tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post6578392877509131965..comments2024-02-12T07:17:29.808-05:00Comments on <center><big>Agrarian Nation</big></center>: Growing & HarvestingCorn By HandHerrick Kimballhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-31838767026701492082011-07-17T10:45:08.571-04:002011-07-17T10:45:08.571-04:00Alan,
Thanks for the further insights and informa...Alan,<br /><br />Thanks for the further insights and information. <br /><br />The great thing about your recollections and experiences is that, even though some gas guzzling motorized equipment was and is required, a large investment in specialized, expensive equipment is not.<br /><br />The point being, a person can grow a lot of corn (enough for personal livestock needs) without a tractor-operated planter, cultivator and picker. <br /><br />human-power has been used for centuries to do the hard work of agriculture and, I believe the future will require more of this.<br /><br />Thanks again.Herrick Kimballhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17116051416696885647noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-91201323494522092132011-07-15T22:44:36.909-04:002011-07-15T22:44:36.909-04:00My step-father learned from his dad.
I learned fro...My step-father learned from his dad.<br />I learned from him.<br /> <br />After all that corn was standing in shocks for two to three weeks he would feel it to see how hard the kernels were and how dry it seemed.<br />Then he would bring a shock to the husking table and throw it across the middle.<br /> <br />Husking Table????<br />Picture in your mind an all wood picnic table.<br />Now make it a very short table.<br />Only four feet long.<br />Then stretch it the other way so the table part is six feet across.<br /> <br />I would set on one bench and he would be on the other one.<br />That shock of dry corn stalks would be between us.<br />Each of us would have a husking peg.<br />Grab a stalk, pull it to you, find the ear of corn, stick the husking pen in and peel down the husk then snap off the clean ear of corn and toss it into a handy bushel basket that each of us had.<br />I usually pulled two or three stalks to me at once.<br />Then you hug the empty stalks to you and pull in some more.<br />When you get an arm load in front of you we would tie it with twine.<br /> <br />(We just threw those little bundles on the overhead loft of the pig house.<br />The pig house had no floor in it and all Winter it would be wet so we would keep throwing those stalks in there.)<br /> <br />When our basket was full of ear corn we would take it to the corn crib and throw it in.<br />The corn crib was similar to a lean-to shed on the North side of the pig building.<br />It's floor was about 16 inches above the ground and it was supported on 4X4 posts.<br />We wrapped the posts in metal flashing so the rats couldn't climb up them.<br />That did not work too well for us in our Michigan winters though. All this snow and all ya know.<br />The walls of the corn crib were wrapped in chicken wire.<br />Some of it was covered in 1/4' mesh hardware cloth later to help keep the rats out.<br /> <br />Sadly all the years we were harvesting our own corn it was fed to pigs still on the cob.<br />That was the way his dad did it.<br />All that hard work to see so much of the corn come out the other end.<br />Pig poop after a rain was full of whole corn kernels.<br /> <br />Hence my collection of corn shellers and feed grinders??????<br />I dunno, maybe.<br /> <br />AlanAlannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-78610633486615166282011-07-15T22:30:11.310-04:002011-07-15T22:30:11.310-04:00To Terry,
Yes, My step-Father had a small JD tract...To Terry,<br />Yes, My step-Father had a small JD tractor.<br />The first year he used a walk behind 4HP tiller to till up the whole 2 1/4 acres.<br />That was taking it from a hay field to row crops.<br />I have a garden tractor and a towable tiller that has it's own engine. Total paid out for the pair was $675.<br />I also have a Jeep and a towable three bottom plow, disc and a field cultivator.Alannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-73841188770436152572011-07-14T10:28:55.882-04:002011-07-14T10:28:55.882-04:00Great blogsite--question??
Without this expensiv...Great blogsite--question??<br /><br /> Without this expensive gas guzzling equipment, how does the soil get prepared to make rows with a drug chain?<br /><br /> Again, great blog. ThanksTerryhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14519901940947781821noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-44540438802884998812011-07-07T15:36:26.418-04:002011-07-07T15:36:26.418-04:00Herrick,
my dad and I used to hand harvest about ...Herrick, <br />my dad and I used to hand harvest about four acres of OP corn every late fall and winter. Not hard work, but it did get a little cold. <br />We tied feed bags on and just started down rows, chatting and pulling. <br />Good memories.<br /><br />RichardThe Midland Agrarianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17214111067042466363noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-13494874821689279042011-07-05T14:06:51.156-04:002011-07-05T14:06:51.156-04:00The idea of using the pole, ropes, and chains is i...The idea of using the pole, ropes, and chains is intriguing. I use two of the typical garden seeders (each with a larger wheel in front and a smaller wheel behind)joined together on a frame and spaced 30 inches apart. This enables me to plant two rows at a time using the attached row marker to mark the next row. Got this idea from Gene Logsdon, the Contrarian Agrarian.Daniel Waynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-12075982190279692752011-07-04T22:22:47.253-04:002011-07-04T22:22:47.253-04:00Hi, I am Alan.
The one quoted here.
I would like t...Hi, I am Alan.<br />The one quoted here.<br />I would like to comment on the spacing of the corn we planted.<br />Now-a-days "they" plant corn a lot closer together.<br />"They" also put a lot of commercial fertilizer in their ground the we never used.<br />For us simple folks that is just not sustainable.Alannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-75944075810669079732011-07-04T16:15:36.973-04:002011-07-04T16:15:36.973-04:00A great post for independence day!A great post for independence day!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-419744765122775541.post-79304732079442510772011-07-04T13:10:42.874-04:002011-07-04T13:10:42.874-04:00I recommend Gene Logsdon's, "Small-Scale ...I recommend Gene Logsdon's, "Small-Scale Grain Raising" as an excellent reference not only for corn, but the small-scale cultivation of all manner of grains. <br /><br />http://www.amazon.com/Small-Scale-Grain-Raising-Second-Processing/dp/1603580778/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1309799281&sr=1-4timfromohionoreply@blogger.com