Vegetable Gardening According to the Moon

There are some things that you just have to see to believe.  I imagine the man pulling a car by his nostrils is one of them.  Or perhaps a 3-year-old piano prodigy.  But if you witness something first hand, then you do know that it’s possible.

Despite my own unbelief and skepticism at first, I am now a firm believer in the merits of planning and planting a vegetable garden according to the phases of the moon.  I realize that this sounds incredibly superstitious (I thought so, too!) and old-fashioned, but it is a proven system.

So for all of you out there who have always wanted a prosperous backyard vegetable garden, allow me to share some information with you that will enable you to create a garden masterpiece!!

Scheduling gardens to coincide with various phases of the moon is an ancient practice, dating back to the time of the Greek and Roman empires.  The basic premise of moon gardening argues that the gravitational forces of the moon have an effect on the growth of plants.  The effect is due to the control that lunar gravity has on the amount of moisture in the soil.  So basically, there are certain days each month that are best for planting specific crops.

Somewhere during the course of history, the Greeks passed this knowledge on to the Romans who passed it on to someone else who passed it on to my seasoned neighbor who passed it on to me.  🙂  I count myself very blessed to be privy to such wise, and tried-and-true gardening knowledge.

If my neighbor didn’t have such an obviously successful garden himself (he is picking tomatoes well into January!!), then I would have passed off his moon gardening tips as silly and outdated.  But fortunately, seeing truly is believing.  The fact is, my neighbor was the proud owner of a beautiful vegetable garden that would make anyone wonder what his methods were, and I couldn’t deny it.

I decided that it would be a total waste of resources to have a neighbor gifted in the art of moon gardening and not pick his brain a little.  He was happy to share his wealth of knowledge with me, so I unofficially became his student.

Now, two years later, I am on my third planting season!  I can honestly say that his moon gardening method is effective to the point of being uncanny.  I picked my last tomato of the season in January (January!!), and have some of the largest growing herbs I’ve ever seen.  Thank you, thank you, thank you Mr. Neighbor!! (Obviously, he has a real name.  Just protecting his privacy. :))  Just last month, he awarded me the backyard gardening honor of a lifetime: my very own copy of Grier’s Farmers Almanac.

What I am currently growing in my backyard garden:

• Parsley
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Oregano
• Rosemary
• Chives
• Tomatoes
• Zucchini
• Cucumbers
• Green bell peppers
• Morenga – I will explain in a later post 🙂

These are my potted vegetables: cucumbers, chives, bell peppers, and morenga.

If you think that this style of gardening is for you, or at least is worth a try, let me give you some tips to get you started.

You definitely are going to need to purchase a copy of The 2013 Farmers Almanac.  It lists all of the dates that you can plant each individual herb or vegetable.  You MUST stick to the schedule provided…moon gardening is all about planting on certain days.

Root vegetables will have their own list of dates to plant on, and all other herbs/vegetables will have particular planting dates.  If you aren’t able to plant a certain vegetable on the dates provided, don’t worry, you haven’t missed out.  The moon provides several planting days each month, so you can always catch up. Just make sure that you soil is ready and do lawn fertilizing beforehand if you’re planting directly on your lawn.

One thing that I love about this gardening system is that it is year-round!  There’s not just one growing season, followed by a lull.  This method allows for the planting of crops 12 months a year.  For example, I plant my first round of tomatoes in early March.  After about 3 months of harvesting, I replant with a new batch of and enjoy several more months of fresh tomatoes.  Again, when those are fizzling out, I replant again in late fall and experience garden-fresh tomatoes well into December and January!

My baby tomato bush! I planted eight of them six weeks ago, and already they have buds!

Please don’t just take my word for this…try it out!  The Farmers Almanacs are inexpensive little books, so grab one and try out the moon-directed planting dates!  Let me know if any of you give this a try.  And please share any additional or creative gardening tips with the rest of us.

“Moon Photo” by Bill Mulder

Lauren Souers

Hi, my name is Lauren. I am the wife of one fine man and the momma of four (huge) young children – three boys and one princess! I love all of them. I mostly clean up messes and feed people all day, and it’s really fun to write about it. Jesus is the rock of my family – we love and serve a mighty King! I hope you leave here full of hope that “tired” can be good.