Friday, April 8, 2011

Great Expectations

Flower-planting time on Sunday.  And on Monday, too!  Why not tomorrow, you ask?  Or today?  Right?  Oh, no!  Far be it from me to cross swords with the Farmer's Almanac. 

You see...today you only want to plant root crops;  same thing tomorrow, Saturday.  But on Sunday...well, that's a different kettle of fish!  I can plant flowers all day, say the signs.  The moon is right because it will be rising; and it is in Gemini, which is an air sign and flowers seem to like the air signs of Gemini, Aquarius and Libra, good for blooming flowers and herbs.

Do you plant by the signs?  Or taking this a bit further, do you plant by the moon signs or the zodiac?  Truthfully, MM and I have never done much to follow the signs as we seed our garden, but natives in our neck of the woods swear that doing otherwise is committing the gardening equivalent of hari-kari.  We had one lady last year come to buy greens (which did very well despite our not seeding them by the signs) who strictly adheres to the signs for almost everthing--including butchering, setting eggs, and even propitious (or not) days for doing almost everything! 

On the other hand, MM and I have undoubtedly killed thousands of seeds by our callousness and ignorance. 

In trying to bone up on planting by the signs lately, I've met the Farmer's Almanac.  Do I understand it?  Nope.  I'm hopeless.  OTOH, I did come across a website that might be called a recipe with a daily dose of sign-language.  On the left side of the webpage is a listing of fours days' worth of instructive elements for deciphering the mystical directions.  Well worth a stop if you are seeking guidance through the murky world of ancient garden wisdom. Go to:

And that about does it for the week my lovely friends!  It was a windy, windy week!  And not just that element of Nature out here JOTOLR.  Indeed, it's been pretty windy in Congress, too.  Blithering idiots.  All of them.  As I wrote on somebody's blog comments this a.m. it's time to start sharpening the guillotine! 

Have a good weekend everyone!  And thanks so much for your generous company!
See you Monday.

5 comments:

  1. Elora -- I am with you -- Congress is acting infantile -- they'll get no respect from me. Do have a good time planting -- gardening is good for the mind as well as the body. -- barbara

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  2. The colours in that last photo are superb! I've always looked at those moon planting guides as a good guide but not one to adhere too - heaven help if Thursday is the only possible time to plant and I've got other things on!
    So I always figure it's a good rough guide but I'm not too worried if I'm a week out - things seem to grow like crazy around here anyway. A friend swears by it, but I suspect it's the beautiful soil the previous garden owner left for her that is the real secret to her success. Excited for you that time of year has finallly arrived, so happy planting on whichever day you do it and have a wonderful weekend. Julia x

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  3. Me again :-) I meant to e-mail you this link earlier in the week and forgot but your this post about almanacs has reminded me:

    http://agrariannation.blogspot.com/

    It's a new blog from Herrick Kimball and covers a lot of excerpts from the old almanacs so thought you may be interested.
    Take care
    Julia

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  4. Lovely pictures! No, we don't plant by the signs -- though our older neighbors always did. Butcher pigs and cut wood by the signs too. We just go by whether the weather's cooperating.

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  5. Thanks for the link. My favorite lists says it is already there, but I don't remember seeing it? I have a friend, says her grandmother was a gyspy, who swears by this. I had to plant potatoes and onions last week when one guide said not to plant on that date. It is getting late here in the sand for planting but the weather says no! linda

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