Posted on 10/29/2022 6:11:28 AM PDT by Diana in Wisconsin
The Weekly Gardening Thread is a weekly gathering of folks that love soil, seeds and plants of all kinds. From complete newbies that are looking to start that first potted plant, to gardeners with some acreage, to Master Gardener level and beyond, we would love to hear from you.
If you have specific question about a plant/problem you are having, please remember to state the Growing Zone where you are located.
This thread is a non-political respite. No matter what, you won’t be flamed, and the only dumb question is the one that isn’t asked.
It is impossible to hijack the Weekly Gardening Thread. Planting, Harvest to Table Recipes, Preserving, Good Living - there is no telling where it will go - and that is part of the fun and interest. Jump in and join us! Send a Private Message to Diana in Wisconsin if you'd like to be added to our New & Improved Ping List.
NOTE: This is a once a week Ping List. We do post to the thread during the week. Links to related articles and discussions which might be of interest to Gardeners are welcomed any time!
The Jack-O-Lantern’s Origins
It’s dark out. The wind blows through the branches, bringing a chill that isn’t necessarily due to the temperature. Suddenly you find yourself hyper aware of every sound around you, and you start as you realize you see a pair of eyes glowing at you…until you realize it’s a jack-o-lantern. Happy Halloween, indeed.
You may be wonder how jack-o-lanterns became so popular, or why we carve them out of pumpkins. To know the origins of jack-o-lanterns, we have to go all the way back across the Atlantic to the fens, or marshes, of rural Ireland. In the early 1600’s, the legend of a shadowy figure began to arise known as Stingy Jack (Jack the Smith, Drunk Jack, Flakey Jack, and other names are also in the folklore and can be used interchangeably).
The most popular version of the tale involves Jack first tricking the Devil into changing his form, then trapping him in his transfigured state. Jack then offered the Devil out of the deal in exchange for not taking his soul for a long time. Some longer versions of the story have the Devil being tricked 3 or 4 different times.
Eventually though, time caught up with Jack and he was unable to trick the Devil again. Stingy Jack was sentenced to roam the Earth for all eternity with nothing but an ember given to him by the Devil to light his way.
There is also other folklore from this time surrounding what’s known as ignis fatuus, or false fire. False fire is an actual occurrence— scientifically, ignis fatuss, is known as marsh gas and occurs during the spontaneous ignition of methane created by decaying plant matter in marshes or swampy areas. These two legends began to intertwine—when many people in the moors of the British Isles saw the naturally occurring marsh gas, they attributed to Stingy Jack.
Many people in those areas also continued the Gaelic celebration of Samhain, with its rituals of going from house to house in search of food and drink (these are the origins Trick or Treating). As it was naturally dark in pre-industrial revolution Ireland, many would carve turnips, potatoes or other root vegetables and add coals or candles to create makeshift lanterns to help guide those celebrating. Occasionally these would be carved with faces, a tradition that continues to this day in Britain and Ireland.
The waves of immigrants created by the Great Potato Famine of the 1840’s. As with most immigrants also had a role in traditional jack-o-lanterns. They arrived in America to celebrate Halloween and were able to find a very particular new world crop that was much larger and easier to carve than their root vegetables of home; the winter squash, the most famous of which is a pumpkin. (There are also several French recipes for a pumpkin soup that suggest carving pumpkins for decoration as early as the 1760’s).
Pumpkins themselves were introduced by the Indigenous Peoples to Europeans as early as the 1600’s, when tales of Jack first began to be told. Several cultures mixed together in celebration of Halloween, creating the iconic pumpkin faces we still know today.
https://carnegiemnh.org/the-jack-o-lanterns-origins/
I thought about planting pumpkins, and I really don’t remember why I didn’t. I certainly will next year.
my dad said growing basil was much more cost effective and a basil plant weighs almost nothing.
What's amazing are all the different verities. I usually keep mine through Thanksgiving - after that, they are usually rotten and ready to be tossed.
Happy Halloween to all!
I haven’t posted in a while because my Saturdays are so busy. Last day for my local farmer’s market. One of my favorite farmers is retiring this year. I think I will be spending the winter figuring out how to grow great lettuce.
We haven’t had a good enough frost for my plants outside to be pruned or pulled. I love having fresh basil in Halloween!
Off to get a couple more pie pumpkins at the farmer’s market. Great nutrition for the next few weeks!
please add me to ping list, if u would
Zone 7 now that we got rid of seven huge trees there is sunlight available for flowers. Planted hibiscus, lilac, balloon flower, lots of other flowers/plants along the fence. Picked the last of the winter squash. Other stuff in the greenhouse so i will need to winterize the greenhouse.
I had a few pie-types turn up in my compost pile this season, which was a bonus. After last year's absolute GLUT of pumpkin, I have plenty in the freezer for the next few years. :)
Fresh herbs and tomatoes were what we grew for local restaurants back in the day, my In-laws and I. Easy to transport and profitable. We grew ‘Celebrity,’ God’s most perfect tomato, according to my FIL, LOL! Also, ‘Wisconsin 55.’
Raspberries were a PITA; MIL and I picked 5 days in a row for 8 hour stretches to get ready for Saturday Market. It wasn’t unusual for us to come home with $4K sold in raspberries on a Saturday morning, though! :)
In college, I have to admit, a few of us stole a pickup load of pumpkins from a local field. After some thought, we had a carving party, got the little candles from Kmart and several nights later, put them back in the farmer’s field. We brought a tripod and took long exposure pictures of all the jacks lit up in his field. Several days later, we went incognito to his farm stand. He had bought more candles and kept the jacks going.
I should have marketed them...but simply gave them away.
Great story. Happy Ending. I’ll bet it was something to see, all lit up!
FIL used to plant an acre of pumpkins at his farm for the Grandkids. Whoever came out during the growing season to help water or hoe got all the pumpkins they wanted for FREE.
We had a pumpkin stand in front of our farm many years in a row because my boys were always happy to earn a buck. Plus, we lived right up the road from them, a few farms over, LOL! Good times and a good learning lesson for the Grands.
One tenacious woman's journey to escape rural poverty and create a billion-dollar farming business--without ever leaving the land she loves.
The youngest of her parents' combined twenty-one children, Sarah Frey grew up on a struggling farm in southern Illinois, often having to grow, catch, or hunt her own dinner alongside her brothers. She spent much of her early childhood dreaming of running away to the big city--or really anywhere with central heating. At fifteen, she moved out of her family home and started her own fresh produce delivery business with nothing more than an old pickup truck.
Two years later, when the family farm faced inevitable foreclosure, Frey gave up on her dreams of escape, took over the farm, and created her own produce company. Refusing to play by traditional rules, at seventeen she began talking her way into suit-filled boardrooms, making deals with the nation's largest retailers. Her early negotiations became so legendary that Harvard Business School published some of her deals as case studies, which have turned out to be favorites among its students.
Today, her family-operated company, Frey Farms, has become one of America's largest fresh produce growers and shippers, with farmland spread across seven states. Thanks to the millions of melons and pumpkins she sells annually, Frey has been dubbed "America's Pumpkin Queen" by the national press.
The Growing Season tells the inspiring story of how a scrappy rural childhood gave Frey the grit and resiliency to take risks that paid off in unexpected ways. Rather than leaving her community, she found adventure and opportunity in one of the most forgotten parts of our country. With fearlessness and creativity, she literally dug her destiny out of the dirt.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.