In April, the land at Elton Farm is ploughed and made into a seed bed & the Maize seeds are drilled with a precision drill. Each row is 0.75m apart. The crop is drilled in two directions, North - South and East West so that the rows are at right angles to each other, which creates the grid effect
A maze design is drawn out on graph paper. Each square on the graph paper represents a 6m square on the field. Because the crop is drilled in rows 0.75m apart we know that each 6m square has 8 rows of maize across and up and down. Pegs are then placed in the crop in 6 meter squares. By referring to the design on the graph paper we know which of the 8 rows in each 6m square that needs to be removed to create the maze paths.
It takes 2 people 5 days to hoe out the maze paths. We hoe in May when the plants are about 10cm high. By 1st July the plants have grown to waist height and by mid July to head height. We then trim the sides of the paths. The plants flower in early August and then produce their cobs. The variety of maize grown is for cattle feed. These cobs are starchy and not pleasant to eat.
