Have been frantically planting bulbs, splitting irises and day lilies, topiaring conifers and glowering at last of the runner beans which refused to set, and lettuces that have decided to charge upwards instead of outwards after a spell of really warm days and dry conditions. Tomatoes and Lemon Cucumbers still coming on in greenhouse, and flowers galore in the borders, including some that I had forgot I had sown -like a very delicate flax flower -(Do you ever find lost treasures that you may have given up on in the dim distant past?)
Anyway, I am away next week so here is the Lunar Calender for 17th-26th October.
17th October - Fruit Day - gather as many fruit and nuts as possible for storage as the Full Moon ensures good keeping quality and excellent flavour. Our apples 'Melrose' are just ready - so another job to fit in!
18/19/20th October - Moon ascending in Taurus so Root Days - Sow Carrots and turnips outside fleecing them against frost and in cucumber frames sow Onions. Japanese Onion sets should be plantede now to guarantee a good start, but make sure you keep them throughout the Winter under frames however mild a Winter they like a warm, dry start.
21/22nd October - Moon descending into Gemini so Flower Days. If you have had a frost lift Cannas/Dahlias and Gladioli, turn them upside down and place in a dry place to Over Winter.Protect Artichoke Roots by earthing up and covering with straw. Plant out bi-annuals sown 18-20th August.Continue dividing and transplanting shrubs and perrenials once they have stopped flowering. Keep well watered. Take side shoots for potting on as new stock and throw older centres on compost heap.
23rd October - Leaf Day - Plant out evergreen container grown shrubs Cut and burn asparagus ferns and earth up bed.
24/25/26th October - Fruit Days Moon descending in Leo - Cut back and take cuttings from raspberries for new stocks next year. Plant all container grown Bush Fruit. Pick and throw away bruised or diseased apples/pears/quince.
I've never heard of moon gardening or probably just never took note. So I read this thread and didn't dwell on it. Now a few times this week I have picked up something to read and it mentions something on it. For example I am reading a book on the history of Texas going back to the early Spanish settlements. Last night I was reading about a new American settler in that area, she was desperate for the Mexican authorities to give the go ahead for her family to take possession of land in that area right away. The reason was because the moon was right to plant her corn seeds that she had brought with her from the USA and that was all they were going to live on that first winter.
Hi Johnny - The Native Americans always used the Constellations to cultivate crops, and even nowadays in France the Young Farmers are reverting to Biodynamic Farming Methods using the magnetic forces of the Moon, stars and planets as a guide to ensure good crops and to plan sowing and harvesting times albeit with the aid of new seed varieties. Life would seem to have come round full circle back to the basics of Nature and Growth. Welcome to this Thread. I don't know where you are based but if you look up The Soil Association or biodynamics.com you will find more info, which may well tie up with your current reading.
Great time in UK buying up all supplies for garden not available here, inc magazines which are a fraction of the price than by Europe Subscription. Now ready to tackle wild Autumn growth before - and I hate to say this -Snow!
Bio Dynamic Calender says expect temperatures to drop and potential snow after 19th November through into first half december! let's see what happens, but I'm making plans already, Such warm past winters have meant that I have not always been prepared for sudden falls in temperature - So lots of fleece at the ready, and I am not going to sow early crops this side of Xmas, as my success rate with peas and broad beans sown Oct/Nov is 00000!!!! Have you any tips up your sleeves without a greenhouse and outside? For those interested Private Pushkin (new kitten) is receiving hunting tips from Boots the Bengal -At the moment these include how to destroy my Wellington Boots, and how to disembowel a mouse in the bedroom at 3am! PP not allowed outside yet as initially found abandoned in the garden age appx 9wks.
Here is the balance of October's Lunar Calender
27/28/29/30 October -That's a lot of Root Days!-with New Moon at 5.38pm on the 30th and Moon descending in Virgo - Excellent time to finish planting onions/garlic and shallots. (If your soil is really wet in Winter, make a Ridge and sow in that, remembering to earth up regularly even in Winter.) Lift Leeks/Parsnips/Horseradish and Jerusalem Artichokes according to your needs. Protect bare soil around root crops with straw to encourage last surge of ripening and thin carrots sown 21-23 september.Plant Spring Bulbs, particularly those for shady areas, as shallow soil still easy to work under trees and hedges before frosts.
31st October -Flower Day but no gardening recommended after 2.25pm as Moon at furthest point from Earth so weak and weedy growth can be expected from transplanting/sowing or planting. get storage areas organised for dahlias/gladioli/lilies and cannas instead, and start cleaning and storing tools and pots whilst warmer weather permits work outside.
So there we are - Clocks change on Sunday and I feel that Winter starts now.Luckily here we are never dark in Winter until just after 6pm, but the mornings become horrendous with January seeing us still dark at 9am. How I shall miss the long hours of daylight. On Monday I shall tell you what to expect in November. Have a great w/e and Happy Gardening.
If it's cloudy, it doesn't get light till after 8:30 at our new home in the Vendée. I'd rather have lighter evenings than morning I think but as we're both now retired I don't suppose it will make much difference in the end but I do wish we could keep summer time as the default.
Pleased we have so many root days as I have bulbs and garlic to plant and some hardy cyclamen to spice up the colour range in the ones already here which are all white or pale pink and look as though they need a jolly good feed.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
What's your soil like in the Vendee? My cyclamen are also a bit pasty and we are very sandy, so I have to add loads of leafmould which they love. Hope the move went OK and you are now settled. Our primroses are out!! Have just crystallised some this afternoon. Lots of rogue raspberries in the Potager - I have to ask myself if I really need more! Will have to make a decision on next Fruit Day, when weather willing I shall move the Fruit Bed around a little - Still you can never have too many raspberries! Most Spring bulbs have sprouted already - This always happens to me - Just have to keep covering them up with leafmould. Irises very rebellious!! Welcome Hollyhock. Moon Calenders and Gardening Guides 2017 launched in all the Newsagents this w/e. Must send off to Soil Association in UK for their Info.
Rock hard BF. Drought since the beginning of August. There are moles tho and what they shift looks to be a mix of loamy and sandy. Either way it'll be getting loads of well rotted manure before I plant anything major as there's very little here apart from grass long enough to make hay, some fruit trees, mixed hedging shrubs and big trees such as albizia julibrissin, mimosa, poplar, ash and walnut. There's a sickly looking magnolia too for which I've bought some feed.
One patch of lawn length grass which is surprisingly green and full of cyclamen and autumn daffs. I have some autumn and spring flowering crocuses to add to the mix but need to water it again before I can get my trowel in.
I'll have alook for those magazines next time I'm out shopping.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
Posts
Hello will be planting Broad beans , peas & spring onions , all under cloches
Hi Everyone
Have been frantically planting bulbs, splitting irises and day lilies, topiaring conifers and glowering at last of the runner beans which refused to set, and lettuces that have decided to charge upwards instead of outwards after a spell of really warm days and dry conditions. Tomatoes and Lemon Cucumbers still coming on in greenhouse, and flowers galore in the borders, including some that I had forgot I had sown -like a very delicate flax flower -(Do you ever find lost treasures that you may have given up on in the dim distant past?)
Anyway, I am away next week so here is the Lunar Calender for 17th-26th October.
17th October - Fruit Day - gather as many fruit and nuts as possible for storage as the Full Moon ensures good keeping quality and excellent flavour. Our apples 'Melrose' are just ready - so another job to fit in!
18/19/20th October - Moon ascending in Taurus so Root Days - Sow Carrots and turnips outside fleecing them against frost and in cucumber frames sow Onions. Japanese Onion sets should be plantede now to guarantee a good start, but make sure you keep them throughout the Winter under frames however mild a Winter they like a warm, dry start.
21/22nd October - Moon descending into Gemini so Flower Days. If you have had a frost lift Cannas/Dahlias and Gladioli, turn them upside down and place in a dry place to Over Winter.Protect Artichoke Roots by earthing up and covering with straw. Plant out bi-annuals sown 18-20th August.Continue dividing and transplanting shrubs and perrenials once they have stopped flowering. Keep well watered. Take side shoots for potting on as new stock and throw older centres on compost heap.
23rd October - Leaf Day - Plant out evergreen container grown shrubs Cut and burn asparagus ferns and earth up bed.
24/25/26th October - Fruit Days Moon descending in Leo - Cut back and take cuttings from raspberries for new stocks next year. Plant all container grown Bush Fruit. Pick and throw away bruised or diseased apples/pears/quince.
Happy Gardening
Last edited: 15 October 2016 15:18:08
I've never heard of moon gardening or probably just never took note. So I read this thread and didn't dwell on it. Now a few times this week I have picked up something to read and it mentions something on it. For example I am reading a book on the history of Texas going back to the early Spanish settlements. Last night I was reading about a new American settler in that area, she was desperate for the Mexican authorities to give the go ahead for her family to take possession of land in that area right away. The reason was because the moon was right to plant her corn seeds that she had brought with her from the USA and that was all they were going to live on that first winter.
Hi Johnny - The Native Americans always used the Constellations to cultivate crops, and even nowadays in France the Young Farmers are reverting to Biodynamic Farming Methods using the magnetic forces of the Moon, stars and planets as a guide to ensure good crops and to plan sowing and harvesting times albeit with the aid of new seed varieties. Life would seem to have come round full circle back to the basics of Nature and Growth. Welcome to this Thread. I don't know where you are based but if you look up The Soil Association or biodynamics.com you will find more info, which may well tie up with your current reading.
Biofreak , thanks for update , have a good holiday
Great time in UK buying up all supplies for garden not available here, inc magazines which are a fraction of the price than by Europe Subscription. Now ready to tackle wild Autumn growth before - and I hate to say this -Snow!
Bio Dynamic Calender says expect temperatures to drop and potential snow after 19th November through into first half december! let's see what happens, but I'm making plans already, Such warm past winters have meant that I have not always been prepared for sudden falls in temperature - So lots of fleece at the ready, and I am not going to sow early crops this side of Xmas, as my success rate with peas and broad beans sown Oct/Nov is 00000!!!! Have you any tips up your sleeves without a greenhouse and outside? For those interested Private Pushkin (new kitten) is receiving hunting tips from Boots the Bengal -At the moment these include how to destroy my Wellington Boots, and how to disembowel a mouse in the bedroom at 3am! PP not allowed outside yet as initially found abandoned in the garden age appx 9wks.
Here is the balance of October's Lunar Calender
27/28/29/30 October -That's a lot of Root Days!-with New Moon at 5.38pm on the 30th and Moon descending in Virgo - Excellent time to finish planting onions/garlic and shallots. (If your soil is really wet in Winter, make a Ridge and sow in that, remembering to earth up regularly even in Winter.) Lift Leeks/Parsnips/Horseradish and Jerusalem Artichokes according to your needs. Protect bare soil around root crops with straw to encourage last surge of ripening and thin carrots sown 21-23 september.Plant Spring Bulbs, particularly those for shady areas, as shallow soil still easy to work under trees and hedges before frosts.
31st October -Flower Day but no gardening recommended after 2.25pm as Moon at furthest point from Earth so weak and weedy growth can be expected from transplanting/sowing or planting. get storage areas organised for dahlias/gladioli/lilies and cannas instead, and start cleaning and storing tools and pots whilst warmer weather permits work outside.
So there we are - Clocks change on Sunday and I feel that Winter starts now.Luckily here we are never dark in Winter until just after 6pm, but the mornings become horrendous with January seeing us still dark at 9am. How I shall miss the long hours of daylight. On Monday I shall tell you what to expect in November. Have a great w/e and Happy Gardening.
If it's cloudy, it doesn't get light till after 8:30 at our new home in the Vendée. I'd rather have lighter evenings than morning I think but as we're both now retired I don't suppose it will make much difference in the end but I do wish we could keep summer time as the default.
Pleased we have so many root days as I have bulbs and garlic to plant and some hardy cyclamen to spice up the colour range in the ones already here which are all white or pale pink and look as though they need a jolly good feed.
What's your soil like in the Vendee? My cyclamen are also a bit pasty and we are very sandy, so I have to add loads of leafmould which they love. Hope the move went OK and you are now settled. Our primroses are out!! Have just crystallised some this afternoon. Lots of rogue raspberries in the Potager - I have to ask myself if I really need more! Will have to make a decision on next Fruit Day, when weather willing I shall move the Fruit Bed around a little - Still you can never have too many raspberries! Most Spring bulbs have sprouted already - This always happens to me - Just have to keep covering them up with leafmould. Irises very rebellious!! Welcome Hollyhock. Moon Calenders and Gardening Guides 2017 launched in all the Newsagents this w/e. Must send off to Soil Association in UK for their Info.
Rock hard BF. Drought since the beginning of August. There are moles tho and what they shift looks to be a mix of loamy and sandy. Either way it'll be getting loads of well rotted manure before I plant anything major as there's very little here apart from grass long enough to make hay, some fruit trees, mixed hedging shrubs and big trees such as albizia julibrissin, mimosa, poplar, ash and walnut. There's a sickly looking magnolia too for which I've bought some feed.
One patch of lawn length grass which is surprisingly green and full of cyclamen and autumn daffs. I have some autumn and spring flowering crocuses to add to the mix but need to water it again before I can get my trowel in.
I'll have alook for those magazines next time I'm out shopping.