Almanac Gardening

[your_comforting_company]

I think lots of folks are divided on this subject. My grandad always planted by the almanac. Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, and Cancer are good signs for planting.
Don't plant on days when the moon is in Gemini, Leo, or Virgo. Aries, and Aquarius are good for spraying, breaking ground, weeding, etc. Flowers go in the ground in Libra.
Crops that bear fruit above ground are planted when the moon is increasing, i.e. going from new moon, to full moon, and root crops like potatoes are planted when the moon is decreasing.
On the other hand, my dad says "anytime you can get out there and plant is a good time."

So which is it? Last spring, I planted according to the stars and we had a good crop. In the fall, I planted when I could, and we didn't have such a good crop; only half the garden made it. It was still a LOT of greens, but I was hoping to have enough to share with extended family, like aunts, uncles, etc.

I also hear good friday is the best day to plant, and that's when I'm putting out my summer crop. Been working on tilling, turning, weeding, stabilizing, etc, and all that, this week. Good friday is on a good sign BUT the moon is decreasing, which means it's great for taters, but not so much for peas, butterbeans, etc. Good Friday is supposed to be exempt from the "moon phase rule". I have no idea, usually I have it all planted by now, but it's been too wet this year. I guess we'll find out! Friday is in Scorpio and I'm going with it. I just can't wait two more weeks to plant, or I might not get two turns this summer.

Do you guys use the almanac or do you just plant when you can? My dad plant's whenever and he usually has a good turnout.

[crashdive123]

I plant as soon as I'm reasonably sure the freezes have past and as I have time. I've got the tomatoes and peppers in, but have not finished the rest of my planting.

[nell67]

We always plant on Good Friday,it was tradition when growing up that potatoes were planted on Good Friday,and I just extend that to planting everything,with the exception of cold hardy plants (peppers,broccoli,etc) and greens,they go in February and March.

[Winnie]

That's the tradition here too Nell!
Owing to truly apalling weather and remodelling sowing will be late this year. It's not a problem though, most veg this year are late sowing vaieties anyway.

[Ken]

I plant as close to the almanac as I can, but the reality is that I plant when time permits, usually on weekends.

[Justin Case]

when i was able to have a garden, I tried to follow the instructions on the seed pack, :)

[Rick]

We see what we expect to see. Regardless of which side you are if you have a great crop based on what you believe then that's positive reinforcement and you'll remember it. If it wasn't a great crop then you'll forget about it. A couple of years down the road you'll be saying, "Oh, yeah, I always plant X and I always have a great crop." Unless it's double blind you'll involve your own wants.

I plant after the last frost.

[preachtheWORD]

In my part of the world the "old timers" live and die by the Ramon's Calendar. Planting, harvesting, certain work with livestock - the sign's gotta be right.

I have never been one to worry about what the almanac says. In fact, I am quite uneasy about it. Most of it is based on astrology, just like the "daily horoscopes" that no sensible person gives much credit to. I would go so far as to call it divination, which is something that clashes with Biblical doctrine.

A couple years back I preached a message about divination. Divination is basically fortune telling or future telling by some means. In the ancient world they had all kinds of weird methods of divination - heptomancy (looking at animal livers), hydromancy (looking at water in a cup), and way more. Of course, they also use the stars - which is what the almanacs are mostly based on. When I preached that message and told folks they needed to think twice about the Ramon's Calendar and the Farmer's Almanac, boy did I cause a big stir in this country town! But I didn't get run off. I gotta call 'em like I see 'em even if it is not a popular opinion.

When I plant I go by the weather and the time I have available. If those two things come together, I'm planting. Of course, where I live in the mountains, you can't be sure that the frost is over until the middle of May, so I have a while to wait.

[Rick]

Wow. In that case, Monday will definitely be interesting.