Great books, old wives’ tales, lunar sowing and companion plants
Almost as much as gardening, I love books, especially about plant folklore. Whether old or new, I have a large collection I refer to often. Wherever I go, I seek out second-hand bookshops for little gems full of information. For £4, I picked up The Gardener’s Folklore, by Margaret Baker, originally published in the US in 1977 (there are second-hand versions available on the internet).
It’s a fascinating read of old wives’ tales, magic and country superstitions from all over the world – or are they? There are interviews with elderly farmers and gardeners on both sides of the Atlantic, with memories reaching back into the 19th century. There’s a remarkable amount of similarity in the odd growing rituals all over the world. It’s fascinating to see whether these practices have any scientific basis behind them – you’d think if they didn’t work, people would stop doing them.
Another good read by the same author is Discovering the Folklore of Plants (2008), which is far easier to find and a good introduction to the subject. Read my review of The Gardener’s Companion to Medicinal Plants.
Plant folklore – Potatoes and parsley traditions
This plant folklore custom particularly attracted my attention, probably because it’s from my home turf! Maybe the weather was better between the wars, as The Gardener’s Folklore mentions an age-old tradition in County Durham of planting potatoes on Good Friday. I think it is probably because the day was a rare break in the working man’s year and a holy day.
One miner’s daughter is quoted as saying: 2My late dad planted his potatoes on Good Friday and took them up on Durham Miners’ Gala day in July.” Of course, for the county’s pitmen, ‘The Big Meeting’ as we still know it in the region, was one of the year’s highlights. We may not have the pits any more, but we still have the gala and the parade of banners. Beamish Museum has a wonderful recreation of colliery life, including cottages and allotments – well worth a visit.
There are also many superstitions surrounding parsley, with Good Friday the only day you can transplant it without bringing death on the family, according to Pennsylvania Germans. If you’ve ever tried to transplant parsley, my advice is to leave it well alone!
Every gardener needs Marc Hamer in their life!
My son, despite instructions to stay on my ‘wanted books list’, veered off-piste and bought one ‘he thought I would like’ for my birthday. Despite my initial fears, I can truly say, ‘boy done good’. Seed to Dust – A Gardener’s Story by Marc Hamer is one of the most touching, informative, thoughtful and joyful books I have ever read.
This isn’t a review as such, but if ever a book should live on this page, it’s this one. Written as monthly chapters, the gardening tasks, plant folklore, and meditation on them give way to startling insights into Marc’s past. You really don’t know what’s coming next, which makes it all the more delightful.
The older I get, the more I get drawn into the ancient past. Reading Collected Folk Tales by Alan Garner at the same time proved a wonderful pairing. Garner’s retelling of stories and legends from around the world – ‘the gossip of history’ in his words makes you look closer into our relationship with nature. Imagine how that was for our ancestors!
Plant folklore – Companion planting: what does it do?
It’s a simple concept and one steeped in tradition, plant folklore and the knowledge of generations of gardeners. Companion planting involves growing crops that are beneficial to each other. Sometimes they can help each other to grow better, like tomatoes and asparagus. Other times, the companion plant draws pests away from the crop, like nasturtiums.
Here are the 10 top groupings:
1. Tomatoes and marigolds: Ward off whitefly.
2. Basil and tomatoes: The herb attracts greenfly and other aphids away from the fruits.
3. Borage, balm, and tomatoes: The herbs are beneficial to the fruits. Tomatoes keep better if grown near stinging nettles.
4. Outdoor tomatoes and asparagus: Both benefit from each other’s company.
5. Sweetcorn, squash, and beans: The traditional Native American Indian growing system, known as the Three Sisters. The runner beans grow up the sweetcorn stalks, keeping them off the ground; the beans attract beneficial insects that prey on pests. The squash acts as a living mulch, and spiny varieties deter predators.
6. Radishes and spinach: Radishes attract leaf miners away from spinach. The radish roots are unharmed, so this is a perfect pairing.
7. Roses and chives/garlic: The alliums repel pests that eat rose petals.
8. Tomatoes, dill, and brassicas: Tomatoes repel the diamondback moth larvae, which eat cabbage leaves. Grow tomatoes around the cabbage patch. Any brassica helps keep dill upright, which attracts tiny beneficial wasps that control cabbage pests.
9. Potatoes and sweet alyssum: Sweet alyssum’s tiny perfumed flowers attract many beneficial insects. Plant it on top and around potatoes – the tubers grow pest-free underneath.
10. Cucumbers and nasturtiums: Nasturtiums are edible and one of the biggest pest attractors. Insects flock to them and ignore cucumbers.
Lunar seed sowing – does it work?
Sowing with the phases of the moon may seem like witchcraft to some and plant folklore nonsense to others. However, always up for a bit of harmony with nature, I thought I’d give it a go. I usually sow tomato and pepper seeds in mid-late February, in a heated propagator. Sowing that early, they benefit from a grow lamp after germination. If you’re using a windowsill, wait until March when the days have lengthened a bit. Leggy seedlings are worse than useless.
According to The Gardener’s Folklore, the majority of horticulturalists sowing with the moon do so on a “waxing” moon (getting bigger, towards full). A German researcher, Dr Kolisko, studied the effect of the moon on plant growth. He confirmed in 1936 that the best time to plant seeds was 48 hours before a full moon. I planted Suncherry Premium F1, Sungold and Gardener’s Delight. They did germinate much faster than usual. Was it the propagator, the freshness of the seeds, the compost, the phase of the moon or a combination of them all? Well, you’ll have to make up your own minds about that one!
Here’s more on useful gardening information. Read more about companion planting.
