Dayton "Dirt" - July 26, 2013

What a difference several miles make! While the Marietta sweet corn in the market has been favorably received by the customers as to it’s freshness, the Seiberling sweet corn is even better! At $4.50 per dozen, the sweet corn is definitely a good value for the dollar. Long gone are the days when I used to sell Seiberling sweet corn for 75¢ per dozen! Chuck Seiberling definitely was correct when he stated that last year’s crop was not as good because of the extreme heat and drought. Everything seems to be growing well especially after the large irrigation pump was repaired by Hunnel Electric in Akron and by Brad the maintenance man. How aggravating it was to irrigate with the smaller recycle pump as the water not being filtered constantly clogged sprinklers again and again. On Wednesday, I spotted a grafted sweet million tomato plant at a friend’s house that was planted in a 16 inch container with tomatoes coming on like grapes on an eight foot plant! The plant had fallen over at least 2 times with some breakage so that it was finally secured with a 6 foot steel fence post! Today is propagation day as time is running out with the days getting shorter. Azaleas, spiraea, franklinia, hydrangeas, etc. will be harvested for cuttings and stuck into a prepared rooting media and stored under intermittent mist until they are rooted. I just wish I could obtain a license for some of the Proven Winner shrubs but as of yet no luck. Happy Harvest! Tom