Planting Peas on Valentines Day by Sr. KC, St Vincent Mission

I am totally enthralled with the whole growing in the signs and by the moon mythology. Like so many myths, there has to be some truth in them but mostly just like folklore, they are fun to hear and to pass around.

I wrote on an earlier blog about how here in Floyd County the old timers plant peas on Valentines Day and how that was confusing to me since planting by the moon puts Valentines Day in the “blow ground veggie” category. I asked some of my farmer/gardener friends here in Floyd County about the discrepancy and my favorite reply came from Bev May whose family has been on Wilson Creek in Floyd County for generations (she is organically gardening on her grandmother’s garden plot). She said that her grandfather, Zigfrog May, used to say that he didn’t live on the moon, he lived on the earth so he didn’t care what the moon was doing. Bev said his best advice with peas is plant early and plant often. Sound pretty solid to me although I wonder if it wasn’t a bit too early. Here is a picture of my pea patch at the monastery this past Monday.

I am excited to be working in the soil after so many months of planning and meetings. I spent three days of the last seven in all day meetings and I am about meetinged out. They were all very information filled opportunities and I even won a door prize at the Letcher County Extension Service’s Fruit and Vegetable Seminar—a beautiful jacket.

I attended the Fruit and Vegetable Seminar with one of our Grow Appalachia growers, Crystal Shepherd and met one of our partner greenhouse owners, Todd Howard, there. We were all very pleased with the presentations and wide range of information covered by the UK Ag agents. Crystal, Todd and I all felt like it was a great use of our time.

Speaking of time, I need to get this posted and head out to the David School, a local alternative high school and Grow Appalachia participant where we are building a compost bin today as part of their school gardening program. And then I think I’ll go plant some more peas in honor of Zigfrog. Happy planting.