by the moon….

When the Moon is New, the energy is in the below ground portion of the plant. When the Moon is Full, the energy is in the above ground portion of the plant. It’s good to remember this for planting, as well harvesting. A great way for me to remember is the reference to ‘light of the moon’ and ‘dark of the moon’.

Combining astrological signs with tasks in the garden:

Fertile signs- Cancer, Pisces, Scorpio; Taurus and Capricorn*

-the first three being water signs- the best

-the two earthy signs promote strong, hardy plants*- my interpretation here is that these are good for long season crops.

Barren signs- Aries, Leo, Sagittarius, Virgo; Aquarius, Gemini and Libra

-the first four- best for effort in prep, weeding*.

-the last three- air signs- are great for harvesting (especially plants used medicinally)

The Moon’s Phases:

1st and 2nd Quarters- New-waxing-Plant, graft or transplant annuals which bear above-ground crops*.

3rd Quarter- waning-Best time for pruning, the planting of biennials, perennials, bulb and root crops*.

4th Quarter- prior to new moon-Best for bed prep, weeding, cultivation and harvesting above ground-crops*.

I am in the process of drawing a diagram for reference, it will be posted as soon as I am finished. It seems my impression is that above-ground crops like to be harvested by the full moon- when the moon’s energy is in that portion of the plant and root crops may like to be harvested during the phase that brings energy into the earth- roots-dark moon. Maybe this is with medicinals mostly. If you do harvest above-ground and root crops by the moon, try it during the air signs, rather than watery signs for best luck with storage.

Combining Astrological signs with the Moon’s phases seems, at first to be a bit overwhelming, considering all that you have to remember. A good reference is Jim Maynard’s Pocket Astrologer, to which I have drawn information for this post- (highlighted with*).

My trick for the past 10 years has been to sit down with my references for the coming year, and my daily calendar in the midst of winter- with a cup of tea!- and mark the planting, pruning and harvesting days of the coming season. This way, there is no guess work, and it is a motivator to get me to the task at the best time, rather than scrambling at the last minute. I have gotten to where I find myself, doing much of it intuitively at this point.

Blessings for a fruitfully abundant year for all!

Linda

the kitchen ‘greenhouse’

All is coming up, from what we planted on the 12th of Feb. with the kids at Ujima. The moon was in a planting phase, and in following this, we saw germination within 5 days! I will work on a reference for planting by the moon at some point, because it is a great way to orchestrate farming tasks. We are also using the Tilth NW Gardener’s Guide, for suggestions on what to plant each month. I’ve never used this guide before, and I’m happy to be exploring it with the rest of the farmers.

Something else I did a bit differently this year, is a wrap (wall) of cardboard around the lights and seedlings. It is set up under my kitchen table, the cardboard containment helps with a number of things: keeps the area inside the cardboard warm for the germination process; helps to reduce light seepage into the room- there is a timer on, so that the lights were on for eighteen hours in the first 10 days, I’ve adjusted it to 14 hours, now that the seedlings are up and looking strong; the third plus is- it keeps my curious cat out of the soil! (I added some screen on top- because he did try to jump over the cardboard…)

This is what we have planted thus far: Leeks, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, romaine and salad greens.

Next week, Chris is going to get us going in a ’sheet mulch relay race’- with the kids-I hope someone brings a camera for this one! The following week, we will have a double digging work-party, to prepare the main beds for planting in early march.

We’ll keep you posted!

Linda