Before planting corn I fertilize heavily with a locally-produced organic poultry manure fertilizer (5-4-3). First I incorporate a standard application into the wide bed. Then I make parallel trenches for a double row, put more fert in the bottom of the trenches, and refill and plant seeds. A soaker hose goes down the middle. I hand weed until the corn is a foot tall, then start using grass clippings to mulch the outside edges of the double row. I usually get two layers of grass clippings on before moving elsewhere with my mulch. The middle of the double row is left naked so I can throw more organic fertilizer down every couple of weeks. The corn shades those row middles, so topdressing with organic fertilizer before rains keeps the plants adequately fed. If it doesn't rain, I can water the bed with the soaker hose and use a homemade liquid fertilizer preparation. I plant one double row each of early and midseason corn. With the early corn, cutting off the spent stalks makes it possible to use the rich middle of the unrenovated bed for great fall spinach, kale and other greens, which use up any excess N left from all that fertilizer.

I put up alot of sweet corn. For cream style , cut off the top third of the kernel and drag your knife down the cob to get the milk out of the kernels (don't know if that is the right terminology.) Blanch, cool, bag and freeze. We prefer cream style. I cut off some whole kernel for soups/stews, just cut it off close to cob and blanch, adding a little water so it doesn't burn. I blanch mine in the microwaver, 1100 watts for 20 minutes, stirring once. The microwave is easier for me because it is so hard to blanch sweet corn, cut off the cob on the stove top, it burns so easily. Been doing this for 20+ years and has always worked and tastes just as fresh as the day you put it up. Hope this helps.

Usually from a buck and a half to 2 bucks a dozen, in season, in his area ... for what we call "Peaches and Cream", white and yellow mixed. My corn is just setting cobs, came out in tassel a few days ago. I expect to need to borrow my friend's dog for a couple of weeks when the season rolls around. Last year I got about a dozen for the churches one Sunday, and next week when I went out to pick ... ... there were no ripe cobs on the stalks, and a mess of corn ears lying on the ground between the rows. I made the mistake of counting them - about 12 dozen. And the most angrifying thing was ... there was only a couole of bites, maybe three or so, taken from each ear! Then on to pull the next one down from its stalk. I wonder how many of the little buggers it took to conduct such depradations? Probably not more than three - if that! Ggrrr-r-r-r!! You've heard that,"There's many a slip, 'twixt the cup and the lip"? When you have three teeth (all in the same jaw) ... you'll need to slip a knife down the cob before you put it to the lip, to avoid frustration. ole joyful

barb- I agree with sleevedog, there aren't any dumb questions. It's something you haven't experienced that you need/want to know, and this is a handy outlet for information from people you trust. BTW - I do use powdered stevia, and even grow stevia in my herb garden and use it in whole dried leaf, powder, and extract. Which one I use depends on what I'm adding it to. I get the liquid flavored stevia from Amazon or iHerb (there are probably many other sources for the same brands so look for best price and special offers). The brands I have on hand are NOW and SweetLeaf. I saw a display of Harvest Snaps at Wal-Mart and I thought how clever marketing was to place it in the produce section of the store to make you think you were eating healthy produce. If memory serves me, the one I looked at was green pea and was made from 70% whole peas. The good news, there weren't very many ingredients in the list - peas, rice, oil, citric acid, and maybe something else - a chemical preservative. At least it came in under 5-ingredients, which is one of my personal "food rules" when it comes to processed foods. Michael Pollen said it best in one of his books - eat all the junk food you want --- as long as you make it yourself. I make sweet potato chips at home in the microwave when we want the occasional chip to go along with a lettuce wrap, or cut some corn tortillas into wedges and bake them when I make guacamole or salsa. I make high-protein "crackers" with the pulp remaining from making nut milk and dehydrate them. Dehydrated apple slices and a few nuts or peanuts has always been a snack food available in our home. Believe me, if you have to do more then rip a bag open, you'll have and consume a lot less snacks (LOL). -Grainlady