plantin taters and corn

This year the potatoes went out in the front garden. The tiller was taken through once after the compost had been added and then trenches were made. The seed taters were tossed in the trench and then I lost my mind and decided that I was going to plant corn too. Yes, you read that right but I just could not help myself. The last few days of 70-80 degree weather was likely what caused my lapse of good judgment and I had been looking at my companion planting chart which told me that corn and potatoes made good companions. Yes, it is technically 4-6 weeks early for planting corn but with no freezing weather in sight for the next two weeks, I just had to attempt it to see what happens. If it dies from freezing, it is only a bit of seed lost and one I have plenty more of. Sometimes a girl just hazta do what she hazta do!

We were planning on trying the trench method with our corn this year anyway as I have read that it stays upright much better in big winds when it is hilled like potatoes. The stem of corn is much like that of a tomato and keeps rooting so long as it continuously gets buried. It should be a neat experiment and if it works we will certainly enjoy early corn with some new potatoes this summer. Another advantage with growing the two together is that they are both nitrogen hogs and we can pee on them to provide them with fertilizer. Okay, technically, we won't actually be peeing on them but using a tea for fertilizing purposes.



The entire bed is fill with potatoes with the exception of an 8x10 section and a thin strip of herbs and flowers. The seeds were placed about a foot apart with a kernel of corn between each plant. They were then covered with a few inches of soil and will be hilled as needed throughout the season. The taters should be ready to harvest new potatoes in June and conceivably we could also have corn then as well.