Planting By the Signs: Mountain Gardening: The Foxfire Americana Library (10)

by Edited by Foxfire Students

  “You take pigs, now—castratin’ pigs. If you want a pig to do well, let th’ signs be in th’ feet. Gone on out, you see; gone on down past th’ arms and legs and out, through th’ feet.”

  We asked him about cutting wood. “Cuttin’ wood? Oh, shucks yeah. Lots’a people just hoot at’ya talkin’ about cuttin’ firewood to burn good, but there’s a certain time of th’ moon when you cut it and it won’t do nothin’ but fry and hiss about and have to get red hot and maybe burn enough kindlin’ to make another fire. There’s a certain time in that now about deadenin’. I did know, but I wouldn’t say for sure. I think it’s th’ dark nights in May when th’ signs are in th’ heart. You stick an axe in a tree, and when you cut it, it’ll die.”

  Twenty miles away, we visited another woman known throughout this area. Mrs. E. N. Nicholson, frail but energetic and bright, is the oldest woman in the county, having watched over a hundred years go past. Did she believe in the signs? “I was brought up in that day, and I can’t help from believin’ in it. When I plant my garden, I wanta’ plant it on the right time of the moon. But most of that’s forgotten now.”

  When asked if she thought it ought to be preserved, she answered, “I can’t help but think that it ought. There arc too many things to think about today. A good home and plenty of land should make anyone perfectly happy. Too many things now that call for money. We had a good time when I was growin’ up, and we got along as well as you all now.”

  On the way back home, we stopped in to visit Mr. Carnes whose relish, preserve, and jelly stand outside Clayton is a favorite stop for tourists and local people alike. He does not follow the signs himself as he does not plant, but his whole family did. He was able to tell us the following story, and theory.

  “Some time ago, a man was castrating two hogs. He finished one, and just as he got to the second, the moon changed, and the second hog bled to death.”

  He also advanced the theory that you needed to plant your corn so that it would lower on the bright nights of the moon. That way, the insects could see better and pollinate the flowers more completely. This, obviously, would result in a better crop of corn.

  The whole thing, being strange to us, still sounded crazy. The next day we had a new angle. If this whole thing did work, then there had to be a logical explanation. Margaret Norton would know, if anyone would. She was our next target.

  Margaret, author of our recipe column in our magazine, is widely known and respected as one of the most successful gardeners in these parts. Because of this, and because she has been planting strictly by the signs for over ten years, she has become the authority in Betty’s Creek valley on the signs and how they work. Knowing Margaret and her husband Richard better than most of the people we had interviewed, we felt free to ask her more probing questions. Besides, we knew a little more about the signs by the time we got to her—more, at least, than we had known when we talked to Mrs. Cabe—and so we felt more confident.

  She and her husband Richard both talked to us freely. Margaret explained, “It’s all true, and just a few hours can make a difference. It sure works for me. And th’ ones that don’t [plant by the signs]—if they once was to get started at it, they wouldn’t change for nothin’. But they have just growed up thataway and, you know, it’s hard to change when you’ve done a certain thing all your life. But I don’t know why they won’t try it. If they just was to fail with something several times, they perhaps would try then, because that’s th’ thing made me start tryin’. My cucumbers failed. I planted them, and they just bloomed and bloomed and bloomed and never did any good. I just planted ’em in an unfruitful sign.”

  Richard continued. “We plant Irish potatoes by th’ signs, too. They’s a certain sign you can plant Irish potatoes in and they’ll do as good again; I know that. They’s lots of people who hit it once in a while anyhow though.” And Margaret added, “Naturally once in a while you’d hit it, because there’s fourteen good plantin’ days in every month, see?”

  Soon we were on the subject of the younger generation and whether they were following the signs or not. Margaret commented, “Young people aren’t followin’ it. They don’t even know th’ signs. They perhaps just go on about somethin’ else and never help their parents in th’ field; and maybe their parents don’t say anything to them, and don’t say, ’Now this is th’ right day to plant. Let’s go and plant.’ You know, th’ young generation don’t work like we had to work when we was growin’ up.”

  What would happen with the young people not following the lessons of their ancestors? “They’ll just run into trouble. Th’ farmin’ and stuff’ll just be goin’ out more and more every year.”

  Richard changed the subject. “Another thing. Now you take like killin’ hogs. There’s a certain time to kill hogs too. You kill a hog on th’ new of th’ moon and take a slice of it and put it in a pan, and it’ll just bow up. You don’t want’a never kill it on th’ new of th’ moon.”

  Just before we left, we finally got to the question that had been bothering us for days. If it was true that it did work, then why? Why did it work? Margaret supplied an answer—“Well, it must have been in th’ plan when th’ world was made. Because you know in Ecclesiastes it says, ’There’s a time for everything. A time to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to harvest.’ That’s God’s book, you know, so that’s the reason.”

  THOSE WHO DOUBT

  It was not long before we came across first one, then another and another who refused to believe in the signs. Seeking some semblance of balance after so many days of living with the zodiac, we were glad to find them and talk with them.

  Most of those we talked to were educated people. Most had college degrees, and held positions of great respect in the community.

  Dr. Harry Brown of Mountain City, for example, was County Agent fifty years ago. Later he was Farm Bureau president, and then Under Secretary of Agriculture in the administration of Franklin D. Roosevelt. He stated, “My yield’s as high or higher than anyone in the county, and I’ve never used the signs. I don’t even know how they work. There’s no scientific evidence for it at all.”

  Pope Bass, overseer of the Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School’s dairy, has been farming for forty years without using the signs. He said that he had never been able to see any difference between his crops and the crops of those who used the signs.

  James T. Burden, Professor of Agriculture at the Rabun Gap school, said essentially the same thing. “There’s no scientific proof at all. Look. If someone’s going to be careful enough to plant by the signs and watch and harvest the crop that carefully, then the chances are he will have a good crop, regardless.” He plants by the weather and the season. When the soil is warm enough, and the danger of frost is gone, it’s time to plant, signs or not.

  Mr. Burden realizes the importance of the signs to many of his students’ families, however, and he is very careful not to turn them against their parents’ beliefs. He tells the students that they are perfectly free to use the system if they wish, cautioning them only with the statement that there is no scientific proof for it as yet.

  Barnard Dillard, owner of the local drugstore, added another dimension to the subject with a story he remembered about a family who played a trick on one of their elderly relatives who could no longer see well enough to read the planting calendar. Knowing beforehand what he considered to be the right time to plant corn, the boys in the family asked his advice, but planted on a day whose signs were exactly opposite of what he recommended. “They had a fine crop, too,” he recalls.

  SO?

  Two points of view. We are in no position to judge which is correct. But we can’t resist a parting shot.

  The times are turning against the practice of planting by the signs. Younger people, now exposed to a different type of education, are turning to new ways of doing things and often discarding the old in the process. Sometimes this is good. But with planting by the signs, there remains a lingering mystery that refuses to be
silenced.

  It would be nice to be able to dismiss the whole thing with a wave of the hand as “fogeyism,” but it’s hard to dismiss like that the unshakable beliefs of generations of people older and presumably wiser than we will be for some time.

  Besides, there are two stories we haven’t told you yet—those told by Wilbur Maney, County Agent, and R. L. Edwards, owner of Edwards Photographic Studios in Clayton. Knowing these men and their reputations, we have every reason to believe the truth of these stories.

  While cutting a field of waist-high, bothersome brush one day several years ago, Mr. Edwards noticed an older man watching him at work. He stopped his tractor and went over to say hello, at the same time complaining good-naturedly about the job that still lay ahead. “Well, after this you won’t have to worry about it any more,” said the older man.

  “Why, sure I will,” answered Mr. Edwards. “Next year I’ll just have to cut it all over again.”

  “Nope. After this it won’t ever come back,” the other stated. “Know why? Because you picked exactly th’ right day to cut that brush. Th’ moon and th’ signs are just right. You’re killing it, every bit. Go ahead and finish th’ job today and you’ll never have to worry about it again.”

  “You know,” said Mr. Edwards, “that old man was right. I cut that brush several years ago and it hasn’t come back up yet. My only trouble now is that for the life of me, I can’t remember which day I cut it on.”

  Mr. Wilbur Maney had a similar experience while attending a funeral in Hiawassee in August 1967. The corpse of the large man to be buried was enclosed in a huge, steel, waterproof vault. As is normal at funerals a dump truck was standing by to carry away the excess earth after the services. Usually one full load would do the job.

  During the service, an elderly gentleman standing nearby spoke to Mr. Maney. “See that dirt?” he asked. “You watch when they get done. Because of the day they dug that hole on, they’ll hardly have a wheelbarrow load left to cart away.”

  The vault was lowered into the ground, the dirt replaced, and all the remainder carried away in one wheelbarrow.

  Mr. Maney still does not plant by the signs, and still does not really believe in it—and yet…

  One of these days we intend to dig those two post holes Elvin Cabe told us to dig. We’ll keep you informed.

  RAISING NATIVE AZALEAS FROM SEED

  ~Coyl Justice~

  “About publishin’ [my] secret, I don’t mind because at eighty-four, it don’t make a lot of difference. None of my family is gonna do it anyway.”

  In their nursery tucked into a hillside of the Betty’s Creek community in Dillard, Georgia, Coyl Justice and his wife, Mildred, demonstrated for me the steps of gathering and then planting the seeds of the native azalea bushes that provide beautiful color in the mountains each spring. As he described to me each step of the process of growing these azaleas from seed, Mr. Justice told me not only what he does in his nursery but also how a layperson could copy what he does, using materials frequently found in the average home. As we walked their property, I witnessed the thrift and ingenuity that have undoubtedly been contributing factors in the success of their nursery. No container seemed to be wasted; even old medicine bottles were recycled and put to good use. Long before “green” was anything other than a color, Mr. and Mrs. Justice, and so many other people of the southern Appalachian Mountains like them, were making do with what they had, saving anything that could be reused, and wasting little, simply because doing so just made good sense.

  During my time with them, I found Mr. and Mrs. Justice to be patient with the many questions of a novice gardener and generous with their hard-earned knowledge. Their passion for their work was clear as they enthusiastically showed me all their many plants and gave advice for some of my own gardening dilemmas.

  The Justices maintain several greenhouses in which they grow various types of plants that they will later sell in their nursery. Through hard work, study, patience, and determination, they have created a business that they enjoy. The fruits of their labors have beautified homes in the surrounding area for many years, ensuring that long after they’ve retired, their legacy will continue.

  LACY HUNTER NIX

  GATHERING AND STORING

  I LLUSTRATION 30 Coyl Justice holding an immature seedpod with evidence of bug infestation

  After the native azaleas have bloomed out in late spring, a seedpod will form where the blossoms were. Allow the pod to remain on the plant until it begins to brown, usually in late September. Mr. Justice explained to us that if the pod remained on the plant for too long, it would burst when picked, spilling the seeds onto the ground.

  Place the seedpods in a container—the Justices use an open cup for this step—sprinkle with insecticide, and then place the cup in a sunny windowsill, where the seedpods will dry for approximately two months. Mr. Justice describes his initial experiences with trying to sprout azalea seeds before he added the use of an insecticide to this step: “They wouldn’t [sprout] because if you don’t put some sort of insecticide on the seedpod, the weevils gets in it, and by the time you get ’em hulled out, they done got it eat up. They don’t look like it ’cause you can’t see where the weevils has eat ’em, but if you put Sevin on ’em—I use Sevin dust and just shake it up, you know, and let ’em dry. Then hull ’em out, and then they’ll come out [germinate].”

  In November, hull the seedpods by pinching the brown pod with a pair of pliers, then rolling the pod between your fingers over a container such as a plate or pie pan until the seeds fall out.

  ILLUSTRATION 31 Mr. Justice holding azalea seeds and chaff

  After shelling the seeds, rub them over a fine screen to separate the seeds from the chaff. The seeds will fall through the screen while the chaff remains on top. Then place the seeds in a container and store them in the freezer until you are ready to plant. “I gather the seed and freeze it. I have planted [them after I] had them five years in the freezer, and they still come up. If you gather the seed like this year, they’ll come up this year, but one year is all they’ll [usually] come up.” Mr. Justice told us that he always plants during the December after he’s gathered the seeds, though he believes that the seeds will germinate in the correct conditions up to a year later when stored in the freezer.

  GERMINATION

  During the month of December, prepare the seed trays for planting. Mr. Justice told us that while he uses nursery seed boxes for his planting today, in the past, with great success, he has used plastic shoe boxes into which he had drilled drainage holes. To prepare for planting the seeds, screen peat through a wire screen. Place the peat remaining on top of the screen into the planting box first. Then mix part of the screened peat with warm water until it is wet. Squeeze the wet peat almost dry and place a 1- or 2-inch layer on top of the material already in the seed box. Then sprinkle the seeds on top. Finally, sprinkle a very small amount of the dry, screened peat—Mr. Justice said, “Pour barely enough to cover the seed; maybe not even one-sixteenth of an inch on top of the seeds and pat down gently.” Mist the planted seeds with warm water—preferably the same warm water used to moisten the peat—and cover with plastic sheeting to keep the seedbed from drying out. Mr. Justice places his seedbed on a heating cable that maintains a temperature of approximately seventy degrees Fahrenheit at this point in the process to keep the azalea seeds warm enough to germinate. However, he said that before he had a heating cable, he would place the seedbed in a sunny windowsill in his home. Keep the seedbed slightly moist with occasional mistings but not overly damp—allowing the environment to be too damp will be counterproductive—as Mr. Justice says, “Too much dampness will kill them. Some of ’em will sprout a little bit later, but most of them will sprout in about four weeks.”

  After the seeds have sprouted, place them under a grow light or in a location that is warm and sunny. A window with eastern or western exposure should provide good light, though Mr. Justice says that one with eastern exposure is ideal. Whe
n the seedlings have sprouted, continue to maintain a slightly damp but not overly wet environment. When the seedlings have a pair of leaves, Mr. Justice makes a very weak solution of fertilizer with which he mists the seedlings approximately once per week. He says, “Keep the cover on ’em and mist about one time per week with a very weak solution. I only put about one-fourth teaspoon of Miracle-Gro per spray bottle.”

  POTTING

  When the seedlings are approximately 1½ to 2 inches tall, place into individual 2-inch seed cups. Patience is key, as Mr. Justice warned us that it takes a while for the seedlings to grow to this point. Mr. Justice uses 2-inch breakaway plastic seed cups, though he says that any cup that holds approximately the same amount of soil mixture and has drainage holes will do. A container that is too small will allow the soil to dry too quickly, jeopardizing the health of the plant. In years gone by, Mrs. Justice and three other ladies would perform the task of moving the seedlings from seed tray to cups by using a toothpick to lift the seedlings from the seed trays without harming their roots. The seed cups should be filled with a mixture of perlite and peat that has been soaked in warm water and then wrung almost dry. Once the seedlings are in the cups, keep them inside in a sunny windowsill or protected outside in a cold frame or a greenhouse. Mr. Justice told us that he had grown “hundreds of ’em in a windowsill” until he obtained a cold frame. Keep the soil “moist but not too wet.”