Planting with the moon cycle

I feel that the moon phases due play a important role in gardening. However I have seen people plant and have successful growth of plants when not paying any attention to the moon or astrological cycles. But I feel as a farmer and gardener these phases in the moon due increase the vitality and vigor of the plants if they are planted in accordance to the moon cycles.

I realized this after I had received my degree and started reading about bio-dynamic farming and how they plant in accordance to the moon and astrological phases. How the moon circles the planet and at the same time creates our tides. They then explained how water in a plant, in us and in animals are also affected. It made me think about the experiments that people are now doing with water in containers that have different emotions written on them and how the energy we project based on that word affects the water molecules. How a small amount of a certain nutrient spread out in a field can affect the growth ability of plants. So why wouldn't the moon affect the starting of a plant?

I also figured I could use all the help I could get to grow the strongest most fruitful crops I could so why not use the moon as my guide and trust that what our ancestors learned to be true to help me today. So now I plant with the moon and the four phases of the moon. Here is how they are broken down.

• New Moon: (new moon to first quarter moon) Leafy/stem phase. Balanced leaf and root growth. This is a good time to plant above ground annual leaf (spinach, lettuce, most brasicas), flowering annuals and seed crops. This phase is also thought to be steady but slow growth for plants.
• First Quarter: (first quarter moon to full moon) Fruiting phase. Strong, lush, leaf growth good for fruiting plants. Plant above ground annual fruiting crops (beans, peas, peppers, squash, and tomatoes), green manures and flowering annuals. Carry out grafting and budding.
• Full Moon: (full moon to last quarter moon) Root phase. Strong root growth. Plant root crops (onions, carrots, beets, potatoes). Also good bulbs and transplanting because of the active root growth. This is also a good time to harvest and prune dormant plants.
• Last Quarter: (last quarter moon to new moon) Rest phase. Resting period. Do not start any growth or transplant during this phase. This is a good time to do farm projects, weed, and find and kill pests. Prune to restrain growth. This is also a really good time for you to rest.

That is a pretty standard way to look at the four phases of the moon and how to plant in accordance with each phase. Now we can take this a step further and plant in accordance to the zodiac signs (Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces). The moon passes into a new constellation every 2.5 days or so which make up the twelve zodiac signs. Each sign also represents one of the four elements and each element corresponds to a different part of the plant. Like I said this can become a little more complex. I will add more on the zodiac signs soon.

Aries: Fire - Fruit/Seed
Taurus: Earth - Root
Gemini: Air - Flower
Cancer: Water - Leaf
Leo: Fire - Fruit/Seed
Virgo: Earth - Root
Libra: Air - Flower
Scorpio: Water - Leaf
Sagittarius: Fire - Fruit/Seed
Capricorn: Earth - Root
Aquarius: Air - Flower
Pisces: Water - Leaf

Now the really crazy part of this is that the moon cycle doesn't simply fit with our planets cycle around the sun so in reality the moon actually rotates around the earth 12.5 times (+/-) for each rotation around the sun that the Earth makes.

Bio-dynamic calendars

A diagram that shows the moon phases and the zodiac signs.

Special Thanks to Friday Press who publishes the Lunaria Calendar which has the best moon based calendars that I have ever seen! It has been helping me plan my growing season via the moon cycle the last 2 years now! I HIGHLY recommend you check into getting one of these calendars and become more aware of the moon cycle!!! Rethink how you look at your month based on the moon!