TIME TO THINK ABOUT GARDENING!
The other day I received a seed catalog in the mail and it
made me realize that it is time to think about planting a garden. Although I really enjoy gardening, as well as the canning that follows, I am
afraid that this year I again will not be planting. Our house sold and come near the end of May,
we will be heading south again. That
means there is no reason—or time!—to plant up here, and since most of the
garden items will be getting harvested when we arrive there, it won’t make
sense to plant down there, either.
Hopefully next year we can have a garden.
It is still snowing here—mid April and we have snow! It has snowed all day today, from lazy, little
flakes, to almost what could be termed a blizzard, on to large flakes. It snows heavily, then stops for a
while. Then it starts up, again. By that time all the snow that was laying on
the ground has melted and the cycle starts over again.
A couple of weeks ago I was in the Dollar General. It was another day that there had been snow
after a week or so of warm weather. The
clerk commented on the fact that he hoped it was the potato snow. I had never heard of a potato snow, so I
asked him what he meant. He said that
the last snow of the season was referred to as the potato snow because it meant
that it was time to plant your potatoes.
My friend came to visit me last week and I was telling her
about it. A soon as I mentioned “the
last snow,” she interrupted me and said, “Oh, you mean the “onion snow.” Now, I had never heard of that one, either!
A lot has changed since we moved to Florida thirty-nine
years ago! I did know that one is
supposed to plant English peas (green peas) on Good Friday, and garlic is to be
planted in September, but I had no idea that there were special days to plant
either potatoes or onions.
I also knew that one did not plant tomato or pepper plants
until after the thirtieth of May so that, hopefully, there would be no more killing
frosts to do them harm. However, that is
no guarantee, because the year we moved to Florida, the farmers and gardeners
here in Pennsylvania were hit by a killing frost around the seventeenth of
June! And yes, my gardening friends had
covered the plants, but the frost was so severe, it even chilled them through
the paper tents and boxes they used.
Now I do know the saying “a frost in the dark of the moon
will not kill the plants, but a frost in the light of the moon will.” And I know that saying is true, for I have
experienced it.
Another thing that I experienced was companion
planting. Companion planting is when you
plant two different kinds of plants near each other. I used to have a list I made from the
gardening magazines I used to get. But time
has wiped away most of the combinations from my memory. I do, however, recall that good companions to
most everything were marigolds and nasturtiums.
Because the tomato and pepper plants are planted so late, I, like a lot
of gardeners, had already planted the crops I would start with seeds. Therefore, I had saved room in my plot for
the plants and just plant them together.
I learned in the companion planting that for the best crops, tomatoes
and peppers should not be planted side by side, but the best idea is to plant
them either end of the garden, separating them as much as possible. After I started separating them, I did get
better harvests.
So I wish all my gardening friends success in their efforts
this coming season. May you not have
cutworms or harmful grubs of any kind, and may the bees and ladybugs be kind to
you. Best of all, may you get a rich and
satisfying harvest. Enjoy the eats!
No comments:
Post a Comment