Gardeners can reclaim their agricultural heritage through Groundhog Day

Most of us know that Groundhog Day is the day when groundhogs briefly emerge at dawn to catch a glimpse of their shadow to predict the weather for the next six weeks.

It is such a minor holiday that, if the day is noticed at all, it is looked on as an old-fashioned, goofy day celebrated in Pennsylvania or as a plot device for a movie. At one time, however, it had a more practical meaning.

In some parts of the country, farmers marked Groundhog Day as a signal to visit the barn and take note of how much hay was left in the haymow. If you still had half or more of your hay, you would have enough hay to feed your cows until the first cutting of hay of the new season. If more than half was gone, then you would have to start making arrangements to procure more hay. So you can see how important Groundhog Day was for them.

Many gardeners feel they have a connection with those farmers, even if it may be subconscious, and that they share the agricultural heritage in some small way. After all, farmers and gardeners both work the soil to grow a product.

Maybe it’s time for gardeners to reclaim Groundhog Day as their own and start using it as part of the gardening calendar.

Instead of estimating food for livestock, gardeners could use the occasion to time certain events or take inventory of their gardening supplies and tools.

Some examples might include:

• Groundhog Day can be the deadline when all of your onion seeds should be started.
• Also, it is the perfect time to check your flower bulbs that you have in storage.
• Begin ordering your seeds for spring planting.
• Make sure all of your maple syrup equipment is in order.
• Inspect overwintering geraniums.
• Double check that all gardening tools are sharpened up and ready to go.
• Gather seed-starting supplies and clean up any that are being reused.
• Check your seeds from previous years. Do a germination test if desired.
• Finish maintenance of power equipment.

And so forth, you get the picture. It’s the perfect time to make a list of your own recurring deadlines.

I’m sure once this idea of a gardener’s Groundhog Day catches on, social media influencers will run with it potentially causing a plethora of cottage industries to pop up like tulips in the spring. It could also be helpful to boost sales for garden centers, which are typically slow during February.

Gardeners can take advantage of the popularity of Groundhog Day by making it a major part of the gardening calendar much like Mother’s Day is now looked at as the beginning of planting time for bedding plants and tender vegetables.

It’s still fun to get up before dawn on Groundhog Day morning and look out the window to see what the groundhogs in each of our neighborhoods will be predicting.