Adopt the Pace of Nature: Corn Update

May 10, 2021

Adopt the pace of nature: Her secret is patience.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

 

We have drive-bys on our country road. They just aren't the kind that happen in a disreputable part of town like the ones you see on the evening news.

 

Country drive-bys don't include souped-up engines.

They don't bring a danger of violence.

They may sound a little like this:

"Do you see any green out there? ...

"I think I see some green ...???"

 (My Farmer should know by now that my eyesight is such that he's always going to see green before me on one of these drive-bys.) 

Like Ralph Waldo Emerson, farmers understand the pace of nature. However, Emerson may not have known a farmer waiting for his planted seeds to emerge from the ground before he penned that quote.

May 10, 2021

While I will contend that Randy is one of the most patient people I know, I also know that patience doesn't extend to plants emerging from the ground. It doesn't necessarily apply to recalcitrant cattle, broken-down machinery or newfangled technology either. OK, maybe I should rephrase that earlier statement. Thankfully, he's pretty patient with me.

Anyway, the time between planting and emergence is not among his most patient times. But there's usually a reward for the waiting.

The tiny seed knew that in order to grow, it needed to be dropped in the dirt, covered in darkness and struggle to reach the light.

Author Sandra Kring

If that's not a metaphor for life, I'm not sure what is. Sometimes it feels like life drops you in the dirt. You get covered with darkness. And it's a struggle to see the light. But it's there, if only you look hard enough.

Living on a farm offers plenty of object lessons like that. Case in point: Our 2021 corn crop. 

April 29, 2021

Because of some rain, chilly weather and cattle chores, we were a little later than usual getting the corn crop planted. (You can read more about it here.)

 

But by May 10, the little corn plants were "up and at 'em." The seedling soldiers were marching down the fields.

 And just like that Sandra Kring quote said, they were reaching for the light.

We are relatively new to growing corn on our dryland farm. We definitely "self identify" as wheat farmers. (That's a buzzworthy thing to say nowadays, isn't it?)

So I'm still somewhat amazed at how quickly corn grows. It's a lot different from wheat. I took the first series of photos on May 10. By May 20 - 10 days later - the plants had gained some height and some hardiness.

May 20, 2021

 

We collected about 1.90" in the rain gauge in the past 10 days or so, including 0.20" last night. I took the photos below yesterday morning (May 24).

Corn field, May 24, 2021

We're thankful for the moisture to give the crop a boost. There's more rain in the forecast. We'll see if any actually falls.

Corn field, May 24, 2021

 Randy planted 50 acres of milo on May 24 as well.

I guess more drive-bys are in my future. "Do you see any green out there? ..."