Like a wave…
My first garden, the one that got my butt out of bed – twice – that’s what it takes to get through my hard head, that first garden gave me enough strength to go and fight for my brother’s life when he had to have emergency open heart surgery. My brother lived, thank all the deities of the universe, but when I got home after seven months, my garden had died, and I went back to bed, desolate.
My first garden bed
It took another few months of fighting against the “pull” before I got out of bed and went back out to start a new garden, but, inevitably I surrendered to the force of whatever it was that was dragging me out there…
A collection of pots
It so happened, just by “coincidence” that both of the times I finally made it outside, it was just the right time for planting in Southern California where I live. And each time it was a different planting season: with our mild winters, we have two – in the spring we plant all our heat-loving flowers and vegetables for summer harvests, and in the fall we grow the ones that prefer cooler weather. The first time I made it out to garden it was spring planting time, and the second time it was fall-planting season …
Nothing – not my love for my kids, not my guilt about not being able to contribute financially to my family, not love or care for my patients, had gotten me out of my bed; I could pull myself together for emergencies or brief occasions, but always I’d retreat back to my bed, and my pills…
So what was that mysterious pull? What was it that my entire being, despite my reluctance, was responding to? Was it that moon, winking at me outside my window? It had to be some sort of primal instinct to plant in rhythm with the seasons – I may be stubborn, but stupid I’m not – I only have to be hit over the head twice for the lesson to sink in!
I started paying attention to the moon – duh! After all I knew it influenced the ocean, my moods, my headaches and my periods, and I had been in the ER for enough full moons to witness the mayhem: Babies wanting to be born, loonies coming out the woodwork – ask the most jaded, cynical ER docs – they’ll tell you: watch out for that full moon!
Let’s go back to what we all know: the moon orbits the earth, and takes about 27 and a half days to complete its circuit. The moon defines our monthly calendar, and during its circuit around the earth, travels a tilted course compared to that of the earth around the sun, meaning that at some points in its trajectory it is farther away from the earth than at others thus varying its gravitational pull. In addition to this, as the moon travels, it passes in front of the different constellations of the Zodiac. These constellations are grouped into four categories corresponding to the 4 major elements- you’ve heard them referred to – Air, Water, Fire and Earth. Before the Internet, before writing and the publication of official calendars, when all we had to go by was the moon and the stars – farmers, over centuries of cultivation, noted that certain categories of plants did better when planted at certain times…this has evolved into what is known as the biodynamic method, or more simply gardening by the moon.
This is not the same as the farmers almanac and other calendars that pay attention to the visible phases of the moon in its different stages, going from new moon (when the moon is not visible) to full moon. This is more like astrology for plants!
As the moon passes in front of the different constellations, different parts of plants corresponding to the four different elements are affected. The Air constellations govern the parts of the plants that are above ground, particularly the flowers. Water constellations affect the stems and leafy parts of plants, while Earth constellations favor root development, and Fire constellations influence fruit and grain production.
Because the plane of its elliptical course is tilted in relationship to that of the earth, the moon ascends (climbs on the horizon) for almost 2 weeks, (i.e. its position on the horizon is a little higher each successive night), then descends for 2 weeks, coming closer to the earth each night. During the time the moon ascends, sap rises more strongly into the upper parts of plants. This is the time to sow seeds, harvest leafy vegetables and fruits, and the best time to graft. During the descending part of the lunar cycle, the sap is drawn more into the lower parts of plants, favoring root development. This is the time to transplant seedlings, apply fertilizers and soil treatment, harvest root vegetables and prune.
The trick of lunar gardening is to time your attention to the plants in the garden in accordance with this cycle, thus applying your efforts at the optimal time for each category of plants. And it’s all laid out – you just look at the calendar (and now there are apps to tell us what to do!*)- if it’s an ascending flower day in September, it’s time to sow flowers and flowerlike vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower, or it’s time to pick your most beautiful long lasting bouquets. If it’s a descending fruit day in May, then it’s time to transplant those tomato seedlings you sowed around Valentine’s day, or it’s time to side dress your peppers, eggplants and tomatoes with compost in mid-June …
It all works out, and how! Things grow so fast and so well you and your neighbors will be amazed! And then you will surprise yourself when you start to “instinctively” plan the next thing that needs doing before even looking at the calendar! That first Aha! moment – when what you were thinking about doing is actually what’s on the calendar for the day – I remember how thrilled I felt!
The lab rat in me, trained in scientific methods, understands the principles behind the biodynamic method – and that makes it more comfortable to follow. This is my fifth year of gardening by the moon, and I love it. All my experiences have served to reinforce my belief that this method works, and I’ll tell you all about my lunar tomatoes in another post. For all the skeptics, there’s a very simple experiment with planting radishes on successive days that will turn anyone into a believer. Try it! You can even publish your results and add to the biodynamic database.
A good summary of biodynamic gardening and the various influences of the moon on plants can be found in these basic articles:
1.http://www.hampdenparkcoop.com/gardening-moon-sun-and-star
2.https://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/biodynamic-gardening-zmaz80jfzraw
It’s like a wave – and physics tells us that’s part of the mystery of life – everything is both particle and wave – when you apply force with the wave, when you’re “in sync”, your efforts amplify the wave. If you’re going against the direction of the wave, your efforts will actually disturb its flow, and diminish its force as well as its form.
I think that’s part of the magic of lunar gardening – it gets you in sync with some major universal life forces, and we all know, we’ve all felt it, when you’re in sync, life happens more easily… It’s in our bodies, in the moon and the stars, it’s in our language… So why fight it? Just ride the wave, flow with the moon!
* my favorite apps are “Moon & Garden” and “Pleine L’une” they’re both free! I will review several apps and lunar calendars in a future post.
turkce
Incredible points. Solid arguments. Keep up the good spirit. Chad Ronny Harrell
The Moon Gardener
Thank you!
sikis izle
A big thank you for your article. Really looking forward to read more. Awesome. Kylila Obie Takken
The Moon Gardener
Thank you so much for the encouragement!
yetiskin
Thanks-a-mundo for the blog post. Much thanks again. Really Cool. Elnore Javier Itagaki
The Moon Gardener
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks.
yabanci
Hurrah! After all I got a webpage from where I know how to actually take helpful facts regarding my study and knowledge. Margeaux Dwight Greiner
Leslie
Interesting info. Thank you for the links