Looking for gardeners & farmers who've grown corn successfully in Sebastopol

Have you, or anyone you know successfully grown corn in Sebastopol? We are young, organic farmers growing a half acre of 2 heirloom corn varieties (Blue Hopi and Floriani Red Flint) in Sebastopol, and are looking for tips!

We are particularly worried about crows, which we have heard are a major problem for the germinating seed. We would love to hear about successful ways you've dealt with them, and any other issues you encountered.

Thanks!
Kayta & David

Start your corn seeds in a greenhouse and plant when they are about 6 inches tall. Hope this helps.

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Posted in reply to the post by Kayta:

Have you, or anyone you know successfully grown corn in Sebastopol? We are young, organic farmers growing a half acre of 2 heirloom corn varieties (Blue Hopi and Floriani Red Flint) in Sebastopol, and are looking for tips!

We are particularly worried about crows, which we have heard are a major problem for the germinating seed. We would love to hear about successful ways you've dealt with them, and any other issues you encountered.

Thanks!
Kayta & David

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Posted in reply to the post by Kayta:

Have you, or anyone you know successfully grown corn in Sebastopol?

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I have! In fact I was just bragging how I used to have the earliest corn in Sebastopol! It wasn't just "knee high on the 4th of July"... I was eating it!

It was a labor of love though. I planted the seed very early, maybe March. And then I went out every night with a headlamp to give the slugs some beer. :wink:

Never had a problem crows... They probably thought nobody would be planting so early...

Anywho, good luck, Kayta! Perhaps some fellow Waccos will have some more useful advice for you! :waccosun:

Hi Kayta & David,

I grew sweet corn and a bit of popcorn (among many other crops) for local farmers markets 2001-2005, starting my corn seeds in 1" soil blocks (80 per tray) in a hoop house and transplanting out when about 1" to 1.5" high. Doing this, I never had noticeable damage from birds, maybe because they could not pull the seedling out of the soil block once it was out in the field.

I don't have experience direct seeding corn here in Sonoma County, which sounds like what you are thinking. You might be wise to direct seed only part of your seed--a bit early early--and see what happens. If there is a problem you will learn and still have seed left to try again. Or, you could start some part of your seed in cells or soil blocks and transplant it out in a block of its own, to ensure that you'll have good seed for next year even if direct seeding proves problematic.

Direct seeding MIGHT work fine. Tales of bad experience are no more reliable than of good. I didn't direct seed corn because I started everything in soil blocks to better manage germination and succession plantings, get and stay ahead of weeds, conserve water on sandy soil, and maximize use of limited growing area. An advantage of starting in soil blocks or cells: you control the density of the crop in the field, maximizing both your valuable seed and field space.

Good luck, and a BIG THANKS for growing!!!
Neil

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Posted in reply to the post by Kayta:

Have you, or anyone you know successfully grown corn in Sebastopol? We are young, organic farmers growing a half acre of 2 heirloom corn varieties (Blue Hopi and Floriani Red Flint) in Sebastopol, and are looking for tips!

We are particularly worried about crows, which we have heard are a major problem for the germinating seed. We would love to hear about successful ways you've dealt with them, and any other issues you encountered.

Thanks!
Kayta & David

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This is my fourth year growing field corn in small amounts. I've mostly grown Painted Mountain, and last year ended up with about 30 lbs, dry weight. If I want to get a head start on the weather, I start it in large six packs to take advantage of starting the seeds indoors and later taking them inside again at night if it's cold. But I wouldn't keep them in 6 packs more than a week or so after they break ground.

If the weather is warm and I have enough seed to not worry if some gets eaten right away, I direct sow and plant another 20% in 6 packs for back up. Usually my corn plantings have had about 90% germination. This year I have lots of seed from saving it from last year, and I am direct sowing, placing two seeds a few inches apart where I want to have one plant later, mostly to have the luxury of picking the strongest appearing plant. I was a bit afraid of the soil drying out due to the recent hot weather, so I pre-soaked the seeds, taking the same care with frequent rinsing just as if I were sprouting mung beans for eating, not letting them stand in water beyond the first few hours, but never letting them dry out either. And I made sure I would have the time to plant them as soon as they showed the least signs of sprouting. My thinking was that this way they'd get a faster start and not spend so long in the ground needing constant moisture. I tend to do that with a lot of seeds, sometimes just soaking them for a few hours to give them a little kick. But if it's a problem at all to pre-soak the corn, I think just sowing the seeds should be fine.

I always cover any seeds I direct sow, and most transplants for that matter, with a light "remay" type cloth, to protect against birds. Before I started doing that I lost a lot of favas and bean seeds, not even knowing the birds had eaten them til a week or two later, when they didn't come up. And quail would sometimes eat my transplanted bok-choy when it was still tiny.

I only planted one bed so far this year, because I'm waiting for favas to finish (about 2 more weeks, I think: I pick it in the shell stage to eat and freeze, mostly for humus) to plant corn in the space. Painted Mountain is quick maturing, so it should work out to be enough time. I live in Guerneville, by the way.

Have fun with your corn!