So here we are heading toward the end of a miserable, cold, snowy, dark, dismal (and any other negative adjectives you can think of) January. The only bright spots were the birthdays of two family members. Happy Birthday Sarah and Ron!
Right now we look like this:
And all we really want to do is this:
But if we want is this:
Then we better get started doing this:
And the Farmer’s Almanac says that today (the 21st), tomorrow (the 22nd) and the 25th and 26th are good days to plant above ground crops.
Now I think there was a Eureka!!! moment about a week ago here on The Little Half Acre. For the first two years I planted by the phases of the moon just as my parents and grandparents did. The fancy word for that is biodynamics. But then I read somewhere that it didn’t really matter if you were growing in raised beds — which we are. So for the last three years I have just planted whenever my very busy schedule (and variable moods) allowed.
From a very non-scientific review of the successes and failures over the last five years, I gotta say that I disagree with the article that said the old method of planting by the moon doesn’t apply to raised bed gardens. So, we’re going back to the old ways. And if the almanac says today is a good day for planting above ground crops, then your Happy Homesteader is gonna start a bunch of seed — spinach, lettuces, kales, bok choy, orach, collards, snow peas, mizuna and mustard. What harm could it do??? Besides, what could make a person happier on such a miserable, cold, snowy, dark, dismal (and any other negative adjectives you can think of) January day than to plunge your hands in some dirt?
