Moon will guide her planting

I am both dreading and looking forward to going to my mother’s this weekend to celebrate my youngest brother’s birthday. I haven’t seen Mom in almost two months. The near-constant criticism when I visited the last time bothered me more than I like to admit. I don’t know what it is about getting older that makes people think that being brutally honest and cruelly outspoken is a good thing.
Perhaps I can avoid some of the nasty comments by asking her advice. I want to try gardening by the signs of the moon this year. She has always advocated this practice and I have always dismissed it as so much baloney. This year I want to try it anyway. I have often referred to my mother as being someone who could make a dead stick bloom. Maybe she was onto something.
The practice sounds so simple. Root crops are to be planted when the moon is growing smaller and above-ground crops are to be planted when the moon is getting bigger. Unfortunately, there appears to be more to it than that. Apparently there are also fertile and barren signs of the moon. There are probably other variables as well.
One source says never to plant on a Sunday because it is a “fiery, barren day.” Other sources don’t mention the day of the week as being relevant. There are also rules for weeding and harvesting.
In order to try this method of timing, I first looked it up on that ever reliable internet. As we all know, the internet is as full of misinformation as it is of information. I made a note of when to plant beets and carrots. Then in order to check the reliability of what I had written, I bought an almanac.
That presented another problem. There are all kinds of almanacs. I found at least three different farmer’s almanacs and one for city dwellers. Not being familiar with any of them I picked one with a friendly yellow cover.
Imagine my surprise when the planting dates for beets and carrots were different from what I had previously written. My notes said to plant from the 18th to the 23rd but my new almanac said the seeds would rot in the ground if I planted them on the 18th. I hedged my bets and planted them on the 19th.
The other thing I am trying this year is to plant the root crops in my big flower pots instead of directly into the garden. There is already a problem with this as there is evidence that the evil black squirrels like the fluffy soil in the pots. It remains to be seen if anything will grow or if the squirrels will transplant everything to their secret gardens. I’m about ready to put chicken wire on top of the pots to foil the squirrels.
I hope that talking about gardening and planting times with my mother will be a safe topic. We share a love of plants and pretty things. She tends to like old fashioned plants like violets, pansies and irises. I prefer things that nobody else has, such as the daphne that is currently finishing its bloom cycle in front of the house.
Mom also babies her plants. She waters on a strict schedule. I water every couple of weeks, if I think about it. She believes in letting things go to seed so they will spread. I deadhead religiously in hopes that next year the plant will have more and bigger blooms.
I had wanted her to come up for Easter but she wasn’t feeling well that day. Therefore, I will cut a bouquet of whatever is blooming on Sunday so that she can see some of the flowers in my yard. If she is up to it, I will help her walk around her house so that she can check out her own living decorations.
In the afternoon we will share cake with the rest of the family as we celebrate my brother’s birthday. I’m hoping that we will have a good visit so that I will no longer dread going back. At the very least, I will learn a little more about planting according to the signs of the moon.[[In-content Ad]]