Well, Not Every Experiment is Going to Work

Just in case you were under the impression that I knew what I was doing, I thought I'd tell you about my little adventures in growing corn this year. I'm pretty sure I made a rooky mistake. I've been thinking for a while that the corn would be ready "any time now." Finally, I pulled back the husk of one of the ears of corn today. Here's what greeted me:

Ug. That's 3 little kernels surrounded by a whole lot of nuthin. A quick look on the Internet immediately revealed my problem: lack of pollination. Another look at the Internet revealed why they didn't pollinate: I didn't plant enough. (Not by a long shot.) Apparently I should have planted 36 plants at once. 36! This is my scrawny little corn patch:

Yes, if it takes 36 plants to get some good pollination going, I can see why this didn't work. Ah well. (Also, you may notice a few bean plants at the bottom of those corn husks. I planted those waaaaaaaay too late, so those are bust too.)

This vegetable gardening thing is all an experiment for me, which means there are bound to be some lows along with the highs. Ah well, better luck next year. In the meantime, I guess I'll start looking for ways to preserve corn, since 36 plants next year is going to produce an awful lot corn.