First Failure

My corn is an utter failure. Poo!

About a dozen stalks stand proudly over the rest of my garden, silk tufts flickering like flags in the breeze against the horizon. But it's a fraudulent scene because, beneath the layers of green, instead of juicy golden kernels I have anaemic white cobs with pale, pimply surfaces.

I knew this could happen when only a few stalks shot up and then I threw in a few more. There were too few in flower at the same time, too far apart, together with the vicious East Winds this place is named for...well that was just too much for pollination to overcome.

So, corn is my big challenge for next year.

I resolve to plant lots of it, plant it in its own bed (with beans though, of course, and maybe spinach between the stalks - just on principal) and grow it in blocks (not a wavering, broken row like I have this year).

I planted two varieties this (last) year. I'll do the same again next season, but in separate beds.

In the meantime, I'll keep watching the growing cobs in the hopes that SOME pollinated properly. Optimism, after all, appears to be the Shouse watchword.