An almanac is a mystery to me. It is full of strange symbols, disjointed maxims, and vague weather predictions (see, e.g., http://www.rarebookroom.org/Control/frapop/index.html ). Though Pop-Pop can grab an almanac and figure out in 10 seconds flat (once he finds his glasses) when to plant something, I have never even been able to figure out which page that information is printed on. But, wonder of wonders, yesterday when I picked up the almanac, it flopped opened to the "when to plant" page, which Pop-Pop had folded in half for easy reference. As I have been intending to plant a second crop of peas or beans, I ran my finger down the list of vegetables, and there it was: Beans...Moon favorable...8/1-8/16.
"Aw shoot...!" I said out loud. THIS was 8/16, which meant that if I did not get my second crop of peas/beans in the ground THIS VERY DAY, the moon would not smile favorably on my effort.
"What?" said Sarah.
"The almanac says I should plant beans TODAY."
"Well, let's get at it," Sarah said. "I'll help."
I stalled as much as I could. Truth was, I did not want to work in the garden at 3 p.m. "We can't just PLANT," I told Sarah. "First, we have to pull up the pea vines, then we have to plow, and I probably can't get the tiller cranked, and . . . "
"I can pull up pea vines," Sarah said.
"The tiller'll crank," Pop-Pop chimed in.
They were ganging up on me.
While Sarah and I pulled up the old pea vines, Pop-Pop gassed up the tiller and sprayed it with something that smelled vaguely like...fingernail polish remover. My husband gave the cord a couple of yanks, and the tiller started. Within a few minutes, we had a brand new puliverized seed bed for the second bean crop. My grandsons had a heck of a time swimming in the soft, warm dirt.
We marked off 4 rows on which Sarah planted 2 rows of butterbeans and 2 rows of green beans.
I hope the moon approved.
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I loved seeing the boys and part of the garden. What a great way to feel like I have had a visit. Susan, I really don't know where you find the energy to work all day and then to come home to a basic FARM - not a garden. You amaze me with all of your Martha Stewart expertise. I wish that I could learn even half of what you know, but up here in Yankee land, there just is no opportunity to grow anything. When you come up here for a visit, you can see that our back yard is shady with nothing but deer and wabbits waiting to eat whatever we would put in the ground. Ah well, I did plant some geraniums in a few pots on the deck. That seems to be the extent of my abilities. XXX, to all, Louise
ReplyDeleteIm glad those beans I was determined to "help" plant are coming up!We shall see later if the Lunar gods were on our side that day....
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