A Raccoon-Free Corn Harvest

10 years ago

This is one of those good news-bad news things.

Today I harvested the last ears of our early corn, Early Sunglow. It actually is about three weeks late, due to the late cold weather and late planting of it. We have four more varieties following right along behind it, and I'll likely harvest the first ears of our mid-season variety either tomorrow or the next day. It is a really good corn harvest so far. And why is it so good? Because the raccoons aren't eating it.

Since getting a good corn crop in a rural area full of raccoons is rare, most years I have to fight those little masked rascals for every single ear. This year, I haven't even seen a raccoon. From the point of view of a gardener, that's a good thing. I think maybe it is a bad thing for the raccoons. I assume the coons aren't getting into the garden and having a corn-eating party every night is because there aren't any raccoons. If that is true, it likely is because there's been a bad distemper outbreak on the Texas side of the river that likely has harmed the raccoon population.

I'm certainly not rejoicing at the thought that the coon population is having a bad year, but I am happy about having 0% coon damage to the corn so far his year.

Now, if the coons show up tonight and get all the midseason corn, I'll be sorry I mentioned this and jinxed the corn crop.

Anyone else getting any sweet corn yet?

Dawn

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Comments (5)

slowpoke_gardener
10 years ago
Dawn, I am happy for you and your corn harvest.

I did not plant any Early Sunglow this year. I sent quite a bit of my seed to Africa and the Sunglow was in the package. I got some corn seed from Africa and planted just a few seeds for a germination test. I think it is some kind of white meal corn. The corn test will be interesting, but I doubt I will be switching to the African corn. I do have some Peaches & Cream planted but it is just now tasseling. The cool wet weather has thrown me behind on everything this year.

I got a game camera for Father's day but the only critters it has snapped a picture of looked like some old woman riding a lawn mower and one that looked like a Hoot owl landing on my trellis.

Larry
Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
10 years ago
Larry, The good thing about meal corn is that coons don't bother it much. The last variety I planted was Peaches and Cream, but since it didn't know it was last and was supposed to mature last, it is tasseling and silking at the same time as the Kandy Korn and Country Gentleman that were planted earlier than it. They all three are in separate areas though.

The game camera sounds cool. I'm pretty sure I don't really want to see what is wandering around our yard and garden at night. It might be scary. As it is, I regularly see paw prints or hoof prints, as well as animal fur and scat, so I already know what is visiting...or at least some of what is visiting. It is not a bad coyote year, so we have tons of rabbits and a few bobcats, lots of deer, but not many armadillos, no coons, and far too many skunks.

For years we had two owls that sat in the pecan tree every night and hunted.One was a big hoot owl and the other a little bitty screech owl. They were together all the time, and I guess we saw them often for 4 or 5 years. The hoot owl disappeared first and then the screech owl. We haven't had many owls lately---the crows follow them around and hound them incessantly, and I think the owls just move on to get away from the crows.

Dawn
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The neighbor was showing me the coon damage to his corn. Serves him right for growing a variety that can compete with our puny Fleet. There are quite a few acres of sweet corn not far from our larger veggie garden. The raccoons can have all the corn on the cob they want. There's no need for them to go thru our slim pickin's. To encourage them not to bother, we are out there harvesting the ears as soon as they are ready. Even if we can't use them right away or all that's available - in they come. I use the same approach to the tomatoes because of the quail, works well enuf. 29 ears in a single night suggests that there might be some heavy pressure on your corn patch, Davies. Lock that garage fridge and pray that they will not be getting in your malting barley next or all hope may be lost!! Here's hoping you can keep 'em out or get ahead of 'em. Steve's digits
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soonergrandmom
10 years ago
Dawn, Which corn is in the corn cage?

We have hoot owls around sometimes. It had been years since I had seen a rabbit in our neighborhood, and a couple of weeks ago I found a small one in my garden. We have seen him 3 times and he is probably still in there. I think there is only one possible place he could have come in, but he may now be too big to get out. I haven't seen any damage, but Al said he saw him under the bean vines so I may find some nibbled beans. I will probably pick the first ones tomorrow.

Every year I have this plant that comes up in my garden and I never know what it is, but I usually pull several of them in the Spring. This year I didn't plant all of my space so I let a few of those plants grow. They are tomatillos. I have lived here 12 years and never planted any, so that has to be some really old seed. I probably pulled a dozen plants before deciding to leave a few. I grew them once in Lone Grove and we didn't like them.
Macmex
10 years ago
Carol, how big are the fruit on those plants? I have a wild version of tomatillo which comes up all over the garden and yard. I'm sure the fruit is edible. But it is insipid and only he size of a pea, at best. Last year, however, I replanted real tomatillos. They too are volunteering. Fortunately, when seen side by side, the plants are easy to distinguish.

No sweet corn here. I planted Mesquakie Indian Corn and had to replant twice to fill in the holes. I don't know why I had so much of a struggle getting a solid planting.

George
Tahlequah, OK
slowpoke_gardener
10 years ago
I don't know if I have this question about corn, but at the end of the school year a benefits dinner was held at my granddaughters school, and they served a corn on the plate that had very deep kernels. I feel sure if was a frozen and came from walmart or sam's, but I would like to grow a corn like that, anyone have any ideas?

Larry

A Raccoon-Free Corn Harvest

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slowpoke_gardener

Okiedawn OK Zone 7
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A Raccoon-Free Corn Harvest

Comments (5)

slowpoke_gardener

Okiedawn OK Zone 7Original Author

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Macmex

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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
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