Tiny Farm Blog Organic micro-farming with two acres and some tools ~ a daily photo journal...

We haven’t had much sun lately, but it came out for the top half of the day today. What a difference sunshine makes, if you have any choice at all, you certainly can’t stay indoors (especially in front of a computer!). In my slow and steady exploration of all the many parts of the barn not used in tiny farming, I snapped a shot of the silo at the south end, looking quite imposing in the bright light, kinda industrial, and still in good shape. This is an old concrete silo, about 40′ (12m) high, used mainly for silage (partially fermented crops used for livestock feed). It was last filled around 15 years ago, when this was a full-fledged dairy operation. Field corn was chopped up and blown up the tube on the left. Packed in, the corn would start to ferment, which helps preserve it for winter feed. Cows apparently love silage! At times, the silo was also used to store dried corn (the kernels) for feed. Hmmm, wonder how to reuse a silo…

Finally strung up the electric fence to protect the corn from raccoons. Powering the short, hopefully sharp shocks is a solar-charged controller. The lower wire is place about 6″ (15cm) from the ground, with a second strand about 10″ (25cm) above it. The perimeter has to be kept clear of weeds that might ground the fence, which would reduce or eliminate the shocks. In theory, this is a totally effective, non-lethal, physically harmless method, but coons are clever. Already, there’s been some pre-fence eating activity. We shall see what comes next!

Attention turns to corn. Disproportionately lots of attention, as we prepare for the annual battle of wills and technology with the coons. It’s solar-powered electric fence versus opposable thumbs… Earlivee, the first of two small (50′x50′) plantings, made an impressive leap upwards over the last few days, and now looks set to deliver! Once previously with the super-early 57-day Earlivee and dry conditions, the corn remained stunted, only about 3-4′ high, and produced ears so small they were hardly worth munching. This time around, it’s jumped into the usual 5′-6′ range and the ears are filling out. From one delicately torn back and slightly nibbled ear, I think the early raccoon scouting has already begun.

After a month, the first planting of corn is about a foot (30cm) high and doing fine. There are two varieties this year, Earlivee, an “old fashioned corn taste” (su) type, and Bon Appetit, a sweeter (se) type, only about 800′ of each. Corn every year is a battle all its own, the corn and me against the raccoons. The coons are my biggest (as in, size and intellect) garden foe, and unfortunately, they usually win. A couple of years ago, I invested in electric fence and a solar-powered controller. This only kept them at bay for a while. I still haven’t figured out how they got past it…I’ll have another chance to find out this year. No fence, positively no corn (maybe a few ears, literally, out of a couple of thousand). I grow only enough to eat and to include a dozen or so in the CSA shares. With the amount of sweet corn out there, and the ridiculously rock bottom prices when it’s in season, selling corn at the market or stand hasn’t seemed worth it. At the very least, it’s fun to watch it grow!