Moon-blessed Root Vegetables

Today the moon is in its full moon phase. According to the lunar calendar it should be a great day for sowing or planting out root crops. It was a perfect chance to test this lunar planting theory because I sowed half a row of spring onions when the moon was not in the best phase (3 days ago). I’m going to watch closely to see how that half row does compared to the 2 full rows I sowed today. The 2 new rows are on the end of the veggie bed. I had planned to finish the same row but planted radishes there instead because I totally spaced and thought my test was with radishes, not spring onions. I guess I better fess up now that maybe my experiment has a flaw. Today I sowed the spring onions 2 inches deep as they like. I’m pretty sure it was more like 1 inch deep when I sowed them 3 days ago. I think I misread the package. Anyway, I’ll still monitor the progress.

Now I have a row 1/2 spring onions, 1/2 scarlet globe radishes then 3 rows of radishes and carrots interspersed. This is a trick that Frank’s parents use because carrots come up so slowly that the radishes identify the rows and can be eaten before the carrots need thinning. The 3 rows of interspersed radishes are: scarlet globe, long scarlet, sparkler. Then the 2 rows of spring onions.

I moved the  wild tomatoes down next to the celery where they can offer shade to the celery, spinach and silverbeet in summer. I’ll plant a couple more tomatoes along here when my seedlings are big enough.

I covered this bed and the radish/carrot bed with another dusting of coffee grounds. I’m hoping this is keeping the neighbour’s cat out of our bed. But just to be safe, I made a bit of a hedge of twigs around the radish carrot bed. I don’t want to cover the whole bed because I don’t have enough sticks and I’ve noticed the plants don’t like coming up under a ceiling of twigs (it’s like they can sense their have a height limit).

Next I planted out my onion seedlings. This is the spot where the capsicum used to be. I figured it was time for a bit of crop rotation. There were a few left and I put those around my garlic in the shady ginger bed. I’m still on the hunt for what will grow well in the shade so this is another test (along with some from my seed-sowing below)

Finally I went to town sowing a myriad of seeds in pots to be transplanted out when the seedlings are strong enough. These are planted without taking the lunar calendar into account at all. As I’ve said before, sticking to lunar planting is too restrictive, especially when I’m yet to be convinced.

I sowed:

1. Basil into the pot of basil I started with that mini-greenhouse experiment. The experiment was a bust as few seeds sprouted and the ground became green with some sort of moss, but a couple of small plants are hanging in there and so I’ve just flushed them out.
2. Jap pumpkin (seeds I got at the organic gardening class) in the cabbage pot. They’re destined to go into the shady ginger bed but I want to give them a start in the sun.
3. Brussels sprouts in the cabbage pot. Also destined for the shady bed – an experiment to see how Brassica do in the shade. It’s late in the year to plant them but maybe the shade will keep them cool enough to bear sprouts.
4. A row of iceberg and a row of cos lettuce in a rectangular plastic pot. Again, destined to be part of my shady bed experiment.
5. Kale (from the organic gardening class) in a round pot. It’s late in the year for this Brassica that doesn’t like heat but it’s also going into what will be a very crowded shady bed!
6. Russian chamomile (organic gardening class) and coriander in the rectangular flower-pot.
7. Capsicum (4xgarden harvested seeds + 4xstore harvested seeds) & eggplant (4x) in an egg carton to be raised in the house. The last seeds sown in the egg carton didn’t sprout yet (except for the tomato) and I think it could be because the pH was wrong being straight compost. This one, and all these seed trays, are a mix of compost, coffee grounds and soil to get a more balanced pH. These plants are destined for the new bed being constructed where the sunflower bed used to be. It gets a lot of summer sun and is quite warm because of the fence. I’m hopeful the capsicum and eggplant won’t get too hot there like lettuce or other softer veggies might.
8. Pansy (Englemans giant mixed) in the middle of the nasturtium pot. None of the flowers besides nasturtium came up after their last planting. I’m wondering if it was a pH (or maybe seasonal) thing. I added some coffee grounds in the hopes the pansy seeds will like it. If not, tough luck as that was the end of those seeds.

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