Sunday, April 18, 2010

Moon Gardening

I have always wanted to tune into the moon phase and experiment with this method of gardening. Even if there is a sceptic in me (I have no material proof yet) it is a way to organise and plan my next step in the process.

Basic Guidelines

For Gardening purposes we divide the moon cycle into 4 phases. Divided in half these equate to the waxing and waning cycle.


WAXING 1st and 2nd Quater = Dark to Full (the period of growth - at this time the earth is releasing nutrients. Sap is pulled above ground)
WANING 3rd and 4th Quater = Returning from full to Dark (the period of rest, a good time to harvest root veg especially if you are in the earth sign)

How does this relate to New Moon?

1st Qtr New Moon
2nd Qtr Full Moon
3rd Qtr Full Moon
4th Qtr New Moon

Each qtr lasts for around 7 days

According to meterological records the highest amount of rain falls at full and new moon.


Think of the Moon as a growing organism itself - As the new moon grows, from darkness to light, the gravitational pull it has over life increases. After the full moon the gravitational pull decreases and the water table drops - encouraging the roots to dive down after it - creating strong roots growth.

What to do when


It is suggested that the full and new moon are a time of rest and reflection.

New Moon (12 hrs after dark moon to 1st qtr)
A time of balanced root and leaf growth
At this time don't plant anything (wait until the light increases)


Beginning of 1st Qrt (cresent moon)
Start planting above ground annual crops that produce seeds outside of the fruit
To increase lawn growth - mow now
This is when the seeds swell with water and can germinate much more quickly)
Not a good time to harvest at your bounty will spoil more quickly

1st Quater
Plant leafy crops/cereals/grains and 'above ground' croppers - broccoli/lettuces
Start to sew seeds/ transplant seedlings/graft


late 1st Quater
(towards full, end of waning)
Plant seedy above-ground groups (tomatoe/cucumber/chilli/peppers)
Plant annuals/roses


2nd Quater (waxing)
Moonlight becomes stronger
A good planting time right up to the full moon

3rd Quater
Sew and plant root vegetables

4th Quater - graviational pull decreases
Prune/mow/landscape/maintenance/tidy

Any pruning at this time will retard growth (I have also heard that this applies to hair cuts!!!) So if you want to keep your lawn short for longer - now is the time!

Best Time to Harvest - just before the full moon

Full Moon
After full moon - Waning Begins - light decreases - energy goes into roots

Cancer Scorpio and Pisces are the best zodiac signs to plant during

Good Resources

http://www.abc.net.au/gardening/stories/s734935.htm


http://www.gardeningbythemoon.com/

2 comments:

  1. A wonderful start is to look up... tonight we had a lovely large sickle moon to the left of the moon face. Referencing sky watch

    http://home.mira.net/~reynella/skywatch/ssky.htm#update

    We are nearing First Quater which occurs on the 22nd.

    A perfect time for germination - I will plant the leek seeds given to me by David tomorrow! Also we have some shower on the way. As I look out at the sky now there is thunder to the south - a lovely nitrogen full soaking if the clouds come my way. I am also planning to do some transplanting for my apple guild which is growing! Photos to come.

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  2. Full Moon tonight - REST TIME! Also Saturn and Uranus are apparently going head to head. So there is a push and pull between moving forward and holding onto the past.

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