What a Corny Title - "The Corny Day"

Our first batch

So you think you're just getting into a farm/corn/garden post that will tax you not the least.  If you've read my blog before, you'll know my proclivity to try to incline you to answer my "Thought Questions" at the end of the post.  Just warning you....you may want to stop right here, close the browser and avoid thinking overmuch.




Ohh? Still reading???  Then you will be one of the ones to post an answer!!!  (smile)




One of my husbands favorite things to do is to provide us with lovely rows of delicious corn.  The challenging part is trying to "guess" when it will be ready and corresponding that guesstimate with opening up a day to process said corn.  We planted 3 crops this year.  The first one came off the weekend we went to Klamath Falls to visit A. Virginia.  So we sold it to a friend.  (Hi Jessica!)

 

The 2nd planting ripened at a fairly agreeable time - since A. Margaret was "off work" helping out after the accident, I called her, thinking she might enjoy coming.  Does she show up????? Nooooo, A. Janice comes with Grandma J. (our favorite corn cutter).  (Just kidding, A. Margaret =)) 

Now I knew how busy A.Janice was...but she said she wanted the corn for her freezer. We don't make a habit of turning away help =) We were blessed with Mom's presence - she arrived with knives, bowls and an apron. 

A little gravel doesn't hurt, right?

Now, Guess what...our 3rd planting is ready and we are going away on Thurs...so, my dear husband is going to help me process 1/2 of it tomorrow afternoon.  Shooo fly!  We are selling the rest of it, but I do believe it's all spoken for.  =) 

A. Janice entertaining Stephen

Grandma J. deftly silks our corn

I can never quite manage to get Aaron to look at the Camera

So, in case you were wondering; we planted Bodacious - a yellow sweet corn we've been partial to for quite a few years.  However, for our 3rd planting we planted Silver Queen, a white corn that is 15 days faster to harvest.  We ate some yesterday.  It's good, with a shallower kernel, but not quite as sweet as Bodacious.  As with life...plenty of pros and cons! 

Now for a kernel of Truth from this Corn centered post. God always provides.  We read tonight in devotions how the Israelites had manna given unto them until they entered Canaan and started eating the old corn. I'm pretty sure they were extremely HAPPY to be eating old corn instead of the manna they had been ingesting for their entire life.  There are many things that are hard to comprehend about the Isrealites' experiences from Egypt to Canaan and settling there.  We have almost no clue what life like that was like.  But we do know the Kernal of Wisdom to be true.  GOD PROVIDES.

Here is your thought question requiring brave answers
"What is one way GOD HAS PROVIDED for you?" - even if it's old cornish

In a Jam with my Hobby

I like jam...ok...make that Homemade Jam. Mostly just on bread, but occasionally I've been known to put it in cookies, on a ham, or on ice cream. The boughten stuff doesn't even belong in the same realm.  I think that I've bought a total of 2 jars of grape jelly (for specific recipes) in my eleven years of cooking.  Over the years I've developed more and more of a jam hobby. Normal jam like strawberry, and boysenberry. Different ones like peach pie preserves.  Apple butter, Blueberry lime, and my all time favorite....CHERRY BERRY.  Why is Cherry Berry my favorite?  Boysenberry is great, but add cherries to the mix and great jam turns delectable. Although...Boysenberry has a perfect tartness to it!

Canning jam is just one facet of canning...most of which I enjoy (chicken, while handy, is just boring to can). It took me a while to decide why I got a  thrill out of canning.  Ok, it makes one feel domestic.  But more than that, I think that my semi-fascination with it comes from good memories of Chem lab.  Glass jars, straight lines of beakers, boiling for precise amounts of time, and the ever present journal. Yes, I managed through 2 yrs of Chem.  There is nothing like lining up your jars in straight rows after they come out of the canner.  And the thrill of notating in my canning journal how many jars completed this year compared with last year and then the columns showing how much our family consumed in the last 12 months. The dormant scientist in me wakes.  You see, there are many things I'm not terribly particular about...but my canning journal is kept up to date!   David even gave me a 9qt. canner for my birthday this past year  He knows me well.

So, all this to say, rather unsuccinctly, I like to can jam.  I can jam a lot.  I have tooooooooo much jam on hand.  So, if you would like to help get me OUT OF THIS JAM go to my facebook store site Aria Garden's Facebook .  I will occasionally put up a limited edition sale.  For example, I currently have some CHERRY BERRY and BOYSENBERRY jam available. I enjoy putting cute little labels on the tops of the lids, and if you want to give them as gifts, I will also put a ribbon around the top - Free =)

Cherry Berry Jam - 4 Jars available

Someday, maybe I'll have neat photos of me actually canning the jam, but I'm not very good at that yet...plus sometimes it doesn't seem as though my durable mottled yellow tile is very photogenic...just saying! =)

Boysenberry Jam - 3 Jars Available

Remember, if you are new to this blog.....PLEASE RESPOND TO THE THOUGHT QUESTION!  There will always be one, and it makes blogging so much more fun.  Commenting on my facebook crosspost counts =)

Thought question: which household task; fun or otherwise do you most enjoy? Men, this applies to you as well!

Berry picking at it's Best!