If you recall, this is what our corn looked like just a few weeks ago. Matt babied it and worked so hard to keep it weed free.
You can imagine, then, our despair when we woke up one morning this week after a big rain and wind storm to find this:
I saw it first…and I HATED to tell Matt about it. It was probably only a couple days away from being ready to eat. sniff
We learned a little bit from this experience about creating good hills around the base of the corn to prevent this. Of course, we are glad that it was just a small part of our garden and not our livelihood. But still…
We are now about two days out from this unfortunate corn flattening and since the plants are still alive, it would seem that we may still be able to eat some of the corn. Maybe?!
And while I’m whining, I may as well show you this, which ALSO happened this week:
Apparently I had filled it too full of broth when I put it in the freezer because it cracked quite a lot. Which means that not only did I lose my beloved jar, but I also lost a half gallon of nutritious broth. I mean…maybe I could have strained out glass pieces from the broth…but did I really feel like taking a chance that one of us would have a tiny little piece of broken glass in our chicken and rice? Um, no.
So there you have it. And you thought you visited my blog for a daily dose of encouragement. Instead, you come visit and Laura is whining about her fallen corn and her broken jar.
Let’s see…maybe I can come up with some encouragement for you:
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. When this happens you have to throw away a bunch of good broth and bear the bad news to your husband that a lot of his hard work just went to waste. It’s a chance to practice being a good help meet. (That was not at all encouraging.)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. Broth kinda looks neat with glass floating in it. (Better?)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. At least the corn all laid down the same way in the garden so as to be consistent. (I’m trying.)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. It’s a good thing two of my kids aren’t big on eating corn on the cob anyway. (Right?)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. When I poured the broth onto the ground (in an untraveled area) I bet some raccoon had a really great and nutritious feast lapping it up later. (Always good to help the coons build strong bones and better immune systems.)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. Eh, I don’t really like jars that much anyway. (Yeah, right.)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. It’s a delightful chance to talk to your kids about how when we don’t stand with our feet firmly rooted in the strength of Jesus, we just blow over when a strong wind comes. (And then they will look at you with a blank stare because today the wind isn’t blowing.)
- Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. Basically, you just have to get over it and move on. (Which is real encouragement because it’s the truth.)
And there you have it. ;)
You’re awesome ;-) and you crack me up!!
This one is my favorite, I love it! :)
?Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. It’s a delightful chance to talk to your kids about how when we don’t stand with our feet firmly rooted in the strength of Jesus, we just blow over when a strong wind comes. (And then they will look at you with a blank stare because today the wind isn’t blowing.)
by the way, I’ve had that experience with a few jars of broth and always feel so dumb . . .and a little bit tempted to use the broth anyway. . .
Sometimes jars break and corn falls over. Take the opportunity to remind precious children that that Lord provides all our needs. Smile, then remind yourself the same thing, and think of how truly blessed you are in spite of the setback…and be thankful that these things don’t happen EVERY day (although it sure seems like it sometimes!). God bless, and a sincere that you for this blog!
you actually make me feel more human. :)
That exact thing happened to our corn a few weeks ago (apparently we had strong enough winds to be classified a “gust-nado” . . . whatever that is). Walked out to the car for church on Sunday morning and it was almost all laying down. Not a fun way to start the day! Did a little research and most of it said to just leave it alone, and sure enough, about 80% of it stood back up straight and the rest kept on growing, just at an angle. So, don’t lose hope!
Of course, then we had some bug and squirrel issues which leads me to my own “sniff”, but the wind knocking it down didn’t do it in!
I feel your pain about the corn and the broth! That looked like a half gallon jar – those are my favorites! I groaned when I saw the picture of yours. I would have debated about saving the broth, too, and then just ditched it.
The corn may recover, I hope. One of my kids trampled one of my corn plants, and it did recover a bit.
I’ve sure done the broth thing. I’ve learned to regrigerate
the jar 24 hrs before freezing and so far it’s working.
As far as the corn goes, don’t give up. We have had that happen before and the corn stood back up by itself, leaning a
good bit…but we still got our corn. God is amazing.
Do you freeze everything in jars? I froze some spaghetti sauce in my canning jars, I was nervous it would do just what yours did. They ended up freezing very nicely, I am sure though tit is an art deciding just how much to put in the jar so there is not too much air or you don’t fill them too much. Do you use the plastic or metal lids when freezing the jars?
I do freeze things in jars quite regularly. I use either metal or plastic, whatever I have available.
The happened to me with about TEN jars of freshly made applesause… Needless to say, I learned my lesson! I’ve moved on to canning most of my applesauce now. ;)
*le sigh*
I alway enjoy your blog. :)
I understand. We only have room for a really small garden. But nevertheless, we carve out the space for ONE zucchini plant. Cause one usually still gives you tons of zucchini (and therefore tons of chocolate, chocolate chip zucchini bread that we all love). Yeah, it got sick and died this week. So now I’m shamelessly mooching.
How sad about the corn! My squash and zucchini plants died all of a sudden right when they were starting to produce! I was so sad, and still am, because those were the two things I wanted to the most!! Oh, well. Like you said, get over it and move on. (But it still makes me sad)
Laura,
Ours fell over too, but we find from past experience that it will sometimes gravitate back towards the sunlight and stand up again. Don’t despair… your corn may be just fine in a few days.
We’ve had our corn blown over in storms before and I was able to get out there while the ground was still muddy from the rain and prop the corn back up by mounding the dirt (MUD) around the base of each corn plant again. Yes, it was a pain, but it worked.
And then the sun did the rest of the job by helping the corn plants to perk back up the rest of the way. The plants were no worse for wear later and produced wonderful corn. It’s worth a try!!!!!
I agree with Miranda and Michelle. I think the corn will be just fine. If the roots are intact and connected to the plant, I don’t see a reason the plant won’t keep growing. My parents planted corn every year and I saw this happen many times. They would straighten back up and make lots of corn.
Sorry about your corn…I hope the other ladies here are correct and it will “perk up” again with a little help…really sorry about the jar…and about the broth…but I do enjoy you sharing these things with us. I think just the sharing of everyday experiences, both good and not so good is what helps us get through things and helps us pull closer to God. Have a great day today!
I am sorry about your corn. I feel your pain (though on a much MUCH smaller scale). I went out to my teeny tiny container garden yesterday morning all excited to pick my ONE tomato and FOUR tiny strawberries only to find that something had eaten my berries! I suspect a cute little bunny that I have seen in my yard here lately. My tomato was untouched though so at least I can still enjoy that. I do love how you can always come up with a little God inspired lesson when things like this happen to you. I especially liked the one about the bug in your sink. It still makes me smile. Thanks for sharing!!
Okay, I’m feeling real stupid right now, but I did not know you could freeze things in glass! Can you really do that without it cracking?
Yes, you just have to fill them 3/4 full or LESS. I think I filled mine to full this time…plus I was probably impatient and put it into the freezer when it was still too warm. :(
Oh I’m so sorry for your corn. I’m betting if it’s only days from maturing, you’ll still be able to harvest it, though. Also, I’m curious what you mean about “good hills” for the corn?
By good hills, I mean that we need to do a better job of pushing some dirt/soil up around the base of each plant a few inches to give them more support. Does that make sense?! :)
Laura, I am so sorry for your loss. However, you should never freeze anything in jars with “shoulders.” Only freeze in straight sided jars (usually considered wide mouth jars.) This will prevent things from ezpanding too quickly and cracking the jars. I do hope your corn recovers. I agree that if you leave it alone, most of it will still be salvageable. Thanks for all your wonderful insights.
This was a wide mouth jar…but it was a half gallon sized. I think the problem was that I filled it a little too full, and didn’t wait for it to cool enough.
I needed that! I have been blue by some things happening this am..trying to see the blessing in the shortfalls in life. God gave me two good surprises when I got home then the reality of I just need to get over it and move on! Keep our eyes on Jesus! Thanks
Oh NO! Corn is a challenge and the weather can be less than kind! I hope tomorrow brings a lovely day.
I’m sorry to hear your troubles, I hope the corn still turns out ok! Do you have a recipe for your broth? It sounds delicious!
I do have a recipe for it, but it isn’t on my site…it’s in this ebook if you’re interested: https://www.heavenlyhomemakers.com/have-your-fruits-and-veggies-too-ebook
Thanks, Laura. I figured that’s what you meant, but I’ve never done that before. I think I’ll try that!
Oh, no, I’m sorry! Hey, I think the corn should come back up and be okay. Don’t give up on it just yet. :)
I am so sorry, no matter how we try to grin and bear it, sometimes stuff just stinks. All the better to let it out with a sense of humor! SO much better than letting it out with tears.
That is so sad! I know how you feel too. I planted my first garden this year and had two huge zucchini plants and had just gotten one zucchini off of each. I was away from home last week and when I got back, my zucchini plants were all withered up and dead. My hubby had been home and I asked him what happened. He said that he had been watering the garden, but one night there was a big storm and the stems broke off a little bit so the plants died. I am so sad about it!
It is such a bummer to lose plants that would have provided good, nutritious, FREE food for us, but you are right in saying that at least it’s not our livelihood, or our only source of food. I’m grateful I can still buy zucchini at the farmer’s market. And I hope that your corn makes a comeback!
Ugh! but at least it sounds like there might be hope for the corn. The other day I found a broken jar in the freezer, but the broth was still frozen. I had a moment of deliberation and indecision, and then I took off the glass and washed it off and then set it in a bowl to defrost. I’m taking my chances with that one because it didn’t seem possible for any shards of glass to be in the broth. I guess we’ll see!
Well I feel better now about how much smaller my corn is. It’s frustrating sometimes to see pictures of prospering gardens when we’re still getting intermittent snow storms. We’re not now, but we do always freeze a time or two in June.
We’ve had an occassional bottle break in the freezer, but I always figure that the loss of a bottle and the food is still cheaper than if I had bought that item from the store.
I love how that one corn plant in the front is standing up perfectly straight. (in the first picture) He’s a strong stubborn little guy! Ha!
I am always sad too when there is a garden flop or “disaster”. Usually when something like that happens the Lord gently reminds me that it’s not a real tragedy by showing someone who actually is going through something much worse. Or…He reminds me of how good He is by providing me something else in place of the loss. Perhaps you will meet a new friend, Laura, who will give you some corn! :) Or something. :)
…and our corn is all shrively due to the drought, even if we are watering it all the time. There is always something with gardening.
As for broken jars, they are the worst! I lost a half pint of ketchup last night while canning. I forgot to check for cracks first. Its always seems so much worse due to the work involved in getting the food in there in the first plaace. Do you always freeze r do you can some of your broth? I am thinking of canning mine as I don’t have enough room in my freezer for it.
I’ve never canned my broth because that requires a pressure cooker and I have yet to use one. :) I’m scared of it. I’ve only canned food that can be canned in a water bath. I’d LOVE to learn to can soups and broth and such. I have a good friend who knows how to use a pressure cooker, so I’m hoping she can come over sometime and help me get over my fear!
I’ve also stood my corn back up and mounded the soil around the base and it did fine.
Now I know that you’re human… I’ve been waiting for this post, my dear. Thanks for sharing all sides of your life with us.
Oh my…stick around and you will for sure learn how human I am! (Or go back and read some old posts!!)
Oh, I know your frustration! We had a storm blow over some of our best tomato plants last week. And then just this week I was freezing my batch of “contraband” raw milk and put about 4 gallons in glass milk jugs, and they ALL broke. The ones I put in the canning jars didn’t break though. I will stick with the plastic jugs next time! I have to admit that I have been straining that milk. So far so good. I just couldn’t bear to throw out all that raw milk when we have to go to such great lengths just to get it!
I’ve got one for you … sometimes jars break and corn falls over but you’ve still got THE most gorgeous black soil I’ve ever seen. Here in Georgia everything is hard-baked red clay (sure wish I could send a picture). I would probably just lie down and roll in soil that beautiful!!! (But not where you poured the chicken broth with glass pieces in it) :)
Jars break, corn falls over, chicken snakes eat your eggs and kill your baby keets, coyotes eat half of your goat, loved ones die, the garden just stops producing everything except gourds, freezers die and the next week the refrigerator dies (both less than 2 years old), sons are diagnosed with disabilities, husbands need surgery, another pregnancy wears you out, the car won’t start… This has been my 2010. (My corn blew over a few weeks ago.) Yes, you move on, but you always remember that no matter what happens, God is still in control. Thanks for helping me remember that today. I needed the reminder.
Plastic works GREAT in the freezer! :~)