Comments on: Corn on the 4th of July http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/ Jews, Food, and Contemporary Issues Thu, 20 Nov 2008 12:31:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Don Kerstetter http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1750 Don Kerstetter Sat, 14 Jul 2007 16:36:00 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1750 We do eat local sweet corn that is grown using drip irrigation and fertigation which minimizes its negative effect on water quality in our Choptank watershed. However we stopped eating confinement chicken in part because of its diet of principally feed corn the overwhelming cause of nitrate pollution of our watershed and a major factor in the overall pollution of Chesapeake Bay. This year is particullarly bad because the drought has caused many corn crops to fail and virtually all the nitrogen applied in May will wind up in aquifers and eventually a large portion of it will reach surface water. We do eat local sweet corn that is grown using drip irrigation and fertigation which minimizes its negative effect on water quality in our Choptank watershed. However we stopped eating confinement chicken in part because of its diet of principally feed corn the overwhelming cause of nitrate pollution of our watershed and a major factor in the overall pollution of Chesapeake Bay. This year is particullarly bad because the drought has caused many corn crops to fail and virtually all the nitrogen applied in May will wind up in aquifers and eventually a large portion of it will reach surface water.

]]> By: judi http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1682 judi Tue, 03 Jul 2007 23:31:51 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1682 I second the request for your recipe, Rachel. It's been three years since I last put up anything and I'm aching to get going again this year! I second the request for your recipe, Rachel. It’s been three years since I last put up anything and I’m aching to get going again this year!

]]> By: Leah Koenig http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1681 Leah Koenig Tue, 03 Jul 2007 20:37:04 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1681 Anna - how amazing that the same vegetables that grow well together, taste great together! Katie - thanks for sharing that bit of local wisdom :) Edith - living in urban Brooklyn, I'm unfortunately no help on the backyard composting question! Rachel, that sweetcorn relish sounds absolutely amazing - would you be willing to share the full recipe? Anna - how amazing that the same vegetables that grow well together, taste great together!

Katie - thanks for sharing that bit of local wisdom :)

Edith - living in urban Brooklyn, I’m unfortunately no help on the backyard composting question!

Rachel, that sweetcorn relish sounds absolutely amazing - would you be willing to share the full recipe?

]]> By: Rachel http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1680 Rachel Tue, 03 Jul 2007 19:37:26 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1680 I grew up in south Texas, where the growing season begins an awful lot earlier than it does here in western Massachusetts. Here I'm pleased to see local cornfields green -- full of pretty little tufts that are <i>maybe</i> knee-high this week! We won't have fresh corn until August. Fortunately, last summer I made many jars of a truly fantastic sweetcorn relish (made from local corn, diced onion and bell pepper, cider vinegar and well water and spices) and your post has just inspired me to crack a few of the remaining jars tomorrow, so we can have beautiful fresh local corn...from last year...on the 4th! I grew up in south Texas, where the growing season begins an awful lot earlier than it does here in western Massachusetts. Here I’m pleased to see local cornfields green — full of pretty little tufts that are maybe knee-high this week! We won’t have fresh corn until August.

Fortunately, last summer I made many jars of a truly fantastic sweetcorn relish (made from local corn, diced onion and bell pepper, cider vinegar and well water and spices) and your post has just inspired me to crack a few of the remaining jars tomorrow, so we can have beautiful fresh local corn…from last year…on the 4th!

]]> By: Edith Stevenson http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1679 Edith Stevenson Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:39:28 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1679 So I guess Oscar Hammerstein must have been writing about a beautiful September morning in Oklahoma, "...where the corn is as high as an elephant's eye!" Our problem with growing corn is how to compost the stalks at the end of the season without a machine. Any suggestions, backyard farmers? So I guess Oscar Hammerstein must have been writing about a beautiful September morning in Oklahoma, “…where the corn is as high as an elephant’s eye!”

Our problem with growing corn is how to compost the stalks at the end of the season without a machine. Any suggestions, backyard farmers?

]]> By: Katie http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1678 Katie Tue, 03 Jul 2007 17:09:25 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1678 I grew up in Ohio, and the saying there is that corn should only be "knee high by the 4th of July." We didn't expect to eat corn until the end of July at the earliest. I grew up in Ohio, and the saying there is that corn should only be “knee high by the 4th of July.” We didn’t expect to eat corn until the end of July at the earliest.

]]> By: Anna Stevenson http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1677 Anna Stevenson Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:14:30 +0000 http://jcarrot.org/corn-on-the-4th-of-july/#comment-1677 We just learned about the three sister plants and companion planting: corn, beans and squash. The corn grows in tall stalks, which the beans climb up, and the squash leaves, which grow big and wide and low to the ground, cover the soil to prevent weeds. Nutrient-wise, corn is a 'heavy-feeder', eating up a lot of the nitrogen in the soil. Fortunately (surprise!) beans (and other legumes) fix nitrogen from the air back into the soil. Finally, the three make a complete protein -- yummy dinner that's local, endemic to north america, and super tasty. You just might have to wait a little later in the season for corn, at least in the northeast.... happy in-ter-dependence day! We just learned about the three sister plants and companion planting: corn, beans and squash. The corn grows in tall stalks, which the beans climb up, and the squash leaves, which grow big and wide and low to the ground, cover the soil to prevent weeds. Nutrient-wise, corn is a ‘heavy-feeder’, eating up a lot of the nitrogen in the soil. Fortunately (surprise!) beans (and other legumes) fix nitrogen from the air back into the soil. Finally, the three make a complete protein — yummy dinner that’s local, endemic to north america, and super tasty. You just might have to wait a little later in the season for corn, at least in the northeast…. happy in-ter-dependence day!

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