Happy Holidays to all The Moonies *S*

Oh, how lovely! It's in the high 70s here, and while I know that may SOUND good to a LOT of people, it sure doesn't feel like Christmas. Well, in my heart it does, but you know what I mean.

God Jul (I don't know how to put in the umlauts, but that's Swedish for Merry Christmas) and thank you for that picture!

Ann

70s so you can work the garden even now... so what do you have on your list to do or is Christmas keeping you too busy?

Take a peak here and see if you can find the alt character - Göd That's Alt +0246
http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/altchrc.htm

Cool!

Göd Jul!

Not doing much in the garden except clearing things away. I'm revamping some of it, and harvested about a quart of cayenne peppers yesterday when I pulled the last of the pepper plants up. Just waiting for the last of the gourds and luffas to ripen so I can take down an arch, and then I'm going to pretty much leave things alone until February. About the only thing left will be seeing if I have enough rose hips for some jelly.

Oh my gosh you make rose hip jelly?
Tell me how, I would love to make some

I've never made it before, but I found a recipe, and don't see how it could be much more difficult than other jelly, huh? I just am not sure how to tell if the hips are ripe. Do they turn color?

Well, heck that's what I wondered too... They do change color, but when are they ripe and how do you separate the seeds from the fruit.
I think it's time for a Google search *S*

I just had a tooth pulled by the Moon Signs. Almost NO bleeding and in 2-1/2 days it is already healing!

Using Rose Hips:

Rose hips are the cherry-sized red fruits of the rose bush left behind after the bloom has died. Although nearly all rose bushes produce rose hips, the tastiest for eating purposes come from the Rosa rugosa variety. The flavor is described as fruity and spicy, much like the cranberry. Harvest the fruits after the first frost when they become fully-colored, but not overripe. They should yield to gentle pressure but not be soft or wrinkly. Most recipes advise removing the irritating hairy seeds before processing the fruit. When cooking with rose hips, do not use any metal pans or utensils other than stainless steel or risk discoloration of the fruit and loss of its precious vitamin C stores.

Another: Wash the hips and trim off the blossom and stem ends with scissors. Cut in half lengthwise and remove the tiny hairs and the seeds from the center. There's no need to do this if you're just making jelly because the seeds will be strained off anyway.

Another: Remove any spines from hips, then wash and remove any 'tails'. Place in saucepan. Add water, bring to a boil and cook over a medium heat for 15 minutes. If you wish to speed up the cooking, gently crush the hips with a potato masher.

Darius,
I have 3 rugosas, they are very young, but next year I should have a good number of hips. I noticed in my past garden my rugosa rose hips were softer that any other variety.
Thanks for sharing that info, it's good to know you don't have to worry about the seeds when making jelly.

Is there actually a time of the moon that is for having teeth pulled... or is it a general time good for any sort of medical procedures?

Dove

Dovey... my book has specific moon phases and moon signs for both extractions, and bridges, fillings, etc. (different from each other, btw). There's also a chapter on getting hair cut to make it grow fast, or getting it cut to slow growth... and signs for fishing, castrating animals, and a host of other goodies.
http://www.amazon.com/Raising-Moon-Complete-Gardening-Living/dp/1887905367/ref=pd_bbs_sr_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197817065&sr=8-2

Thanks so much for that info, darius! We had our first (and possibly only) frost last night, and my Knock Outs have TONS of hips. Might be the right time to harvest, though the moon is waxing. Hmmm... little war going with myself, as with others -- do you harvest when you see it's ready? Or wait for the moon? What if the moon isn't good for harvesting for another week? I haven't checked the almanac, so I'll have to do that. Just get as close as I can, I guess, and I suppose it will have more effect on planting than harvesting, though it could affect storage. GAH! Going crazy...

IF I get the chance amidst the Christmas baking and cleaning and knitting furiously at gifts I could have finished in October, I'll make some jelly and report.

Dec. 26-29 is good for harvesting.

Dovey, the poem and image wonderfully celebrate this time of year - thanks from me, too.

More celebratory to-dos for December -

winter sowing (think Solstice :)) (or best moon phase relative to Solstice?)
harvesting persimmons (must be after frost) - nice in bread
dying rose hips for tea

Darius, thanks from me too for those rose hip recipes. They're also great dried for tea- especially in times of winter sniffles. This year, as I was harvesting seed for trade from hips of the David Austin rose 'Windrush', I cut up the flesh into smaller pieces, dried them in a cupboard and plan to include them with our tea the next time one of us gets sniffles. Windrush has enormous, bountiful hips; large, pale yellow flowers with prominent gold stamens in center; repeats; gets very little sun here; and is too thorny for many critters. Would anyone like any seeds?

I wonder if Paracelsus might have some tips for our 21st century "still rooms" for December? It seems to me that the spirit of bygone still rooms could still live in the synergy of moon and herbs - am off to shoot him (her?) a dmail right now.

I haven't dmailed Paracelsus yet - detoured to find out more about the original Paracelsus - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/exhibition/paracelsus/paracelsus_2.html . Evidently, he lived in a time of "Renaissance humanism" when 2 paths were rising up out of relatively barbaric chaos towards math & science on the one hand and magic and alchemy on the other. Ancient texts were being re-discovered and old folk-ways honored, out of which a new age was inspired.

I don't know about y'all, but to me, taking note of a 12,000 year old bone discovered in Siberia with notches indicative of lunar cycles speaks to how far back the roots of lunar lore go. I hope he/she answers my dmail.

Karen

Hi, all,

My task for the end of the month--right after Solstice--is to sow mandrake seeds. It's a great Moon time to do that, since when the Moon is waning, as folks here know, it's a good time to plant for root growth. And the seeds do seem to know that even though it is snowy and cold outside, the days are getting longer. They need a long growing season to flower and fruit in my climate, and I usually start some at Samhain and the rest right after Solstice. The ones I started at Samhain are almost all up and enjoying themselves under my shoplights in the basement.

I always think of waning Moon time as time to go deep and time to get rid of. When I make oils, I try to work on those that incorporate roots, like angelica, costus, ginger, turmeric, zedoary, valerian, spikenard, etc., during the waning Moon.

Dark of the Moon is one of my favorite Moon times. A great time to consider, mull, and for creativity, IME. I'm glad the New Year is starting off that way.

Paracelsus, you've introduced a bigger dimension to winter moon gardening than I would have thought. A lot of people on DG - on the Sustainability Living forum, for one - are very interested in learning how to grow and use herbs for their manifold uses. Now that I think about it, it does make horticultural sense to incorporate both the phase of the moon and the time of the solstice in the cultivation of these plants.

Some others of this type I've been wanting to grow are burdock (for arthritis), ginseng and horse radish. Could these be grown in partial shade? I'm thinking woodland and/or permaculture types of garden. How do you grow (or plant to grow) these in your garden? I can't help asking, when it comes to herbs, if you have a design for this kind of herb in your garden.

Well, I need to go study up on the plants you've mentioned here. One reason I have always loved the seed catalog of http://www.jlhudsonseeds.net/ , is that, in addition to excellent information on how to germinate and grow the seeds he sells, he also includes liberal doses of many of the plants' respective ethnobotany. I sense quite a bit of lore among your plants, too.

I like your perspective on this time of year, perhaps with a little more vision, cabin fever won't be as harsh this winter.

Karen

Winter can be almost as much fun as summer in terms of gardening. I use it to plan my garden and seed starting in more and more detail each year. It's really a help to me, and it really does help me feel connected with my garden even when there's snow out there. Growing stuff under lights helps too.

I don't know about burdock or horseradish, but I do know that ginseng prefers to grow in shade. Some years ago I looked into growing it and got info from I think it was the USDA. They had feasability studies on ginseng growing for profit (who'd a thunk it?). They described having growing plots in the woods that were covered with chicken wire to keep out the deer (who apparently love ginseng as much as people do). I never actually tried growing it, though. Occasionally I have seen it growing in the woods here.

The yard I have now is mostly shade in the back, so I am learning about growing in shade too. I am going to be starting a bunch of aquilegias for that reason. I also chose some native plants that enjoy shade to start from seed. I want to put them around the edges of the yard to get more privacy. This weekend a friend of mine who is a landscape architect told me that I could put strawberries between the roots of the silver maple that is the alpha tree in my yard. I have seeds for woodland strawberry I hope to grow out for that purpose. I hate mowing over those roots, and I love strawberries.

I had a big garden in my last place, but I had to move in March and so I am starting all over again here and with much less land. It is forcing me to think about a much more concentrated garden, for one thing. I work a lot with planetary influences on plants, and so much shade means a strong Saturn influence. I had already been focusing on a lot of Saturn plants--mandrake, henbane, nightshade, etc.--but now I will be branching out into the shady aspect. It will be interesting.

Anyone else using planetary influences in their gardens? Like planting patches of Sun plants, etc.?

Harry

Hi Harry, I don't know how soon anyone will respond to your questions, but they are very much appreciated. I think that with regard to natural history on earth that influence from the rest of the cosmos is not that far removed from the moon's. For example, look at how migratory birds' brains are wired to starlight, and the cultural/religious influences of that nova around the time of Christ's birth.

But right now, I apologize after bringing you over here, that I have to mark this thread unread and come back later - am having some conflicts of time and need to focus more on family. In the spirit of Dovey's theme for this thread and the alpha todo of December, I wish love and peace to you all for this holiday season and the year to come.

I love the garden in winter -- such a lovely way to let our mother rest before she does all that work in the spring! Yule is very busy, of course, but now that I know, I'll pay attention to some root things this time. Saturday! I'd like to go by the planets for things, but sometimes it just seems to get too complicated! And to learn all that along with things like what grows well in my little microclimate gets overwhelming. Another reason to appreciate the calm of winter -- I can curl up with catalogs and books and get the reading done I won't have time for after Oestre.

So I guess this waning moon would be the right time to pot some ginger root?

Potting up gingerroot sounds like a great thing to do during the waning Moon this month.

I like winter too. It's a whole 'nother phase of gardening.

Part of the great circle. It's almost odd how in-tune you can get with the circle -- when it's summer, I'm in the MOOD to hoe and weed and stuff, and now I really feel like planning and dreaming, which is just what I should be doing. And come spring, I won't be able to keep my hands off the seeds.

Harry,
I still consider myself a newbie when it comes to gardening by the moon and planets. I did locate some information for you regarding plants and their connection to planets
- Star IQ -
Since ancient times, each known plant species was connected with a particular planet
http://www.stariq.com/Main/Articles/P0001262.HTM

Cheers
Dove

Dovey, thanks. I've been working with the planetary aspects of plants for a long time. I was just wondering if anyone else here did.

Harry

I barely have the moon thing down... moon today - planets tomorrow, I guess.

I'm not quite sure what it's all about, do you choose and plant plants according to the planets, or are there certain aspects of the garden that you consider ruled by a planet? (I.E. shade and Saturn as you mentioned)

Happy Birthday, Rusty!

dovey, I'm about where you are on the learning curve, but the Farmer's Almanac (and many other publications) shows what sign the moon is in -- it's in each sign for 2 - 3 days. There's an explanation of what signs are good for planting or taking cuttings or weeding or whatever, and you refer to the chart to do your gardening. I have no clue (YET) about when a plant is ruled by Saturn (or Venus or whatever). The above is as complex as I can handle right now!

Not to worry about being a novice... we all are in some fashion.

NOT all moon signs information are the same. Many use different methods of determination, some are geocentric and some are astronomic (heliocentric). As an example of results, consider January 1st 1985. The geocentric calendar shows the moon in Taurus and the heliocentric calendar shows the moon in Aries. An important... even vital... difference in planting.

The Old Farmer's Almanac is heliocentrically calculated and I do not use it for planting. However, their separate section named Gardening by the Moon's Sign is correct and usable although it does not show when the moon enters each sign.

Blum's Farmer's and Planter's Almanac, Family Almanac, Farmer's Almanac and Turner's Carolina Almanac are all calculated geocentrically so they are usable direct from the calendar pages. They, too, do not show what hour and minute the moon enters each sign, however.

So either way, you have to cross-reference with a calendar or an ephemeris. (sp?) Sooo.... although it's not good enough, I do sometimes just say, okay, the moon's waxing, so I'll plant. MAYBE during the winter resting/planning phase I'll sit down with all the info and put it all on a calendar. I doubt I'll really do it, but if I do, I'll share it.

Thanks for that info and those references, darius!

And I'm about to leave work for the holidays, so Merry Christmas, Glad Yule, Super Solstice to all!