable role. They in effect create an underground biosphere, so to speak, where future corn plants will develop healthy root systems and therefore healthy plants above ground, as well.”

“I will, of course, continue to apply composted horse manure, a la Sara, to every inch of soil where we grow crops. This will help create an incredibly fertile environment not just for our corn, but also all the other vegetables that we grow.”

“Our tomatoes are already huge and starting to ripen, while our cucumbers and chile peppers are well on their way to joining the tomatoes in becoming spicy salsa and other ethnic delicacies. “

“With regard to the corn, we are definitely into the middle of the bloom cycle. Last week we started to add Carbo Load Powder to our new, 500 Litre watering tank at the initial rate of 45 grams a week, then up to 55 grams this week and 65 grams next week. Then we’ll flush with pure water.”

“Carbo Load adds much needed sugar to the corn at its flowering stage, accounting for extra weight on the cobs and performance in terms of growth. Some of the sugars are derived from corn, so we are essentially feeding the plants' sugars back to itself.”

“Next week we will be adding Sweet Leaf, which contains four of the sweetest sugars known, that affect the production of essential oils in the plant. They enrich those oils with higher concentrations of phenolic and terpenoid compounds, which are responsible for the taste and bouquet of the fruit being formed.”

“Sweet Leaf and Carbo Load are definitely not redundant; instead the respective actions of these products complement each other. While Carbo Load boosts weight and performance, Sweet Leaf enhances taste and aroma. No competitions there.”

“Sweet Leaf also contains a whole range of B-Vitamins, including Thiamine, Cobalamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Panthothenic Acid, Pyridoxin, and Biotin, as well as Citric Acid, Corn Syrup, Cranberry Extract, Grape Extract, and High grade molasses.”

“In addition, Sweet Leaf contains a whole range of amino acids such as L-Tryptophan, L-Glutamine, and L-Lysine, organic acids, and esters. Raw Cane extract and Malt extract are also listed among the ingredients.”

“As you know, we’re growing a yellow corn variety called Maple Sweet, which is a SESE type sugary enhancer. It takes only 77 days from seed to harvest, so it was six weeks vegging and now it’s five weeks flowering.”

“Even though we’ve tasted this variety and it’s very sweet on its own, there is no harm in enhancing the sweetness and that sweet corn aroma, is there?”

“Harvest is not too far away. Have you made arrangements to join us in picking our great tasting corn fresh off the stalk and biting into it after a five minute boil?”

We’d love to go, but the tax department wants us to pay them what we owe from last year and my free-lance income has diminished in size. So, no matter how we stretch the budget, a trip to New Zealand for four people is out of the question at this time.

However, spring is not too far away, judging from the eager young shoots of Sara’s spring bulbs, so at least that’s one consolation!

posted by Tim at 10:40 PM

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