2009 Garden Vlog 6, Beans in Corn

[pearcema4]

I did the same thing as this guy, but with my corn closer together and with 2 runner bean seeds for each plant. The beans have gone bonkers and I also planted some pumpkins which have been sorta successful.

[Illchangeitlater]

Wow, I had no idea that corn gets suckers too!

[vidlover07]

would u recomment neem oil and pyrethrin concentrate to keep bugs and worms from eating up the crops? i heard they are really good products and all natural

[Blinkazoid]

@vidlover07 I'm afraid I don't have much experience with using sprays of any kind. I sprayed neem oil this year for the first time, but that was on some rose bushes to prevent black spot on the leaves. It seems to be working for that, however it ruins the blossoms if I get even a minute amount on the buds.

[vidlover07]

@Blinkazoid wow i have having a major problem with that on a rose bush. black spot fungus, alot of the foliage have turned yellow and fallin off, this is the worst its ever looked in the years i had it =(

[etxreabel]

does it matter what kind do beans you grow i want to do this next year and see if it help please help thank you

[Blinkazoid]

@etxreabel The taste of bean varieties varies a LOT. My favoite is White half runners. Many people plant Blue Lake because they're easier to grow and process. They taste horrible to me in comparison to white half runners.

[curlyqpd]

Hey....barefoot gardener!!! Just like me!!

[saintveil]

The pink t-shirt has got to go ;)

[Stilldedicated22]

right on! thank you

[Stilldedicated22]

Hello, I have recently watched most of your videos and have been inspired to start my own garden. In doing so I have developed a few questions I cannot find answers to and figured you might know. Is there a reason why I should plant beans when the corn is about 1 1/2-2 feet tall like yours or does it not matter to much? Also, do the beans grow up the corn on their own? Thanks buddy.

James

[Blinkazoid]

@Stilldedicated22 Yep, 1 1/2-2 feet tall is the best. If the corn is shorter the beans are liable to overwhelm it. If the corn is taller then it will shade the beans a little too much and they won't do as well. The variety of bean I plant (white half runner) has no problem climbing the corn plant entirely on it's own with no help. I'd say any variety of pole bean will have no problem.

[boxa888]

@Blinkazoid do the beans increase the health of the corn, supposedly the beans are nitrogen fixing because of the special roots that allow the growth of nitrogen fixing bacteria. please tell me, this is awesome!! thank you!

[TheKarinavargas]

wear do you buy the corn seeds

[Blinkazoid]

@TheKarinavargas At a local Ace hardware store. This is an old one that's been here for years. They've always sold seeds. Not all Ace's do.

[chase312]

@TheKarinavargas any nursery that sells flowers normally sells vegetable seed

[palmerballer1]

do u sell your corn?

[pawpycoo]

I planted April 1st...tune into my channel to find out what happens?

[basicimpala]

love your videos, thought i would add this comment,,, just for future info, beans germinate faster if you soak them overnight.... NO SALT just water

[mreisma]

with all that surrounding grass, you could cover the dirt with all the grass clippings to retain moisture and keep the weeds at bay.

[Blinkazoid]

I actually do use a lot of grass clippings as mulch. There's never enough though. Still, it's a big help.

[Bassaholic1993]

Hi, nice work there!

What you could also try is some peas instead of the beans. Peas (like beans) draw nitrogen from the air and fix it into little buds in their roots and into the soil. And as you know corn loves it!

good luck :)

[TABBYFIGHT]

i love your area all the trees make it pretty serene

[Blinkazoid]

It's really nice here, although there is a 5 lane highway down one side of the property which you really almost never see in my vids. The climate is nice. People flock from all over to retire here.

[WorkFreeWizard]

I have a real bad problem with caterpillers in my corn. any suggestions?

[Blinkazoid]

That would be a European corn borer, which is a type of caterpillar. Yep, they're a pest and a pain. Personally I mostly just live with them and accept the damage they cause. I'm sure there's probably some sort of chemical sprays to help control them but I refuse to use pesticides. I prefer my corn to not be too full so because I probably pick it a little earlier than most people, that probably helps. When I pick corn I take a huge knife with me out to the garden and just after.... Cont.

[Blinkazoid]

shucking the corn I'll cut off the damaged parts of the ear caused by the borers. Around here about half the ears are damaged. Basically it's just something I put up with.

However I just now went and read a little about it and saw that the origin of the problem is a moth which lays its eggs on the underside of corn leaves. Next year (and maybe this year although it's probably too late) I'm going to start checking my corn leaf undersides and squish any egg clusters I find.

[MNTMAMA1]

@WorkFreeWizard  YES THERE IS AN ANSWER. BUY A BOTTLE OF MINERAL OIL AND AN EYE DROPPER. WHEN CORN STARTS TO SILK, PUT A DROP OR TWO IN EACH SILK. THIS CAN GET TIME CONSUMING AND YOU HAVE TO WATCH FOR NEW SILKS BIWEEKLY TO CATH THEM AS THEY START,,BUT THE REWARDS ARE WORTH THE WORK..

[WorkFreeWizard]

thanks. I'll have to try that, but the main problem is that they eat the leaves when the plant is young.

I planted marigolds bfore and that seemed to keep them away pretty well.

[EFFINHILMER]

so if you pull the suckers off it will strengthen the roots, and better the yield?

[Blinkazoid]

It doesn't really strengthen the roots. It actually temporarily makes the plant a little wobbly but it recovers from that very quickly. In my opinion it does better the yield though. I've only ever planted Golden and Silver Queen corn and I've always suckered it so I don't have any first hand experience with how it does when you don't sucker it. Also I only pull off the suckers on the very bottom at soil level. It'll put out more higher up but I don't pull them off. Cont.

[Blinkazoid]

One thing it does do is lower the water requirement of the plant somewhat because there's less mass to support. I don't pull off the suckers which are higher up for 2 reasons.

1. After a while I get sick and tired of pulling them.

2. It can be a little difficult to tell what growth is going to turn into a sucker and what is going to actually turn into an ear. My rule of thumb is if I can *easily* tear it off and have it break away from the stalk at or very near gound level I'll pull it off.

[squint1222]

besides beans what else can you plant or grow along side your corn?

[Blinkazoid]

Beans is the only thing I've ever tried. According to what I've read the American Indians used to grow squash alongside their corn. I'm not sure if they're talking about summer squash like straightneck/crookneck squash or some of the varieties that people refer to as winter squash. Personally I've never tried to grow any of those varieties.

[cooksterz]

The one armed gardening wonder!! All of your crop looks beautiful Blinky! Its your attention to detail for sure, and of course you are getting rain and bees! :D mine is in a sad state, smaller and heat damaged even in early June...

[Blinkazoid]

I miss seeing your gardening vids. I remember a couple of years ago before you moved a time or two that you had a really fantastic one. I don't envy you trying to grow a garden in that Texas heat. That would make it harder to do any good with late plantings of things like tomatoes for sure, and other things too. Best of luck Cookie! I'll try to send a cool breeze and a few showers your way!

[MyLittleGreenThumb]

for 3 years I planted sweet corn and the crow population here decimated it every time, just as soon as the corn was about an inch high they would rip it out and eat the end off(the corn part)...I give up, I wish I could grow my own corn, do you thin there is a way to keep the crows out? I tried a scarecrow, pie tins, wind chimes, maybe I need to resort to shooting them.

[Blinkazoid]

There's a LOT of crows here so I've had that problem before too. Sorry to hear a scarecrow didn't work for you. Scarecrows have always done the job for me. Personally I'd hate to resort to shooting them and it's not something I'd do. I'm a little squeamish about such things, and yeah I guess I'm a little hypocritical about it since I *am* a meat eater. Crows are just such an intelligent and long lived bird with a complex social structure that it seems a shame to go that route. Cont.

[Blinkazoid]

Oddly enough I did already this year have crows chop off two large corn plants at the top of the ground and they even chopped off one of my squash plants at the top of the ground. That's the first time that's every happened. In years past I've had them attack/eat my full ears of corn just as they were getting ripe. It wouldn't surprise me if that happened again this year. If it gets too bad I'll try a scarecrow again. I guess your crows are just harder to fool than mine, LOL.

[fehquig]

Will you be inviting us all over for corn & beans? :)

[Blinkazoid]

Sure thing. I'll be sure to invite people nice and early so they can get in on the picking, shucking, stringing, snapping, de-silking and cooking though. I wouldn't want to deprive anyone of the full experience, LOL.

[spiralisedcat]

nice one rob your crops are doing great,Soon youll have super sized corn for dinner :D

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks fellow Rob:) I think digging around in the corn and adding a bit of fertilizer helped. they've already grown quite a bit since this video and the beans have already come up!

[Amiduffer]

Those stalks are looking mighty good. You're right, yank those suckers!

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks Drew. It's looking like the corn will be my best crop this year. I'm up to my ears in suckers. I just keep yanking and yanking. It kinda sucks having to yank so many actually, LOL.

[myrnaukelele]

Summertime! the garden looks good Blink.

I planted my beans just today. My corn goes in tomorrow. I always sucker my tomatoes but didn't know about suckering corn.

[Blinkazoid]

Yep, gotta yank those corn suckers. And they're just like Terminator. They'll be back!!! LOL. Again and again. Eventually after my corn gets about chest high I quit yanking them because they don't have as much effect on the corn after it gets that tall. I noticed these beans were already coming up on Thursday.

Best of luck with your garden this year Maureen!!!

[thizizliz]

I read your replies to Curt's comments - so true. Its a great garden, no question and we would all be healthier on so many levels if we did the same. Weird how far we've gone from that. I have onions and basil in my flower bed, but that's it.

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks Liz! You're ahead of me with the onions and basil. I've never had much luck with onions and never even try herbs such as basil. One of these days I need to do a little experimentation with a few herbs in my cooking. I'm pretty basic and mainly just use salt and pepper. I haven't hte faintest which herbs I like or don't like. I know I like ginger on pork chops and that's about the extent of it.

[thizizliz]

These are green onions but the bulbs are really sweet so when they overpopulate, they get eaten too. Basil is hard to grow and I end up buying new plants all the time. Rosemary too. Since I like basil more, I mess with it. The fresh is a WORLD apart from dried. We use it in salads mostly and sometimes soups. If you are interested in some basic herbs, mention it in a video along with what sort of food you like when you eat out and you'll get loads of suggestions.

[OhCurt]

Wow, good thing that ambulance raced to the scene. LOL!

You've got a marvelous little farm going there. Who knows, maybe the human population would be healthier overall if more of us grew our own food like this.

BTW, I was downtown once and I saw a couple hoes. They weren't disturbing the ground, but they WERE working it quite effectively.

[Blinkazoid]

Without question everyone would be healthier if they grew more of their own food. I certainly understand that everyone doesn't have the time, energy, or land for it though. It can be pretty exhausting. I occasionally go a year without planting anything just to have a summer off.

Hopefully those hoes you saw were wearing protection against being fertilized, LOL.

[GramsandPapi]

Things are looking really good there Blink! Did you get that blister from the bean planting? Thanks, Ang

[Blinkazoid]

Yep, it was feeling a bit sore at the end of planting but I didn't see a blister. Later that evening it just popped up.

[MotherReiver]

I have garden envy - think I need rehab? LOL!

[Blinkazoid]

No need for rehab. The prescription is, Eat two ears of corn and call me in the morning, LOL.

[GeorgiaBoy77]

Lookin good my friend!

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks Cory!

[dicom]

Without question this has to be one of the wettest seasons we have had in this region in a VERY long time.

If it will stay dry for a couple of days you ought to see a good bit of growth.

I really enjoy these vids Blink!

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks Terry! The rain has been a bit of a gardening challenge, especially in the low lying area where I planted my beans (not these cornfield beans) and okra. I'll have to replant that if I have the energy. On the other hand I spent a ton of time last year having to water stuff. Looks like I won't have to do much of that this year, LOL.

[randomwritings]

I see you Yank the suckers. I suppose in the Czech Republic they just Check them now and again and in Italy they Wop them off!

[Blinkazoid]

I'm sure in the UK they'd attempt to make some sort of mushy sucker paste out of them and then try to convince everyone how tasty it is:)))

[randomwritings]

and export it to you guys in revenge for spam!

[Blinkazoid]

Touche` :)

[1DRock37167]

you sure got some happy corn:-)

[Blinkazoid]

Yep, soon it'll be grinning from ear to ear:)

[highheadjester]

Im interested to see how that bean does!!

[Blinkazoid]

I'll keep everyone posted. I put a light dusting of mulch down today in the form of grass clippings where I planted the beans and a heavier amount of mulch down between the corn rows. It looks a lot better. I'm hoping for the best, however this is the same area of my garden where the beans didn't do all that well last year so we'll see what happens.

[odin422]

Man that dirt id light.....do you not make your own Compost?

That soil NEEDS worms.......BAD.

[Blinkazoid]

Yep, the soil where this garden is is pretty crappy. It actually started out as subsoil many years ago because there was a HUGE mound of dirt where they dug out for a basement when the house was built and then they spread that subsoil all around the yard and a lot of it wound up where this garden is planted. I've literally added TONS of organic matter to it through the years and it's still crap soil. It gets very hard and crusty when the sun shines on it after a rain. Cont.

[Blinkazoid]

It forms clods very easily and compacts very easily because the clay content is too high. It's a pain in the butt to work with. That said, I've grown some great veggies here through the years. On top of that it's on a hillside, which presents it's own set of problems. I'm moving it to a different location next summer. A long overdue move.

[odin422]

well in that case KUDOS on the production uv'e gotten from Sun-standard soil.......thos Okra sure love that stuff!!! Movin next summer eh? Sweet, hope it's Canada because US Dollars aint gonna be worth crap next summer

You should try making a worm tower, they are easy and very productive!

The worm pee(gross right) makes things like tomatoes and other heavy feeders skyrocket!

Look forward to your future vids as always, Peace from southern Cali =)

[Blinkazoid]

Oh I'm not actually moving from this location. I'm must moving my garden to a much better location on the same piece of property and changing the layout of it quite a bit as well. Level ground. Dark fertile soil, Yayyy:)

[robertpina99]

Just looking at that short

handled garden tool makes

my back ache.

[Blinkazoid]

Yep, it is kinda rough on the ol back. Not as bad as a hoe would be on my shoulder tendonitis though. I'm afraid the warranty has expired on all my body parts. Damn, I knew I shouldda gotten that extended warrenty. Usually they're such a rip off, LOL.

[BradThunder]

I wish I had some suckers to yank off! But corn is a no-gro in my latitude - which is about the same a Nova Scotia! We went to Glencoe last week and there was still snow on the caps! Brass monkeys wouldn't do to well here, I'm afraid.(Google it and you'll see what I mean!)

[Blinkazoid]

Yikes, I guess I'm about a thousand miles south of Nova Scotia. Just be patient and with another decade or so of global warming and you might be able to be up to your ears in suckers:)

Hehehe, I knew exactly what you were talking about with the Brass Monkeys so no Googling was needed. (Hey you know me, I know all about balls, LOL) I did however take Google excursion to Glencoe. Looks like a really nice area to take a trip. I hope you shot some video to post!

[DizzyGee]

Excellent video! Please keep 'em comin'. :)

[Blinkazoid]

Thanks Dizzy!

[NaturalTwentyFilms]

You must love beans and coirn to do all that work. Good for you. I hope your trip to the emergency room proved uneventful.

[Blinkazoid]

I'm dertermined to have some beans this year since last year was a bean bust. This is the first year I've planted corn in about 5 years because it's a LOT of work. The people at the emergency room kept whispering behind my back. I think they thought I was a hypochondriac or something. That blister hurt I tell ya, LOL.

[BasicModelling]

Surorised the video is so pixielated.. perhaps YT is playing up!! Your garden is making progress, unlike my toms.. may they rest in peace.. :)

[Blinkazoid]

The pixelation will improve shortly. On my end it still says "This video is still being processed. Video quality may improve once processing is complete." It's the price you pay for being early to a video:)

My garden is doing really well other than the beans which are planted on my mesh and my okra. My okra seed got washed away and never even came up.

[BasicModelling]

I thought it was odd there was no HQ to click on.. :)