The Groundhogs Day celebration so popular in Pennsylvania is rooted in Celtic lore. Tradition states if a hibernating animal casts a shadow on the Pagen holiday of Imbolc, a Gaelic festival held on February 2nd marking the start of spring, winter will last for 6 more weeks. If no shadow is seen, legend states that spring will come early.
The ties to Pennsylvania may have actually started with the Germans. When skies were clear on Candlemans Day (also February 2nd) it is said that further cold weather is on the way. A hedgehog casting it's shadow would predict the snows well into May. When the Germans came to settle in Pennsylvania they brought the tradition with them. Just not the hedgehog. A groundhog proved to be an adequate substitute for the faulty weather predictions.
We have been trusting our weather predictions to Punxsutawney Phil since 1887 and he has only been right 39% of the time. Considering the fact the poor thing is ...what ...126 years old, he is looking pretty good for his age. After all the average groundhog only lives 9 to 14 years.
I say lets release Phil from his obligations and think positive. Let him retire and lets find a more spring friendly rodent to trust our weather predictions to. Like say, the weatherman? I think they went to school for that sort of thing didn't they?
So, in honor of thinking positive lets talk about spring!
It's not too early to start thinking spring and gardening. Plot and plan now while the snow flies. Do the preparations you can do inside. Make seed tape, peruse seed catalogs, and make your own self watering plant pots.
Self watering plant pots? Yes! You can do it and I'm here to show you how!!
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| Newly re-potted Spider Plant baby |
Things you will need:
a clean 2 liter or 20 oz bottle depending on what you intend to plant. I find 20 oz bottles work best for planting seeds. Since you will need to transplant them into a bigger pot later anyway.
clear packing tape
scissors
a length of cotton fabric or rope.
The first thing to do is determine the middle of your bottle and cut it in half
Remove the lid and invert the top half of the bottle. Thread your length of cotton rope through the mouth of the bottle leaving enough rope so it can sit down in the water. Maybe 3 or 4 inches. If you choose you may secure the rope with a clothes pin as I have done here. This was only to free up my camera hand but I found it worked so well I might just do it this way all the time.
Place your top onto your bottom making sure it's relatively level.
Now secure the top to the bottom using the clear packing tape. You may use any other kind of tape, I just like the way the clear looks.
Today we are transplanting one of the offshoots from my Spider Plant. My 9 year old son Gian gave me a little baby spider plant he rooted in school. Now the thing is taking over my window sill so I am rooting one of the "babies" for him. Let it take over his room.
Use good quality potting soil to fill your planter.
Tuck your seed/plant/offshoot or whatever your planting into it's new home and tamp down.
Water thoroughly and often for the first few weeks making sure to keep the soil moist.
Put your new friend in a warm sunny spot with other friends he can talk to and wait for him to root.
After his roots are established OR after your seedlings have a good start you should be able to water less often. Even being able to over water a bit and take a weekend away camping without worry. A friend of mine wraps her planters in contact paper to match her decor. Me however, I like to see the water level.
The cotton rope will act as a wick to keep your plant happy and healthily watered. I have even used part of a old tee-shirt as a wick before so don't be afraid to use what you have. I used the orange rope because I found it at the thrift store and thought it would be useful in tying up my tomato plants. Unfortunately for me, when looking out from the house, the rope ended up looking like tomatoes. Making me think I had more tomatoes on the vine than I really did. Silly rope. It does however make a wonderful plant pot wick!
I don't believe Phil is going to go away anytime soon, after all 126 years is a long tenure. Therefor, I suggest leaning more towards reading the Farmers Almanac or listening to some ancient rancher before taking Phils advice. After all, what can a decrepit old ground hog know about gardening? Other than it's good place to sneak into at night and graze like a fat lady at a buffet.
One more thing...how does one pronounce Punxsutawney anyway??
Happy planting!!
Barb
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