Good Friday is almost here!

Geezer · April 1, 2015

Greetings all!

When I was growing up, my Dad always said that potatoes were ALWAYS to be planted on Good Friday!
Does anyone know where this comes from, or have others heard this?

T Minus 48 hours to planting.........

mecktom · April 1, 2015

My father always said similar things about planting garden on Good Friday.

KarenO · April 1, 2015

That saying did not originate in my neck of the woods:no

shelleybean · April 1, 2015

I have heard peas are planted Easter weekend but I find this very interesting because Easter can fall pretty much any time of March or April, whenever the church calendar says it will be. That's a range of up to 60 days!! The sign I follow is that peas should be planted when the forsythia blooms. I'm sorry to say I don't know about the potatoes. I've only grown regular potatoes twice and they didn't do very well in our heat. Sweet potatoes are a lot easier.

shelleybean · April 1, 2015

I've looked into this a little further. So it's not the whole month of March. Late March and any part of April is when Easter will fall. The date is chosen according to the moon, right? Does this go along with planting according to the moon, maybe?

JohnJones · April 1, 2015

Karen,

I've got so much respect for you folks in the Great White North. You really have to work for your bounty! We can be kinda lazy down here.

KarenO · April 2, 2015

Canada, "the true north strong and free"
True North Tomatoes, that's what I secretly call my crosses... Trying to make the great Canadian tomato up here. It needs to be stubborn like me.
KO

Marcus1 · April 2, 2015

Growing up we planted potatoes on Good Friday when the weather permitted. I still try to plant at least a few. Good Friday is always on the full moon and vegetables that produce under ground, potatoes,carrots, beets, etc. should be planted on a full moon. Vegs that produce above ground, toms,peppers,eggplant,etc. get planted on the new moon. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. If I remember right it was to help convert the pagans whose lives were centered on lunar cycles.
Marcus

Stvrob · April 2, 2015

Always plant potatoes on Good Friday? Regardless of latitude? Hemisphere? Did he tell you why? or how many? Will just planting one or two be satisfactory?
Unfortunately, many things that fathers tell their children turn out to be incorrect. I suspect this is one of them.

rxkeith · April 2, 2015

we still have snow covered frozen ground here, although the big melt is going on.

i like to go by the when the dandelions start to bloom, its time to plant potatoes saying.

keith

spereira · April 3, 2015

I think the saying is "when the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear"

Catherine+twin · April 3, 2015

All gardening is local.

I grew up hearing that peas and potatoes (and spinach and lettuce and carrot seed) needed to be planted between St Patrick's day and Easter, and the heat-loving plants go out on Memorial Day weekend. Where I live now, the heat-loving stuff doesn't go out until the snow melts off the "chickens," two high mountain valley meadows east of us (they look like folk-art chickens, or a chicken and a rooster) that face northwest and hold the snow until early May, sometimes later. I actually can't see the chickens from my yard (there's a mesa in the way), but I can from my step-dad's house.

Of course, the last couple of winters there hasn't been much snow, so the snow chickens are of less use any more.

Anyway, I have planted two plots of potatoes (blue flesh and yellow flesh/red skin), and still have the sprouted spuds from the pantry to put in. Yes, I do that, but I am the only gardener in the near neighborhood so I'm not threatening anyone else's garden. The only peas that got planted were the seeds that dropped because I didn't clean up last year's pea garden until Thanksgiving.

The carrots I grew for seed have seeded, too. But I really bought five more varieties of carrot, and I have radishes and lettuce and such that will go in this weekend.

My cute little tomato seedlings should be big enough to put out in early to mid May, but on the Memorial Day weekend at the latest, just like my mom taught me.

Catherine

MrBig46 · April 4, 2015

My dad told me that Good Friday is the biggest holiday of the Christians, and that in this day does not dig into the ground. He kept it even though he was an atheist.
Vladimír
Merry Easter!

ChristinaJo · April 5, 2015

Quote:

Originally Posted by spereira

I think the saying is "when the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear"

I think that's hen to plant okra! But I'm here in Texas

AlittleSalt · April 5, 2015

ChristinaJo, this year, I'm starting to believe in a new saying: "I wish I had planted it a few weeks ago." If I can get done what needs to be done tomorrow, I'll be planting some Jing Orange Okra tomorrow. Weeks earlier than I have in years past. Today's 1.5 inches of cold rain dropped the soil temp to 61F. Okra likes 65-70F soil temps to germinate.

April 1, 2015	#1
Geezer Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Brownsburg, IN Posts: 293	Good Friday is almost here! Greetings all! When I was growing up, my Dad always said that potatoes were ALWAYS to be planted on Good Friday! Does anyone know where this comes from, or have others heard this? T Minus 48 hours to planting.........

April 1, 2015	#4
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	I have heard peas are planted Easter weekend but I find this very interesting because Easter can fall pretty much any time of March or April, whenever the church calendar says it will be. That's a range of up to 60 days!! The sign I follow is that peas should be planted when the forsythia blooms. I'm sorry to say I don't know about the potatoes. I've only grown regular potatoes twice and they didn't do very well in our heat. Sweet potatoes are a lot easier. __________________ Michele

April 1, 2015	#5
shelleybean Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Virginia Beach Posts: 2,648	I've looked into this a little further. So it's not the whole month of March. Late March and any part of April is when Easter will fall. The date is chosen according to the moon, right? Does this go along with planting according to the moon, maybe? __________________ Michele

April 3, 2015	#11
spereira Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: northern MN Posts: 26	oak trees I think the saying is "when the oak leaves are as big as a squirrel's ear"

April 1, 2015	#2
mecktom Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Southern Virginia Posts: 342	My father always said similar things about planting garden on Good Friday.

April 1, 2015	#6
JohnJones Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Mississippi Posts: 339	Karen, I've got so much respect for you folks in the Great White North. You really have to work for your bounty! We can be kinda lazy down here.

April 2, 2015	#7
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,931	Canada, "the true north strong and free" True North Tomatoes, that's what I secretly call my crosses... Trying to make the great Canadian tomato up here. It needs to be stubborn like me. KO

April 2, 2015	#8
Marcus1 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Colorado Posts: 124	Growing up we planted potatoes on Good Friday when the weather permitted. I still try to plant at least a few. Good Friday is always on the full moon and vegetables that produce under ground, potatoes,carrots, beets, etc. should be planted on a full moon. Vegs that produce above ground, toms,peppers,eggplant,etc. get planted on the new moon. Easter is the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox. If I remember right it was to help convert the pagans whose lives were centered on lunar cycles. Marcus

April 2, 2015	#9
Stvrob Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Jacksonville, FL Posts: 1,413	Always plant potatoes on Good Friday? Regardless of latitude? Hemisphere? Did he tell you why? or how many? Will just planting one or two be satisfactory? Unfortunately, many things that fathers tell their children turn out to be incorrect. I suspect this is one of them.

April 2, 2015	#10
rxkeith Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Back in da U.P. Posts: 1,848	we still have snow covered frozen ground here, although the big melt is going on. i like to go by the when the dandelions start to bloom, its time to plant potatoes saying. keith

April 3, 2015	#12
Catherine+twin Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Northern New Mexico Posts: 34	All gardening is local. I grew up hearing that peas and potatoes (and spinach and lettuce and carrot seed) needed to be planted between St Patrick's day and Easter, and the heat-loving plants go out on Memorial Day weekend. Where I live now, the heat-loving stuff doesn't go out until the snow melts off the "chickens," two high mountain valley meadows east of us (they look like folk-art chickens, or a chicken and a rooster) that face northwest and hold the snow until early May, sometimes later. I actually can't see the chickens from my yard (there's a mesa in the way), but I can from my step-dad's house. Of course, the last couple of winters there hasn't been much snow, so the snow chickens are of less use any more. Anyway, I have planted two plots of potatoes (blue flesh and yellow flesh/red skin), and still have the sprouted spuds from the pantry to put in. Yes, I do that, but I am the only gardener in the near neighborhood so I'm not threatening anyone else's garden. The only peas that got planted were the seeds that dropped because I didn't clean up last year's pea garden until Thanksgiving. The carrots I grew for seed have seeded, too. But I really bought five more varieties of carrot, and I have radishes and lettuce and such that will go in this weekend. My cute little tomato seedlings should be big enough to put out in early to mid May, but on the Memorial Day weekend at the latest, just like my mom taught me. Catherine

April 4, 2015	#13
MrBig46 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2013 Location: Czech republic Posts: 2,534	My dad told me that Good Friday is the biggest holiday of the Christians, and that in this day does not dig into the ground. He kept it even though he was an atheist. Vladimír Merry Easter!

April 5, 2015	#15
AlittleSalt BANNED FOR LIFE Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 13,333	ChristinaJo, this year, I'm starting to believe in a new saying: "I wish I had planted it a few weeks ago." If I can get done what needs to be done tomorrow, I'll be planting some Jing Orange Okra tomorrow. Weeks earlier than I have in years past. Today's 1.5 inches of cold rain dropped the soil temp to 61F. Okra likes 65-70F soil temps to germinate.