Following Lore

Gardening, even if it is only a single pot sitting on the sill, a plot alongside the house, large fields of a farm or thousands of acres in size as in a ranch, it all comes down to working with the precious soil.

There are people that follow the moon and its phases for planting and harvesting. The ones that check the barometer for subtle changes in the air pressure, some that test the churned earth with their hands and filter the dirt through their finger tips. There are cloud watchers and temperature observers. There are the ones that find a good sale at the local nursery or farm store and just go wild. And there are those that fall back on those tried and true methods that harken back to what has worked before.

I had forgotten about one of those methods until one of my dear readers commented;

Since my elevation at 1100 feet doesn’t always match other people’s dates for planting, I use this information based on the blooming of lilacs: Fortunately, I love lilacs and have 4 lilac trees.
When the first leaves of the lilac appear…plant peas, potatoes, lettuce, radishes and the like.
When the first lilac blossoms appear…plant beets, carrots, kohlrabi and other cole crops.
When lilac blossoms reach full bloom…plant beans, corn, cucumbers and squashes.
When the lilac blossoms fade and fall…the danger of frost is probably past and it’s time to set out tomatoes, peppers and other warm-weather crops.

Thanks to Bonnie for reminding me that I should not rush all the veggie planting in the garden, I’m still a ways off.

This reminder came back to me abruptly this morning as I opened my eyes just before daybreak and realized the thick cloud cover we had when I went to bed had vanished. The temperature had dropped into the 30’s overnight and I had neglected to bring in the seedlings that I had been moving in and out of the garage each day to harden off before planting into the garden.

Luckily, the temperature didn’t fall below 37 and the plants did not freeze, although the tomatoes were not happy with the near brush of a forgetful tender.