Saturday, July 10, 2010

Farmer Fridays - Knee High by the Fourth of July

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I grew up hearing the saying "Knee High by the Fourth of July" in regards to the height of the corn by July 4th.  I don't know where the saying originated but it based on the goal of corn being knee high by the 4th of July.  (Apparently other's grew up with this saying too as Gal in the Middle talked about Knee High by the Fourth of July last week in honor of the 4th of July.)

As you know from our first Stages of Corn Growth post in my Farmer Fridays series, our corn was as tall as Little Sissy about a month ago and not quite knee high.  Well you will not believe how tall it is today.  It was definitely taller than Knee High by the Fourth of July. 



The corn has changed a lot in the last month.  The corn is now essentially done growing in height, but it has a lot of work to do before we can harvest a corn crop in the fall.  This corn field (that surrounds my house)started to tassel about a 2 weeks ago. 


 


At the same time, the stalk started to produce 1-2 ears of corn per stalk.  The tassel provides the pollen to fertilize the ear to allow it to develop the corn kernels.  The pollination process lasts approximately 2 weeks and then the corn needs about 60 more days depending on the weather to reach maturity.  Once the ear is mature, it is ready to harvest and that is when we head back to the fields in the combine. 

 
 

As a farmer we are always at the mercy of Mother Nature and receiving the right amount of moisture is just as critical now as it was in the beginning of the corn seed's life.  Time will tell how it goes.


 

3 comments:

  1. I've never heard that expression before! But yes...that corn is definitely taller than the knee ;)

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  2. I use that expression all the time and Ott, E reminds me how outdated it is. He thinks I should only use it to refer to soybeans. (LOL!)

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  3. Oh, your kids look sooo sweet in the corn!! :)

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