Each season’s weather passes forward its imprint on the following season’s crops. Late spring rains are remembered when there are diseases in the peaches during the summer. A spike of heat in early June can interrupt the pollination in ears of corn resulting in kernel blanks when the corn is harvested.
Sometimes those predictions come true, but not always. Our stone fruit trees are looking great, contrary to the worries during all the rain we enjoyed last spring. On the other hand some of our corn does have blanks in the ears, each missing kernel representing one silk strand that wasn’t successfully pollinated. High heat is a common explanation for blanking in corn. [Read more…]