Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Ilhan Sweet corn Sweet Farewell

Finally we had some free time last Saturday after lunch to celebrate my birthday to harvest all of Ilhan sweet corn.  Ilhan sowed sweet corn seeds last March when we were in Melbourne for Rayyan cardiac surgery. We were not sure whether we got to harvest any ripe sweet corn in winter. But I was hoping for an alternative to grow sweet corn here in Adelaide other than summer. Each year when we sow sweet corn seeds in spring it grow so nice and promising. However when the tassel and female silky hair appear, heat waves come and all the important part of the plant got burn to crisp. The last batch of sweet corn harvest from Ilhan patch from looking at it was not that bad.
But I noticed some of the female gone bald.
Something must have given some of the female silky hair a haircut.
Found the culprit. Many of them at Ilhan patch.
We pull out all sweet corn plants and dig it into the patch. So it will decomposed and return some of the nutrient back. Horse manure was also added. Before we grew sweet corn there, sunflowers that were growing were dig into the patch. We did not saw any trace of sunflower in the soil. We did get a few self-sowed sunflower though. The soil was not as hard as the first time we prepared this patch.
My backyard neighbour that gave me mandarins also gave me many seed potatoes to plant. When he gave me those mandarin, I went back into the house and search for something I can share with him too. I went back to his garden and gave him some red chillies and a small young Chilean guava tree that I received from our gardening friend. I was so happy that Chilean guava tree has finally find a better home and will be cared really well. In this small space we have here, I could not possibly grow that Chilean guava tree with the space it needs to grow. The first time I visited our backyard gardener neighbour, I knew instantly that Chilean guava tree will be perfect in his plot. Maybe he was happy too, because I received many seed potatoes ready to be planted. I have faith that this potato will grow very well since he probably has been gardening before I was even born. A very lovely birthday present.
After we prepared this patch, we planted these potatoes at the middle of this patch. There are 2 very tall sunflowers near the fence. Lenay tied strings between this 2 sunflower plants for direct-sowed snow peas to climb later on. We transplanted some onion seedlings at the front area of this patch. There are some self-sowed evening sunflower on this patch which has not yet bloom. I guess this is my birthday patch and hope to received some present from it around Christmas.
Some of Ilhan sweet corns. Although there are not as perfect as the shop ones,it tasted very sweet.  Some of these sweet corn kernels were frozen. The ones with bald female had short cobs but full kernels as seen in the photo. Well better than nothing, although less than half the normal size.
This post is for Ilhan when he is big he can't complain to me he can't grow things. He already grow sweet corn at the age of 4 years old. So he has confidant on himself when he is not a boy any more and starts his own garden with his family.

26 comments:

Sunray Gardens said...

I'm glad you are able to get what you can. Nice of you and your neighbor to exchange things.
Cher Sunray Gardens

Mr. H. said...

Ilhan did a wonderful job of growing sweet corn. I really like how you dug the remaining corn debris right back into the garden. We often do something very similar after harvesting our crops. Happy Birthday to you.:)

cikmanggis said...

oh ..ini lah dinamakan anak mama hehe.dari kecil dah diajar bercucuk tanam.Suka lihat pokok matahari tu:)harap harap pokok yang Cm tanam pun akar jadi setinggi tu.

Hazel said...

Happy Birthday! There is no way I could grow corn here in the winter...well maybe in a greenhouse.

Katie M said...

Happy birthday :) I am very impressed that you have corn in July at all!

Wendy said...

ilhan will be so proud to see this! :)

Happy belated b-day!

Skeeter said...

Happy gifts for a happy birthday! I have a corn stalk growing that I did not plant. I will post on it soon. I dont think I will be eating it though as it is corn the animals eat instead of humans... But I am keeping my eye on it though...

Your child has a great teacher in the garden...

tina said...

I was wondering how you get corn so late in the season but then you said some of the kernels were frozen. That explains it. Nonetheless it still looks really good!

Jody said...

How generous to share such a treasure as a guava plant with your neighbor. I bet Ilhan is very proud of himself for growing corn. Our boy is 4 year old too. Just like you, we hope he'll start his own garden with his family too.

Unknown said...

I love corn, you can cook them in so many way. Roast, in a soup, in salad... You can do so much.
Nice post.

Kelli said...

Happy birthday and hope you have a great week. The sunflowers really are tall (wow)! The sweetcorn looks grand, I tried to grow a few years ago without success.

Chloe m said...

Happy belated birthday wishes. That corn is probably the best present you could ever get. Yummy!
It is good for kids to garden, they appreciate and learn so much by doing it. Kudos to you for involving him.

Phoebe said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Sounds like yoy had a great day Diana! Ilhan is a clever boy, with a very clever mum to guide him! I love that you are sharing skills with him that he can keep with him forever and pass on to his future family. Wonderful!

Malar said...

Wonderful job by Ilham! Thumb up to him!
Very good harvest!

kitchen flavours said...

Happy Belated Birthday, Diana! Your corns are looking great! I thought of trying again with corn, still hesitating! Ilhan is a smart boy! Corns are so delicious, I even love it so much!

Unknown said...

Good job,Ilhan...& Kudos to u, MK Girl! :)

Sue Garrett said...

It's the taste that counts and not the look. Belated Happy Birthday!

Bom said...

Belated Happy Birthday! I just keep discovering more and more July celebrants. I will have to edit my current post to include you as well. :-D

Job well done by Ilhan! I hope he remembers this, if not, it is good of you to have kept a record. Enjoy your corn. My wife made "suam", a corn soup, for our main meal just last night. Grated corn with bits of pork and lot of bitter gourd leaves. Maybe you can try it too. It is a favorite of our family.

littlekarstar said...

I love the look of those little sweetcorn! Sorry about the caterpillars, they are so sneaky hiding away like that and eating everything! You swap sounds lovely and those seed potatoes sure have taken off!

Stephanie said...

Ilhan's patch was probably too attractive ;-) Your corns look really amazing. And I foresee your potatoes will give you same result later. Have a great day!

Cat-from-Sydney said...

Ilhan....as sweet as the corns he planted. Imperfect? No.... har har har *evil laughs*

shaz said...

Selamat hari jadi, moga panjang umur :) Ilhan did a very good job, bravo. Tasty looking corn, so fresh.

Autumn Belle said...

Happy belated Birthday to you and may all your wishes come true! That's a lot of potatoes and your corn harvest is good too. Ilhan is very lucky to have such a thoughtful mama.

Daphne Gould said...

Today I picked my first sweet corn of the summer. I can't wait to taste it.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Cher~I was happy that I have a neighbour who likes to grow edible plants in his garden.

Mr. H~I found that the debris decomposed much faster this way. It warms the soil as well for winter planting :).

Cikmanggis~Semoga CM punya bunga matahari pun membesar dan meninggi dengan cepat. Tapi kalau hujan lebat kena pastikan ada support nanti terpatah;-).

Hazel~Spring is almost there to grow corn again. Hope Bazza won't spear-goated it again.

Hearts-in-asia~ As long as there are no frost it will be allright for the corns to grow.

Wendy~I hope he likes to grow his own food when he grows up.

Skeeter~Looking forward how your corn will look like.

Tina~Hehehe..my English must have been bad. What I meant to say was I freeze some kernels for cooking later in the year.

Jody~That Chilean guave will be happy in his care rather than what I can provide.

Ellada~It is nice to alternate staple food between sweet corn, potatoes and rice for us.

Kelli~Hope you try again growing sweet corn in the future. We were surprise how tall the sunflower grows in winter.

Rosey~I think gardening is a very valuable skill to teach children because it provide fresh food on the table and not from places that fly from thousand miles.

Phoebe~I would prefer that my kids spend less time on the television and gets their hand dirty. Better to start now before they know what electronic games are;-).

Malar~Hopefully he help me sow swet corn seeds again this coming spring season.

Joyce~Our favourite is eating fresh raw sweet corn straight from the garden. Kids can't have enough of it. Hope you try again.

HangKebon~Terima kasih.

Sue~Yup you are right :).

Bom~I did not know that bitter gourd leaves can be eaten. Thank you for telling me.

Mrs Bok~Save me sometime from chitting potatoes this year. Hopefully we get early potato harvest this year.

Stephanie~I believe you have a talent to be a good fortune teller ;-).

Cat-from-Sydney~Perfect stuff don't taste as good as what sometime people consider things that are imperfect...hehehe...

Shaz~We hope we have extra empty patch next month to sow sweet corn.

Autumn Belle~ Since I received those seed potatoes, I keep on daydreaming of how much potato I will have in Christmas.

Daphne~ I bet you sweet corn taste SWEET!!!

miruku said...

I let my daughter to grow her own corns too, that is so much fun. I noticed sweet corns grow faster than cow corn, but they attract more butterflies to lay eggs on them. I had hundreds of caterpillars on the 7 plants i grew. If not this problem, i will grow them again... the kennels are fat and sweet!
HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! I hope my wish is not too late :P