Greetings,

This is going to be a weird question - please bear with me.

I am a librarian working in a special collections library; we get lots
of old volumes with lots of odd things stuck in them (dried flowers,
pictures, etc.) Today, one of my coworkers found several kernels of
corn stuck in the margins of a book called "The gardeners dictionary",
by Philip Miller, published sometime around 1756-1759. Now, we're not
thinking these are 350 year old pieces of corn, but they *could* be.

I've done some searching on corn and planting online, but I can't find
a source that tells me the, well, "shelf-life" of a kernel of corn.
We're intrigued by the idea of planting these and seeing what happens,
but we don't want to go to all the time and bother if these are too
old. If we do end up planting, what would be the best way to prepare
the kernels? Should we soak them in water, or keep them between wet
paper towels, or just put them in some potting soil?

Sorry for all the potentially dumb questions; we have done lots of
gardening, but not with seeds like this!

Thanks,
Joan
Chapel Hill, NC

kessira wrote:
Greetings,

This is going to be a weird question - please bear with me.

I am a librarian working in a special collections library; we get lots
of old volumes with lots of odd things stuck in them (dried flowers,
pictures, etc.) Today, one of my coworkers found several kernels of
corn stuck in the margins of a book called "The gardeners dictionary",
by Philip Miller, published sometime around 1756-1759. Now, we're not
thinking these are 350 year old pieces of corn, but they *could* be.

I've done some searching on corn and planting online, but I can't find
a source that tells me the, well, "shelf-life" of a kernel of corn.
We're intrigued by the idea of planting these and seeing what happens,
but we don't want to go to all the time and bother if these are too
old. If we do end up planting, what would be the best way to prepare
the kernels? Should we soak them in water, or keep them between wet
paper towels, or just put them in some potting soil?

Sorry for all the potentially dumb questions; we have done lots of
gardening, but not with seeds like this!

Thanks,
Joan
Chapel Hill, NC

Corn seeds exposed to the atmosphere have a viable shelf life of
between one and two years. Look at the following link:

http://gardening.about.com/library/weekly/aa022503b.htm

Bill

writes:

I've done some searching on corn and planting online, but I can't find
a source that tells me the, well, "shelf-life" of a kernel of corn.
We're intrigued by the idea of planting these and seeing what happens,
but we don't want to go to all the time and bother if these are too
old. If we do end up planting, what would be the best way to prepare
the kernels? Should we soak them in water, or keep them between wet
paper towels, or just put them in some potting soil?

Well, I'll tell you, Joan, I believed the shelf life thing last year. I
was told that corn two or more years old would have a germination rate of
less than 50 percent and might be much less. Soooo... in my ignorance and
trust that others knew far more than me, I planted the several-years-old
corn with the idea that only 10 percent or so would germinate.

Every kernel grew, every single kernel, I kid you not. In a two 15-foot
rows, I had many dozens of corn stalks expecting to have a dozen at most.
It was excellent corn. The sad part is that it was so delicious, I wanted
to grow the same variety again. Expecting to have no, or little,
germination, I tossed the package right after planting. So much for
guidelines of when it can grow.

On the other extreme, two for-this-year packages of creeping thyme
resulted in not a single seedling, therefore, no plants.

One thing for certain, if you don't plant them, they won't grow. :-) I'd
suggest potting soil in peat moss pots so they can more easily go into the
ground when (not "if" but "when") they grow.

Glenna
always a bit optimistic about Mother Nature

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 22:07:31 -0700, (Glenna Rose)
wrote:

writes:

I've done some searching on corn and planting online, but I can't find
a source that tells me the, well, "shelf-life" of a kernel of corn.

Search on "[plant] viability" or "[plant] seed storage" Results are
spotty, but I haven't found a better search string. Corn generally
comes in at 1-2 years.

Well, I'll tell you, Joan, I believed the shelf life thing last year. I
was told that corn two or more years old would have a germination rate of
less than 50 percent and might be much less. Soooo... in my ignorance and
trust that others knew far more than me, I planted the several-years-old
corn with the idea that only 10 percent or so would germinate.

Every kernel grew, every single kernel, I kid you not.

One thing for certain, if you don't plant them, they won't grow. :-) I'd
suggest potting soil in peat moss pots so they can more easily go into the
ground when (not "if" but "when") they grow.

Glenna
always a bit optimistic about Mother Nature

Exactly. You never can tell. A friend is expecting cool weather
because the "average" temperature curve here peaks at the end of July.
Just because the historical "average" high for yesterday was 84 didn't
mean there was anything to prevent it from being 97.
See:

http://quickstart.clari.net/qs_se/we....ReXN_DuO.html

(about corn, not heat)

On Wed, 27 Aug 2003 22:07:31 -0700, (Glenna
Rose) wrote:



Every kernel grew, every single kernel, I kid you not. In a two 15-foot
rows, I had many dozens of corn stalks expecting to have a dozen at most.
It was excellent corn. The sad part is that it was so delicious, I wanted
to grow the same variety again. Expecting to have no, or little,
germination, I tossed the package right after planting. So much for
guidelines of when it can grow.

Do you remember what variety it was, Glenna? If we move (as
now appears probable - given some luck), I'll have an acre
of land!

Room for corn!!! Room for pumpkins and winter squash too!!!
That will be a real joy. I'll also have room for fruit
trees, raspberries, strawberries, rhubarb, etc.

I'll grow my garden within a 'dog moat' as I do in this
place, and it does keep the critters away very nicely. We
have two large-ish dogs. The garden is itself fenced, and
is contained *within* the dogs' fenced area.

If we move (with some luck - we need to sell this house and
need to reach agreement with the owner of the new place,
which we think we have), we'll be living in a dilapidated,
decrepit old trailer but WITH AN ACRE OF USABLE LEVEL
LAND!!!! And no mortgage.

Pat

Plant them and see what happens. At worst they simply won't grow so
whats to lose?

kessira wrote:

Greetings,

This is going to be a weird question - please bear with me.

I am a librarian working in a special collections library; we get lots
of old volumes with lots of odd things stuck in them (dried flowers,
pictures, etc.) Today, one of my coworkers found several kernels of
corn stuck in the margins of a book called "The gardeners dictionary",
by Philip Miller, published sometime around 1756-1759. Now, we're not
thinking these are 350 year old pieces of corn, but they *could* be.

Can you tell what kind of corn you have? I had Luther Hill heirloom
corn that were viable after 8 years. Hard and roundish kernels are
probably pop corn, wrinkled seeds are probably sweet corn and seeds
with a small dent on the flat side is for flour.

I would use damp paper towels, keep the seeds spaced an inch apart.
If possible, change the paper every day. You'll expect some to die
and become mouldy, don't let those seeds infect seeds. Good luck!

Hi Joan. I often plant the same batch of corn for 2 or 3 years. I find
that after 3 years, the germination rate falls off a bit. Even worse,
there are quite a few runts that never produce, among those that do come
up. I store my leftover seed in a cool cellar sealed in a jar with some
silica gel to keep the moisture low.
These results are with the super sweet varieties and standard sweet corn
might do better.
I wondering what your corn seed looks like. Is it slightly shriveled
like a sweet corn or completely shrunken like the super sweets? Is it
plump like a field corn or like pop corn?
If you do plant it, I would suggest planting it indoors in the spring to
give it ideal conditions. If it grows, plant it out and see what you get.

Steve



kessira wrote:

Greetings,

This is going to be a weird question - please bear with me.

I am a librarian working in a special collections library; we get lots
of old volumes with lots of odd things stuck in them (dried flowers,
pictures, etc.) Today, one of my coworkers found several kernels of
corn stuck in the margins of a book called "The gardeners dictionary",
by Philip Miller, published sometime around 1756-1759. Now, we're not
thinking these are 350 year old pieces of corn, but they *could* be.

I've done some searching on corn and planting online, but I can't find
a source that tells me the, well, "shelf-life" of a kernel of corn.
We're intrigued by the idea of planting these and seeing what happens,
but we don't want to go to all the time and bother if these are too
old. If we do end up planting, what would be the best way to prepare
the kernels? Should we soak them in water, or keep them between wet
paper towels, or just put them in some potting soil?

Sorry for all the potentially dumb questions; we have done lots of
gardening, but not with seeds like this!

Thanks,
Joan
Chapel Hill, NC

writes:

Do you remember what variety it was, Glenna? If we move (as
now appears probable - given some luck), I'll have an acre
of land!

I wish so much I did. Because it was several years old, I didn't pay
attention since I didn't expect it to perform well at all. It was so very
good, too.

On the positive side, I learned my lesson about keeping packages or at
least writing the name on some sort of record. Or think I did anyway. g

Glenna

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:02:40 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

If we move (as
now appears probable - given some luck), I'll have an acre
of land!

And still no pictures of your current garden and pots and porch and
whatnot! At the very least, you should document 'before' and 'after'.

Will keep fingers crossed for the switch to new 'acreage'. :-)

On Fri, 29 Aug 2003 11:47:48 GMT, Frogleg
wrote:

On Thu, 28 Aug 2003 08:02:40 -0400, Pat Meadows
wrote:

If we move (as
now appears probable - given some luck), I'll have an acre
of land!

And still no pictures of your current garden and pots and porch and
whatnot! At the very least, you should document 'before' and 'after'.

Will keep fingers crossed for the switch to new 'acreage'. :-)

Thanks, I'll appreciate all good thoughts. We have to sell
our current home first - our offer is contingent upon
selling it, so it won't be quick. We still haven't seen the
inside of the trailer either (our offer to buy it is also
contingent upon seeing it and accepting it).

And having the house ready to show at all times is
ghastly.... the whole process is ghastly, actually. I wish
I could wave a magic wand and be in the new place without
any of the intervening ghastliness. I hate moving with a
passion.

Pat

writes:

And having the house ready to show at all times is
ghastly.... the whole process is ghastly, actually. I wish
I could wave a magic wand and be in the new place without
any of the intervening ghastliness. I hate moving with a
passion.

Sorry, Pat, I'm really *sick* today . . . couldn't help thinking maybe
you'd better like moving if it was without passion.

I will be empathizing with you soon. My mother will be moving from where
she has lived since 1965. Out of obligation (and for a clearer conscience
later), I'll be helping her with some of the packing. I know how much
crap (sorry) that I still have to go through after moving in 1999 because
I didn't want to deal with it then and just moved boxes of stuff that
shouldn't have been moved the last time so can only imagine what hers will
be like.

My crap is from two moves that were not sorted and tossed, includes
children's years, a long-ago ended marriage, a closed-for-seven-years
business, etc. Get the idea that I'll be tossing about 90 percent of the
boxed stuff?

You have my very best wishes for things to go smoothly, efficiently and
easily. I'll be thinking kind thoughts for you though won't offer to come
and help. :-)

Glenna

(Glenna Rose) wrote:

My crap is from two moves that were not sorted and tossed, includes
children's years, a long-ago ended marriage, a closed-for-seven-years
business, etc.

I've still got two closets full of late wife's stuff from nearly two years
ago. And to think she groused about having to deal with her parent's
stuff! Truly, I'm not a lot better, though I'm simplifying by the
twelve-step method: One trash can at a time. With occasional bags to the
local City Mission.

I'm _almost_ looking forward to winter!

The good thing about growing garlic, is that I can start looking forward to
spring in late October, knowing the wheel will come around once again.


Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at www.albany.net/~gwoods
Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1200' elevation. NY WO G

writes:

I've still got two closets full of late wife's stuff from nearly two years
ago. And to think she groused about having to deal with her parent's
stuff! Truly, I'm not a lot better, though I'm simplifying by the
twelve-step method: One trash can at a time. With occasional bags to the
local City Mission.

Hugs to Gary {{{ Gary }}}

It's very difficult, and no one knows unless they've been there and lost
someone very close. I still have all of my son's things and don't even
concern myself with when to go through them and save just a small amount.
My closets here at the new house are shared with his things as well as the
bedroom I use having boxes of his things in it on the other side. (The
large bedroom is set aside for office.) I figure that I'll know when the
time is right to sort Mark's things; after all, I have the rest of my life
to do it. None of the stuff that is yelling at me to go through is his
stuff except that which belonged to him as a child, but the boys' stuff is
a very small amount of that that needs to be sorted (and tossed!). I've
tried very hard to concentrate on living which is why the garden is such a
blessing. It's been my biggest help for adjustment to his being gone from
this physical life. There is nothing that can quite match going into the
garden early in the morning and seeing the miracle of life before our
eyes. Watching the miracles each morning that took place from dusk to
dawn is a truly wonderful thing. I told my two older sons and close
friends that I knew I would be okay when I started planting grapes and
kiwi since they both take two to five years to produce. :-) *And* I do
have some kiwi this year, only a few small bunches, but they are there!
*And* the mulberry tree (black) had a bunch of berries on it this summer.
The paw-paw trees are still very short but someday . . . g

My son would be so pleased that this yard and garden has been such a
comfort to me. It's so wonderful to share the bounty from it with others,
especially those who have shown me kindness these last few years. If
you're interested, Mark's pages are at www.pacifier.com/~bowman which was
his account; it seemed appropriate to place his memorial pages there. The
counter was over 10,000 when the server changed some things and it no
longer works, bummer.

I'm _almost_ looking forward to winter!

Oh, the wonder of planning for next spring! It's so much fun looking at
all the catalogs and thinking back to what people said about what plants .
.. . and looking for the bits and pieces of jotted notes as to what to be
sure to remember for next year.g


The good thing about growing garlic, is that I can start looking forward
to
spring in late October, knowing the wheel will come around once again.

Looked at part of your web pages; you are the only person I "know" who has
snow around their veggies. LOL

You are a gardener after my heart with the leek flowers.g I love to see
mine bloom and later use the scissors on them to include the bulblets (is
that the right term?) to include them in soups, etc. They lose their bite
but add such a wonderful flavor. I toss the rest into a pot of soup and
take it out before serving for the extra the stem and rest provide.

Your grandbaby is cute as only grandbabies can be. :-)

So what do you do with all that garlic?

Glenna

When last we left our heros, on Fri, 29 Aug 2003 09:24:12 -0400,
Pat Meadows scribbled:

sweet savage snippage

And having the house ready to show at all times is
ghastly.... the whole process is ghastly, actually. I wish
I could wave a magic wand and be in the new place without
any of the intervening ghastliness. I hate moving with a
passion.

I feeeeeel yourrrrr paiiiiin!

I moved two years ago after living in the same place for 14
years. I hope the next time I move it will be to a smallish plot
about 6 feet down.

Good luck

Pam


--
"Maybe you'd like to ask the Wizard for a heart."
"ElissaAnn"