07/18/2026
Mike’s Log:
We are in the sweet corn now. Blackberries are all but finished. Peaches are ending. Blueberries are here and elderberries are on the cusp.
Here is a rundown of everything now.
Sweet corn: Three and one half dozen sold and another processed for us so far. We should finish this stand this weekend with enough to fill an order of two more dozen plus stock our freezer with a few quarts off the cob. After years of eating gummie corn on the cob out of the freezer, we have decided to eat on-the-cob fresh and store off-the-cob for future use.
The plan is to chop and mow down the three rows of sweet corn after it’s finished, then I’m going to sow two more rows for a late harvest. We use a 78-day Honey Select. If I get it in the ground by 1 August, barring severe weather and/or a real early frost, we should have a crop by October 17. I’ve monitored the first frost for the last four years. The earliest frost has been October 6 in 2022. Even a light frost on that date this year should not affect corn that close to harvest.
Hickory King corn: Our field corn is tall and producing. Another couple weeks before it’s ready. Planning on hominy grits and corn meal and we might roast up a few young ears too. 
Blackberries: we started the season expecting a record breaking harvest, but the season has come to a painfully slow rolling stop. Oppressive heat and dry periods immediately followed by hordes of Japanese beetles and June bugs decimated more than 90 percent of all the berries we had left on the canes. Those little buggers turned 10 acres of berries into blaisins nearly over night.
Fortunately, our agressive picking early on, still yielded 12 and a half gallons of berries. That’s only a half gallon more than last year, but we were still picking cups of berries in September last year. We sold or gave away four gallons this year leaving us with eight and a half gallons in the freezer for jams, jellies, breads and wine.
To caveat, we are very close to commercially debuting the red-fruited blackberries we have discovered on the property. For five years we picked the red-fruited blackberries not knowing it wasn’t normal. Our research just this year has concluded we have a unique and previously unidentified cultivar growing here. We are working with professional horticulturists to break into the commercial market.
Blueberries: We have only three blueberry bushes so far, and only one produced this year, an Ochlockonee rabbit-eye. It is quite full of berries and I expect it to yield maybe a half-gallon this year.
I need to get more bushes in the ground for a bigger harvest.
Pears: Best producers this year are the American heirloom Kieffer and European heirloom Ayers. Both trees are full of burgeoning pears, but the Kieffer seems to be more resistant to brown spot. Our Bartlett’s are disappointing at best, but a single Moonglow I planted just this year has one pear hanging on it, and it is the biggest and nicest looking pear I’ve seen on this property. It should be ready in a little more than a week.
Peaches: One Big Red peach tree has produced about 70 large peaches this year with the last coming off this weekend. Some are a little wormy, didn’t spray early or often enough, but the flavor is phenomenal. Jessica has made four pints of delicious peach jam, and a little peach/blackberry syrup to go over peach/blackberry pancakes. The goal is peach preserves this weekend.
Elderberries: Both bushes I cultivated and planted next to our spring house are large and full of blossom heads that are equally full of ripening berries. So to is the large bush that is growing wild along our creek bank. I expect they will be ready by next weekend.
Even the canes that I collected and planted last year in a swampy area in front of our spring house, bloomed this year and are contributing a handfull of berries.
Peppers: Two bell, two sweet banana and six jalapeño are rapidly producing in our opportunity garden.
Tomatoes: 22 Roma tomato plants are full of green tomatoes right now. A few volunteer cherry tomatoes are coming up in the peppers and so far one black prince is growing fast in the garden. A couple brandy wine are also growing in a tub with herbs near the garden shed.
Herbs: two kinds of sage, cilantro, parsley, basil, Greek and Italian oregano, English and creeping thyme and rosemary are burgeoning in different parts of the property, some in pots, some in the garden.
Peppermint has already been harvested in pounds this year and is returned to dominate our planter box next to the garage.
Lemon balm is the biggest threat to the peppermint sharing its planter box. Unlike the peppermint though, the lemon balm (also a mint) has an innate ability to jump out of its habitat and grow in other planters or garden beds.
Wormwood is ready to harvest. Best use of this potent herb is as bedding and added to chicken feed to control mites and parasites. Though, it boasts some home remedies as well.
Catnip is ready to harvest. Tons of it.
Bee balm, aka bergamot, did well this year, but other than attracting pollinators, haven’t discovered a use for it yet.
Grapes: muscadine are producing this year and we have a few nice looking bunches on our table grapes this year too.
Potatoes: FAIL! Too late and too wet I assume. I will work on the planting area, improve drainage, and try again in the fall along with sweet potatoes.
Cucumbers: FAIL! Damn squash bugs. Can’t win.
Squash: growing in corn. Remains to be seen.
Beans: some in corn some bush style in garden. Nothing yet.
Cantaloup: about four nice fruit if they survive the squash bugs.
Watermellon: growing slow, not producing.
