Question for organic corn

What do organic corn farmers use to keep their NPK up in there soils? Just wondering about small crops as in a few acres.
THanks
Ryan

Liquid cow manure.

Depends on just how "organic" you want to get.

We put in a few acres every year of "three sisters" corn growing, but it takes some work.
Also has to be done in rotation every few years.

That's the way the Iroquois and Huron Indians used to do it around here, along with other Indians in the southwest.

The "three sisters" are squash/pumpkins, corn, and pole beans. You plant all together. If done right, the pole beans climb the cornstalks and put nitrogen into the soil. The squash leaves choke out major weeds AND retain soil moisture. In the fall, fertilize with anything organic you can find. We've been lucky and had almost unlimited access to rotting round hay bales. In the past, the Indians chucked leftover rotted food, bones, leaves, wood ashes, etc. into the mix.
The Indians also had unlimited lands at one time and could change locations every few years. Not so easy for a landowner paying taxes. Also, the Indians has short "peason" or "zea mais" corn, and not the big stuff we usually grow.

We rotate every few years and it's worked fine. No store-bought chemicals at all. I have other corn nearby that gets Roundup, Bicep II, Prowl, etc. etc. Much less work but the yield isn't all that much better. And I wonder what damage it does long term - to the land and maybe me too.

Biggest problem with the tri-cropping is you cannot get in to cultivate with a tractor - and it also gets somewhat difficult to get in to pick corn. You have to step cafefully. But, it looks pretty neat and puts out a pretty good yield of beans, pumpkins, corn (and we add sunflowers to the mix).

Organic farming is a big myth about being healthy. The answer was cow manure. I would rather have chemical fertilizer on corn I eat than cow manure. Some of the concoctions I see folks mix up to organically kill insects---well if it will kill an insect it will kill me. I'll bet that most don't know that malathion is more toxic than aspirin. If chemical farming is so bad then why do the plants always look so good while the ones grown organically look so bad? I would rather eat a healthy plan than one that is pale and spindly.

There's a large non-organic dairy around here that has a large truck with a spreader box on it. They sell the manure to organic farmers and spread it right on their fields for them.

The NPK thing is kind of a dirty secret of organic agriculture. The marketing materials say one of the goals is sustainability, but it's pretty hard to succeed without trucking in additional fertilizer of some type. I'm not complaining though, at least it helps keep a lot of smaller operations in business.

The "three sisters" story that I remember had the indidans spearing carp or suckers and burying one under each hill of corn. I live in the Finger Lakes so the natives here had access to some kind of spawing fish in the spring. Perhaps you could try it under some of your hills and see if it makes a difference?

There are a tremendous amount of facts mixed with fiction when it comes to American Indians. Best info we have is "first contact" information. Even then - the Indians probably did not conduct life as normal - since they were being watched by non-Indians. The best written record is the Jesuit Relations. Jesuit priests lived with Indians in northern forests in New York,Michigan and Québec. They tried not to change them too much at first, and kept good written records of the lifestyle.

Many Indians did not farm. Those that did, did so differently depending on the region, and how many wars were going on with other Indians, etc.

As to the "fish stories", I'm sure the farming Indians did use fish when they either had too much, or it was rotten. Deere meat also. Indians would sometimes kill a lot more deer, fish, etc. then could be eaten or stored. There are many reports of them buring stuff in corn fields. Not sure if anybody knows if they knew it was good for the corn - or if it stunk and they just wanted to get rid it.

One sort of funny note on Indians and fishing. There are many accounts of coastal Indians in Maine, using dead people for fish bait. Probably not from their own tribe. They'd chuck them into a waterway and let the bodies attract fish and clams. I supposed that's not approved of anymore.

Some New England/New York Indians might be the first people in America, to go on record as "chucking moons." That is, pointing their bare rear-ends at others as a sign of disrespect. That was reported by ship captain-explorer Giovanni de Varrazzano in 1524. He claimed that when travelling in what is now the Nargansett Bay, Wampanoag Indians threw rocks at his boat, and bent over with bare rears pointed at him. He was quite insulted.

And, there's the Huron (8oundat) recipe for "rotting stinking corn." As reported by the Jesuit Priests in Huron Bay area of Michigan. Hurons were big corn growers. A favorite food of theirs was "Ameda." Translated from Huron-Iroquoian, to French, to English it is "rotten stinking corn." The Jesuits claimed that huron Indian women would pick corn, wrap it in large leaves, and bury it in deep mud in swamps. They'd let it rot and ferment all summer. Then dig it up for "good eating." The men reportedly loved it. The priests were pretty grossed out, but you never know. Maybe it was actually good?

"Huron" was a name given to the Indians by French white guys. It means "hillbilly" or "guy with rough hair." The Hurons called themselves something like "wendat/8oundat" The French sometimes spelled it staring with the number 8. That because the French had no one letter to made the perfect sound. The French number 8 (huit), is pronounced with a sound somewhere between "H" and "W" that came the closest.

Along those lines I would like to know why the Organic Compliance people will not approve vinegar for weed control? Anyone know?

I think you'd have to define "myth" and "healthy."

By many definitions, a myth can be both a popular belief AND be true.

As to "healthy", seems it depends much if someone claims the food itself makes a person healthier, or the farming practice in itself is more healthy for the environment.

There's little doubt by many who know more then I do, that modern farming practices based on petrochemicals and intense yield are far from good for the environment.

I'm in agreement that most "organic" food has little to no health benefits over chemically raised food.

As to the food being better because it looks better? I doubt it. I'd like to also think food that tastes better is ALSO better for me, but I doubt that also. If so, I'd include beer and Milky Ways as members of an important food group.

By the way, the organic corn I grow looks every bit as good as the chemical corn I grow. But it is very labor intensive.

Organic rules are alot like our government bills. There are alot of unrelated rules tossed in just for the heck of it.

My brother manages a coop that doesn't see eye to eye with the organic crowd. He askes the question--so that head of lettece you are eating has had manure mixed in to the soil. Ever see what ends up in the lettece when it rains hard?

Mouse poision is forbiden in a milk house (or was) do you like the thought of mice running around your milk house?

I buy organic food often if it is reasonable in price. Years ago a friend went 100% no till, and when we butchered beef, the livers had so many white spots, we tossed it. After four years of being organic, the livers were perfect. He used to give shots, and medication to his animals like handing out grain.

Some of the organic guys around here use fish oil for plant food, and some town folks got bent out of shape because of the smell in the field (near town) was so bad. They had the city boys go out and stop them from applying it....Some folks have to much time on their hands.