Dad, you were right

When my parents drove up here last weekend, my dad came ready to work. He brought 2 more of the wicker tables that had belonged to my grandmother, and spray painted them out behind my garage (he tried to bring 2 more chairs but couldn't get them to fit right on the top of my mom's car.) He fixed our broken doorbell. He hung up a sign on the porch. Because I rely on his extensive knowledge about it, he went out and selected the wine for my party. He bought tomato plants for our garden. But he didn't plant them.

When I asked him why he didn't want to plant them (it was more of a whine, "Daa-ad, wwhhyy not? "), he said we needed to wait a few more days. Until after the "three sisters" pass - May 16th, 17th, and 18th. He said it's an old German farming rule of thumb, he learned it from his grandfather. It's not enough to wait until May 15th. You have to wait for the 3 sisters to pass to avoid risk of a late spring frost.

Now, I've Googled "three sisters", and where crops are concerned, I am not seeing anything about planting dates. I see results about companion planting, as in, plant your beans, squash, and corn all together (could be that this is common knowledge to all of you green thumbs out there.) But never for a moment do I doubt my dad. I'm sure the rule exists. He's the smartest guy around.

But anyway, we didn't wait. The tomato plants went into the ground on Sunday, May 13th. As we were getting ready to plant them, I told my husband about the 3 sisters warning. But we both agreed that a few days ahead of time shouldn't make any difference. After all, the forecast on Sunday said we would have a mild week.

Of course, you all know how the forecast can change.

So, with a frost warning in place last night, I called Dad after dinner for some advice. He did not say "I told you so". But he did tell me what to do (that's why you see my little plants under cover up there.) In a little while I'll go out to see how they did overnight. I just called Dad a few minutes ago and he says sprinkle them with a little water as I uncover them. I'll let you know how they fared.