145 Harvesting Popcorn. Autumn Sage

Major League Baseball playoffs have started, and you know what that means? It’s time to harvest your popcorn! However, it’s still not ready for eating. How do you know when it’s ready to be popped? We have the popcorn harvesting tips for you today. The Plant of the Week is widely adaptable throughout the West, the South, and up through the Carolinas and Virginia. Salvia, the sage plant. In particular, we are talking about the autumn sage, Salvia greggii,  a real hummingbird magnet.

Starting a new lawn in USDA Zone 9 now? Are watering restrictions thwarting your efforts? There’s a way around that.

 It’s on episode 145 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. 

And we will do it all in under 30 minutes. Let’s go!
 
Pictured:
Organic popcorn varieties, including Dakota  Black, Cherokee Long Ear, Pennsylvania Butter-Flavor popcorn

Links:

Smart Pots
Dave Wilson Nursery
UC Davis Arboretum
The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter
Popcorn seed
Lil Stripper popcorn sheller
My favorite popcorn popper!
Autumn Sage

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Chapters

• 1:22 Harvesting Popcorn
• 9:34 Smart Pots!
• 10:37 Watering a New Lawn
• 12:55 Dave Wilson Nursery
• 13:52 Plant of the Week: Autumn Sage
• 22:32 Subscribe to the Garden Basics newsletter. Free!

Transcript

Garden Basics #145  Harvesting Popcorn. Plant of the Week: Autumn Sage.

23:58

Farmer Fred  0:00  

Garden Basics with Farmer Fred is brought to you by Smart Pots, the original lightweight, long lasting fabric plant container. it's made in the USA. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred for more information and a special discount, that's SmartPots.com/Fred. Welcome to the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast. If you're just a beginning gardener or you want good gardening information, you've come to the right spot.  

Farmer Fred  0:32  

Major League Baseball playoffs have started and you know what that means? It's time to harvest your popcorn. However, it's still not ready for eating. So how do you know when it's ready to be popped? We have the popcorn harvesting tips for you today. The Plant of the Week: it's widely adaptable throughout the West, the south and up through the Carolinas and Virginia. It's salvia, the sage plant. In particular, we are talking about the autumn sage (Salvia greggii), a real hummingbird magnet. Starting a new lawn in USDA zone nine right now? Are there watering restrictions thwarting your efforts? There's a way around that. It's all on episode 145 of the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred podcast, brought to you today by Smart Pots and Dave Wilson Nursery. And we'll do it all in under 30 minutes. Let's go. 

Farmer Fred  1:25  

We like to answer your garden questions here on the Garden Basics podcast. You can get them in, in a variety of ways: you can email them into Fred at farmerfred.com; you can give us a call 916-292-8964, 916-292-8964. I'd like it if you'd use Speak Pipe. SpeakPipe.com slash GardenBasics. You just go to that website, speakpipe.com, find Garden Basics, and then yell at your computer the question. It's that easy. You don't have to yell, but try it. You just might hear your voice on the Garden Basics podcast. You can also text us at those numbers that I gave you: 916-292-8964, if you want to attach pictures. You can leave us a message at the Farmer Fred Facebook page. It's the Get Growing with Farmer Fred Facebook page. Did I leave anybody out? Oh, just the usual culprits: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube. We got this question from Kevin in Oakley, California. Debbie Flower is here, our favorite retired college horticultural Professor. Oakley, not to be confused with Oakland, but in the same general area, the eastern portion of the San Francisco Bay Area. And Kevin writes in and says, "Hi, Fred, my popcorn plants look like they could be doing better. They are fading to a lighter green and starting to yellow. I fertilize them with fish emulsion and didn't notice any improvement. I watered them every other day when it's hot outside. Should I thin them out? I planted them on six inch centers. Maybe that's part of the problem, too. The other issue I can think of is sunlight. This spot gets about six to seven hours of sun a day. Any  advice you have would be appreciated." I've grown a lot of popcorn in my time. And Debbie, they like full sun. Yes, they they need as much sun as possible.

Debbie Flower  3:13  

You got it out here and in a barrel in full sun even reflected sun. 

Farmer Fred  3:19  

And they produced ears of corn this year. I can't wait to let them cure and pop them up. But yeah, it was successful in for that area, which was a very hot area. They did just fine. So I'm keeping that in mind. But yeah, what else could have been besides the sunlight and the fact that he does have them planted a little too close together, they should be I think about 12 inches apart.

Debbie Flower  3:43  

Yes, plants that are planted too close together usually don't produce, they don't flower. So  I think they should be thinned and he mentioned that as a possibility. And when you do thin, don't pull. Just cut them off at the ground. If you pull, you'll disturb the roots of the ones that you are going to leave in the ground. 

Farmer Fred  3:59  

Good point. 

Debbie Flower  4:00  

Yeah, the other is he talked about them fading to yellow, and that he waters every other day. And he did use fish emulsion. Fish Emulsion has some nitrogen, which is the first number on any fertilizer container. And nitrogen is needed for green growth. There is lots of nitrogen in each chlorophyll molecule and chlorophyll is the green molecule, the green pigment that we see in the plant, so I am suspecting that it's nitrogen deficient. Nitrogen moves very easily with water. So if you put a little on and then you water it in, and water every other day, I have to water things every other day in my garden too. But so that's not a problem. It's just that the nitrogen can wash out. So maybe when he waters you could follow up with a little fish emulsion or some other source of nitrogen. As I said fish emulsion is not very high in nitrogen. Corn is what we call a heavy feeder. It's actually a grass it's in the same family as fescue and Kentucky blue grass and the other kinds of grass we use in our lawns and all. What kind of fertilizer do we put on a lawn? nitrogen?

Farmer Fred  5:03  

Yeah, lots of nitrogen, lots of nitrogen. And if you're using fish emulsion, and that's how I fertilized my popcorn when I'm growing it, I did apply it every week,  and that's still following label directions.

Debbie Flower  5:17  

But it's a rate listed on the label then yeah, yes.

Farmer Fred  5:21  

So yes, a regular feeding. And like you say, it depends really on the consistency of your soil. If it's sandy soil, that nitrogen could disappear quickly, right?

Debbie Flower  5:30  

And nitrogen, regardless of your, well, of all the nutrients we apply to plants, it moves the fastest out of the soil with water.

Farmer Fred  5:39  

It can be a gas very easily.

Debbie Flower  5:41  

It also be a gas very easily. Yes, if you put it on the surface, it can become a gas. In fact, there's more nitrogen on earth in the gas form than in any other form. 

Farmer Fred  5:49  

A lot of good that does for plants. 

Debbie Flower  5:51  

Well, that's a thing we could go on another scenic bypass. Nitrogen fixation?

Farmer Fred  5:58  

Well, that would be the cover crop episode. 

Debbie Flower  6:00  

Yes. Right. All right. 

Farmer Fred  6:02  

But basically, Kevin, I think this might be a situation of wait til next year, because it's getting a little late in the season, even though it is early fall, but still not as many hours of sunlight in the day and the sun is lower in the horizon. And, based on my experience, the best time to harvest popcorn is when the whole stalk has turned brown, and you've got one or two ears and then you can harvest those ears. But don't pop them up immediately. They're still too moist, you're looking for a moisture content of 13 to 17%. And I found it's best to just storing them where they can get air on all sides. So storing them in an nylon bag or something like an orange bag, something with a lot of  air circulation in it. And keeping it in that bag for a week or two with a husks on, by the way, letting it dry out for a couple of weeks, and then peel off one of the husks on one of the cobs after that period of time. And take a handful of the kernels and put them in a hot pan on the stove that has a bit of oil in it. And the kernels: do they all pop fairly quickly? In unison? Good, then it's ready, You can start canning that popcorn or preserving it. If on the other hand, they just sit there and burn. They're still too moist. So you want to wait until those kernels are at a point where they are popping quickly, fully efficiently, in that hot oil on the stove. And that might take another couple of weeks after you've peeled off the husks and let them again sit in a room with a lot of good ventilation. And in my estimation, the best time to harvest the popcorn is the first week of baseball playoffs in October and by the time you're  stripping the kernels off the corn cob to put in jars, that is usually in the middle of college football season, usually about the same week that USC plays Notre Dame.  I have discovered that over the years, so use that for your popping and i don't know what'll happen.

Debbie Flower  8:11  

About how many days does it take to grow the popcorn plant from seed to harvest?

Farmer Fred  8:16  

seed to harvest...

Debbie Flower  8:19  

You'd get that information off of a seed packet but i  wondered if you just knew off the top of your head.

Farmer Fred  8:24  

Well basically, late June is when I usually planted it because I wanted the soil at maximum temperature for warmth, to get off to a good start. And then you harvest around the first week of October. So, July, August September. 

Debbie Flower  8:37  

three and a half months or so. 

Farmer Fred  8:38  

So yeah, 90 days, 100 days. Okay. And again, wait until that stalk turns totally brown. And then you can harvest

Debbie Flower  8:47  

Then use the stalks to decorate for Halloween.

Farmer Fred  8:49  

Exactly. Always, somebody wants them. Yes. Yeah, sell them. I never had to trash corn stalks when I was growing it commercially. Somebody had come by and say are you gonna use those stocks? They're yours. Pull them out of the ground. And that would work. But Kevin, Yeah, good job with the popcorn. Folks. If you've never grown popcorn, give it a try once and you would grow it just like you would sweet corn but don't grow the two together. No, no. Otherwise your teeth... 

Debbie Flower  9:13  

Yes, you'll either have broken teeth or mushy popcorn. Right? 

Farmer Fred  9:17  

So I would separate the two by about 500 feet. Good luck on that if you live in suburban purgatory, but you try it. Growing popcorn one year instead of sweet corn. Debbie Flower, thanks for your help on this.

Debbie Flower  9:31  

Oh, it's always a pleasure. I always learn from you, Fred. Thanks.

Farmer Fred  9:38  

We're glad to have Smart Pots on board, supporting the Garden Basics podcast. Smart Pots. It's the original, award-winning fabric planter. It's sold worldwide. And Smart Pots are proudly made, 100% in the USA. Smart Pots come in a wide array of sizes and colors. If a frost or freeze is in the forecast, moving your frost tender plants that are in the Smart Pots that have handles makes them easier to move closer to the house for added warmth. Or, you could even move them inside for the winter. Visit SmartPots.com slash Fred  for more information about the complete line of Smart Pots lightweight, colorful fabric containers. And don't forget that slash Fred part. Because on that page, are details of discounts when you buy Smart Pots at Amazon. If you want to see them before you buy Smart Pots they are available at independent garden centers and select Ace and True Value hardware stores nationwide. To find a store near you visit Smart Pots.com slash Fred.

Farmer Fred  10:42  

Here in the drought-parched West, as well as in other parts of the country, there are water restrictions in place that limit the amount of water that you can apply to your yard. Usually it's in terms of a day per week, or maybe two days per week; or,  the price of the water gets exorbitantly high if you go over a certain limit. In USDA zone nine if you live with those restrictions, you could probably still start a new lawn. Now one of the tricks of starting a new lawn successfully is to keep it evenly moist until the seeds have germinated. It takes about two weeks, maybe three weeks or so before that happens. And in order to keep the soil evenly moist, you may have to run the sprinklers for a very short amount of time, maybe a couple of minutes, four or five times a day. However, that flies in the face of the rules for some of us if you have a water company that is restricting your watering. The key, according to Steve Zien of Living Resources Company, is let your water company know that you're starting a new lawn.

Steve Zien  11:43  

For a lot of people, especially here in the West, their water purveyor, the people, they get their water from, have restrictions and they say you can't water 2-3-4 times a day. And there are, in most places, restrictions. Part of the restrictions say that if you are starting a new lawn, or putting seeds of some sort down, you can do that. Often, though, you have to call your water supplier to tell them that you are doing that. Because in some areas, neighbors call on their neighbors saying this guy's watering, you know, three, four or five times a day. And then the water police come out and will fine you. Or if you convince them, and it's pretty usually pretty easy to say, well I'm putting down a new lawn, they'll say okay, but you're supposed to call us first. And it just wastes the energy and time of the water purveyor by having to go out. So just  call your water district. If you have water restrictions, let them know.

Farmer Fred  12:54  

If you're thinking of growing fruit trees, or maybe you already have your own backyard full of fruit trees, you probably have a million questions. Like, which fruit trees will grow well where I live? What are the tastiest fruits to grow? How do I care for them? What are the most important things to know when starting a backyard orchard? Well, the good news is: those answers are just a click away with the informative videos that you can find at DaveWilson.com. That's Dave Wilson Nursery, the nation's largest grower of fruit trees for the backyard garden. At DaveWilson.com , you'll also find planting tips, taste test results, fruit variety recommendations, and links to nurseries in your area that carry Dave Wilson fruit trees. Your harvest to better health begins at DaveWilson.com.

Farmer Fred  13:50  

Every week we like to talk with Warren Roberts out at the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden, finding out what plant is putting on a show currently. And now that we are in fall, there are plenty of plants with the word 'Autumn' in their name, and not the least of which is a beautiful Sage plant, a salvia with the name "Autumn Sage". Warren Roberts is here to tell us all about it. And Warren, I love salvias. They're such easy care plants, don't require much care. About the only thing you have to do is keep them in check.

Warren Roberts  14:22  

That's true and occasionally a little information. I guess you'd call that sage advice. 

Farmer Fred  14:27  

Thank you. 

Warren Roberts  14:29  

You're welcome. I think that of the large genus, salvia, I don't know how many species now, because a number of plants from other genera are now being put into salvia. For example, Rosemary is now Salvia rosemarinus and even Russian Sage or Persian Sage is now a salvia. I think it's called Salvia yangi. So it's tribe increases. 

Farmer Fred  14:59  

Yeah. What happened to perovskia?

Warren Roberts  15:01  

Well, it's now salvia. All right.

Farmer Fred  15:05  

I can't keep up with it.

Warren Roberts  15:07  

No, it's hard to keep up. To me. It's amusing. It's fun. I love it because it's based on science. It's worthy of our respect.

Farmer Fred  15:17  

Why? Is it based on science? Or is it based on scientists?

Warren Roberts  15:23  

Well, scientists, real scientists, if they are true scientists, practice science, which is evidence base knowledge. Anyway, salvia, back to salvia...

Farmer Fred  15:34  

Okay, back to salvia even though we could have a discussion about how plants get their name. And it sounds like when they're trying to nominate a saint in the Catholic Church, you have bishops arguing with each other about the pros and cons. But this guy, Greg, Salvia greggii, the Autumnn sage, tell us about that.

Warren Roberts  15:52  

All right, well, it was just an aside, determining Saints is based more on, how should I put it, religion and not science, but yes, it's the naming of plants. Yes, it is supposedly based on science. 

Farmer Fred  16:07  

If you say so.

Warren Roberts  16:09  

 Salvia greggii,  was named for a botanist, who was active in the 19th century that is, say the 1800s and particularly active in collecting in the southwest. I don't have a lot of information off the top of my head about about him, but there are a number of plants that are named for for Mr. Greg, Salvia greggii called autumn Sage, because it is in bloom in the autumn. But we found in the mild climates that we have here in Central California that Salvia gregii is in bloom almost all the year. There is a another species rather closely related to it. Salvia microphylla, from the same part of the world that Salvia greggii is native, which is to say, from South Central Texas, and Western Texas, down across New Mexico and including, Arizona, and into Mexico itself. Salvi greggii is not native to California, but it's very widely used in horticulture here.

Farmer Fred  17:15  

And is widely adaptable.

Warren Roberts  17:18  

Yes, it is widely adaptable, it is from an area that gets summer rain. So in areas that have Mediterranean climates around the world, you will need to give it some watering during the dry season for it to be successful. I've noticed that on some years where you've had, in Mediterranean climates, where you have had a good winter rain and there's plenty of water stored in the soil, that they can make it survive through the summer without much water at all. However, if you want it to be successfully blooming, and flowering and growing, you do need to irrigate it during the dry seasons, the hot dry seasons of the year. Flower colors range from a kind of a let's say a rosy pink. The dark rosy pink is the common color I think to pure red, and also ranges into the pinks. And  there are pure white selections. In fact, one of the easiest ones to grow, we have found, is the white flower form. And there are some with multicolored flowers as well. Within in Mexico, especially in the mountains of Nuevo Leon, which is a state in Mexico, though that where the capital is Monterey, I say it that way,  because there's an extra R in Monterrey Mexico where there is just one in California, just has one R.

Farmer Fred  18:43  

So you don't need to roll one?

Warren Roberts  18:45  

No, you just flip one and roll two. Luckily I learned to speak Spanish when I was a little tiny kid so it's  handy. Anyway, the management of salvia Greg is when it starts getting a little bit, oh, sprawling, or it just not looking too good, pruning the plant is a good idea. But always leave some green of the leaved stems on the plant. If you've cut it back to stubs with no leaves, that's often a death sentence. So the best idea is prune it lightly. I think that would be the way to say it, and you will have a very successful plant. One of the groups of hybrids between Salvia greggii and Salvia microphylla is called salvia multiplication sign, which means hybrid, jimensis.  And there a whole group of selections from that cross. Hybrids species occurs naturally in the mountains of Nuevo Leon and people have gone into that area and found almost a rainbow of possibilities of color possibilities; more than possible, they are actual ones, that had been brought into cultivation. A number of other species in that area have added to the hybrid, I guess you would call it the history of the autumn sages. I won't go into those right now. But leave it to say that there are a lot of beautiful garden worthy plants in the Salvia greggii, the autumn sage, and its hybrids.

Farmer Fred  20:35  

And if you plant one, you can take cuttings and make plants for your friends. They root very easily.

Warren Roberts  20:41  

Yes, and if you like hummingbirds. If you have hummingbirds in your part of the world. Salvia greggii it is a natural. The salvia called Salvia microphylla in Mexico is called Mirto, which means Myrtle, originally, but I think the plant was named because it has fragrant leaves. 

Farmer Fred  21:03  

Yes, yes. 

Warren Roberts  21:05  

And that's been cultivated in the west for a long time. The name for the hummingbird in the areas where that species is named is Chupa mirto, means that it It sucks on the flowers of the salvia microphylla. And one of my gardeners, when she saw these Salvia microphylla and Salvia greggii in my garden, she says, "Look, there's a Chupa mirto." There was a hummingbird fulfilling the story. So this is a great plant for attracting hummingbirds. A beautiful garden plant, graceful flowers all around winter.

Farmer Fred  21:46  

I could have a whole garden filled with sages or salvias, including the autumn sage. They are all that beautiful.

Warren Roberts  21:53  

Yes, and including rosemary and Russian sage. Right?

Farmer Fred  21:58  

Autumn Sage, Salvia greggii.  Warren Roberts is with the UC Davis Arboretum and Public Garden. He is their Superintendent Emeritus. For more information about that beautiful spot in Yolo County and parts of Solano County, visit their website, Arboretum.ucdavis.edu.  The UC Davis Arboretum and public garden. Warren, thanks for the sage advice today.

Warren Roberts  22:23  

You're certainly welcome, Fred anytime.

Farmer Fred  22:31  

Because there are so many demands on your time these days, I like to keep the Garden Basics podcast to under 30 minutes. Still, there is a lot more to tackle on all the garden subjects we bring up on the podcast. So, for that, and a lot more, we’re starting up The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred newsletter, on Substack.  As the newsletter grows, so will the subject matter. So, yes, it will be a good supplement for the Garden Basics podcast, but there will be a lot more garden related material and probably pictures of my dogs and cats, as well. It’s the Garden Basics with Farmer Fred Newsletter on Substack. And best of all, it’s free! There’s a link in today’s show notes. Or, just go to substack.com, and do a search for Garden Basics with Farmer Fred. That’s substack.com. The Garden Basics with Farmer Fred newsletter. Did I tell you it’s free? It’s free. 

Farmer Fred  23:34  

Garden Basics comes out every Tuesday and Friday. It's brought to you by Smart Pots. Garden Basics is available wherever podcasts are handed out. And that includes Apple, Iheart, Stitcher, Spotify, Overcast, Google, Podcast Addict, Cast Box, and Pocket Casts. Thank you for listening, subscribing and leaving comments. We appreciate it.