Corn in the backyard, 2014 -- weeks 10, 11, and 12

July 13

July 20

July 27

July 13

July 20

July 27

Although the corn stalks didn't add any height in weeks 10, 11, or 12, the growth of the ears was impressive over that period.  In the first week, temperatures averaged about one degree F warmer than normal, while the second and third weeks were much cooler than the historical average.  July 13 through 19 averaged six degrees F per day cooler than normal, while the week of the 20th through the 26th averaged over two degrees F cooler.  We didn't get much rain over the period, and even the humidity was on the low side, so the corn had to be pulling moisture out of the ground for its purposes.  Even though the weather was not Central Illinois' traditional hot and humid variety for this time of year, the corn didn't appear to be suffering greatly.

Basement Remodel Project: West door replacement

One small part of the basement remodel project was replacing the door that separates the east half of the basement from the west half.  The door style, while architecturally interesting, didn't match the style of the rest of the doors in our house, and the size of the door was non-standard.  Here's the culprit.

We had a similar door leading to the space we claimed for a bathroom on the other side of this basement space.  Although we replaced that door a few years ago, we didn't change the height.  In fact, I didn't consider changing the height until well after it was practical to do so.  So we have a door on the bathroom that kinda matches our other doors, but is shorter than normal.  On this opening, I decided to do a little extra work to end up with a standard 80" tall door.

The biggest challenge was removing the header over the old doorway that supported the floor joists above it.  As you can see, the wall is constructed from concrete blocks, and the header is solid concrete about 52 inches wide and about 8 inches tall and deep, which would mean the header weighs about 280 pounds.  Although I planned this process as best I could, I wasn't sure how much effort would be required to loosen the header from the wall, and move it off the wall so it could be lowered to the floor.

I used a rotary hammer to loosen the mortar around the header, and then beat it with my 10 pound sledge hammer to move it off the wall.  I was appropriately concerned about safety through this procedure, and supported the header with two nylon cargo straps attached to hooks temporarily mounted in the floor joists.

Another consideration was how the floor joists would be supported after the header was removed.  Since the plate on top of the header would remain after the concrete was removed, I figured a floor jack would be sufficient to support the three joists over this section of the wall.  In this photo the header was moved far enough to fit the floor jack behind it so they were both supporting the wall, and the header had a few more inches to travel horizontally before it was free to be lowered.

Once the header was free to be lowered to the floor, I couldn't take my hands off the straps until the concrete reached the floor.  The concrete was removed without injury, and I was able to build a wooden header that both supported the floor joists, and allowed room for the full-height door.

Obviously this photo was taken much later, but it shows the new door painted and hung in the larger opening, and ready for trim.

Corn in the backyard, 2014 -- week 9

July 6

The change in corn crop in the last seven days is the most dramatic we've seen in one week all year, and will probably constitute the most significant changes until harvest.  Not only are the stalks 20 inches taller than last week, they are taller than we've ever measured in the first week in July, and the tallest we've ever measured in the ninth week!  "Knee high by the fourth of July" may be a relevant measure in some parts of the world, but "9 feet high by the fourth of July" fits better here this year.  The most significant changes, however, are the appearance of the tassels at the top of the stalks, and the ears emerging from the middle of the plants.  Since harvesting the kernels from the ears is the only reason these plants are grown, nothing else matters as much as what the ears finally yield.

Although the weather has been cooler than average over the seven days leading up to July 6, I'm told that is preferable to hot weather during pollination.  I'm sure Farmer Wagenbach is grateful for such a healthy crop so far this year, and we'll continue to document the progress right here.

Thanks for the nice note, Evelyn!

This note from the County Health Department is a welcome relief each year.  Given our struggles to obtain this status in the past, a little diligence in the maintenance of our septic system is well worth the effort.

As always, our neighbors downstream are breathing a sigh of relief.

Corn in the backyard, 2014 -- weeks 7 & 8

 June 22

Although the rain hasn't been plentiful, it's been enough to support the stalk growth through the last two weeks of continued warm weather.  The seventh week contained 34% more growing degree days than normal and saw most of the plants add about 19 inches to top out at 58 inches on June 22.

 June 29

The eighth week was not as warm as the seventh, accumulating about 18% more growing degree days than average, but the corn hit its stride and gained 32 inches to hit 90 inches tall by the end of the week.  In the picture above, it's no longer possible to see trees or buildings across the highway, although history indicates the corn stalks are probably not quite done growing.  One bit of evidence is the lack of tassels poking out of the top of the plant.  Once those appear, the stalk growth is nearly complete, and the plants get down to the business of producing a crop.  But that will come later.  Now I've got a couple of charts to illustrate how the crop this year is doing compared to the four other years for which I have data.

The first chart suggests that we may have another week or two of growth before the plants reach full height, and that the current height of the stalks is consistent with the median for the eighth week for the five years shown.  Some weeks have been a bit below average, but there's no reason to believe this crop is suffering.

This next chart makes the case that this crop is doing exceptionally well for this time of year.  We've never measured stalks this tall in the last week of June, and the 32 inches gained last week was also a record for this time of year.  We'll keep our eyes on these trends and track the 2014 crop to full height, but it looks like we could tie or beat the pace set by the early crop of 2010.

I wonder how this data would look if we compared growth to growing degree days?  I suspect a fairly strong correlation would appear, so I may just have to plot that data.  If it looks interesting, you can rest assured you'll see the results here.