Anyone who’s driven down Olive St. during the month of August has undoubtedly seen the towering corn grown by Ron Kraus.
The stalks seem to go on as far as the eye can see, and are surrounded by tomato plants, heads of cabbage, various colors of peppers, onions and potatoes? just to name a few.
The Oxford resident has been growing the garden on his 210-foot by 100-foot lot for the past 30 years and sells his sweet, bicolored corn to any passerby.
Just $3 will get you a dozen ears of either his Sugar Baby corn, which are smaller cobs, or his Peaches and Cream corn.
Kraus said he learned the ropes of growing a garden from living on a farm outside of Romeo. His father and uncles taught him the basics about planting vegetables and flowers, but Kraus prefered to stick to the veggies.
‘They showed me how to plant flowers, but I couldn’t eat ’em, so I never planted them,? he jokes.
The only flowers Kraus plants are sunflowers, which serve as a trellis for his pole beans to climb up, and marigolds, which help keep pests away’except for the woodchucks.
Kraus? two black Labradors are the only security system he has against those pesky critters.
‘The woodchuck thinks this whole thing is a salad bar,? Kraus said.
Kraus? garden is completely organic, meaning he doesn’t use pesticides or sprays. He’s constantly weeding, tilling, and hoeing, making sure the garden’s in tip top shape. It is a lot of work, but he said he loves ‘seeing it grow.?
‘It does get frustrating sometimes,? he said. ‘Sometimes it’ll die on you and then you gotta figure out why.?
To make sure he has corn through the month of August and even into September, Kraus plants the seeds at different times beginning in May.
Many of his stalks are now at 12-feet and are almost ready to be picked. Kraus said when the silk on the ear of corn is brown, it’s ready to be eaten.
Although he doesn’t keep track of how many dozens of corn he sells each summer, Kraus said he rarely has corn coming out of his ears, no pun intended.
But his wife cans a good amount of the vegetables they grow. Sometimes she’ll can up to 10 dozen ears of corn for the fall.
Kraus makes sure only the freshest corn is sold to his frequent customers.
‘If they don’t sell at the end of the day, I take it in and eat it,? he said.
So the next time you’re driving down Olive St., keep an eye out for the wheelbarrow by the side of the road.
A little taste of summer is only a husk away.
? An ear of corn averages 800 kernels in 16 rows.
? One bushel of corn will sweeten over 400 cans of Coca-Cola.
? Corn is produced on every continent of the world except Antarctica.
? Only 8 percent of the weight in a box of Corn Flakes is corn.
? Over 55 percent of Iowa’s corn goes to foreign markets. The rest is used in other parts of the U.S.
Facts provided by campsilos.org and enchantedmaze.com