Wonderous White Corn...

We have grown corn for many years.

You might think that makes us experts on corn.

That our corn grows better somehow.

I smile when I hear stuff like that...

Largely because I know that we fail most years at the corn thing.

Doesn't matter where we plant or what we plant...

We suck at corn.

Each year I mainly grow it because I like looking at it.

I also like having free fall decorations...once I've given up and dried the stalks...

Plus, I'm generally an optimist.

I 'think' every year will be different.

Perhaps the 'right' season will come.

The truth is I don't really research how to grow what we grow all that much, 

but I'm sure there is missing something.

The point of all of this, is that this is what our ears normally look like...

Teeny, tiny, wee, little ears...

In my small hand...you can count a handful of kernels...

but you wouldn't ask me to serve you up an ear or two.

Now when faced with a load of wee little corn ears, you might ask...what is a girl to do?

Well, I'm not one for wasting anything!

So while I was happy to have all of these wee corn husks in my compost,

I was actually happier thinking about treasure hunting for actual kernels to save.

It wasn't a bad haul...just labour-intensive.

In the end, I had enough for large freezer bag of white corn kernels for the freezer...

as well as enough to make these jalapeno corn fritters!

While I normally don't subscribe to deep frying as a regular cooking method...

I couldn't resist these puppies!!!!

Here is the original recipe found in the Walmart Live Better magazine:

Whirl one 341 ml can of corn (I used fresh here...obviously), drained,

with /2 onion and 1 jalapeno (both from our garden), seeded, in a food processor.

Add 1 egg (from our girls), 1/4 cup cornmeal, 2 tbsp flour and 1/4 tsp salt.

Whirl until mixed.

Let stand for 20 mins.

Heat enough oil to reach 1 in in a medium frying pan over med-high heat.

Scoop 1/4 cup portions into oil.

Fry until golden, about 2 mins each side.

Transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

Serve warm.

I served these delicious fritters along with another homemade burger patty.

This time the burger was garnished with homemade relish, bacon and a slice of lemon boy tomato.

The fritters are topped with a bit of mayo and parsley.

While cooking these fritters...I couldn't escape the smell.

The aroma was like a carnival...or a savory donut shop.

THEY WERE GREAT!

Again, not being a fan of deep frying...this will be a special occasion dish.

How do you keep your harvest?

UPDATE: Garden 2014

So here is our garden for this year....

It's bigger!

It's badder!!

It's all ours!!!

Above is the plan we created while planting.

We used the "Carrots Love Tomatoes" plan and adjusted it where necessary.

Some plants we already had planted in other areas of the yard, so we

weren't able to adhere to it very strictly.

The above shots are of our red and white potatoes.

The metal bin at the back is actually filled with spare soil.

Potatoes need to be mounded as the get taller...so we save

some dirt for that purpose.

Red and white onions in the above shot.

Many jalapeno plants as some other hot peppers at the front.

Our field of tomatoes!

There are 24 plants in this area, some romas and some hertiage varieties.

While I am loving not hauling water, the tomatoes are not loving all the rain we've been having.

Can you see the leaves that are yellowing at the back?

Heritage white corn...we grew it last year and saved the seeds

for this year!  Looks like it worked!!!

(we found the wood under our pile of logs for the campfire...

nicely repurposed to keep the weeds down)

Directly to the left of the corn are our two sweet potato plants!

We tried growing sweet potatoes once in 2011...

it didn't turn out then...so we thought we'd try again!

The last time the plants spent the whole growing season just trying to grow leaves!

The bunnies thought the leaves were mighty tasty...so the plants never got a chance to grow tubers.

Our yellow zucchinis are starting out great!

The green zucchinis...not so much...

We dismantled a black composter...and filled them with dirt.

The sides have slots...so you don't have to worry about the plants drowning

in rain water!  Score!

Our pumpkins...with one sad trellis...

I have to get me some T bars and do these

trellis thingies right!

The radishes are coming along...

The beets are shy.

We planted dill with them (as per the book)

and the dill likes the bed...

NOW WAKE UP BEETS!!!

Our cucumber machine makes its triumphant return.

We had such a great year with cukes last year.

We're taking a small break and only planted about a dozen of them this year.

Our kale seems to love it here!

The swiss chard on the left hand side of the bed...not so much.

I want to make kale chips so badly...

mainly so I can see what all the hype is all about...

\

Above shows our salad bar!

We have 5 different packs of lettuce and salad greens sprinkled

in this bed.  We forgot almost instantly what kinds we planted...but does it really matter?

SALADS!

Our spinach bed is pretty pathetic right now...

Hopefully it will make a come back...

or a decent fall crop from a second planting...

We have 2 rows of peas this year...cuz why not?

No seriously...we love peas.  

Especially sitting in the garden eating them straight out of the pod.

Each year we plan to store some in the freezer...and sometimes we actually do!

This year I am determined to get a whole large freezer bag full!

We also have to get to work on trellises (or is it trelli!?) for these peas.

Pea plants have a tendency to fall over and grow in the dirt.

We saved beans from last years crop.

We have no idea which beans are which...

but in this bed are green, yellow and purple wax beans.

Finally we have our acorn squash.

Again with the sad trellis...

So I've been pinning a TON of trellis ideas.

I will be posting soon with the results of my adventures into trellising.

(Trellising?  I have no idea...but you'll see some cool stuff for sure!)

I have to admit...last year we didn't plan much.
In fact, I made the mistake of having a few libations while planting seeds.
The result was that I had no idea what I planted and where.
(Laugh all you like)
It was a surprise when everything started growing...which was funny for about a week.
(oh who are we kidding...I'm still getting ribbed for that!!!)


Don't forget to send me your garden love!
I want you to post photos of YOUR gardens on my facebook group and page.
Lets celebrate our accomplishments together!!!

UPDATE: Third Installment of the Garden progress

Although our bounty is a bit behind...it still looks luscious!!!

It only took my husband and I working for about 7 days straight to get the whole area weeded.

(The image below shows it only about halfway weeded)

Methinks if we are to expand the garden at any point - we will have to 

think about alternatives to manual weeding.

Can you spot the husband in the back?

Weed picking in the big garden one evening.

So far this season, I've only posted far back shots of the garden as a whole.

(like the image above)

Here comes the veggies!

(They're ready for their close ups...)

CORN:  Our white corn plants...waist high!

CUKES:  Our cucumber machine...nothing to it...just an old chain-link fence with 

steel rods driven into the ground on an angle.  They are starting to get the idea...

The lovely little cucumber flowers are teasing us!!!

We planted both pickling and English cukes.

BRUSSELS SPROUTS:  ...a first for us!

BEANS...green, yellow and purple...but the green ones outnumber the rest.

CARROTS...we planted the leftover purple carrots from 2 yrs ago...but apparently the purple fades away.  All of the purple carrots I thinned out of the row were definitely orange.

Maybe the purple colour comes later?  Stay tuned...I'll let you keep you posted...

BEETS...coming along just fine.  After I thinned them, I was left with more room for the beets to flesh out and some amazing baby beet leaves for salads.

PEAS:  First round of peas in tomato cages did alright, but I wasn't satisfied with the amount of plants. 

So we planted a second round of peas with hemp string supports...can't wait!

BROCCOLI:   transplanted from sister-in-law Sally's garden...doing well!

GARLIC:  we planted garlic and got loads of purslane as well!

ACORN SQUASH:  We wanted more squashes to store for the winter.  We've already experimented with butternut - now we roll the dice on acorn!

ZUCCHINI:  Green zucchinis taking off - finally.

A prized zuke!!!  I really can't wait...these are a favorite summer nosh

TOMATOES:  We planted tomatoes in different stages...the ones on the right hand are a few weeks ahead of the ones on the left.  That should mean we won't be drowning in "maters" all at once.

ROMAS!

As you can see, our haul this night is small but productive.

A rainbow of colours!

A few things we planted did not come up.

Like I said, we're working with seeds we kept from 2 yrs ago...so I'm just thankful

anything came up!  Parsnips and flying saucer squash did not take at all.

Not sure if the seeds just went "stale" or if our seed storage techniques are flawed.

More research will have to be done on this subject, I'm afraid.

There is a bonus this time of year.

As you work away in the garden, you are also able to grab extra stuff you wouldn't have expected!

Whether you use seeds or seed tape, when you plant carrots and beets...you will have to thin out the harvest before they start establishing themselves.

So while you are thinning out the crop (so the veggies don't crowd each other),

you can harvest some baby beet leaves and baby carrots!

I hate to waste anything and, even more importantly, there is valuable vitamins in them babies!

How does your garden grow this year?

Savour the Flavour

When it comes to cooking...I like it simple.

I've said it before....I don't consider myself a cook.

When I cook meals, I have a tendancy to err on the simpler side.

One of the biggest issues I have is spices and sauces.

I try not to indulge in sauces too much...preferring the original flavour to be maintained.

Plus all that added salt and sugar sauces usually contain.

If a sauce if required in a recipe, I endeavour to make it myself from real ingredients.

Again...I get to control the salt and sugar content of my dishes.

Spices are a whole other story though.

Personally, I have a very basic spice repetoire:

-basil

-thyme

-oregano

-coriander

-chili flakes

That's pretty much it...

If it's not on that list, I have to ask my husband what it tastes like and/or what is its main use.

So on a whim...I decided to check our spice cupboard....

because our family has so many spices...it takes up a whole cupboard.

Lo and behold!  I found several baggies full of different rubs or marinades gifted to my husband over the last few years.  I try not to hold onto spices for too long as they lose their potency over time (especially if not stored properly)

I grabbed 3 promising baggies...and dressed 3 thawed steaks with the following rubs:

-Cajun blackened spice rub (side left)

-Grilled vegetable marinade (bottom right)

-Perfect Spice steak spice (top right)

Cooked each steak until medium rare, removed from pan and sliced.

I served a couple of slices of each steak along with a piece of johnny cake (sweet cornbread), fried onions and a spinach salad with home made balsamic dressing.  (More iron than you could ask for!)

This exercise was a great way to try out some rubs and marinades.
It also pushed me out of my comfort zone...which is always nice for a change.

In case you were wondering, my personal favorite was the grilled vegetable marinade....

Corn Maze!

Owen and I had the opportunity to try out a corn maze recently.

I had never been to a corn maze...but I'd always wanted to.

Corn mazes are a wonderful way to spend an afternoon outside, enjoying nature, supporting local business, supporting your local food producers and after the maze season is over...the farmers harvest the corn!

We were in Brighton visiting my Mom at her cottage in Presqu'ile Park.

She introduced us to Cricklewood Farm...

It was a lot more than just a corn maze!

We showed up on a fairly hot day and we were sure to bring lots of cold drinks.

We went into the farm store to see what we needed to know before starting out on the corn maze trek.

Above, Owen is pictured with the info board inside the farm store.

We were greeted by some very friendly ladies who explained everything we needed to know.

There were a few rules to follow while in the maze:

-no smoking

-no running, no bare feet

-do not pick corn

-no short cuts (it damages the maze)

-an adult must accompany anyone 15 yrs or younger

-dogs must be leashed and scooped

-no drugs or alcohol (its trippy enough in that maze without extras!)

They gave us some take away pamphlets with more information.

Not just about the corn, Cricklewood farm features lots of produce including many, many kinds of apples.

I had no idea there were this many kinds of apples!?!?!

Owen was really getting into the whole experience!

(Pictured here with apple picking carts)

Cricklewood farms has dwarf trees for easy pick your own apples.

They are also introducing some experimental types...ready in the next few years.

There's no stopping Owen...on with the corn maze already!

The corn maze itself was amazing!  (sorry about the pun)

There were 2 mazes to try:  one was a small toddler maze, which took about 15mins max.

The other was the giant 6 acre maze that took an hour and a bit.

The toddler maze featured little sign posts that detailed the life of "Kernie the Kernel"

We read all about how Kernie starts as a seed, gets planted, then grows up to be a big strong corn plant with lots of healthy ears.

The giant maze offered something similar, but way more involved.

We were given a sheet all about this year's corn maze theme.  There were word searches, definitions, wildlife in trouble and a cross word.  All activities were centered around wildlife.

Above is a selection of the mazes of the past. 

Each year they design a new one and an aerial picture is added to the large collection. 

This year, Cricklewood Farms partnered with the CWF (Canadian Wildlife Federation) to produce this year's theme "The American Badger".

Once finished the maze, we were happy to find the rest area for visitors to the farm.

A picnic area...

An apple maze you trace with your finger to help the worm get to the center of the apple and back out again...

A hay mountain (which the brochure states is for kids and adults)...

And those boards your put your head through and take pictures...my pumpkin!

All in all it was a great afternoon!

I urge you to check out some wonderous fall activities, which can include, but are not limited to:

-pumpkin patches

-apple picking

-corn mazes

These activities can be found at your local pick your own farm...

or click on the link below:

http://www.pumpkinpatchesandmore.org/CAONpumpkins.php

Don't forget the apple cider!!!