OUR 2ND ANNUAL POPCORN HARVEST
For the second year in a row, we have been able to harvest our own popcorn!
Even with my lame excuse for a garden this year, we are blessed. One of the very few things that I actually got planted in the spring was popcorn. After the excellent time that we had growing our own popcorn last year, I did not want to miss out on making that memory again with my family.
If you are interested in checking out our harvest from last year, CLICK HERE once you finish with this post.
MEET THE HARVESTERS
Always ready to enjoy and experience (even if some would call it work) the @little-peppers got off to a great start this morning. We had been meaning to harvest our popcorn for days now and finally got to do it.
Red-Pepper, Monster Truck the Pepper, and Sweet-Pepper all got started right away and Pinky-Pepper joined us shortly after we got started. It is more of a process than you may think, but "a family that works together gets a lot more done."
THE BLESSING OF DOING IT YOURSELF
Trust us, there is a HUGE difference between the amount of appreciation that goes into enjoying this popcorn verses the stuff in the packet that goes into the microwave. I loved to see how this harvest got started too.
Each of the first three children picked their own ears, and then opened them. Amazingly, they got three different cobs. I normally plant three varieties, which include “Indian Berries” and “Strawberry Popcorn.” This job is simple enough for a two year old to help with, and now she too can enjoy the fruit (or popcorn) of her hard work.
These @little-peppers helped plant this corn and now they are able to help harvest it. Next year we should have even more as we prepare our own land to grow on. Check out the expression on Sweet-Pepper's face as she examines this ear of popcorn.
They certainly come in a wide range of colors, shapes, and sizes even with the few varieties that we are growing. This first phase of the process in the most fun and it is full of wonder and surprises as ear after ear is unwrapped to see what is growing inside. It is a marvel for me as well, so I can only imagine what it must be like for these children. I think that I would have loved this tradition as a child - no offense @grandpa-pepper - but at least these @little-peppers can enjoy it.
PHASE TWO
We knew that we should have harvested and dried these a bit ago, but life gets busy and random. Thankfully we still got to them in time to get a harvest, and the bugs and moisture did not affect them too badly. For the most part though, the beauty of dried ears would have been gone for reasons like this.
It was my job to remove the "bad" seeds from the cob and then hand the rest over to the @little-peppers. Any areas that were nibbled on by bugs or slightly moldy had to be removed. These kernels are not just garbage though. They can be used as feed for the chickens or hogs, added to a compost pile, or we can still plant them. We chose to spread them around down on the land to see if we still had enough time for a second harvest. It is unlikely, but we have nothing to risk.
With cool-colored and pretty cobs to shuck, the @little-peppers started off great. It did take a while, but at least we can apply some group effort.
Not all of these seeds that we harvested will be popped. Not only are we providing some of our own food, we are proving some of our own seeds for the next year too. Just like these popcorn were grown from seeds that we saved last year, so some of the seeds that we harvested this year will be planted next year, and the process will continue. Personally, I would like to keep this tradition going and this process repeating until my children's children can come gather their own yearly supply of popcorn from my garden, maybe longer.
THE FINISHED PRODUCT
The rewards of the finished job are many. We have a few pounds of beautiful kernels to pop and plant. We also got to enjoy some time together. We saved money on both food and garden seeds, and we had the amazing experience of peeking inside each of the husks to see what was inside, which had been a mystery to us all summer. Currently we have these seeds spread out to completely dry. Once they are dried, they can be stored until we pop or plant them.
I know that we have sent some of these very same seeds to @ballinconscious, @mattewtiii and others, so I wonder how many of them will get to enjoy this same experience, or even start this same tradition. Time will tell.
As always, I'm @papa-pepper and here's the proof:
proof-of-popcorn-harvest
Until next time…
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I've been growing a short season variety of popcorn called "Tom Thumb" this year. The plants only get 3-4 feet tall, and there's usually about 3 ears per stalk. The cobs are small, 4 to 6 inches long, with really small yellow kernels, but they do pop up nicely. :-)
I want to try the strawberry popcorn next year.
I'll be in Door County in a week, on the border of Lake Michigan just a bit south of you. I would be willing to mail you some seeds though and do a trade if you want.
Do you have a steemit.chat account yet?
Door county? Coolness! Apples and I believe cherries are the big products there.
I don't have a steemit. chat account yet. I'm not sure how to go about making one.
I'd be happy to send you a few cobs of the Tom Thumb popcorn if you'd like to try it.
https://steemit.chat
You can sign in there and private message "papa-pepper" if you want.
Also, you get a FULL POWER UPVOTE for making a REAL COMMENT.
Thanks @amberyooper!
Good post. The corn is very interesting with a variety of colors. One jagunh can produce different colors. I think it's very interesting and the corn is very good. I am sure it can only be done by great farmers. I like your post @papa-peper. And I always follow you and I am impressed with you. Because your post is very great.
Thank you my friend. I can only plant the seed, I cannot make it grow.
Yes my friend. We can only plant. But making it takes science. Because it is different than usual. In general the corn is yellow. But it can grow with a variety of variations and it looks very pretty. You are a great friend.
The color of the corn is very beautiful. This is different than usual, in general the color of corn is yellow, but this has a color variation. One corn has several colors. Certainly very interesting. This is very rarely made by others. And that way of making it must also learn from the farmers. I like this post @papa-pepper.
What a wonderful experience for your family! I think it is really important for children to understand where food comes from. Congratulations, it looks like your work paid off with a beautiful harvest!
I fully agree!
After a harwork then come the harvest. Corn is a very good plant because you can use it for many varieties of foods.
Aways great to see children helping their parents and when they are free. @papa-pepper keep up the good work and more successful harvest for you.
Thank you @charles1!
welcome
Both Pinky-pepper and Red-pepper practiced removing the kernels from some corn at the Maple Fest a couple of years ago. We carried the kernels in brown lunch bags to the Marshfield zoo and fed them to the ducks and geese. Woo Hoo!
Amazing family 😀 The family that plant together, harvest together and eat together. #popcorn 😀😀😀
Well said, very well said!
😀😀😀 Love your family! 💖
That's Great @papa-pepper. These Corns are Amazing . You Guys had worked hard on it and yeah your efforts paid off, Seems High Quality Corn. Little Papers are contributing too, good too see them enjoying. Hope they are learning the art from you . Make sure You give them a treat of Popcorns. Good Luck Man. ☺
They are learning and enjoying.
Wow. Thanks for sharing. Ive not known that there is red corn. Happy popcorn day. J
That is a good harvest.
All things considered, yes it is! Thanks!