Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
obrienforensics

Anxious/Depressed Newbie in NC 7/Sandhills

obrienforensics
17 years ago

Got here 11/06 and have been lurking for a bit between NC and Veggie Forums trying to figure out what to plant when and what I need to plant it in for even the smallest, veggie/flower/bird gardens.

Thought I was going to have the garden of my dreams this year with no worries about weather!!! Now, I am embarrassed to admit I never considered the heat and humidity in NC would do anything but help the veggies I had always grown in CT and upper NYS (as long as I watered/fertilized!!) Never mind that my new yard is 100% sand and pine straw and what grows in just sand?

Now I realize I have NO IDEA when to even sow veggie seeds outside or put in transplants, when to expect them to die back or off and what will even be productive here in which season! (I have figured out that the 30' X 2' X 1.5' raised concrete/brick bed around patio should be filled with pine fines/soil conditioner and covered with pine straw mulch.)

Anyone willing to help a newbie with some ideal planting/harvest/survival dates for 2007 picking (purchased TPÂs or ground sown seeds) for just herbs, tomatoes, salad veggies, beans, squash, broccoli, turnips (and, dare I ask? "Does white, sweet corn like Country Gentleman or Silver Queen even make it here without going to starch?" (The corn should/would have a separate patch of its own for space/yield.)

OB

Comments (4)

  • maineman
    17 years ago

    OB,

    I had great luck with Silver Queen in my Fort Worth garden a good many years ago. I did have to irrigate it frequently in the Texas heat, but you could literally see the plants grow. I also had to spray a lot of BT to control corn earworms and stalk borers. The growing season here in Maine is much too short for Silver Queen.

    MM

  • naplesgardener
    17 years ago

    Call your county extension agent QUICK before you worry any more!
    Just kidding but they will be the most familiar with your area, your soil, what and when to plant etc. and you'll be getting some use of your tax dollars back. they are usually very friendly folks and happy to help. Don't expect them to come in person but they may have a demonstration garden you can visit.
    Good luck.
    P.S. I really do get a lot of enjoyment from using government agencies that make my life better such as the library system and the extension service (they have a lot of local information online too).

  • obrienforensics
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thanks guys. Maineman - Glad to sweet corn can grow in hot weather- The farm stand white corn I saw here last year was left way too long on the plant and all starch. Might be they like it that way here. We have friend from NYS who have never gotten good corn here, but I can't believe one of the short season sweet hybrids can't be grown and picked before it goes to starch!

  • maineman
    17 years ago

    OB,

    "...I can't believe one of the short season sweet hybrids can't be grown and picked before it goes to starch!"

    It is important to pick sweet corn at just the right time. Inspect the ears every day. Pull a few shucks back and pierce a kernel with your fingernail. You should see a liquid "milk" if the time is right. If the liquid looks watery, it isn't ready. If you don't see any "milk" you have waited too long. Also, the silks going to the kernels will still be alive even though they might be browning on the tips. When you shuck the ear, you should also be removing live silks.

    With Silver Queen, as soon as you pick an ear, the sugars start to turn to starch. Some people have even recommended having a pot of water boiling on the stove as you pick the ears, so that you can immediately shuck them and trim them and pop them into boiling water. We used to actually do that with our Silver Queen corn. From the time we picked the ears until the time we were slathering butter on the boiled ears would be maybe 30 minutes to an hour. The newer high-sugar hybrids hold their sugar longer.

    In North Carolina you shouldn't be limited to short season hybrids. Your growing season should be considerably longer than ours.

    By starting individual corn plants in pots under fluorescent lights we can deal with our short growing season. But, unfortunately we can't grow corn here because we are surrounded by wooded areas in all directions. The woods are full of squirrels, including chipmunks and ground squirrels. They absolutely devastated our first try at growing a corn crop with plants that we started early. We literally didn't get to eat a single ear. We had a lot of fat corn-fed squirrels that year, and they had an extra large crop of baby squirrels. To harvest our corn we would have to grow it in a completely covered cage. Some day maybe I will do that.

    MM

Sponsored