Planting by the Moon: What Is Moon Phase Gardening?
Growing a successful garden can be a challenge when you consider the need to factor in soil quality, temperature, available sunshine and rain, along with various plant diseases and pests. Still, many growers add another element to the mix: gardening in harmony with the phases of the moon.
The practice began when humans first began to cultivate food crops. Ancient civilizations marked their rituals and daily activities using a celestial calendar which included the planting and harvesting of domestic gardens. For centuries, this practice was handed down as an oral tradition steeped in myth and folklore. In the early 20th century, lunar phase gardening became one of the guiding principles for biodynamic gardening. Still a subject of controversy among scientists, research is yielding results that shed new light on gardening according to the aspect of the moon.1
Perhaps the best news for home gardeners is that gardening with the moon doesn’t appear to have any adverse effect, so there’s no harm in trying!
What Is Lunar Phase Gardening?
Moon phase gardening, in its most basic form, adheres to the four periods or phases of the earth’s lunar satellite. The moon goes through a full cycle every 29.5 days and appears differently in the sky depending on its position between the earth and the sun. The four phases used in basic lunar phase gardening are new moon, first quarter moon, full moon, and fourth (or last) quarter moon.
The principle behind lunar phase gardening is fairly simple. When the moon is waxing (changing from new to full), the time is right for planting seeds that yield fruit above ground. When the moon has passed full and is waning (diminishing) the time is right to plant root crops with edible parts below the soil. A waning moon is also considered the optimum time to harvest when the process of photosynthesis is slowest and less fluid is moving through the plant. This translates to a longer shelf life in storage.
Gardening By the Moon in Practice
To practice gardening by the moon, you would plant crops like tomatoes, peppers, corn and beans when the moon is waxing. Potatoes, radishes, carrots, beets and other root crops would go into the soil while the moon is waning.
Many calendars, especially gardening calendars, mark the phases of the moon following each 29.5 day cycle. Farmer’s almanacs often include a section on “best days” for everything from shearing sheep to going fishing. These activities also are determined by the position of the moon. Biodynamic calendars are more detailed and break plants down into four categories: root, leaf, flower, and fruit, listing days and times for when and what to plant.
Does Lunar Phase Gardening Work?
New studies are being launched to give us more information about plant behavior. One result is that we now know that plants have a circadian rhythm just as do humans, animals and birds.2 What this means is that certain processes take place within the plant at certain times within a 24-hour period.
We know that seeds sprout and trees bud out when the temperature rises and the day lengthens. We also know that when the sun rises, photosynthesis is activated in many plants. Other plants rely on moonlight, opening their blooms to pollinators only after sunset. Studies are beginning to show a connection between the rise of fluid through a plant and the moon’s gravitational pull.3 Scientists are working to address the question of whether or not the moon affects how a plant grows, in the same way it affects the oceans’ tides. Results may help gardeners determine ideal times to plant seeds for good germination.
Using Moon Phase Gardening
You don’t have to be an astronomer to test your green thumb with moon phase gardening. Even the more complicated structure of a biodynamic method is as easy as working with a daily calendar. Consider the other variables present when you are ready to plant your garden. If the temperature, soil, and weather are all adequate, it’s easy to find out the current phase of the moon.
https://www.thespruce.com/moon-phase-gardening-5219263
Good morning!!
First night tonight that will be in the 40’s instead of the 30’s. I should finally be able to plant my herbs. My SIL planted hers right away & has been covering them at night since we’ve had freeze & frost warnings.
Mowing today & dogsitting this weekend, too - first time since injury.
My little great-niece was in her first 4-H show yesterday. Kids have to be 6 & she had her birthday about 2 weeks ago. She got her ‘lamb’ (60lbs - more of a teenager!) early February & had to halter break him, teach him to lead & stand. She placed 2nd in her market class. In the showmanship class, all the kids were first timers & they each got a blue ribbon - next year, it will be a competition.
The way the ‘lambs’ work, a local farmer lets the 4-H kids come to his farm & pick their lambs. The kids have them for 3 months to work with, culminating in the youth show. The kids leave the sheep at the show grounds & the farmer picks them up. My little great-niece said goodbye, then it ‘hit’ her that she was leaving him & she cried for a good 30 minutes on the way home. There will be more lambs in the future of course, but when you work with an animal & get attached, then have them perform well for you, it’s a hard thing to walk away. There will be baby pigs born mid-June so that will be something to look forward to :-)
In the throes if packing up my house and preparing it for sale.
A friend is beginning her garden so I was able to give her four 55 gallon water barrels, 3 large composters, an electric woodchipper, and a shit ton of seeds (most of which I harvested from veggies I gree and that did well in our climate.)
This is sticky monkey flower from my bee garden, native to my home state of California.
Penstemon and Mexican evening primroses, also native to California:
I inherited this very old cactus, it was so old the pot broke out from under it so I repotted it using special cactus soil - and now it is blooming. I have never seen this one bloom in 30 years:
Glad to say grapes and pomegranates are setting on - haven't seen figs yet.
He's waiting to go to his favorite place: The Garden Store!
opens in new tabWeed tea sounds interesting(no not that weed). Misc weeds from around your property to get various macro and micro nutrients.
For the most part things are going well in the greenhouse. My tomato plants are ready to move outdoors, but it usually doesn't work out very well here to do put them out before Mothers Day, so they will stay inside for another couple weeks. Cabbages, dill, and fennel can go out soon as the soil dries up a bit more, maybe as early as this evening.
I set the baby Dunstan Chestnut trees out yesterday afternoon. With any luck the tree tubes will keep the rabbits and deer off for a few years and give the trees a chance to become established.
Here is the gardening site, with the ping list managed by Diana in Wisconsin. I don’t know if she can help you but she has several nice ping lists. Probably best to Private Message her.
