Allotments 4 All
Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: littlegem on April 11, 2006, 22:30:28
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well, they're coming up.
What has everyone left to plant until these two days. and is it because of superstition?, old wives tales?, one of them things?, cos thats the way grandma did it? the position of the moon? or just plain 'it works'?
answers on a post card please
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I've been reading one of the books about gardening by the moon. Not sure I'm a believer, but if nothing else it does help narrow down my choices of what to do each day when faced with oodles of seeds and plants all screaming "grow me, grow me, grow me now!!" ;D
AFAIK Friday is a flower day and Monday is a leaf day - so at least I'll only have to consider a quarter of all what needs doing on each of those days. Its the rules, everything else will just have to wait until another day ::) :P
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I will be the boring one, and state that I have a list of stuff that I expect to have planted by this time. That is based upon its time to crop, and expected temperatures for germination and growth, not upon any predetermined sayings about what should be planted when, although at the end of the day, these sayings etc were only a form of mnemonic.
Totally dull I know, but someone has to do it !
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Being quite new at this lark, I must admit that I hadn't realised the significance of Good Friday planting until the chap who has donated part of his allotment to us (and also my mum) informed me that I'm not to plant potatoes till after Good Friday.
And now I daren't. ;D
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;D This good friday easter monday lark is all well and good but I can't quite see how it works every year as it can be anything from mid March to mid April - and even though Easter is at its latest this year, the weather doesn't seem to know this!! ::)
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Surely this is a historical/traditional thing? In earlier times, before we had diaries etc, the gardening calendar was linked to the religious one (thinking Christian - Saints Days etc), so that as the various days approached, rural people knew what had to be done during that period. I know this is still a practice across parts of Europe, and presumably applies to faiths other than Christian as well. In reality, the fact that Easter is a movable event does create problems for gardeners following this practice.
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Hey curry, I've always found the Easter dates to be a useful indicator of when the soil and weather will be ready for planting. I think this is because of the way the dates are calculated linked to the moon's phases.
Easter Day is roughly the first Sunday after the full moon that occurs next after the vernal equinox. The full moon involved is not the astronomical Full Moon but an ecclesiastical moon (determined from tables) that keeps roughly in step with the astronomical Moon. As people have already said, Easter is never before March 22 or later than April 25.
I agree Easter is a handy mental milestone, and there may also be more to it than meets the eye. Can it be complete coincidence that the 2006 growing season seems to be slow to start, and Easter is late? ::)
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I was told to plant pots on Good Friday,because the Devil is busy elsewhere!shant
question it !!!!
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In earlier times, before we had diaries etc, the gardening calendar was linked to the religious one (thinking Christian - Saints Days etc), so that as the various days approached, rural people knew what had to be done during that period. I know this is still a practice across parts of Europe, and presumably applies to faiths other than Christian as well.
I was led to believe it had nothing particularly to do with religious faiths but because Good Friday was the first holiday for many people in the year and the first chance to get out there and sow their spuds.
:)
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I agree Easter is a handy mental milestone, and there may also be more to it than meets the eye. Can it be complete coincidence that the 2006 growing season seems to be slow to start, and Easter is late? ::)
Has there ever been any objective work done on germination against lunar cycles?
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Yes, see this:
http://www.biodynamic.org.uk/Evidence%20for%20Lunar%20Sideral%20%20Rhythms%20in%20Crop%20Yield%20An%20overview.pdf
If you're interested, http://www.biodynamic.org.uk is worth a look :D
Am pondering whether leeks are Leaf or Root ???
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My book has got leeks listed with garlic and onions as root plants...
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Whew thanks lisa! ;D ;D ;D
Which book please? :o :)
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Thank you supersprout, fascinating reading ... It does intrigue me though, last year I planted many rows of carrots spanning a 3 week period, and they all performed remarkably well. It may be that the data was skewed by other factors, I can't say.
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Hi Curry, (or anyone else!)
Do you sow many rows of carrots? I'm never quite sure of the success rate or yield of a row, this being my first proper year of them, minus a a few autumn ones I got last year, but there weren't loads. I'm just stuck in my head of the sort of quantities I should be thinking of growing for three. So far I have three rows of early nantes 2 (about six foot long I think) and two rows of amersterdam forcing 3 for use as baby carrots. I'm planning on planting some more anyway, but how much more?!
Would really appreciate any advice. Thanks a lot in advance.
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Thanks for the interest Common Clay. Now is the time I consider sowing my carrots, which will essentially be my years crop. I will be planting a minimum of 9 rows of 6 metres each, sowed as thinly as I can manage. The sowings always end up germinating far too many carrots, so thinning becomes necessary. My first thinning will take place probably in June, when the carrots are about little finger size, and delicious served raw with mayonaise or aioli. The second thinning will take place a few weeks later (July), when the carrots are about large finger size, and served in the same way or lightly poached. The main crop will be lifted late (september onward) for freezing. I still have a carrier bag full of carrots in the freezer, together with french beans, broad beans, leeks, parsnips, beetroot and sweetcorn. And a bit of onion ...
PS I grow for a family of four ...
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Supersprout - I've got 2 books:
"Gardening for Life: the biodynamic way", by Maria Thun
and
"Gardening and Planting by the Moon, 2006", by Nick Kollerstrom
The first one covers the general principles of biodynamic gardening, the latter is more specific to this year and has a calendar listing what each day is supposed to be good for. I'm using it like a diary and noting down what I did when.
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I will be planting a minimum of 9 rows of 6 metres each, sowed as thinly as I can manage.
That's a lot of carrots! Looks like I need to get my skates on then... thanks :)
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Curry,
How do you freeze all those veggies? Do you boil for a few minutes first?
Thanks,
Shamrock
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Unshamrock, some people advocate blanching, I just freeze after washing and slicing.
Common Clay, yes, it appears a lot of carrots, but they are a fundamental part of our diet, so they will get eaten throughout the year.
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Well, considering that the Easter 'Holidays' get moved according to the powers that be (for no particular reason that I can think of ::) ) a far more reliable planting date is OSTARA (21st March) - The Wiccan/Pagan date for the following:
OSTARA: MARCH 21st
It is believed that the name Ostara comes from the Germanic Goddess Oestara. Oestara is the Goddess of Fertility. From this day forth, the Sun will be giving its growing energies to most all items on Earth. The first indications of Spring, and her green fields, are now appearing.
At the Spring Equinox (Ostara), light and dark are in complete balance and from this day forward the scales will tip in favor of the Sun.
Most seeds are planted around this time for summer gardens. Indicating the future growth potential of the Sun. As like seeds for the garden, our plans for our year should be implemented into full force at this time.
Most rituals at this Sabbat emphasize blessing and the laying of plans. All seeds that are to be used for garden purposes should be blessed on this day for a fruitful "harvest". The hardy seeds can be planted after blessing.
On a personal level, we should make plans for our own personal growth ... be it in Love, happiness, wealth, and the like. Many of these plans are the ones that were written out or memorized at Yule. These plans should now be re-evaluated and finalized. Many may not need to be implemented at this time, but the ones that require the longest time to become reality ... we should implement. The Summer months are the time for growth, so we should start looking forward to this.
I'm a Hippy Chick at heart ;D
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:o :o
I shall be sure to allow plenty of time for blessing and laying of plans this weekend then Trixie! ;)
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And ref: Lunar sowing .... Dario (our allotment Guru/Trustee and altogether 'Down-To-Earth' bloke aged 75) plants according to the moon cycles. He drops it into conversation as easily as the 'weather'.
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:o :o
I shall be sure to allow plenty of time for blessing and laying of plans this weekend then Trixie! ;)
And make sure you do Sprouty ;)
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... planting date is OSTARA (21st March) - The Wiccan/Pagan date ...
Or, for trees, more sensibly perhaps is the date of Tu B'Shevat, a date which often falls in February when trees are normally still dormant.
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JENNYM: Imbolc?? Feb 2nd? (Edited)
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Probably a link Trixiebelle, although many like to think that Tu B'Shevat is a little older than Brigid :)
It was explained to me that the date also has a lot to do with paying tithes via the fruit produced, plantings after the date having a full free extra year's worth of fruit - so instead of giving your tithe in the fifth year, you start to give it in the sixth.
Sort of like the tree's bithday.
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going back to carrots, i never aim to sow thin or do any thinning, partly because i dont have that much time, but also im required to produce nice petit veg, and not masses of record breaking size. I find purposely overcrowding them stops excessive root size, smothers out the weeds and helps keep the moisture in with a good thick leaf canopy. I sow in a four inch wide band, and a very generous seed rate, and this works for me.
Ive never ever had carrot root fly, and hopefully not now, but i do have a 15ft walled garden perimeter to protect my veg ! Ive heard the fly only flies a few cm off the ground, so fingers crossed i should be ok.
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Thanks ricado, I would prefer not to thin carrots - it seems so wasteful. I've got room to try your 'controlled broadcast' method this year, thanks for the very clear description, will give it a go.
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Curry, how long do carrots take to germinate? I sowed some 3 weeks ago. Is it too early to expect them to come up?
I've sown Early Nantes 2 like you Common Clay. Let me know when yours come up (at least I'll know the conditions will be the same ;D!)
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Be patient Dandelion, carrots can take quite a while to come up, particularly at this time of year. Also the seedlings are very tiny. I have just sowed my first row of Flakkee, more rows to sow soon. I also managed to plant the last of my maincrop potatoes - Cara. Most of my shallots went in today as well, they had been 'waiting' in trays of compost, so the roots could start to grow. And the weather has been super as a bonus. Then a bowl of leek and potato soup for lunch, using the last of the leeks.
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Not sure just how "objective" my experiment was, but a few years ago I tried using Gwydion's Lunar Planting Guide (bought in Glastonbury, where else?). I sowed half a row according to Gwydion's recommendations, and the other half at more or less the exact opposite time. I noticed that some seeds germinated much more quickly when planted by the recommended moon phase (possibly to do with the moon pulling the water in them a certain way?) but there wasn't a noticeable improvement in either later growth or my final harvest. Came to the conclusion that either I did it all wrong (very possible ;D) or I upset the seed gods by not doing an accompanying circle dance, or you just pays yer money and takes yer choice according to your own beliefs and I didn't believe hard enough! Wouldn't bother with it again, as it just seemed to add yet another complication to an already busy sowing schedule. If others have had better results, I'd love to hear about it - being a bit of a hippie, I WANTED it to work but found it just didn't, really.
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Pah, that Gwyddion, what do he know ;)
Great story Molly, just goes to show that the only way to find out if something works for you is to Try it and See! ;D ;D ;D
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Well I missed out by a day on the traditional day for potato planing round here, which is apparently Good Friday.
But they went in today - 8 rows, 4 of Sharp's Express (earlies), and 4 of Desirée.
And the bed looks a thing of beauty, though I sez it as shouldn't. ;)
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Finished planting all my spuds today. I was getting tired and hope the main went in deep enough.