Well, I planted my potatoes on Good Friday. That’s when you are supposed to plant them, right?

Old timers will give you all kinds of advice on when to plant what. There are the signs to follow – we really need to explore those, don’t we? Then, there are the hints from other plants – I understand that when the Service Berry trees bloom, some will tell you to plant your potatoes. And then there’s the Good Friday rule.

My mother’s grandmother always wanted to plant her potatoes on Good Friday. In fact, she also wanted to plant corn then. However, March 31st is just too early for me to chance a crop of corn. Great-Grandma Livesay was so serious about planting on this day, Mama reports she would wade the mud and scoop out holes with a tablespoon if that was what was required to honor the Good Friday planting day.

Slowly, I walked through my little patch of plowed ground, dropping and covering the layers of lime, fertilize and cut seed-potatoes. As I did, my mind was working through all that needed to happen over the Easter Weekend. We had started out the day with a reading of the Crucifixion from Matthew chapter 28. There would be a celebration on Saturday and food needed to be prepared. Special clothes must be ironed and laid out ready for Sunday morning. All of this was to celebrate the blessed resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ – the only hope we have of eternal life in fellowship with a Holy God!

How did it all meld with the urgency to get the potato crop in the ground on Good Friday?

The Farmer’s Almanac is aware of this advice and made a scientific analysis here back in November 2023. They weren’t quite willing to endorse the “tradition” but they did mention the idea that had come to my mind amidst my meditation on the Resurrection. Author Amber Kanuckel traces Good Friday planting back to Ireland (I’m not surprised by the origin, although I might have thought it started earlier) when potatoes were an essential crop.

Jesus was “planted” (I hope that isn’t irreverent) on Good Friday and gloriously rose in three days – just as he had prophesied in John 2:19. Perhaps, we could infer that anything similarly planted the same day would grow and prosper?

I’m no prophet, and based on last year’s potato crop, not a particularly good gardener either. But, the seed is in the ground and we’ll see if the Lord blesses it!