NEWS FROM THE HILLS: APRIL & SPRINGTIME

March, with her changeable moods and capricious ways, exits our hills today, making way for dainty April and the fullness of springtime. The month of March was unusually warm, prompting some folks to jump the gun and begin gardening.

Some farmers plant their potatoes on St. Patrick’s Day, rain or shine (and sometimes snow!) Daddy liked to plant ours on April 10, or the hundredth day of the year. It is safe to sow lettuce, plant green onions and set out cabbage and broccoli plants. There is always the danger of a late frost in setting out the more delicate plants.

There is a lot of folklore concerning the planting of crops, and planting by the signs of the moon. Criss never paid attention to the signs, but just planted when the ground was warm and dry. One of the old sayings was, “Thunder in January indicates a frost on the corresponding day in May.” We usually wait until the tenth of May before setting out tender plants such as tomatoes or sweet peppers.

“Cucumbers and other flowering vegetables planted when the moon is in the sign of the Virgin will bloom profusely, but bear poorly; however, if planted in the sign of the Twins they will bear heavily.” I am not saying this is true, but one summer Mom had a patch of cucumbers that bloomed and bloomed, but nary a cucumber set on the vines. “Turnips, onions and potatoes planted in the light of the moon will grow larger and nearer the top of the ground.” (This doesn’t mean that you go out at night and plant by the light of the moon. It refers to the time from the new moon to the full.)

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Here is another piece of old time advice that practically refutes the former, “Plants that grow underground, such as potatoes, turnips, onions and so forth ought to be planted in the dark of the moon or they’ll all ‘go to tops.'” (The dark of the moon is that period from the full moon to the new.) So take your choice.

“Beans, peas, tomatoes and such that have their crops above the ground should be planted in the light of the moon, and potatoes should be dug in the light of the moon or they will rot.” I can’t verify this, but I do know that the brine on sauerkraut made in the dark of the moon (also called the shrinking of the moon) will keep shrinking and will have to have more salt water added to it. On the other hand, if it is made in the light of the moon the brine will almost overflow the churn.

“Beans shouldn’t be planted until after the first whippoorwill hollers, and should be planted in the morning—not the evening.” So—what do you do when whippoorwills are no longer in the area? They are almost a thing of the past here. Daddy had a saying that when the first whippoorwill of spring sounded, it was the wife’s turn to get up and build the fire in the morning. I think he made that one up. Thank goodness, all we have to do now is turn up the thermostat.

“The best planting time for lettuce is about February 14, and cucumbers should be planted about May first.” I remember Mrs. Hester Everson called May first “flower day” and sowed her flower seeds then. “Watermelons should be planted about May 10, and turnips about July 25.” Now that we have our spring planting schedule, we have no excuse not to start.

The book that I got these country sayings from also had this to say, “There are some of the hardest working people in the country right here. To scratch a living from a piece of ground in these hills takes a man that will get up at sun-up and work until sundown—during the growing season anyway.

“The wife also cooked three meals a day, helped her husband with some of his chores, did her outside chores (milking, taking care of chickens, etc.) and also raised a passel of young’ens. It was a hard life.”

I’ve been reading my mother’s journal that she kept between the years of 1943-1946. (She kept journals all her life, as long as she was mentally able.) I didn’t realize that she had worked so hard, and had company almost every day. She certainly fit that description.

On Sunday she cooked big meals for a houseful of people. Poor Mom! When you are a child you don’t notice too much the things that go on around you, but it made my heart hurt to read about her life. She had seven children in 12 years, and was either expecting a baby or nursing one.

On a typical day, she wrote, “I washed today—washed three quilts, mopped three rooms. Awfully tired.” On Monday 1944, she wrote, “Still rainy—feel bad. Baked two lemon pies. Cold and snowing afternoon. Mary and Verna Johnson here awhile.” The following day, on Tuesday, she wrote, “Cloudy and cool—having awful pains. Baby (Ronnie) born at 5:25 PM. Mrs. Freeland and Mrs. Johnson here.”

Another entry, “Canned 18 quarts of apples and 14 quarts of tomatoes today. Reva, Allen Wayne, Mary, Dale, Dick, Jess, Gary, Bobby and Mrs. Coon here. Made Alyce Faye a dress and finished Jeannie’s dress.”

There was one entry that I remember well. She wrote, “Alyce Faye left home today—went to Everson’s.” I was 10 years old and got mad about something. I crammed my fancy Easter dress down in a paper bag and left home. When I got to Everson’s, I was ashamed to tell them I had come to stay, so I stuffed my dress down behind some vines on the porch.

I played happily all afternoon, but when evening came Mom sent Larry after me. To tell the truth, I was relieved; rescued my dress and the prodigal daughter returned home.

I’ve been lost in the forties today, reading Mom’s journal. Solomon must have had Mom in mind when he wrote Proverbs 31. “Who can find a virtuous woman? For her price is far above rubies. She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.”

How I wish that I could tell her, now that I understand more, how I appreciate the life she lived and how blessed we were to have her for a mother.