And as the Sun Slowly Rises


I have blogged numerous times about the artificial quality of marking time. The end of one years is but the beginning of the next and where we set that day is capricious at best. But civilization seems to want to do it. And there are many proofs of that from Stonehenge to Mayan Calendars to hash marks on prison walls.

At one time in my time clock days I was a cost and scheduling engineer. And we had elaborate computer programs which laid out complex industrial building projects over the span of years to be printed out in charts and put on the conference room wall so everyone could debate if we were ahead or behind schedule.

Life and living takes what it takes.

In my retirement from the scheduled world of construction only last frost and first frost seems to matter. But I have purchased a new propagation system and find myself trying to walk back, with help of the garden journal, when I should start my broccoli and Brussels Sprouts to be put out in the garden the first of May.



Last frost was mid May last year but seeds had been planted and were coming up in the protection of the hoop house since the first of May. Coward that I was I did not put out plants until the end of that month. I would like to give them more time. So should I plant my seeds inside the first of March and give them to the protection of two layers of plastic and the fickle goddess of weather the first of May?

Did the priests of Stonehenge ever wonder if they needed to amend the stone calendar? Scientists are wondering if calendar slippage has reached the point we need to rethink if solstice is the beginning or the middle of things. And climate has changed even in the five years of my garden journal.


As you can tell I have begun my garden planning. Once I waited till March. Seed catalogs were not even in the mailbox till January. Gardening looks different these days. My aero/hydro device produced edible lettuce in 30 days. How long can I harvest leaves off of it to eat?

The days are supposedly getting longer now. We are even past the four days when time seems to stand still and no doubt the makers of Stonehenge wondered it they got it wrong. I have more tweaks for the hoop house this growing season.

But there are a lot of days of winter left. It is 81 days until spring equinox.

Comments

  1. Ien in the KootenaysDecember 29, 2018 at 8:28 AM

    Oh gosh! You have me in panic mode! I was so determined to start the planning in fall for a change. When it comes to figuring out planting out times, think of staggering and hedging your bets. This is where I have most room for improvement. Some things take a long time and all have to be started early, such as leeks, celery and Brussels sprouts. But with small early cabbages you want just one or two taking up garden space at the time, then have a new bedding plant ready to take its space after harvest. I have found it does not pay to panic too much over a late start. Things catch up.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. JBinford-BellDecember 29, 2018 at 8:54 AM

      I know you are leaving for a month so I assume nothing has to be done in January though I am looking at starting some lettuce and chard in there to be devoured before starting the serious bedding plants for the hoop garden.

      My Brussels Sprouts did suffer from a late start. And Broccoli was not what it has been in past years. But we got hot too fast and with the dry from winter it just didn't seem to be that good of a garden. BTW we have now beaten the snow fall for all of last winter. I think the dry air just depletes the soil of all moisture and it was as if regardless of how much I watered it never caught up. Is that silly?

      Delete

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