Gardening: Planting Glass Gem Corn

I've realized that I'm more of a Lifestyle blog versus a food blog. But isn't food, arguably, a lifestyle? Not just the act of eating food, but the growing of food and the appreciation of food...isn't that all a big part of it? Eh?

Well, either way, I'm a big fan of growing my own food. I've gotten several different types of seeds this year, and the one I'm most excited about is Glass Gem Corn.

snagged from OurLittleAcre.Blogspot.com!

Isn't that the most-beautiful stuff you've ever seen?? I grew corn last year with some success, but now that I've learned a bit from my mistakes and have a more manageable plot of land, I can more easily grow it. We've had an unseasonably warm and dry winter, so it's been quite easy for me to till and work the land so far. I've been prepping my garden plot for about a month now, adding in mulch, plant food/fertilizer, egg shells, coffee grounds, etc. My ground has plenty of worms in it, so I'm definitely happy about that. As we all know, earthworms are the friends of the garden. Seeing them is a great sign, so please do what you can to protect them: have lots of food(dead leaves) and release your dog often into the yard to chase away the fat robins that threaten to snatch them up.

This is a police sketch of the fat robin in my yard that eats my worms.
I will get him someday. 

Like most of my plants, I start them indoors. I like to use egg shells and seed starters, as they're both biodegradable. For corn, I'm using the egg shells, as corn likes super rich soil. You usually direct sow corn into the plot you want them in, but I'm cheating a bit.

Since I want a lot of corn to take this year, I'm planting little bits of it in several different parts of my yard. I've planted some in the garden plot, some in the side box by my house, some by my fence, and some indoors, in my egg shells. I really want lots of corn this year, so I'd rather have too much than not enough!

To start corn indoors(which you may as well do, since it's that time of year), take egg shells that have been cracked and then peel out the membrane. Allow this to dry for a little(at least an hour) before using, as we don't want mold forming. Fill the shells with your readied topsoil/garden soil and ready your seeds. I'm using the glass gem corn seeds and I like to let my seeds soak for about 10-15 minutes in lukewarm water to sort of start that germination period.

#nofilterneeded for these glass gem corn #seeds! #gardening #spring

A photo posted by Chef Kolika (@wannabgourmande) on Feb 26, 2016 at 11:00am PST

My corn seed's packets say that it has a 105 day germination period, which means it'll take about 3.5 months for me to have any corn. Looking at the calendar, that means I should have corn around the 15th of June. That's quite a long time, so it's a good thing I've got a head start. When planning a garden, you really must plan far ahead. Look at your packets, look at your tables, look at your almanacs online...you really can't have too much information on the subject.

I always do half of my seeds with one seed per egg and then the other half with two seeds per egg. I think it's because I'm curious to see if they all take. If they do, I simply thin them when they're ready to go. I love using the egg cartons because they're great incubators for seeds...simply water, close the top, and leave in a sunny window for a day or so. Once the seeds sprout, open up the top and let the sun do its work, watering when the dirt feels dry. Once the seedlings have actually taken root(takes a few days), go ahead and set them outside, if the weather permits.

I hope you guys enjoyed my blog entry on growing corn. Check out my other Gardening blogs here! Happy cooking & happy eating!