I remember my grandfather talking about farming/gardening and some of the things you should do. Such as: You plant corn when the oak leaves are the size of mouse ears. You plant potatoes when the moon is down. You plant cucumbers on the longest day of the year. You use chicken manure where you will be planting things like corn and leafy vegetables. You use pig manure where you will be planting the squash family. I know there is a lot I cannot remember, if there are any other old f%&ts on this forum that can remember some, it would be interesting to hear them and it may bring back some memories.
I learned not to sow anything outside until the Prunus padus is blooming. The potatoes were supposed to go in around May 1st. The roses should be pruned when the birch leaves are like mouse ears.
Pea's on the Ides of March is the only one I still follow. Others are, Corn, sweet, flint, silage, or field, by Remembrance Day, or it wouldn't be knee high by the 4th of July. Potato's on Good Friday. Bean's under a new moon.
I plant when the sun is shining or not and the garden isn't too wet. Other than that I don't try to stress too much over remembering the old wives tales or lore...Are there any studies that support the sayings?
Carolyn, most planting folk lore is from generations and generations of trial and error and in most cases that has proven a lot of it to be true. But you have to make sure the folk lore you are following holds true for where you are living.....following folk lore from upstate New York could result in total crop failure in south Texas and vice versa.
In NY I was told by and old timer to plant after the last full moon in May. So when I moved to Va. I just moved time back to April. It works for me.
