Weekly Results

We have been experiencing rain off and on all day today.  Good for the corn, but not for measuring it's growth.  About 30 minutes ago the sun was shining so we decided to give it shot.  That didn't last.  We got our last measurements while dodging rain drops.

It was no surprise to see how well Bloody Butcher is doing.  But we were surprised to notice that the stalk we noticed was munched on earlier in the week is completely gone.  What ate it??  We saw no footprints.

The biggest disappointment so far is the Heirloom Indian corn.  Still, not a single stalk.  Based upon the book we borrowed from our local library "Grow the Best Corn" by Nancy Bubel, published in 1981, many backyard farmers (people who plant just enough to feed their families), will stagger their seed plantings. They do this so that the corn will be ready at different times rather than all at once.  The question we are debating is, do we try planting it again, and if we do, how will that effect the results of our experiment of figuring out which corn grows best in Connecticut? 

The biggest surprise, in rate of growth for this week, was Silver Queen.  Last week nothing.  This week NINE inches with 13 stalks (out of 36 seeds planted.)  Runner up was Golden Bantam, measuring in at SEVEN inches and 30 plants! 

The biggest horror was Delectable Hybrid.  Earlier in the week when we let the baby praying mantises go we saw lots of beautiful shoots.  Now many are gone, some chomped down into little stumps.  We wonder if the same thing that ate the Bloody Butcher is now eating the Delectable Hybrid.