Seed saving ... Red Aztec Corn

Good day to Everyone, Another fine day here in Sydney, the sun's out warming up a lovely cool morning, not quite winter here. That comes soon enough, nothing like some American Girls experience, you know the white stuff, OH Just one white winter would be lovely them you can have it back:))

To get back to my original subject for the day "Red corn" that what I planted this year as an experiment and also to harvest the dried corn for my stockpiling. It dates back to the 18th Century so is a Heirloom seed which I managed to find on Ebay. I was interested in finding a grain to plant for milling to make flour and then spotted this, bought a few packets but only planted 1 packet. and it grew into a tall healthy plants. And then I went to South Africa to visit Mom.

The corn and the rest of the garden had grown well in that time cause we had a far bit of rain that month. The cobs had grown well and had started to dry out which was just what I had wanted. Removed the cobs when they looked good and ready, peeled back the outside leaved and shelved them to dry on a rack.

Just look at the yeild from just a few cobs. Spent 1/2 hr shelling them thinking this would be a lovely activity to do, sitting down with the family around the kitchen table at night in the old days. A corn seller would make the job a lot easier, no sure fingers. Now they can get saved from planting next year.

My husband recalled a memory of his childhood vacation, spent with his uncle who farmed with cattle and pigs, some 50 yrs ago. He used to plant Red Corn for his pigs to eat with excess milk from the dairy cows. Those years the cream was skimmed off the milk for selling and a lot of the milk was kept for personal use. His Aunt made her own butter