Planting by the Signs
The advent of the Internet and the World Wide Web has made publishing a whole new game – for good and bad.
A pleasant surprise I’ve encountered is now not only do I get questions from you local gardeners who have been loyal in following reading about planting by the phases in the print newspaper – I love you folks – but now I also get them from folks all around the state and all over the country, too, who see my columns posted on the Internet.
Why I even got an inquiry last year from Australia!
Someday – hopefully sooner rather than later – I will have my own Web site where I can be more interactive with readers, but for now if you want to read my columns on your computer, visit The State Journal Web site or Google “planting by the signs.”
With the virtual explosion of interest in gardening on all scales – small to large, six tomato plants in the backyard or a commercial garden – I’ve found people are interested in getting whatever extra edge they can to help their gardens produce more abundantly. Gardening, after all, is hard work along with all the joy and benefits. It’s perfectly logical to want to harvest the most produce you can or pick the most flowers.
To that end, planting your garden when the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac are most optimum can help. I realize that’s not always possible because of schedules, ground conditions, etc., but when it is and if you will – as more and more have – I can almost guarantee your garden will be better.
As I often mention throughout the gardening season, I’ll tell you when to plant what but I’m no expert on plant varieties, diseases, fertilizer requirements, etc. While I have completed the Cooperative Extension Service’s Mater Gardener program (remember I got 99.5 on my final exam), I’ll leave the dissemination of most of that information to our expert agents at the County Extension Office, Kim Cowherd in horticulture and Keenan Bishop in agriculture.
Kim has already had a couple of excellent columns this year. One was on starting your own plants (which we’ll review here in a few weeks) and another on using heirloom seeds and seeds held over from one year to the next.
From time to time I will write about and answer your questions based on what I learned in the MG class, but the major focus of my responses will be on planting by the phases and signs.
Let me just say it again because I’m supposed to since I’ve completed the Master Gardener class: Nothing I write about the phases and signs is endorsed by the University of Kentucky because it hasn’t been proven in trials on their experimental farms, which I believe to be their nearsightedness.
Frankly I don’t care if they or the local Extension Office endorse it, I know following the phases and the signs help make your garden better when coupled with good gardening practices.
Now with the caveats and disclaimers out of the way, let’s talk about my favorite topic: Planting by the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac.
An Overview
Break out those seed catalogs, get your garden plot plowed or spaded, and start planning to plant whatever it is you’re going to plant in your plot this summer. While it’s too early for most things, it’s never too early for planning.
Spring doesn’t officially arrive until March 20, 1:32 p.m., but that shouldn’t keep you from getting your garden spot ready, and when it’s ready, even putting out some cold weather crops.
Let me assure you there’s nothing mystical or magical about this system, and it’s not to be feared like it is voodoo or something. It merely combines natural forces with good gardening practices.
We’re all familiar with our horoscopes, found elsewhere in this newspaper – I am a Gemini. While there’s no way to prove or disprove them, horoscope writers claim the moon and stars have certain effects on our behaviors; that our personality traits are influenced by the zodiac sign under which we were born.
In our scientific world we’ve come to want proof of everything before we’ll give our endorsement (hence UK’s disclaimer). Explaining planting by the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac is as difficult as trying to explain your horoscope, but I’m going to give it a whirl. If you’ll try it in your garden – along with following good gardening practices like watering, cultivating and such – I can almost guarantee it will work for you.
How I began
Perhaps like you, I’d heard of light and dark moon. I knew the moon’s gravitational pull affected the tides of the oceans – and beyond that I knew little else.
Then, in the early 1970s, I met a gentleman here in Frankfort by the name of Buford Van Meter, now deceased. Visiting with him and his late wife, Stella, one summer’s day I noticed their garden was doing a lot better than mine. The Van Meter’s home and garden were located where Sonic is now.
I asked him how he did it and he said by following the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac. Being a young, just-out-of-college lad then, I laughed. But he didn’t.
And I don’t now!
He offered to explain it to me, show me in my own garden and help me learn. After the next summer’s garden, I was a believer where before I’d been a skeptic, having said like many others that “I plant in the ground, not in the moon.”
I did some reading, asked more questions, got a copy of the Farmers’ Almanac and, well, continued to work with learning more about this system. And, lo and behold, it worked, with little additional effort other than picking the days on which I planted what based on the astrological charts and my own formula. My garden flourished and produced beyond expectations.
Since then I’ve been sharing the information with all who’re open minded enough to give it a try. That’s all I can ask: Just try it in your garden; just follow what I’m going to tell you each week and see what happens. Then if you don’t see improved yields, you’re welcome to forget it.
Light and Dark Moon
If you’ve heard about nothing else related to this system, likely as not you’ve heard about light and dark moon. Allow me to define the terms:
Light moon: From the time of the new moon – or no moon visible in the sky – to the full moon; the period while the moon is “growing” or “waxing.”
During the period of the “light moon,” those crops, which produce above the ground should be planted. These are things like beans, tomatoes, corn, squash, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage – anything where what you eat grows above the ground.
But, please, don’t start planting those vegetables now – it’s still too cold!
This month: The “light moon” or “new moon” comes into force at 9:51 p.m. Feb. 13 (that’s Saturday) and will rule until the full moon at 11:38 a.m. Feb. 28 when the full moon takes over. Thus through most of Saturday we’re under the influence of the “dark moon.”
Grass seed may be planted all this week because the moon is in the dark phase. One of the best times to plant grass seed is during the dark moon in February – and this is that time.
Dark moon: From the time of the full moon until the next new moon, the period while the moon is getting smaller or “waning.” Thus the dark moon begins on the day when the most moon is visible and ends when there’s no moon showing.
We’re in a dark moon period right now, but that will be changing Saturday evening when the new moon/light moon comes into force at 9:51 p.m. And if it’s clear there won’t be any moon visible in the sky.
During the period of the “dark moon” only those crops which produce beneath the ground should be planted, things like onions, radishes, beets, potatoes – anything where what you eat grows beneath the ground, also known as root crops.
The light moon and the dark moon each lasts 14 days, thus making “one moon,” 28 days. Our primarily 30- and 31-day calendar is not a “moon-based” calendar.
Each week I’ll tell you what moon phase is in force and when it’s expected to change. Purists who follow this system say no planting should occur on the days when the moon’s changing because you can’t be certain of the exact hour and minute.
Many calendars, all almanacs, most newspapers, and some television stations tell you which phase the moon is in. It’s easy to follow and just taps the natural forces of the universe to aid your garden.
But remember you need to consult some “source” to determine exactly what phase the moon is in. That cannot be determined by just “looking up at the sky” on a clear night – and I have folks ask me all the time if that’s how it works!
Signs of the Zodiac
The other aspect of this system is the signs of the zodiac.
There are 12 signs of the zodiac each in force for at least two days every month, and sometimes three. The signs start at the head (Aries) and work their way down the body to the feet (Pisces) and then start over again in a continuous cycle.
Each sign “governs” a part of the body, and each of us was born under a particular sign, which, according to the writers of horoscopes, predisposes us to certain personality traits. Our “birth sign” lasts for an entire month.
I realized last year, when a reader called, that this is confusing. If you need or want further explanation, be in touch. I won’t try to explain it here beyond what’s above.
Through research – both from books and in the garden – I’ve discovered there are four signs particularly suited for all kinds of planting: Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, and Cancer. You can remember the four with the acronym: Signs Plant Thick Crops.
Believers say vegetables planted under the influence of these signs, in the proper phase of the moon, will produce abundantly.
While there are vegetables that are frost and freeze resistant (and I’ll start telling you about those next week), and enjoy cool weather and soil temperatures, for most of them it’s still too early to plant unless you’re using a cold frame or some form of protection from the elements.
Combining the phases of the moon with the proper sign is the most productive scenario. But if you can only do one, follow the moon and plant above-ground producers in the light of the moon and below-ground producers in the dark of the moon.
Astronomical/Astrological
In the two almanacs I’ve looked at this year, both have the moon’s place astronomically and astrologically on separate pages from the months – and in the almanac I use that’s new this year. I’ll be referring to the “Moon Astrological Place in the Zodiac” for the information I give you. And if you’re following along yourself then you need to do that too.
A reader from one of the recently iced-in Midwestern states wrote because he was concerned that what sign I said was in force didn’t match up with what his almanac said was in force. I was able to quickly determine he was looking at the “astronomical place” for the moon when he should have been consulting the “astrological place.”
Mine vs. theirs
Others call, e-mail or write saying the days when I say to plant don’t match what their almanac says. That’s because all I take from the almanac is the information in the aforementioned “Moon’s Astrological Place” chart – and you can find that chart on the Internet, too.
From that I find what sign is in force and, knowing what phase the moon is in, I apply my formula given above to provide you planting information for that week.
Thus if you look at when the almanac says plant it may be different than what I say, but not much. I don’t say I’m right and they’re wrong – or vice versa – all I can say is I’m sharing what works for me!
More About this System
Here are a few interesting notes about this system:
>As I wrote above, each sign governs a specific part of the body. I’ll tell you which part of the body the sign governs in parenthesis each week. For example, Gemini (the arms). The parts of the body governed by a sign are supposedly more sensitive when the moon is in that sign.
>Beans should be planted in Gemini during the light of the moon. The sign rules the arms and beans are supposed to grow “as long as your arms.” Believe me, they may not grow that long but they produce much more abundantly.
>Aries (the head) and Leo (the heart) are killing signs. No planting should occur on days falling under the influence of these signs, they should be reserved for killing, deadening or cultivating.
>Virgo (the bowels) and Libra (the forearms or reins) are flowering signs. If you want to plant flowers for the blooms, do it when these signs are in force. Avoid planting vegetables in Virgo or Libra since they spend more time blooming than setting fruit, unless it’s the blooms you’re eating.
>If you’re planning to wean small animals or children, castrate animals, have elective surgery, or stop bad habits, try to begin when the moon is dark and the signs are in the thighs (Sagittarius) and moving out of the body in this order: Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces.
I’ll tell you each month when this is going to happen or don’t hesitate to write or call. Information regarding this is an oft-asked question, especially from folks trying to stop smoking or scheduling surgery. (That’s right Medical World: They call and ask!)
>It’s best if you’re planning some sort of elective surgery (not an emergency!) to have it done when the sign is in some area of the body that doesn’t function – like the legs, knees, arms, and feet. Try to avoid surgery when the sign is in Leo (the heart) or Aries (the head).
I could go on and on. Again, if you have a specific question, please call: If I don’t know the answer, I’ll try to find out.
One last word – or two
Even at the expense of repeating myself, let me say again that this system does not – and makes no pretense to – replace good gardening practices. You still must pay attention to weather reports, soil temperatures and moisture levels, days to maturity on packages, last and first frost dates.
If you follow this system judiciously, say, and don’t cultivate your garden, it will be a failure. It simply provides a way to make your good garden better if you’ll just pay attention to what you’re planting when.
If you have questions, call me at 227-4556 (The State Journal). If you’re “on line,” you may e-mail me at: pcase@state-journal.com. I’ll be happy to hear from you. If you’d like to read more on the subject, get a copy of the very first in the series of Foxfire books, edited by Eliot Wigginton.