It’s Fresh Mama

Corn, Corn, Corn

Hey ya’ll, if you’re anything like my family you love some sweet corn especially if you’re from the south. Farm fresh sweet corn pairs great with any good weekend BBQ or cook out. This week my oldest and I went out and picked sweet corn at my parent’s house with my dad while visiting them in South Carolina. My parents are true home-grown urban gardeners, and they gave me my love for agriculture by just tending to their garden and teaching me the ways of their world.

But getting back to the sweet corn my father taught my daughter all about the plant this week and how corn is a plant that takes nitrogen out of the soil. My parents are planning on rotating their crop in the next few weeks, due to the amount of nitrogen that corn takes out of the ground they plan on rotating to a plant that deposits nitrogen to replenish their beds for next years harvest.

By putting in a plant the deposits nitrogen they are replenishing the soil with the nutrients that the soil needs. If they were to steadily plant corn the nitrogen levels in the soil would completely deplete making for an unviable crop in the long run.

Overall, it is good to rotate your crops yearly to make for a good yield in the long run! Thank you for visiting the blog today!

Do you love farm fresh eggs?

Like my girls and I, we love some good home-grown eggs. But how do we go from coop to skillet? When you go out to the chicken coop you want to go check for eggs two to three times a day, when collecting eggs, you need to make sure that the eggs are not cracked or soiled to get a good harvest that day. When deciding how to store eggs you can store them three different ways at room temperature, in the fridge or in lime water. When getting ready to store eggs you should always mark them with the date, so you know that you always have fresh eggs.

One of my favorite ways to store eggs is at room temperature you want to make sure that you do not wash your eggs because washing the eggs gets rid of the bloom, which is a wax like substance on the eggshell that keeps bacteria and other particles from penetrating the egg itself. Make sure to softly wipe off any dirt or feces that may be on the egg to also keep bacteria away. When storing eggs at room temperature in a cool climate-controlled environment they can store for up to two before you need to do something with them.

My second favorite way to store eggs is in the refrigerator you can either wash the eggs or keep them unwashed. Unwashed eggs will keep in the refrigerator for up to three months, while washed eggs will keep in the refrigerator for 2 months. Once you refrigerate eggs they should be kept cold until used or else you run the risk of the egg spoiling.

My third and all-time favorite way to store eggs is in lime water which is also known as water glassing. This is by far the best way to preserve farm fresh eggs in the whole form. By preserving eggs using this method you can store eggs anywhere from 1 year to 18 months, the best long term storage option for eggs by far. The only things you need for this method of storing is pickling lime, distilled or natural spring water and fresh eggs that are clean and unwashed. There are many websites that can give more information on this way of storing eggs. I will also upload a blog that is nothing but a how to on water glassing your own eggs.

Thank you for reading todays blog, hope everyone had a great weekend.

Around the CORNer

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