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market-farming - [Market-farming] Corn planting, (was Deer Fencing/Crows/Geese ie PESTS)

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  • From: Pam Twin Oaks <pam AT twinoaks.org>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: [Market-farming] Corn planting, (was Deer Fencing/Crows/Geese ie PESTS)
  • Date: Sun, 31 May 2009 10:05:40 -0400

Yes, We've planted strips of sweet corn 4 rows wide and it worked.

To keep crows off we put ropes on stakes over the rows. Actually we now sow almost all our corn by hand - we put up ropes/strings, make furrows, flood them with water, then seed. This gives enough water to germinate the seed and get it up an inch or so. Even with tractor seeding, we would put ropes up afterwards, over the rows, to keep the crows off. Helps the crew see where the row is, if it's weedy when it's time to hoe, too.

For our first corn planting of the year, on the day we sow outdoors, we also sow some styrofoam speedling flats for gap-filling later. We use the 200 cell flats - the cells are about an inch on a side, maybe less. We water and stack the flats overnight, then next day float them outdoors in a tank of water until we transplant. It means we don't have to handwater them - we just leave then floating the whole time. I believe it's important to transplant before the plants get more than 2" tall, as the tap-root starts to grow and after that the plants don't transplant so well. If anyone knows the exact details, or thinks differently, please speak up. I have no experience of testing out this belief!

Pam, Twin Oaks, central Virginia, zone 7


  • [Market-farming] Corn planting, (was Deer Fencing/Crows/Geese ie PESTS), Pam Twin Oaks, 05/31/2009

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