THREE SISTERS

[Arielle]

Quote: WOw those are TALLLLLLL !

I do think that modern management and modern varieties have evolved together. Meaning I have faith in the old corns: they will hold up to weather conditions and bugs, and beans!! My thinking has really morphed from black listed to they are the way of the future for home production. ANd maybe even commericial production if given a chance.

 

[Papas Chickens]

I would go for it and if the pumpkins dont ripen in time have a back up plan. Like feeding them to the chickens.

Just read you got the seeds in already -- GO FOR IT!!

Ya that was my back up plan if they didnt ripen to feed them to my girls and some to the goat. I had to box mosquitoes all the time i was out in the garden, they are so bad this year.

 

[lazy gardener]

BAD MOSQUITOES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I guess maybe, they're bad. I just about got carried away while out opening up ant hills for the girls tonight.

 

[Arielle]

As for mosquitos we are trialing a mix of 1 tsp pure vanilla extract with 8 oz water. We are having mixed results.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

How are you applying the vanilla/water mix? And where, topically to bare skin?

 

[Chipper Chicken]

Back to 3 sisters tho, the feed corn I planted was called painted mountain from RockyMountainCorn.com. It's supposed to be a great storer and heritage too. A week ago (just before I left for a week), I went to plant my beans and squash and only found acorn squash and sweet peas lol! (DH was planting all the seed he could find, I guess )It's probably too late here anyway, but I figured the peas might fix a little nitrogen for me even if they don't produce anything.
I've been wanting to try the Bloody Butcher, is it pretty good for fresh eating?
I also planted some original golden bantam from Sustainable Seeds, along with some Hopi blue for cornmeal, but neither of those as a3 sisters.

 

[Papas Chickens]

Back to 3 sisters tho, the feed corn I planted was called painted mountain from RockyMountainCorn.com. It's supposed to be a great storer and heritage too. A week ago (just before I left for a week), I went to plant my beans and squash and only found acorn squash and sweet peas lol! (DH was planting all the seed he could find, I guess

)It's probably too late here anyway, but I figured the peas might fix a little nitrogen for me even if they don't produce anything.
I've been wanting to try the Bloody Butcher, is it pretty good for fresh eating?
I also planted some original golden bantam from Sustainable Seeds, along with some Hopi blue for cornmeal, but neither of those as a3 sisters.

Were do they come up with these names for corn Bloody Butcher lol.

 

[Fluffnpuff]

Back to 3 sisters tho, the feed corn I planted was called painted mountain from RockyMountainCorn.com. It's supposed to be a great storer and heritage too. A week ago (just before I left for a week), I went to plant my beans and squash and only found acorn squash and sweet peas lol! (DH was planting all the seed he could find, I guess

)It's probably too late here anyway, but I figured the peas might fix a little nitrogen for me even if they don't produce anything.
I've been wanting to try the Bloody Butcher, is it pretty good for fresh eating?
I also planted some original golden bantam from Sustainable Seeds, along with some Hopi blue for cornmeal, but neither of those as a3 sisters.

I grew painted mountain corn for the first time this summer as a test patch. In comparison to other heirloom breeds, it matures relatively fast by that standard, but it has an extremely short stalk. I don't think there is any way it could support a climbing legume. I have no doubt it would be a great storer and make good feed.

Bloody butcher, like most of the corn with bright or dark colored kernels, is almost impossible to eat fresh. The sugars convert into starch at an accelerated rate. When the corn first enters the "milk stage" there is an ultra small window of opportunity for it to be somewhat palatable fresh. The soon as any red color appears in the kernels, it will be very chewy and hard. Once that happens you could boil it for 3 hours and it was be like eating partially cooked grits. Bloody butcher excels at being made into cornmeal which is how i've used it for a few years now.

The yellow bantam is a heirloom that is good eating fresh provided it doesn't cross pollinate with dent or flint corn. My brother loves it and i try to grow some every year. Like it's name implies, it's short in height though no where near as short as painted mountain. I can get it to support one pole bean vine, but multiple vines typically drag it down.

Blue hopi is another excellent choice to make cornmeal out of.

Imo, the best multi-use heirloom corn is stowell's evergreen. It's got a sweet taste eaten fresh, the stalks are tall and sturdy enough to support bean vines, and you can also use it to make cornmeal if you neglected to eat it during the milk stage. The versatility is hard to match.

Were do they come up with these names for corn Bloody Butcher lol.

The kernels of bloody butcher are dark red, hence the name implying blood. The following is a legend about how it got the name with violent overtones. I have no idea if it is true. During the civil war it was grown in certain parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky. There were food shortages on the southern side of the war and bloody butcher, which had been used as animal feed, was used as a sort of famine food. It became associated with the bloodshed of the civil war and bloody butcher took the place of its original name. Once the south was rebuilt it fell out of favor.

 

[Chipper Chicken]

I grew painted mountain corn for the first time this summer as a test patch.  In comparison to other heirloom breeds, it matures relatively fast by that standard, but it has an extremely short stalk.  I don't think there is any way it could support a climbing legume.  I have no doubt it would be a great storer and make good feed.

Bloody butcher, like most of the corn with bright or dark colored kernels, is almost impossible to eat fresh.  The sugars convert into starch at an accelerated rate.  When the corn first enters the "milk stage" there is an ultra small window of opportunity for it to be somewhat palatable fresh.  The soon as any red color appears in the kernels, it will be very chewy and hard.   Once that happens you could boil it for 3 hours and it was be like eating partially cooked grits.    Bloody butcher excels at being made into cornmeal which is how i've used it for a few years now.

The yellow bantam is a heirloom that is good eating fresh provided it doesn't cross pollinate with dent or flint corn.  My brother loves it and i try to grow some every year.  Like it's name implies, it's short in height though no where near as short as painted mountain.   I can get it to support one pole bean vine, but multiple vines typically drag it down.

Blue hopi is another excellent choice to make cornmeal out of.

Imo, the best multi-use heirloom corn is stowell's evergreen.  It's got a sweet taste eaten fresh, the stalks are tall and sturdy enough to support bean vines, and you can also use it to make cornmeal if you neglected to eat it during the milk stage.  The versatility is hard to match.

 

Thanks, that's actually a relief to hear because I gave all of the corn a dose of fish last week and only the painted mountain didn't LEAP upwards! I thought I didn't give it enough fish!
 I'm not worried about overpowering it with the snow peas (did I say sweet peas before? ) it's so hot here right now I doubt they'll do much this year, but now that I know if I like this feed corn I'll try a shorter bean next year maybe. I made sure to plant the corn varieties about 100 to 200' apart so as not to cross pollinate. Only the feed corn is close to another, 100' downhill around a stand of thick trees, out of wind direction to the leftover off the rack sweet corn that we didn't plant last year, and also barely came up anyway. So I think I'm good there too. I'll try to get some Stowells for next year too! Really want good heirloom varieties I can save seed for. :yiipchick



The kernels of bloody butcher are dark red, hence the name implying blood.  The following is a legend about how it got the name with violent overtones.  I have no idea if it is true.  During the civil war it was grown in certain parts of North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky.    There were food shortages on the southern side of the war and bloody butcher, which had been used as animal feed, was used as a sort of famine food.  It became associated with the bloodshed of the civil war and bloody butcher took the place of its original name.  Once the south was rebuilt it fell out of favor.

Thank you for that explanation.

 

[lazy gardener]

I was reading about Yellow Bantam corn, (I think written by Ruth Stout). She saved her seed every year, and until the year her crop got wiped out, her stalks were reaching 7 feet in height. Case in point = the value of saving seed for more than one year. That way you have the previous year's seed to fall back on if you loose a crop. Now, please don't do it like I do! Label your seed so you'll know variety and YEAR, before putting it into storage. By saving the best of your seed every year, you will eventually end up with a sub strain of a variety that will excel with your particular gardening conditions.