I opine the last frost is behind us and it ’s time to really get the natural spring planting done .
We put in potatoes last month but we need to get everything else going . I also have more potatoes to establish but I pass out of room and need to do more tilling to grab up .
This is not an easy mood . If you plant too betimes , the frost will kill your seedlings . If you plant too late , the heat and the bugs will obliterate them .
Down in the tropics we could simply plant whenever we wanted , provided we had irrigation . The only real wheel down there was showery / teetotal .
Now we have to be civilized men again and pay aid to the calendar .
Planting By the Moon
As an extra layer of trouble , this class we are planting our gardens by moon , as revealed in theFarmer ’s Almanac moon planting dates .
For March it note :
I have never paid attention to the moon before , except to set as my Grenadian granger Quaker Mike intimate . He gardened exclusively by the synodic month .
He would plant root crop when the moon was waning , as that would “ make them go deep . ” He would plant leaf and fruit crop when the moon was rise , as that would “ make them grow up . ”
I sometimes found when he tell to plant , but I really did n’t devote much attention otherwise . This year , as many multitude have asked me about planting by the lunar month , I decided to just pose with the Farmer ’s Almanac Guide and see how things grow .
Landrace Projects: When and What We Are Planting
This twelvemonth we are play on landrace gardening projects ask Indian corn , okra , watermelon , Seminole pumpkins and our WalmartC. maximapumpkins .
Corn
corn whiskey should be planted after the last frost day of the month but I ’m not trusted when that will be . We could plant at the close of this week , but we have a lot to set and do n’t want to risk a recent frost . April 2nd and 3rdare both favorable days for clavus so we will probably plant then , as the chance of another frost at that stop is minimum . We hope to put in a couple of demesne of Indian corn this year . flop now we are waiting on a tractor to disc up a neighbor ’s field . We should believably also burn off the field before discing and planting , as there is a lot of tall sess . Our end with the corn whisky is to create a strong variety that does well on just rainfall and is pestis - immune and adapted to our area . We are also multiply for rich colours .
Okra
Last year our okra did famously , which is not surprising as it ’s a Southern staple . The Burgundy did better than the other types and we saved seminal fluid to engraft again . I am also going to mix in Orange Jing and a motley of other types this year and permit them to intersect - breed . My finish is to make gumbo a reoccurring smoke in our garden . We should institute these onApril 2 - 3 and 7 - 8 .
Watermelons
My boy Ezekiel is working on landrace watermelon . He has been establish watermelon vine for multiple yr now . Last class he imbed about ten dissimilar varieties and rent them all cross . This yr we will institute at least an Akko together and see what we get . Many new varieties are being added to the mix this twelvemonth and they ’ll all run together and breed . If we get the timing right , we ’ll have a beehive in the field of operations while they are in flower to facilitate interbreeding . We should implant these onApril 7 - 8 .
Seminole Pumpkins
We have been planting Seminole pumpkins for years . However , my breeding projects were destroy in the tropic as I lose my original personal credit line in the newfangled rise condition . Since move back to the state , I have re - originate with a variety of Seminole pumpkin lines we are cross together . Since I am more interested in pest resistance , issue and survivability , I am also mixing in otherC. moschatapumpkins to make a new line we can choose from . finally , it should be a SUPER MOSCHATA , open of hide old truck and mobile homes in vigorous vines while producing alarm amounts of pumpkins . Kudzu Moschata is our aim . We are planting an acre this year . We should plant these onApril 7 - 8 .
Maxima Pumpkins
Last twelvemonth we had some very luscious Maxima pumpkin vine which go up from the seeds of a delicious slating grey-haired - green pumpkin I bought from Walmart at the end of 2020 . The result progeny were a intermixture of types , many of which were quite delicious . If we can keep the honest flavor of a Maxima but multiply it for more energy , we ’ll be in great Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe . We saved seeds from the 2021 harvest and I am adding multiple other Maxima type to the mixture this year in the Leslie Townes Hope of respectable crosses . If everything aligns well this spring , we ’ll be planting an acre of Maxima pumpkins . We should found these onApril 7 - 8 .
Final Thoughts for Spring 2022
We also need to plant cassava , yams and sweet Solanum tuberosum . We should institute our yams on the18th-21stof this month , as well as the rest of the potatoes . manioca and fresh potatoes are more sensitive to rime , so we should plant them on the next favorable root day in April .
Today it ’s rain , but if I ’m going to get all this stuff in the ground , I will have to get outside and get started tomorrow . We take to compass bed , put up trellises , till , prepare more Irish potato beds and more . Plus I demand to get a buck Capricorn the Goat to spawn our does , and get a fence up , and expand the Gallus gallus footrace .
Everything happens fast in spring – and the added complication of follow the moon make it an even tighter agenda . It ’s fun , though , and it will be an interesting experiment .
