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  • From: "Jeffery Blake" <echoecho AT bedford.heartland.net>
  • To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: Sweet corn pickin was Re: website
  • Date: Fri, 9 Feb 2001 11:40:15 -0600


I so glad to have the opportunity to talk to you. Not many people around
here have experince raising sweet corn on any volume. I appreciate all your
comments. I come to the same conclusion last year about the lay out of your
fields. I hadn't thought about the every six row spayer alley. What do you
spray with? Why do you think it necessary to grow tall corn? Coons? I
like the short because its easy to drive over. I spray seven or pounce with
my regular field spayer and get along well with a short corn. Coons weren't
a problem for me last year because I had a good Pyreenes close by. This

year I'm planting down on our river bottom. there is alot of timber and
brusy down there. I'm hoping an electric fence will keep the coons down to
a minimum. My buyer almost mandates a bicolor sugar enhanced variety like
ambrosia. What little roadside standing I've experinced seems to validate
his insistence. any thoughts. I tried some tendertreet last year. very
tall corn. it come off the stalk very hard and I couldn't even sell much of
it. everybody around here wants bicolor. What do you think of my cart idea?
several of us growers thought about getting together this year and sharing
labor I thought a cart might speed things up and labor won't cost us
anything if we share. I hope you don't mind these million questions.
Thanks
----- Original Message -----
From: "robert schuler" <sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net>
To: "Market Farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2001 11:22 AM
Subject: Re: Sweet corn pickin was Re: website


> Hello Jeffery, at my peak I used to hand pick up to 40 acres by myself
starting at
> 3am and deliver it to market by 10am, I have tried every imaginable method
short of a
> machine picker which is probably the best only because its fast.
> For 20 years I picked into burlap potato bags using an 8" stick 1.5" thick
as a handle
> around the top edge of the bag, it held the bag open, I carried it along a
double row
> picking with one hand 54 ears per bag, they were easy to water down to
keep cool
> Later I joined a corn coop and had to pick into crates, for hydro cooling
, I took a
> wheelbarrow removed the pan and build a wood frame to support a crate at
waist height
> that was easy to push down the row and fill with two hands.
> Today I have two roadside stands and I use the same wheelbarrow frame to
carry those
> new type orange plastic bushel baskets, each holds 36 large ears 48 small
ears this is
> by far the easiest way I have found to pick by myself.
> I plant 40" rows ,6 rows then a sprayer alley that is also used for moving
corn and
> laying irrigation pipe, rows generally are 800 ft long some 1000 ft some
600 ft, a
> high yield is very important as well as planting varieties that grow tall
and ears
> that snap easy will make your jobs alot easier...
> Sunny Meadow Farm
> Bridgeton, NJ.
>
> Jeffery Blake wrote:
>
> > This is a topic that interests me as well. There are some Amish that
grow
> > for my wholesaler. They use a sled that fits between the rows and one
mule.
> > They dump the sled at the end of the row and have the kids load it on a
> > wagon.
> >
> > For a one man operation I don't use any thing to carry it in. Keep your
> > rows farily short. I carry it in my left arm and pick with my right. I
> > pick 25 ears at once and carry it back to the wagon. I think it is much
> > more work wrestling around baskes etc.
> >
> > For those bigger jobs,I think I will rig up a picking cart this year. I
> > have an old manure
> > spreader (well cleaned of course), that I will pull behind the tractor.
I'm
> > going to weld a bar with a seat on it on each side of the spreader so
two
> > or three people can sit, pick and toss it in the spreader. The rows
between
> > the tires concern me. I haven't decided if I can extend the spreader
> > tounge, so the corn pops back up from under the tractor before it goes
under
> > the spreader. It will take some fiddlin'. I might be able to use a
forecart
> > on the spreader and an extension off the lift arms of the tractor. I'm
not
> > sure. Using a 3point hitch means using the big tractor and I would
rather
> > use my old Farmall, it has higher clearance. Another alternative would
be
> > to weld a seat to the front end loader for the middle rows, that might
work
> > well. I plant Ambrosia which is short enough to drive over all season
long
> > with out hurting anything. I doubt if tractor picking would work with
some
> > of the taller varieties. I'd sure love to see other peoples suggestions
> > too. Getting that corn picked is a chore.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Bob Meyer" <rhmeyer1 AT facstaff.wisc.edu>
> > To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
> > Sent: Wednesday, February 07, 2001 4:24 PM
> > Subject: Re: website
> >
> > > Anyone wanting really, specific information, just drop me a line.
I've
> > > worked with the project from the start. Our funding all comes from
non-ag
> > > sources at the moment (the CDC's National Institute for Occupational
> >
> > Safety
> > > and Health). We should be adding additional tip sheets later this
spring
> > > to both the vegetable growers and berry growers pages.
> > >
> > > One question that came to me from a small-scale sweet corn grower the
> > other
> > > day relates to any decent tool, or technique for harvesting
(one-person
> > > crew) and carrying sweet corn. Does anyone have a tool or technique
to
> > > share? Mostly it seems folks are carrying bags or bushels into the
field
> > > and filling and carrying them as they go.
> > >
> > >
> >
> > ---
> > You are currently subscribed to market-farming as:
sunnfarm AT bellatlantic.net
> > To unsubscribe send a blank email to
leave-permaculture AT franklin.oit.unc.edu
> > Get the list FAQ at:
http://www.ibiblio.org/ecolandtech/documents/permaculture.faq
>
>
> ---
> You are currently subscribed to market-farming as:
echoecho AT bedford.heartland.net
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
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