Lose ends

Seems as though I have spent this day just finalizing little projects here at home. Finished cleaning the old farm house and getting it ready to paint. Picked the last of my bell peppers and got all the Serrano chilies off the plants to dry. I had planted a bunch of different gourds this summer in the garden and they had tons of gourds on the vines. Some of them appeared to be dry till you pick them up and if ya touch them the wrong way they shatter like paper. I went ahead and pulled some off that were still green and brought them in to see if they will dry or rot. Only time will tell.

The original plan was to go to the garden and pick some corn for the chickens. And in the process of looking at the 2 different varieties of open pollinated corn that we planted there is one trait with the Turners gold that I don't like. Normally on most varieties the ear will drop and hang down after the stalks start to turn brown and die. This variety does not. The Boone County White open pollinated will point down when the stalks start to dry. This a something I like to see in the corn I intend to keep for making cornmeal. When the ears hang down and the fall rains, which we are starting to have, the rain water don't collect in the shuck and make the corn sprout and rot in the field. I noticed all the white corn was hanging down and the yellow ears were still upright. When we picked the yellow for the chickens most all the ears had water at the base of the cob and had started to sprout or were molding. So in conclusion the yellow is OK for feed but the white is best for drying and making cornmeal. Wont be long till the white corn is hard enough to make hominy. And that I intend to do this year. Till next time, blessings from the McGuire homestead.

Stella