The sweetcorn grew well during summer...we even got to eat a few cobs! The main purpose of growing it was to provide some "homegrown" feed for the chooks during winter when the corns warming qualities will be a welcome bonus. This hopefully will offset some of the expected increases in the cost of chicken feed products due to our insane climate conditions lately!
Recently I saw a photo that sparked a thought in this old scarecrow's brain (of course I don't remember where I saw said photo). Use the stalks as a trellis (tripod, teepee) for snow peas during winter! The soil will benefit from the nitrogen from the legumes (peas) and the peas should grow to a height that will be easy to pick.
Soooo when I picked the cobs off the corn I also stripped off all the leaves and added the still green matter to the compost heap nearby!
The cobs were divided up and placed in fruit bags to protect them from bugs. They were then hung in the old storage caravan where it is warm and dry...hopefully the mice will leave them alone up there!!!
I found I could tie up three sets of stalks in a tripod fashion...only one had been damaged enough to remove so that was replaced by a homegrown bamboo, garden stake.
Back in February I sowed the seeds (Mammoth Melting Snow Peas that Mr Fothergill's had so kindly sent to me last year) into Looroll holders and the peas took off. I waited until the Early March Heatwave was over then scuffled up the ground at the base of the cornstalks and dug into the soil with my trusty mini pick (my fav garden hand tool). The seedlings were then planted still in their cardboard tubes. They went in quite deeply so that no cardboard showed above the ground because that would act as a wick and draw the precious water away from the seedlings.
As it turns out each of the (double) cornstalks is positioned next to a dripper outlet on the inline spaghetti hose I use for watering so the peas can have supplementary water if they need it (which they probably will).
The Teepees look good and I hope they will soon be covered with Snow Peas to eat.
To Be Updated as the peas grow......