Keeping Cool

The temperatures here have been hitting the 90 degree mark for several days now.

Not only is it uncomfortable for me,

but it's also uncomfortable for the chickens.

I came across this idea on Pinterest

(a dangerous place that provides endless projects for my husband me)

The idea is simple and inexpensive.

Take a muffin tin and fill each opening with corn.

Add water then put it in the freezer.

When they're frozen, run some warm water on the back of the tin

and the frozen cornsicles pop right out.

I made a bunch and store them in a freezer bag and grab a couple to toss to the girls.

You can also do something similar with other veggies

or fruit.

And you don't have to just use a muffin tin,

you could choose something much larger

(but I like the ease of storage in the muffin size treats).

The girls love them!

Busy Sunday

It was a busy weekend in general.

Wedding items were worked on

(including a nearly completed wagon),

there was a birthday party,

a ball game

and finally....

A garden started.

The weather in our area has been a little crazy this spring.

Big E finally got the garden tilled for me for Mother's Day

and yesterday we managed to get some seed in the ground.

Though a little late for some stuff, we planted it anyway to see what happens

(really, temps were in the upper 30's this morning so weather-wise, it isn't that late).

We have a giant row of peas planted since my son likes to eat them off the vine,

spinach, kale, 2 types of cabbage, beets and carrots.

We planned out the rest of the plantings of cukes, tomatoes, pole beans, squash, melons, pumpkins and corn. 

What can I say, we're ambitious.

Now I just have to keep these cluckers out of the garden

since they think it's their very own Olympic sized dust bath. 

And they like kale.

Freezing Corn

We managed to pick 46 ears of corn the other day.

Out of the 46 there were about 5 that weren't good either because of bugs,

bad spots or not being developed enough.

So after eating some, 

I had 30 something ears of corn to do something with.

I opted to freeze it, not because of my canning phobia,

but because many recommend freezing as the best method.

First you husk the corn.

Remove as much silk as possible- using a brush if needed.

The Corn then needs to be blanched,

so start a pot of water boiling while you husk.

Place cobs in boiling water for 4 minutes.

Immediately place cobs in a bowl of ice water.

This stops the cooking process.

Leave in the ice water for about the same amount of time you blanched them

(4 minutes).

Next, cut the corn off the cob.

There were suggestions to use a bundt pan to hold the corn.

This would work great if you have fat cobs.

I didn't, so I found that just holding it on a plate was better

(the cob kept sliding further into the hole in the pan.

Your corn will look clumped, but don't worry, 

it will break apart into single kernels when you bag it.

The finished product- 2 quart bags of fresh corn ready for the freezer.

Chicken of the Corn

Corn

This year, our corn is looking pretty good.

We used to try growing corn when we first moved here,

but every time there was a strong wind it blew over.

Eventually, we stopped bothering to grow it.

This year, however, my son was insistent that we try it again

(because corn is one of the few veggies he eats).

I researched some ideas and decided to make the rows of corn perpendicular 

to the other rows in the garden.

This would leave the widest opening facing the area of the prevailing winds

with the hope that the corn wouldn't blow over as the wind had less resistance. 

It worked until the day we had back to back storms

which blew over a large section of the corn.

But with some ingenuity,

we think we've overcome the problem.

I came up with the idea of creating a windbreak out of garden stakes and burlap.

We've had a couple of strong storms since then

and the corn is still growing tall.

Next year, I think I'll get thicker stakes

as the weight of wet burlap bows the ones I have now

and even snapped off one of them.

Still, I think we might actually managed some corn this year!