Tuesday, June 30, 2009

The Corn Is Green

We are excited about our sweet corn experiment. Ken brought back some seeds from the US in February and we planted them in our garden this past spring. About three quarters of the seeds came up and they seem to be doing well.

The corn is not quite as high as an elephant's eye. Yet.

We've noticed that the feed corn growing in fields around us is just about at the same height as our sweet corn (about a meter tall), and that's kind of encouraging. I know corn likes water, so we've got to make sure to give these a lot to drink.

Sweet corn is kind of an exotic thing here in France. French people tend to think of corn as animal feed. In fact, most of the corn grown in France is grown for feed. When they eat corn, it's usually in a salad, and when they buy corn, it comes in cans, rarely on the cob.

And our basil is coming along very well.

Ken spent a good deal of time on Monday morning weeding around these stalks. It sure would be great to have a few ears of crunchy sweet corn to eat later this summer!

And the basil that I've grown from seed is doing well, too. It loves the sunny weather, of course. I'm looking forward to tomato, basil, and mozzarella salads, along with a lot of pesto sauce for the freezer!

8 comments:

  1. Ooooh oooooooooooh! Corn, tomato, blueberries ... summer heaven! Do you get blueberries there? I only remember seeing them in jars.

    My uncle has grown corn and tomatoes for many years, and he just CRINGES when he hears of us buying corn in a store, then putting in the fridge for a few days, and then cooking it... as far as he's concerned, it's gone bad within minutes of taking it out of the garden! :)) That's extreme, of course, but he sure is right that it tastes WONDERFUL when cooked and eaten immediately.

    I remember my au pair family bringing home corn on the cob from the local épicerie-- a few ears already husked and wrapped in plastic. The kids cried :)) They wouldn't eat it unless someone cut it off the cob for them.

    Judy

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  2. Walt, check out either "the barefoot contessa" or "Giada de Laurentis" (Google the foodnetwork) for a good recipe of Panzanella.
    Today, I am going to run to the store to get fresh corn on the cob to bring back to France. My son and I are going to look like mules and still try not to go over the 50 pounds limit. Otherwise the corn will go to the guiney pigs.

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  3. So, are you going to send me some corn in the mail....or shall I continue paying 33cents per ear for it?

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  4. Hello Walt, You are quite right when you write that fresh sweet corn cobs are difficult to get in Europe. Our supermarket carries them from time to time in summer, but I've never bought them as I don't know how to deal with them. Will you post a recipe once your crop is ready to be harvested. Martine

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  5. judy, I haven't seen many blueberries at all. And we see trimmed, short ears (just the middle) in plastic wrap in the stores, too.

    nadege, I will. We have a lot of left-over bread right now.

    alewis, 33 cents? Sounds like a good bargain to me!

    martine, I will. :)

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  6. Say, when will that corn be ready? I was just saying to The Justin that we should take a road trip out to visit you guys sometime soon... ;)

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  7. Yes, but is it sweet corn, or the kind they feed to horses?

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  8. my basil is doing poorly; i am mad-jealous.
    ironically it is too hot now to grow herbs

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