Handsome Hombre's sweet corn patch

This is the kind of brush that covered Southern Belle's lot when they purchased it (although it was not in leaf)

Handsome Hombre and Southern Belle purchased their house in December, 2024. Most of the lot was covered with pucker-brush, an unholy mess of Asian Honeysuckle, Staghorn Sumac, Poison Ivy and Hawthorne. Based on the ring-counts, the land had been neglected for at least 13 years.

The brush was brush-hogged. Orchard trees were planted.

This year, they want to plant sweet corn* and potatoes between the trees of the orchard.

Brome grass and goldenrod. Orchard trees next to the tee-posts. The goldenrod will die if we keep mowing.

 

This is what it looks like about a week after being sprayed with glyphosate. You can see the yellowing of the strip closest to the camera compared to the deeper green of the unsprayed strip.

Even though the grass is essentially dead, it still pays to mow it before tilling so-as to not bind/clog the tiller blades.

There are stumps and roots that will defeat the tiller.

Big, ugly snags that will take years to rot away.

After the first pass going counter-clockwise. You don't have to be stupid to do work like this but it helps.

The second pass was done traveling clockwise and went much faster. I am so very, very glad that I did not have to dig this by hand.

This strip is approximately 20' across by 65' long. It will get four rows with 15' on the west end planted to potatoes and then four plantings of sweet corn (about a week apart) 10' each with the far end being melons and some winter squash. Turnip seed will be broadcast to provide greens through the early summer.  Handsome Hombre loves to eat fresh greens with his scrambled eggs.

Germinating watermelon seeds

Their plan for any excess harvest is to share with their neighbors and to take it to church and give it away. 

God willing, the potatoes and the first four, 10' rows of corn will go in tomorrow. 

Scarcely worth mentioning

One of my earlier posts was about farmers in South Africa not planting their fields because they did not expect the prices to cover the variable cost of planting.

What is not obvious is that the farmers, collectively, expect price controls or outright confiscation of their crops.

Any human with a brain knows that food prices will rise when there is scarcity. Food is not optional. It is not something we can decide "Well, I just won't buy any until prices come down." People will pay their last dollar to fill their belly.

ERGO: Farmers must know that the prices they will command will not go up. They must know that something will happen to short-circuit that supply/demand relationship. Either the currency will be debased to the point where the elevated prices will still be insufficient to cover next years costs or...the "market" will be perverted by the heavy-hand of the government, that is, price controls or confiscation-without-compensation of the harvest.

The only thing worse than food prices that are high is no food on the shelf. Farmers are not stupid. They can see the handwriting on the wall and are acting in their rational best-interest.

Mamdani might want to take a few notes. If his goal is to reduce food-deserts in NYC, then government run and subsidized grocery stores is not the answer (see "...perverted by the heavy-hand of the government..."). All of those dynamic, robust, grass-roots bodegas are going to dry up and blow away. 

 

* Bodacious sweet corn was selected primarily for its excellent seedling vigor. Many types of sweet corn struggle with uneven planting depth and less-than-ideal soil moisture and cooler temperatures. Bodacious isn't immune to those issues but seems to be better equipped than many other varieties to "power through" those issues.