This is in reference to what I will be posting all 2009 based on the Biodynamic Cosmic Calendar...
Root crops store best when planted on root days. Although they grow well on leaf days, they don’t store as long.
Leaf crops are sown on leaf days but should be harvested on Fruit and Flower days.
Flowers should be sown, tended and harvested (cut) on flower days for best scent and longevity.
Fruit (including fruiting vegetables like beans, tomatoes, squash) should be harvested on fruit days..
Note: sowing is when the seed hits the planting medium, differing from transplanting which should be done during a descending moon.
Times are Eastern Standard Time. For Central Time, subtract 1 hour, 2 hours for Mountain Time, and 3 hours for Pacific.
Flower, light signs
Gemini
Libra
Aquarius
Leaf, water signs
Pisces
Cancer
Scorpio
Fruit, warmth signs
Aries
Leo
Sagittarius
Root, cool signs
Taurus
Virgo
Capricorn
I'll probably add much more to this list as I progress through the book...
Some Basics of Cosmic Forces in Crops
Thanks very much, Darius! I appreciate your work summarizing this info and will for sure make use of it.
So, when the calendar says it's a good day to plant, that's not necessarily a good day to transplant?
That's right, according to my new calendar based on Biodynamic principles. I'm going to be reading it closely, as I learn. I know biodynamics pay more critical attention to cosmic forces.
Boy, do I see a career in the making. Just thinking out loud, but imagine a gardener who really wants to do a vegetable garden this way, but feels it really is too much info to assimilate. YOU get good at it, so the gardener sends you a list of plants he or she wants to grow, and of course a check! Then you send the gardener back a calendar of exactly when to do what.
OKAY! Now I've taken care of darius. Anyone else need a future planned?
(darius, that will be $20. Thank you. And you're welcome.)
LOL!
It really is a lot to assimilate. The book is very detailed (and very specific about copyrights or I'd scan and post just one page here). None of my other books or calendars on gardening by the moon signs get into Oppositions, Trines, Conjunctions, etc. and how they affect our gardens.
I think that's why I get tempted to give up on the whole thing! "Plant during waxing, harvest during waning" is fine -- but when it gets into "only plant when the moon is in Libra when Jupiter is juxtaposed in retrograde to Saturn, but only for root crops in the southern hemisphere..." AAARRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH...
(Yes, I made that up.)
But I do believe it works. I'm working on a calendar now, because I need to start seeds in just a very few weeks, and I'd really like to see if they do better than when I did this more haphazardly.
Thank you so much for posting this! I'm off to mark my calendar....la la la....or at least, I will after I read the next post so I can make sure I've got all my little duckies in a row.
Oh yes this moon stuff is very odd, I'm trying to work with it this year, (GH) now.
But maybe it is made for Mars ? ? ^_^
I have the calendar and when I get back from Sunny Florida , first of Feb.....
Well I'll let you know.
I bread my rabbit on the correct day and she delivered 3 days early...5 frozen babies.
I'll keep working on it.
I would like to combine moon signs and companion planting this year. It is going to be a year of experimentation and note taking.
An interesting year indeed.
darius, thanks for making this easier to understand.
bridgidily thanks for the laugh, and the continued laughs.
I have good friends who always plant according to the phase of the moon, but are practical and not out in the middle of the night hopping around on one foot rubbing blue mud into their bellies. (No offense to anyone who does this!) For most, work begins at sun up and ends when it is done.
darius does your book specify actual times of the day/night?
I'll go back to lurking, but I had to ask.
Walk In Beauty!
SW
Sneak in anytime, Wolf! We know you're always lurking there around the edge of the garden... or the woods... ;}
The Farmer's Almanac and other calendars I've seen do specify the times the moon is officially full, and exactly when it enters the signs. darius, have you learned how to teach us how to garden perfectly yet?
Well, I started some seeds on the moon early in the month, but I'm guessing I didn't plant them right as only about a fourth of them sprouted.....gotta go back and figure out what I'm doing wrong with those little beasts. On the other hand, I planted a tray full of different kinds of seeds on the 20th, and darn near all of them are sprouting and doing quite well....
SW, times are generally listed as a span/frame but from what I have ascertained over some length of years barely dabbling with this concept, the most opportune time for anything is nearer the middle of the frame when cosmic forces are strongest.
brigid... hey, I'm lucky if I can get anything to grow, much less perfectly... including my determination.
I haven't done much so far with my new biodynamic calendar since it's not time for me to plant yet. I don't start seedlings under lights, thanks to lack of interior space and residence of 3 felines, and I don't winter-sow because the sheer number of seeds that sprout all require my attention at once to plant out, exceeding my physical capacity and engendering subsequent guilt.
Look for hints from me by March, though.
brigidlily, Ahoooooaaaaaaggg. (that's the phonetic spelling of a wolf howling, please don't ask me to repeat it) LOL! In my case I'm lurking in the desert.
darius, LOL! I have to hurry and rush to direct sow right now, and I'm winter sowing some things as well. While you have to wait until March. I am worried about everything sprouting at once and not having the courage to THIN them out before trying to transplant. Determination I have, the body is in need of some work though. Don't need to feel guilty about seedlings, but will probably not get everything planted out on schedule. Oh well, only the Creator is perfect.
Do you know if they are figuring their times using the Greenwich Standard? Otherwise, I'm licking my finger and seeing which way the wind is blowing and if it "feels" right. : )
dryad, the seed I sowed when you did, hasn't responded well at all yet either (your germination rate is twice that of mine), but we've been having such weird (for us) weather this year. I'm going to plant some more seeds as my physical condition and new puppy permits. I have Cats too. My brother once told me that my online name should be CatsRUs. LOL!
Nice meeting you all, and running into you here dryad.
Back to lurking!
Walk In Beauty!
SW
Ah SW, now that we've got you, we're not gonna let you keep lurking much :-)
My Wolf Friend... Howl away!
Times are posted in Eastern Standard times, based on GMT
I heard it, Wolf! Chills up my spine! I'm known as a cat witch myself; whenever something's wrong with one it seems to make its way to me. Ah, well -- there are certainly worse ways to spend one's time.
Remember to SUBTRACT hours off EST! That's another reason it's better to go toward the middle of the time period. Believe me, to me, time differences are counterintuitive to me and I've made more than one middle of the night call by doing it the other way! I have a sister in CA and one in Spain. Have to sit down and make a graph to get the times right.
brigidlily - I feel your pain with that time difference! My SO has cousins in California, NY and cousins and an aunt in Spain (the Canary Islands). It can really mess with your head. I'm glad we're on EST as it makes the moon phases that much easier for me to figure out. Now, if I could just get a handle on darius' Biodynamic stuff....or rather, get my head wrapped around it...
OK, I'll admit I'm time Zone impaired, then when you add on the Daylight Savings, I'm always confused. I don't wear a watch, I run on Indian Time. (when it happens it happens) There are clocks in the car and house, but I really go by the sun. I have relatives in UT,TX, FL, LA, MO, OK, and friends all over the country. I never know when to call, so I'm glad I can use the computer. For the longest time I couldn't because I kept affecting the electronics. I'm getting in balance and it is getting better. Same way I can't wear a watch. They don't keep time right for me.
Darius thanks for the clarification. I'll finger it out. Did you know that every wolf in the pack has a different howl? That is how they know where the others are.
Darius, could you dmail me the name of the book you are referring to? I'd like to get my paws on a copy of it, and keep it handy.
brigidlily, I have never been catless by choice. However, many of the traits I admire about wolves are cat traits. Like the wolves pack. Cats prefer to live in colonies. Cats and Wolves are both independent. It is their choice to accept you are not.
I was gifted my name, by a Cherokee (Tsalagi) Tribal Clan Grandmother. Mostly because among the NAI tribes, the wolves are considered teachers, and protectors. It is said that NAI society is in part based on the structure of the wolf packs. Unlike the European wolves, there has never been a record of a healthy wolf attacking a person.
dryad, it's nice to find someone you like and respect already on a thread you're interested in. You don't feel quite as awkward when you "jump on in". Thanks for leading the way! : )
Sorry to be so wordy today. I'm off to pull weeds.
Walk In Beauty!
SW