#9 The Persephone Period

The madman has returned from his shopping trip with all manner of celebratory items. It looks like New Year’s Eve all over again. You would think he is getting ready for the Super Bowl.

But, in reality, we are celebrating the end of the Persephone period. And it’s such a big deal that we are preparing a huge feast complete with pomegranate seeds. Then we are going dancing.

What is the Persephone period you ask? And why would anyone celebrate its ending? Maine farmer and author Eliot Coleman refers to the time of year when daylight drops to less than ten hours per day as the Persephone days. Around here the Persephone period ends on Jan. 30. Today is Jan. 31; the sun will shine for 10 hours, taking us out of the dark days of winter.

A Little Bit of Mythology

The ancient Greeks created the myth of Persephone to explain the growing cycle. Persephone was the daughter of Demeter, the goddess of earth. She was beautiful and pursued by many, but Demeter, who was extremely protective of her only daughter, rejected all suitors.

One day, Demeter left her daughter in a field of flowers while she tended to her duties as goddess of earth. As she picked a bouquet for her mother, Persephone noticed a beautiful narcissus. She reached down to pick it, the earth suddenly opened up. Hades, god of the underworld, appeared from the rift in his chariot – he snatched the lovely maiden and took her to the underworld to be his queen.

Hard Times on Earth

When Demeter returned, there was no sign of her daughter or the rift. Since the whole scene played out so quickly, no one had witnessed the action. Forlorn, Demeter searched the earth for Persephone and neglected her duties as caretaker of the earth.

Plants withered and died. Fruit dried up. Vegetables rotted. And the animals and humans who depended upon the plants began to suffer. The earth was in a bad way. Helios, the sun god who sees everything, finally took pity upon Demeter and told her what happened.

The Gods Intervene

Zeus had to intervene and deal with his brother Hades. Since Persephone was taken against her will, she would be allowed to leave as long as she had eaten nothing during her stay. As she was leaving, clever Hades offered her a pomegranate seed which she ate. (The madman thinks this is rather unlikely because pomegranate seeds are like potato chips-you can’t just eat one.)

This voided the escape clause, but Zeus worked out a deal – Persephone would spend half her time in the underworld with Hades, the rest of the time on earth with Demeter. When she is with Demeter, the world is in bloom, but when she returns to Hades, the growing season ends.

Sunshine in the British Isles

If this isn’t enough to send you fleeing from Bullfinch’s Mythology, let’s look at the ancient Druids. Their beliefs centered around a love of nature and her continuous changes. Most of us are familiar with the Druid Wheel of the Year and its four main points: Spring Equinox, Mid-Summers Day (Solstice), Fall Equinox and Mid-Winters Day (Solstice), but the wheel contains four other lesser-known dates called Cross-Quarter Days. These fall exactly between the four main dates, and they are agriculturally significant.

The first of these days marks the festival of Imbolc, celebrating the growing of the light. Conveniently, it usually takes place around Feb. 2, just when the Persephone period is coming to an end. It shows us that the ancients had a real good handle on the connection between daylight and the growing season. I will celebrate with the madman, but I will not let him sneak over to Krell farm to grab one of Patti’s pet pigs to participate in the festivities.

The Rise of the Groundhog

A more recent introduction, Groundhogs Day, also falls on Feb. 2 – midway between the solstice and the equinox. If the groundhog sees his shadow on this day there will be 6 more weeks of winter; if not then spring weather is right around the corner. The madman says, “Never trust a groundhog!”

Why do We Care?

So why is this whole Persephone thing important (myths aside)? Science has shown us that plants need at least ten hours of daylight to grow; any less light causes plants to enter dormancy. They won’t necessarily die, they just won’t grow.

A lot of growers try for a winter crop. They use cold frames, high tunnels, low tunnels and even greenhouses to extend the growing season. To harvest winter vegetables, you need to know when your Persephone period starts (this date depends upon latitude, find your hours of daylight at the following website – https://aa.usno.navy.mil/data/docs/Dur_OneYear.php. You also need to know how long it takes your plants to mature. Now comes the math.

Your plants should be 75% mature when the Persephone period hits. For example, if you’re growing a vegetable that takes 60 days to mature (remember our post on seed packets?) you want that vegetable to be growing for at least 45 days before the Persephone period hits. If you will hit the Persephone period on Nov. 15, you should plant that seed around Oct. 1. The madman suggests a planting one week before this date and one week after to account for unusual weather conditions.

Refrigeration at its Best

Our master gardening friends Tom and Nancy Kalal, have used a high tunnel for a number of seasons. Tom has said that his high tunnel in the middle of winter is just a glorified refrigerator. But they do have fresh greens throughout the cold months.

The madman is not one of the growers who uses a cold frame or a high tunnel – too much work, he says. But, we do have a greenhouse, lucky us.

We spent many years trying to figure out how to add a greenhouse to our 1732 south-facing cape. None of the logistics worked and we won’t bore you with the details. Then, in 2011 we decided to reward ourselves for becoming Certified Master Gardeners. But how? The answer was obvious, with a free-standing greenhouse.

A Present for Ourselves

At the Hartford Flower Show, we spent a lot of time looking at a solar powered greenhouse manufactured by Maine Garden Products –http://stores.mainegarden.com/greenhouses/. Since we had purchased a potting bench from the company we knew they stood for quality. We finally decided upon the 8’x12’ Freedom greenhouse.

By fall of 2012, the greenhouse was installed and operational. Company mainstay Pike Bartlett explained to the madman that this would extend the growing season 6 weeks on either end of winter. And, he warned the madman not to expect to be growing tomatoes in the middle of winter. This was before we knew about the Persephone period, and the madman said, “We’ll see about that.” In fact, Pike was right, we do not grow tomatoes in the middle of winter, but we do harvest greens grown in a variety of containers, and we have wintered over some exotic plants that will tolerate lower temperatures. Judy Cowell claims we killed her hibiscus, but the madman says it was on its last legs anyway.

In the past few years we have overwintered some of the madman’s precious hot peppers. Granted, they do not grow much in the winter, but what a jumpstart in the spring! With increasing daylight, the madman will be spending much more time in the greenhouse.

He’ll also be spending more time watching nature. With the longer days, She will be waking up. Migratory birds will return. Buds will begin to swell and open. Spring ephemerals will appear. Big things are ahead, but for now the cocoa is ready.