Topic: Lunar Gardening, fact of fiction.

[gruesome]

The only gardening i do by moonlight is scrumping!!!!! ;D

[cazy]

Me neither Caroline, most of the time my brains out to lunch.  Got the chart of the web, most of it's gobbledygook, but managed to suss out plant root veggie when the moon is descending, pulling moisture into the ground, plant fruits, ie fruiting veggie when the moon is assending, pulls the sap up. Then I really get into trouble, leaf days, flower days, moon constellations, planet aspects, if I wasn't mad when I started I soon will be.  Must be times for my pills!

[cazy]

Come on Gruesome, I can think of much better things to do in the moonlight, slug tossing ;)

[Jeannine]

Now Grusesome and Cazy,I might be 64 but I can think of better things than that to do in the moonlight!!!

[cazy]

naughty girl, and there was me trying to keep it clean :P

[Eristic]

Give me a glasshouse with electronic climate control and I will grow any veg you care to mention sowing or planting on any date you care to give me and I will produce a result of the highest quality, moon or no moon.

In the dark ages before computers, the moon gave good indication of the seasons, that is all. This moon planting nonsense crops up on a regular cycle and first came to my attention in Hippie times. After trying their very best to prove it the better gardeners soon learnt that soil temperature, water and sunlight were the key. The Hippies passed into oblivion to be followed by the New-age travellers. They tried to promote moon planting without bothering to learn anything about gardening and just faded away. Now we've got a wave of basket cases walking about with stones in their pockets willing to pay stupid money for common or garden weeds. (but only if they are dried, shredded and sealed in a plastic bag with a pagan logo on it).

[Jeannine]

I carry stones in my pocket,well handbag.

[cazy]

Think your being a bit harsh Eristic.  As a new lottie holder I was just trying to get information from "better gardeners" such as yourself, on a subject that was new to me.
I am not out to produce "a result of the highest quality", just do the best I can and feed my family.
Not having the luxury of a "glasshouse with electronic climate control", I may have to rely on the moon giving indication of the seasons, along with the obvious, soil temperature, water and sunlight.
Has it ever occurred to you that the electronic gadgets you so heavily rely on are damageing to the environment and are only trying to imitate what mother nature does beautifully, for free.  What is wrong with being in tune with the earth when it gives us an abundance of fruit for every season? why try to shove it about electronically?
For your information I harvest my seeds myself or buy them from reputable garden suppliers, none of which come in little plastic bags with pagan logos on them.
Oops, where did all those stones come from? they must have fallen out my pocket.

[Jeannine]

Cazy, I agree with you.

I also think that there is nothing wrong with little bags of stuff with Pagan logos on them,if that is what the buyer wants and he is happy paying the money.

I think the phrase ' wave of basket cases'  is a little rude, when describing a person and their beliefs. Perhaps I am biased here but I do have a very sweet Pagan friend and she is certainly not a basket case, her beliefs are as important to her as mine are to me. Our beliefs are different  but we respect one another and it makes me sad to see hers ridiculed. However I will not say more on that point.

I admire you for looking at all aspects of gardening with an open mind, even if you do your trials and it turns out to be nonsense, to me is shows you are keen to educate yourself and are willing to  try something different.

To change the subject, my sister's husband was  a commercial gardenere till he died last year,they had acres of what I call computerised tomatoes, greenhouses as far as the eye could see on the property. They were run from a control room full of computers that looked like something out of a science fiction film   My sister  however had a 12x10 greenhouse in the garden and guess what she grew, yep,heirloom tomatoes!!

Keep on investigating Cazy

XX Jeannine

[gruesome]

slug tossing? must be a Northern thing :) now worm squishing!!!

Once i saw a little worm
a wriggling on it's belly
Iwatched it for a little while
then squashed it with my Wellie!!!!

[Multiveg]

I had a go at lunar gardening. I didn't notice any difference but if you miss sowing something then there's about a fortnight's wait for the next window for that type of crop.

Taking a step further - Biodynamic gardening, the HDRA (now GardenOrganic) are doing a new garden - a biodynamic garden at Ryton. http://www.gardenorganic.org.uk/news/news_topic.php?id=355

[Eristic]

Has it ever occurred to you that the electronic gadgets you so heavily rely on are damageing to the environment and are only trying to imitate what mother nature does beautifully, for free.

Apart from keeping my records and plans on computer I do not use any electronic or similar means to grow my crops. I have an allotment, a small patio and even smaller windowsill. The point I was trying to make was that if given control of a state-of-the-art glasshouse I would be able to sow and grow veg every day of the year regardless of the moon. Whilst the moon does have some small gravitational effect on the Earth, this force occurs each and every day not a few days per month.

While it is good that people seek to investigate all angles to growing, knowledge being power and all that but I feel that some people are approaching this from the wrong angle and are trying to prove their ideology correct rather than attempting to grow better plants.

I think the phrase ' wave of basket cases'  is a little rude,

Maybe yes, maybe no. Bear in mind that the cult to which I was referring to actually calls themselves Wicker folk. Wicker men, wicker women, wicker baskets. They call themselves basket people, I call them basket cases. OK, it's a little rude but once I was a little rude boy and old habits die hard.

What is is with the stones in pockets though? Is it a reminder of some bygone stoneage currency, or does it bring back memories of primary school bartering, "I'll give you 3 blue marbles for the sparkly yellow one"?

Finally.

slug tossing? must be a Northern thing

No. I can assure you that this pagan ritual takes place on a nightly basis even as far south as London.

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

What is is with the stones in pockets though? Is it a reminder of some bygone stoneage currency, or does it bring back memories of primary school bartering, "I'll give you 3 blue marbles for the sparkly yellow one"?

I believe the High Priest of this Evil Cult is one Dickie Bird, one time cricket umpire, peacock impersonator and loon

[cazy]

looking at all aspects of gardening with an open mind

 That's just what I'm doing Jeannine, no harm in experimenting in a small corner of my plot.  I'll try anything once!   Thank you for your support.

worm squishing!!!

Welly slinging, another well known sport.  I sling mine at the pigeons when they raid my plot.

I had a go at lunar gardening

At last, someone who has had a go at it.  Know what you mean about waiting for a window though, especially if it's done on a big scale.  Fortunately, I get to my lottie almost every day but I'm only trying it out on three different vegetables.

trying to prove their ideology correct

That's the last thing I am trying to do.  I'm not clever enough.  I'm just an ordinary person with ordinary Christian beliefs and a new lottie eager to learn.  I approach all ideas with an open mind and a great respect of others beliefs, including yours.

[Suzanne]

I am not sure whether I should reply to this post as it seems that any credibility i may have will be blown to smithereens. Then again I don't suppose I have much credibility as a relative newcomer to the site so here goes.

I have been planting by the lunar cycle since I started my first allotment in 2004, and I believe it works. That's not to say you can follow lunar planting methods and forsake good gardening practice. There's also evidence to indicate that lunar gardening complements organic gardening, but not necessarily conventional practices, although I don't really understand this bit. I have had good comments from fellow gardeners and allotment holders about germination and growth rates on my plot, and I have relatively disease and pest free plants. (Apart from mice, slugs and late frosts!)

Should I get my coat now?

[coznbob]

No, don't get your coat at all....   Tell us more, even though I am not organised enough to do it, I am interested in everyones experiences, and there is always next year!

[Jeannine]

Suzanne, you leave your coat were it is,well done you!! I think the purpose of the post was one of investigation and to learn,it certainly is for me.I haven't got a clue wether it works or not and frankly know nothing about it,but like any other way of gardening I am keen to learn. I order to do that it is important to hear all sides, so your credibility is more than intact.

With my schedule it is more than likely I wouldn't be able to follow it anyway as I have to do what I can when I can,but I would like to hear about it.

Can you share some details with us Suzanne please?

By the way, my stones in my pocket,(actually handbag) and I should correct it to stone not stones. My mother was given a large piece of amber when she was married, the giver was a very old lady who was given it on her wedding day,she had no children and passed it to my .I grew up with this stone. If I got hurt  or sad my Mum would give it to me to hold, she said if I held it tightly it would get warm and when it did I would feel better. Of course it always got warm in my hand and when it got warm I did feel better. After she died I kept it. I often share it with kids. Figuring back from my Mums wedding and the age of the lady who gave ti to Mum my piece of amber has been healing kids woes for close to 150 years.  Myth or Magic, who knows,  who cares, it is very precious to me.

 XX Jeannine

[cazy]

Should I get my coat now?

NO Suzanne.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.  You have given me the courage to gradually bring more of my planting in line with my, dare I say it, Moon chart.  Welcome to the mad house, or should I say, lunar tic asylum.

To the others who are interested, have a look at the results of Tee Gee's post on page 2, very helpful and full of information, or go to www.LunorOrganics.com

Would be very interested to hear from other a4a members brave enough to take the criticism and have a go just out of curiosity.  "There are more things in heaven and earth..."

[Barnowl]

There are plenty of old gardening books that recommend planting when the moon is waxing and so last year I consciously sowed my chillis, tomatoes and runner bean seeds when the moon was waxing. This year I sowed at random (due to  lack of planning rather than anything else). On balance last year's crop did better but there have been so many other factors this year that I'm not yet convinced.


The problem is that you can't really have a control planting because with different timing comes different weather and temperatures.

[norfolklass]

I'm curious about lunar gardening, or biodynamics, or whatever it's called, too. I bought a chart for this year to try and plant at 'more approriate' times but as Multiveg mentioned earlier, if you miss the window and have to wait another fortnight, it does make things more complicated – you can't ask a seedling to hang on for a couple of weeks until the moon's in the right place again!

I've chatted to people at work about it, one of them had a grandfather who was a market gardener and used to plant by the cycle of the moon, and swore by it.

I think I was being a bit over-ambitious for this year (my first) so will try again next year when all my beds are dug and I'm a bit more prepared. I like to keep an open mind about stuff, and am happy to be proven wrong ;D I haven't invesitigated very deeply but IMHO if something as far away as the moon is responsible for the tidal movement of the seas covering an entire planet, there must be something in the idea that it affects the water moving up and down in the soil... and that there are optimium times for planting and harvesting.

it's not like the using chemicals v. not using chemicals debate: at least you can't do any harm by trying it out!