Display the Harvest

 

This is the first year I have ever attempted to grow corn. I diligently watched over my crop, weeded, watered and waited for my corn to ripen. And when it did, it was amazing! We even had enough to freeze and save for the cold winter months. But when the season ended, I was left with these beautiful corn stalks that were beginning to dry in the cold autumn nights and cool days. Unwilling to waste them or simply turn them into mulch or compost, I cut them away from their roots and decided to use them as a welcoming harvest decoration at the front of my house.



As I pulled up the dead stalks of corn, I picked out the most attractive and as many as I could use for decoration, put them aside and cut the stalks away from the roots (I mulched the roots and the rest of the unused stalks). I piled up my desired bunch and separated them into two piles...both with equal amounts of stalks and stalks of differing heights.

I purchased a spool of natural raffia at my local Dollar Tree store and decided it would be the perfect way to tie my bundle of corn stalks together and keep them together with the ever growing winds here in the high desert!  So with two bunches of corn stalks, about evenly divided, with differing heights, I bundled them together and tied them with a simple bow.

I then took each bundle and placed them into the planter boxes on either side of my garage door. I pressed each stalk slightly into the soil in each box so they wouldn't blow over or out of my planter box. I carefully tucked them around each light that is directly above each of the boxes. Voila! My decorations were complete!

As I gazed upon these simple decorations, I realized they brought a very nice sense of fall while still being somewhat 'sophisticated' in nature; they are fun and beautiful. When it gets dark outside and the house lights come on, the light that shows eerily through the corn fronds is the perfect fit for this time of year!

Enjoy!