The Sex Life of Corn

Since Jim and I are new farmers with little to no background in farming, we are constantly learning new things about everything from irrigation, to how to cook turnips, to when to plant seeds.  We are calling this first year our experimentation year, but we think every year will be a year of learning. 

One thing I learned today was just how corn gets pollinated.  I felt the need to learn this because our corn has recently developed sex organs.  Now, I've heard of male and female flowers on squash plants and this is the first year that I could tell the difference between the two.  But I never really new how sexual corn plants can be.  So, if you're ready for Corn Sex Ed 101, here goes.

This is the male flower of a corn plant, also called a tassel.  It's pretty obvious why this is the male part, isn't it?  Pollen is dispersed through holes in the tips of what is called the anther, which, according to Biology Online, is the "pollen-bearing structure in the stamen (male organ) of the flower, usually located on top of the filament of the stamen."  All the pollen from a single anther can be dispersed in as little as three minutes.  I'm not going to comment on that.    

This is the female flower of the corn plant, called the ear.  The female flower consists of two parts:  the ovule (kernel) and the stigma (silk).  Every potential kernel develops its own silk that must be pollinated in order for that ovary to be fertilized and develop into a kernel.  So what we are eating when we eat corn are the fertilized ovules.  Pretty amazing, huh?

When all is right with the world, a pollen grain lands on a receptive silk, develops a pollen tube containing the male genetic material, and fertilizes the female ovary within 24 hours.  To add in this process, silks are covered with fine, sticky hairs that help catch and anchor pollen grains.  

We're hoping that our corn hasn't learned any birth control methods lately and that they are very productive this year.  Go forth, corn, be fruitful and multiply.  

I dare you to eat another ear of corn without thinking of this!

Not Your Mother's Green Beans

Every summer when I was young, my mom would take me and my sister out to what was then the country, Bixby, OK.  It's the closest I got to a real produce farm and real farmers.  We only did it once a year because this was "out in the country," quite a trip for us city folks.  Now it seems like an every-day ride to the grocery story for us.  Bixby was only a 20 minute drive from where I lived.  There were only two things I remember her buying at the roadside stand:  green beans and watermelon. 

Mom only knew one way to prepare green beans.  She'd simmer them for hours with lots of bacon until they were as limp as spaghetti.  They tasted good to me, though.  Much different than what she served from a can the other months of the year.

It wasn't until I was an adult that I learned that you could steam green beans until tender and eat them like  French fries with not a piece of bacon in site.  Once I mastered the art of steaming, a whole new world opened up for me and my green beans.

Today we harvested our first batch of bush beans.  In honor of the occasion, I whipped up one of my favorite summer recipes for green bean salad.  Just think how much better it would taste if the tomatoes were fresh out of my garden, but I still have a few weeks to wait for that miracle to happen.

 Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

1 1/4 pound of green beans, trimmed
1 1/4 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
1 t. chopped fresh oregano
1 T. minced shallots or red onion
2 1/2 t. olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. freshly ground pepper

Cook beans in boiling water or vegetable steamer until tender, about 7 minutes, then drain.  Place tomatoes, oregano and beans in a large bowl and toss gently.

In a small bowl, combine shallots or onions and garlic with vinegar stirring with a whisk.  Let the mixture stand for 10 minutes.  Add oil, salt and pepper and whisk until well blended.  Pour vinaigrette over bean mixture and toss well.

This recipe is courtesy of Cooking Light Magazine

Turnips: Good from the Top Down

The turnips are ready to harvest now.  The good thing about turnips is you can eat the tops as turnip greens and also the root.  What a versatile veggie!

Since I've never eaten turnips before, I decided I needed to find some recipes so I could share them with our customers.  Below are two delicious one and, by the way, I now love turnips.

 

 

 

Gina's Turnip Greens (courtesy of Gina Neely)

1 T. olive oil
1 shallot, chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 t. red pepper flakes
1 1/2 pound of turnip greens, washed, stemmed and chopped
Freshly ground pepper
2 T Dijon mustard
1 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. chopped pecans, toasted

In a Dutch oven, heat the olive oil.  Add shallot, garlic and red pepper flakes and saute until tender and fragrant.  Add the turnip greens.  Mix together.  cook until the greens are wilted down (about 3 minutes).  Add pepper to taste.

In a small bowl, whisk the mustard with the chicken stock.  Add to the wilted greens and cook until the liquid has all but evaporated.  Add the toasted pecans and serve immediately.


Jim LOVED these turnip greens and he'd never eaten turnip greens before.  He's already asked for a second batch to be made.

Roasted Turnips with Balsamic Vinegar (courtesy of Kalyns Kitchen)

2 large turnips
1 T. olive oil
1 T. balsamic vinegar
Additional 1 t. balsamic vinegar
Sal and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 450 F.  Cut the turnips into 1-inch pices.  Wisk together the olive oil and vinegar and toss with the turnips.  Spread turnips into a single layer in a roasting pan.  Roast turnips 25 - 30 minutes, or until slightly brown and softened.

Place turnips in a serving bowl and toss with additional 1 t. vinegar.  Season to taste and serve.

I say, anything with balsamic vinegar is good, but these are really good.

The Beginning of Our Tale

Prairie Grace Farm is owned and operated by two city folk who recently moved to the country.  The closest either one of us got to the rural life was when Jim, my husband, would spend summers on his grandparents' farm in western Kansas.  Especially fond memories of those days planted the seed of owning a farm in his soul.

As for me, I've lived in the city all my life, fighting hour-long traffic and eating vegetables out of a can.  I was so surprised the first time I ate a crisp green bean or a spear of asparagus - neither one of them looked or tasted like their canned counterparts.  Then I started buying my produce at the farmers' market in Tulsa and met some real-life farmers.  Jim and I started dreaming of buying a farm and living a simpler life.  Now, our dream is a reality and we are living in Winfield, Kansas, on a 10-acre piece of paradise.

Who knew that potatoes had flowers?

What do we know about growing vegetables?  I say not much.  I still consider it a miracle when a seed the size of a pin head sprouts into a full-grown and quite delicious basil plant.  Jim laughed when I opened up my first packet of corn seeds and saw they were just kernels of corn.  This year I planted my first watermelon, and, guess what?  Watermelon seeds are of those same seeds you spit out when eating watermelon.  Who knew? 

We keep telling each other that this is our experimental year.  We didn't decide until three weeks ago to make this our full-time profession, so we have a rather small area of land that is now growing produce:  just 1/3 of an acre.  On that land we're growing potatoes, lettuce, radishes, turnips, broccoli, bush beans, black beans, peas, tomatoes, cantaloupe, watermelon, peppers, cucumbers, okra, squash and zucchini.  We're selling at the Walnut Valley Farmers' Market, which doesn't open until June 2.  We're not sure if we're going to have enough product to make much of an impression that first Saturday, but, again, we're experimenting.

Patty pan squash in full bloom.

One thing keeps me going and that is something I remember Mary Kay saying all those years ago when I worked at the Mary Kay headquarters.  She'd say that you can do everything wrong with the right attitude and succeed and do everything right with the wrong attitude and fail.  So, we've got a good attitude.  We're happy that our office is now the great outdoors; that our co-workers are the birds, the bees and the dogs; and that we're working for ourselves, instead of someone else.