Moon-Planting - Fact or Just Fancy?

Taupo Times, Volume XIV, Issue 40, 25 May 1965, Page 15

Moon-Planting - Fact

or Just Fancy?

*£L Does the moon influence more than romance and space-travel research? Can it, as many serious believers have always maintained, exert a direct effect on plants — on their growth and yield?

Or is the whole moonplanting idea just a piece of superstitious hocus pocus, a sort of agricultural moon-madness? Basically, planting by the moon is an offshoot of astrology, which holds quite stuhbornly, that all worldly affairs are influeneed by the positions of stars, planets and moon. Its advocates insist we should govern our activities by the phases of the moon and signs of the zodiac. Whatever scepticism there may be about other aspects of astrological teaching, there's a sizeable following for the plant-by-the-moon school of thought. As old as the pyramids, this belief is strongest among farmers — people who actually do the planting and see the results.

In fact, most of the yearly forecasts, charts, tables and the like are found in the annual almanacs prepared especially for farm folk. Other publications featuring predictions about the weather, advice on fishing and hunting, astrological recommendations for love, marriage and assorted problems in liYing, also include moon-planting details. The Old Farmer's Almanac, now in its 173rd year, John Baer's Sons 140-year-old Agricultural Almanac and "Moonlore" booklet and Llewellyn Quarterly are notable examples. Put simply, the moonphase rule calls for planting all crops which bear above ground during a "light" or waxing moon (from the new to the full I stage), and such crops as

potatoes, beets and other root vegetables which fruit below ground in the "dark" or waning moon (from full to new). Other intricacies of planetary position, zodiac times, geographical lattitudes and sea-level factors merely enlarge on this elementary principle. Old-timers by the score (and younger - generation proponents, too) assert emphatically that their good harvests are aided by planting at the right time, moon wise. Just as emphatically, they point to erop failures caused by breaking the rule. "Take things like melons and cucumbers," explained one farmer. "You plant them in the wrong time of the month (waning) and they just bloom, bloom, bloom, and you get nary a pickle." Readers often let us know how they've used moon-planting guides to advantage. Many who sWear by the system attribute year-after-year crop success to it — - as well as to sensible soil practices. Among other bits of advice for gardeners or farmers included in the lunar system are these suggestions:— • Avoid planting on the first day of the new moon, and on days when it changes quarters. • Dig root crops for seed in the third quarter, so they will keep longer. • Harvest all crops when the moon is growing old, for better keeping; to avoid sappy wood. © Don't saw timber in the full moon. • Shear sheep or have vour hair cut. in a waning moon. • Graft or prune trees in the increase; and cut 1 weeds or make sauerkraut during a waning moon.