This Maize Maze Project was an opportunity I couldn’t afford to waste. As soon as I realized that we had an almost perfect circle of deep black soil exposed and ready to be used, I immediately knew what I had to do! I’ll keep you updated on the progress as the project matures, but I would also like to show you what we’ve done thus far. 

Last year we purchased a Summer Waves 15′ Swimming Pool from Walmart due to the federal border closure isolating us from our access to a swimming pool. We regularly cross to take advantage of the pool as our boys all enjoy swimming. The border closure was very disappointing to us all, and we felt this was a reasonable solution to the issue. It did the trick for the boys last year, but after deciding to spend this summer predominately at the Cabin, it was unnecessary.

After a quick posting on Facebook Marketplace and the shortage of pools available worldwide, it sold almost instantly. After the new owner picked up the swimming pool, we quickly realized it left a massive 15′ circle of black earth in its place. The first instinct was to spread some grass seed and let the lawn reclaim the space, but then I had another idea.  

While the kids were messing around in the mud, I collected the necessary tools to put my plan into action! I started by measuring the circle’s diameter.  Then after doing some quick calculations to figure out how wide to space the concentric circles based on the width of the kids at the shoulder. Then it was time to start measuring and cutting in the planting rows. 

A peg, measuring tape and garden claw are all the tools necessary to create a simple maize maze. The outcome of the cutting and measuring left us with a unique design, offering several different options to explore. The entire process took less than a half-hour to complete with the help of a second individual. All that was required after that was to trench the design so we could start seeding. 

It was hard to find seeds so late in the planting season, but we managed to find one that had six packages left. We also had several thinned-out corn seedlings donated to us by our friends over at Rainy River Homesteaders. We were worried about the possibility of running out of seeds before we finished, so after seeding strategically, we filled in the gaps with popcorn seeds. Once we covered everything, we used the seedlings from Rainy River Homesteaders to mark off the ends and walls of the maize maze. 

After cleaning up our tools and putting a sprinkler in the middle of the new maze, we gave it a good long drink of water. We kept the ground very moist for the rest of the week; the unseasonably warm temperatures helped with rapid germination. Below is what our little project looks like today, just two weeks later!

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