Allotments 4 All

Hi,
We have a lady at our lottie who swears by it. Has anyone else tried it, if so where have you found out all your info?Have you found it successfull? I was hoping to use web sites rather than buy a book/calendar.

Thanks,
AC

There was a prog on telly once about an estate gardener who did nothing else.   Planting and harvesting were done according to the waxing and waning of the moon.  I think this guy has been visiting the kitchen garden at Clumber Park where he's advising the Head Gardener there on the principles  :)  Fascinating stuff

Hi!  I found a diary in France this Summer that tells you when to do everything according to the moon, I didn't get it though as it was for 2005, I'm waiting for the 2006 one to come out. (It wasn't that cheap...) It seems quite complicated but the local gardeners (in Normandy ) swear by it.  Will give it a try next year. 
I haven't found anything in England though, sorry
D

Just seen there was one to swap on the 'swap' page, don't know how to send the thread though
D

I have never planted by the moons cycle but may read up on it and give it a try.
Here are a few links to that may help

http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/gqt/lunar.shtml

http://www.new-age.co.uk/moon-dates.htm

http://www.planetfusion.co.uk/~pignut/Lunar_gardening.html

I did find a book on amazon.co.uk for under a £5, just search for Lunar Gardening

;)

The old estate gardener might have been Cornish.  I'll google to see if I can find something  :)

When I first dug my beds in the allotment, I couldn't be bothered with all that string and spirit level stuff so I just cut 'em freehand.

Of course they ended up all wonky. When my partner asked why they were sort of curving I said they were designed like that to follow the course of the moon across the night sky. She still believes me to this day ;)

Quote from: terrace max on October 02, 2005, 17:26:29

Of course they ended up all wonky. When my partner asked why they were sort of curving I said they were designed like that to follow the course of the moon across the night sky.

Tehehe...Never thought of that...  My beds are all wonky because like you I can't be bothered with the string and all that...  Will explain about the moon influence in future   ;D ;D ;D
D

TM   Bet she doesn't  ;)

No really - c'mon she has to be pretty gullible to stick with me!

I shall never look at my wonky beds in the same light again and will blame fulll moon on my misshapen efforts   ;D

My step mum has very green fingers and swears by sowing and planting according to the phase of the moon - waxing for sowing and planting above ground flowers and crops, waning for roots and cuttings.

I happened upon a free lunar/astrological calendar with the March issue of Amis du Jardins which is a French gardening magazine.  This had correlated the position and phase of the moon and the zodiac cycle to tell you which days were for doing what, including 2 days a month when nothing should be done in the garden.  There are days for flowering plants, fruits, vegetables and roots from sowing and planting to pruning, training and harvesting.

Last autumn I took shrub cuttings during a waning moon and last spring I sowed and planted according to the fancy calendar.  Apart from carrots failing to germinate because of drought, I've never had such successful cuttings and sowings.   Even the supposedly dufficult parsnips all germinated successfully.

Quote from: wardy on October 02, 2005, 15:37:03
The old estate gardener might have been Cornish.  I'll google to see if I can find something  :)

Well, I'm a young Cornish allotment gardener and I say...."stick it in whenever you have the time and hope for the best"  ;D

Whereabouts in Cornwall?

This guy used to be out in the moonlight reaping or sowing  :)

Quote from: Dominique on October 01, 2005, 21:08:53
Hi!  I found a diary in France this Summer that tells you when to do everything according to the moon, I didn't get it though as it was for 2005, I'm waiting for the 2006 one to come out. (It wasn't that cheap...) It seems quite complicated but the local gardeners (in Normandy ) swear by it.  Will give it a try next year. 
I haven't found anything in England though, sorry

Yeah, the French seem quite keen on it. I was surprised to find a little lunar calendar in the back of a French gardening mag I bought when I was out there.. (Addict? Me? No...)

No idea if it works or not. Think I'd rather garden by the weather and not the moon.. :D

Melanie

Quote from: Robert_Brenchley on October 04, 2005, 08:43:36
Whereabouts in Cornwall?

I'm in London at the moment but grew up in Indian Queens....still go home most weekends :>

When I got a seed order from Franchi (Seeds of Italy) earlier this year, they sent a free matchbook sized lunar planting calendar in it showing waxing and waning moon for 2005. A lovely touch, got me interested! ;D

The thing that I found about following the lunar/strological gardening calendar was that I was  a lot more organised than usual during the busy spring period.  Often as not I go out intending to do one job, spot something else that needs doing and end up doing something completely different with a lot of staring at the garden and day dreaming about what will be in between. 

This year I sowed seeds/prepared beds/divided perennials/transplanted shrubs etc  all on the days indicated and with a great deal of purpose which turned to be very efficient and I didn't let myself get distracted by planting or weeding or pruning on days that were inauspicious.

We've had the longest, driest spell ever with only one good rain storm in July and a very dry winter and spring but, apart from poor carrots and tomato blight, the veggie garden has been very productive with more to come and the main garden is looking superb.

Sounds like a positive influence  ::) Where do you get your calendar from Obbelix? ;D