"Good Friday"

So how many of you wait until "Good Friday" to start planting your seedlings outside?? Around here, we actually wait for that day and the weekend following it to do all of our planting outside. It is been said that you can plant anything above or below ground on that day, with no more cold weather and no more frost to worry about.
Being as we are all in different zones, I was wondering if "Good Friday" was on the same day for all of us? Because this Friday March 29th is our's. What about your's?
I am going to be a busy little bee this weekend!

Good Friday is the same day for all of us, but I don't dare think about putting things outside!

I usually shoot for Mother's Day to plant outside, but the general rule of thumb here is to wait until Memorial Day. We can still have frosts after Memorial Day here in Western PA, so you ~really~ are not safe until mid-late June.

I remember one Memorial Day weekend about ten years ago where we had beautiful weather in the 70's for the week prior, and then a cold front came through. We ended up watching a local Memorial Day parade with our winter coats on-- it was in the 20's with about a 15 mph wind!

We had a terribly cold and wet May last year, and I just hope that we have a better Spring this year. March was certainly a disappointment. :-(

What a terrible way to spend what is traditionally a warm day for us! Yes, Good Friday is our signal that it is okay to plant. Legend has it that Easter ends the freezing temperatures. I have had the poor judgement to buy several flats of annuals, set them in front of the garage door for planting the next day, the day before Easter, and finding a mass of blackened vegetation the next morning, but that is rare. Nevertheless, I don't leave flats outside now. Just a simple act of opening the door and setting them inside, 6 more inches, would have saved them. I find that the days before Easter tend to get busy, so I wait a week or so longer.

This message was edited Monday, Apr 8th 5:01 AM

A lot of the folks around here swear by planting potatoes on Good Friday. It might be kinda hard to get that done this year though. Easter is early and we still have snow. Even if it melts, it's going to be awfully muddy.

Well Mollybee, Ofcourse I follow the 'Good Friday' tradition. All of my Grandparents believed in it and my Dad. Also, I only transplant things in a month with a 'R' in the spelling of the word. It has always been a pretty safe and good tradition to follow. For potatoes, I have been told that the moon and planting them at night has alot to do with it. Do you remember the year that I threw out potato peelings in my garden compost pile, and I always did that at night after dinner and I had potatoes coming up everywhere. I am supposed to be getting my Mantis Tiller today and my hubby told me not to touch it. I think he has gone crazy!!! If I can put it together, then out I go. I also enjoy reading our Farmer's Almanac. It helps too. But, I've found that no matter how warm it is, if I follow the old traditions that I've been taught, I have had pretty Good Luck. I still do not buy annuals until a few weeks later. I do go ahead and start my tomato plants that I always start from seed and any other veggies. I concentrate on my Veggie Garden first, then I start on a few flats of annuals. I have so many things this year and even my begonia's are coming back like perrenials. So, I won't have to buy those. Just a few petunia's for the hummingbirds and that is it. Good Luck to everyone and I feel so bad for you folks in that cold weather. Hope it warms up real soon!!!

Thanks, Traci S

In England it is/was considered terrible bad luck to put iron in the soil on Good Friday so digging is out. The only thing which is recommended for planting on Good Friday is Parsley as it's the only day it doesn't have to go 9 times to the Devil before it germinates.

The whole Easter weekend has become the time to visit the GC for the years planting.

It is going to be a bit longer than that for me. We have four inches of snow.

Ok Baa, what does that mean? "9 times to the devil before it germinates"???? Just wondering b/c I know I have heard that expression before but didn't know the meaning of it.

As for the rest of you....I feel for ya! Having to deal with more cold weather and snow!!! I shutter to think of the sight of it coming down in my yard, b/c I am sooooo ready for spring!!!

TraciS, well I sure hope your tiller did come today and I hope you get all your stuff tilled real sooooon....that way you can pick up that light weight little thang and bring it on over here and till up all my beds too. hee hee Just kidding! BUT wait that is what friends are for right???? LOL

I jumped the gun and shot myself in the foot. Where I work gives out bucks every month for safety, attendance and etc. and I had saved up about $60 and purchased a Home Depot gift certificate. Well I didn't listen to wife mate again and bought a pink pentas and two zinnias. She kept saying don't put them out until Good Friday. They are now in plant heaven. I'll learn one of these days. Traci when you get through at Molly's with the tiller come on down to Lagrange.

MOLLYBEE, parsley seed roots have to go to the devil and back nine times before they send up shoots, that is why they take so long to germinate.


This message was edited Wednesday, Mar 27th 10:34 PM

Hummmmmmm So that's were my parsley seeds are,,well
I don't if i want the dang things back from there.....
[[[[nana]]]]

Yes Pardancanda said it, some areas of the country believe its the seeds which go and others the roots. The Devil apparently likes the herb and keeps some of every planting. I just think Parsley has lazy seeds :)

This message was edited Thursday, Mar 28th 4:03 AM

LOL Well now that I think about it, I have had a few seeds in the past that must have went to the devil also, but never came back. LOL I for one have never planted parsley before but now that I know where they intend on going I probably wont hee hee

I didn't mean to put anyone off Parsley! Nothing bad about the herb at all, in fact it was thought to be great for fertility and virility not all too many years ago.

We aren't safe here in middle TN to put anything tender outside until the 15th of April which is supposed to be our last frost date. I always go by my oak tree however. If it has new leaves I know I can feel ok to put everything out.

Naa Baa, you didn't put me off on parsley at all. I was just kidding. I really have never grown any herbs at all b/c I don't know how to use them in cooking, so I never bothered growing any that's all. *Ü*

Well, you don't have to cook a lot of them MOLLYBEE. Parsley is one of the ones that are lovely raw. Just chop finely and sprinkle over whatever you fancy (or even better, pick and eat while you walk round the garden). Chives are very useful too. Cut a bunch of leaves with scissors and cut the bunch into c1/4" lengths with scissors - very good sprinkled in potato salad. Have fun experiment - you'll soon find the ones you like.
:)

Ok I think you talked me into it Philomel, I saw at Wal-Mart that they had a dish with different types of herbs in it, kinda like a windowsill garden thing....think I am going to go back and get one! lol I am soo easily presuaded lol

:-9

We don't plant anything until Mothers Day. A trip to the garden center is usually my Mothers Day present, along with playing in the garden with out little helpers. But now that I have moved out of the city, I find most people plant a little earlier without problem.

HoniBee - sorry to hear of the snow (it's gone now isn't it) We had mostly freezing rain with about 1/2" snow on top of that. What a way to start a week! At least it will be nice this weekend!