I'd feed them to the cows. I always save my corn stalks for one of my ranching neighbors and his cows love them.

You could put them in the compost pile, but they are incredibly slow to break down.

Other than putting them in the compost pile, feeding them to the cows is the best option because all corn plant debris is prone to harbor overwintering corn pests, so you want to get rid of that corn debris and then hope that will decrease how many corn pests overwinter in or near your garden.

There is a method of bed-building in permaculture where you build beds by essentially stacking up brush and tree limbs and then piling dirt and compost on top of them, but because of the issue of overwintering corn pests, I wouldn't do this with corn stalks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Hugelkultur Beds

I basically use the Ruth Stout method. I do have pruning shears I and cut them into 2-3 foot pieces and let them rot and compost like everything else. I rotate my corn every year and have never had trouble with any pests overwintering or increasing in numbers. Jay

Jay,

I am so jealous. If I don't clean up all the garden debris religiously, I'll have corn earworms out almost before I have corn in the ground. The earworms must really like it here. : (

When I find the worms, I give them to the hens although, thanks to the cougar, I am now down to just one old hen who knows what a caterpillar is when she sees one. The half-grown chicks just stare at the caterpillars and watch her eat them. The young poultry are not experienced bug eaters yet but I am sure they will be before too long.

Suddenly we're in the midst of a major grasshopper invasion. These are big ones....several instars along in their growth...and they weren't here just 4 or 5 days ago. Maybe they will eat the cornstalks, although I'd hate to disappoint the cows.

Dawn

Dawn it is odd the different experiences we have. I'm still battling the hornworms. Usually the worst pest by far I have. Killed 4 or 5 last night. It has been almost two weeks which is usually about the length of the attack from them. I have a few earworms. Like I said I rotate every year and cover it up and let it start composting. In the past I've tilled them in shallow but most times I don't anymore. I have been thinking we will have another bad grasshopper summer. I hope to get a new building up. The stuff removed out of my chicken house and some new chickens before another year goes by. They control a lot of pests. Mine always loved the hornworms. Jay

Thanks Dawn, Jay,

I'm not sure what I will do. I told myself about 4 years ago that I would never try to grow corn again. I love the stuff, but so does every other critter in the county, and they want it about 3 days before I do.

We have a little Yorkie, and about three nights ago he started raising cane. I grabbed my light and headed for the garden, but the little masked bandits were not there. (This was about 2:10 A.M.).

I sleep on pins and needles every night, thinking "this will be the night", we are about three days away from harvest, I guess that means they will come tonight.

Thanks again, Larry

Larry and Dawn...
I don't have coon problems here, and hopefully I won't. But surely there's a way to foil the little brat's plans for your corn. I wonder if slipping a womens nylon ankle type hosiery, sprinkled with something obnoxious to coons over each ear corn would work?

Jerry Baker had some interesting deterrents on his website. One that looked especially intriguing was a motion activated water sprayer, called the Raccoon Scarecrow. And the more elaborate kind features motion activated lights as well as water. I was wondering if something like that wouldn't scare off that Cougar that's been prowling around Dawn's garden and chicken house.

Barbara

Here is a link that might be useful: Motion activated Raccoon sprayer