> I don't think it can be grown adequately without the ritual. Corn
(or
> as folks not from this neck of the woods call it - maize) is not
> easily grown. Its terribly, terribly draining on the soil, even
with
> good crop mixture (planting it with beans or other
nitrogen 'fixers').
>
> Even the varieties planted by the native americans, with their
> relatively low crop yields, required extensive fertilization and
> husbandry. Traditionally, each mound of corn was fertilized by
> planting a dead fish 6" under it. Worse, corn is terribly vunerable
to
> disease and parasites. More so than more conventional grains.
>
For what it is worth, modern sweet corn grows fine in a three year
rotation around a veggie garden fertilized with no more than good
helpings of compost, provided that you plant nitrogen fixers like
peas or beans in the second year.
--Bryan
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