When to Plant Your Garden

It's starting to get warm enough to get the garden planted.  So how do you know when to plant what??

Well in the Old Farmer's Almanc had some good suggestions...

Look to the signs of nature for planting tips! The method is called phenology, derived from the Greek word “phaino,” which means “to show” or “to appear.”

• Plant peas, beets, and lettuce when the first leaves appear on the lilac bush.
• Plant corn, beans, and squash when the lilac blooms.
• Plant cabbage when the dogwood is in full bloom or when apple blossoms bud.
• Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a mouse’s ear or elm leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear.
• Set out tomato transplants when the first ladybugs appear.

Another way to plant is by the moon.  This is how I remember my granddaddy planting his garden.  He used the Almanc and these guides to plant his gardens....

• Above-ground crops are planted during the light of the Moon (new to full)
• Below-ground crops are planted during the dark of the Moon (from the day after it is full to the day before it is new again)
• Planting is done in the daytime; planting at night is optional!