Gardening with the Moon Phases – What does it really mean?
A few years back I started buying the Farmers Almanac, a little magazine with plant/seed tips, stories, recipes and planting schedules. In this little magazine I found an article that briefly discussed planting with the phases of the moon. I had seen this very thing mentioned numerous times through the Farmers Almanac but didn’t really know WHY! So I started researching and to be honest, I found only very basic information, nothing that really excited me but it did stick with me for a while.
It was last year sometime that I decided I was going to give this, gardening with the phases of the moon thing a try. Again, I researched and found a little bit more information while watching a few videos. It is my belief that in order to really KNOW something, you must prove or disprove it yourself, this led me to where I am on this journey and why I decided to write this blog.
Ok so here’s the meat and potatoes of it all.
The moon is a strong force in our world, it guides the oceans tides, the female menstrual cycle and plays an active role in the root structure, leaf growth and overall health of plants/seeds. I already have a deep innerstanding of the role it plays in the menstrual cycle and the tides, I have experienced them both with my own eyes however it wasn’t until this last new moon that I now see what it can do to assist the growth of seeds.
I will not go into great detail about which seeds to plant when but I will give a few examples within the description. Basically what is happening when you plant with the phases of the moon is that you gain access to the life force of the earth.
There are variations in the amount of time a seed takes to germinate, use the charts below as a guide. (The following visual charts came from http://www.organicgardeninfo.com/planting-seeds-by-the-moon.html)
|
Short Germination (SG) |
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1 -7 days |
|
Long Germination (LG) |
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8 – 21 days |
|
Extra-long Germination (ELG) |
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22 – 28 days |
Short and Extra-long Germinating Seeds
New Moon First Quarter
Plant SG and ELG seeds during this time 
Long Germinating Seeds
Full Moon Last Quarter
Plant LG seeds during this time 
New Moon – This is the time to plant above ground crops like lettuce, spinach, celery, those that produce seeds outside of the fruit. Planting on or within seven (7) days from the new moon allows gravity to draw water up from the soil to the seed. In addition there is little to no light coming from the moon. This process causes the seed to have access to the perfect amount of moisture it needs to sprout.
2nd Quarter – This is the time to plant above ground crops like peas, melons, squash, those that produce seeds inside of the fruit. During this time plant leaves receive more light from the moon and gravity is pulling less. If planting during this time, do so at least 2 days prior to the full moon to receive the most benefits.
Full Moon – This is the time to plant root crops like potatoes, beets, carrots, those that produce their fruit below the ground surface. During this time the gravitational pull is high which creates more moisture in the soil. The light from the moon is decreasing, which give energy to root growth. This is a good time for transplanting and pruning existing plants.
Last Quarter – During this time the moonlight has decreased and the gravitational pull is low, so use this as a resting time. This is a good time to harvest, transplant and prune.
In the next blog post I will show pictures of the progress of me following this guide. I am very excited with what I see already and I just started!! Stay tuned for the next post, Subscribe to receive an alert when new posts are added. Thanks for reading and hope you learned something, I know I did!
Lots of love ~ Arminda