Lunar Greens

On March 7th I sowed a bunch of seeds (the moon was in the first quarter – good for plants that bear seeds on the inside – not optimal for leafy greens or Brassicas but probably not horrid). I planted out some of those leafy greens on the next first quarter phase (I basically paid no attention to the lunar calendar at that point).

Today, because it’s the first new moon planting day, I planted out the rest of the lettuce and rocket from the same original sowing. I intentionally held off until now to attempt another Lunar Calendar test. I am not convinced it will make a difference but I’ve also had so many failures in my garden that I’d love to find something that does make a difference.

Above is my seedling rack – the leafy stuff (rocket and iceberg lettuce) on the top is what I planted out today (including the meagre red onions).

This pot, once emptied, was re-sown with radish seeds. The front row contains seeds I collected last July in my Organic Gardening class. The back row contains store-bought Scarlet Globes. I also put a row between the peas of Long Scarlet radishes and one at the end of the lettuce/rocket row between the cauliflowers.

I also re-sowed fennel seeds from my kitchen spice rack (small round black pot on top shelf). The last batch I sowed 2 weeks ago has done nothing. One more try, this time I didn’t soak the seeds overnight.

Above is the bed where I planted out the greens plus one cauliflower in each corner. They share the bed with the no-show peas. I did the last pea sowing 6 days ago (not auspicious according to the lunar calendar) and they haven’t sprouted. It bucketed rain for 3 days after planting which could have caused them to rot. I’ll try again on the 30th (or thereabouts) when the lunar calendar says I’ll have better luck.

Above is the bed I planted out with lettuce and rocket on April 6th (also from the March 7th sowing). This will make an interesting comparison to the bed I planted out today. Will the moon make a difference?

Update 8 May 2012: Only a few of the Long Scarlet radishes that I sowed between the peas have sprouted. Today (Full Moon phase – perfect for root vegetables) I resowed the same seeds. I also sowed about 1/4 row of Scarlet Globe radishes next to the Long Scarlets. These have done well elsewhere (both in the pot and along the edge on the opposite end of the pea bed). I’m using the Scarlet Globes as sort of a control plant to help me determine if there is something bad in the soil on this end of the bed (the peas are shockingly bad sprouters this year) or if it is the seeds. (It’s also yet another Lunar Calendar test.)

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