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Around the house, the frau (wife)
tends the kitchen garden. Here they grow their radishes, onions,
carrots, greens, and herbs for the household. Not forgotten are the
berry bushes and strawberry patch. And nearby, you will find the
flower garden.
Away from the homes are the farm
fields. Here they grow the potatoes, corn, squash, cabbage, and the
other produce they will sell.
However, no matter all the
scientific farming methods, the Pennsylvania German farm has their
long held folklore:
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Plant lettuce in the dark of
the moon
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Plant beans when the horns of
the moon turn upward
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Plant cabbage on Good Friday
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Plant cucumbers on the year's
longest day
-
When you plant radishes, say
"as long as my arm and as thick as my leg."
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Never transplant parsley - it
is bad luck
-
Begin sowing on Friday and
end it on Friday
-
Spread ashes on Ash Wednesday
-
Anything planted in the name
of God will grow
Ah, but when you eat your
vegetables:
- Sauerkraut and bacon will
drive all cares away
- Be sure to eat dandelions or
greens on Maundy Thursday
- Raise your cucumbers carefully
but if you make salad of them - throw it in the swill barrel.
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Pennsylvania Dutch Did You Know?
The origin of the word 'Dutch' is a
"folk-rendering" of the Pennsylvania Dutch's own self-designation
Deitsch. There is also some speculation among scholars that "Dutch"
is actually an archaic term that was used to refer to all people of
Germanic descent, and that is the term that stuck in the
English-speaking community. It corresponds to German Deutsch and the
Netherlands' "Diets," meaning 'of the common people' as opposed to
the learned lords and clerics who had mastered Latin.
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All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation
License.
Pennsylvanian
Dutch farms are among the
finest in the world. You can see the rolling fields and the century old
farmhouses, built of native stone. In the local farmer markets, these
families tend their stalls and proudly sell their products.