All are invited to participate and share your experiences with the various calendars that Cristina has taken the time to share with us.
Many (calendars) seem to be in conflict with each other, so do what you can to document the day that you sow the seeds, the conditions, and when the sprouts appear, and if they are suitable for growing on. Since we have a variety of calendars from which to chose this year, we can sow something on almost every day. It will be interesting if any are trying out the different calendars, and to see which one works the best for you.
It does not matter which one you follow or which one you prefer. We are all interested to see what kinds of results we can gather. I, myself, will try a variety and then see if there are different results.
The other thread will be for chatting, and this one will be for sowing, planting and results. Otherwise we will be getting lost. We can discuss more general topics about the subject on the other thread and this one will be just for logging in our sowings, plantings and results.
I am not going to copy the other thread for the first half of February. So this will be from February 15th and beyond. If it gets too long, I will start a new one.
Starting Feb, post your sowing, planting and results here
FA:
February 2012 13th -15th Plant Carrots, Turnips, Onions, Beets, Irish Potatoes And Other Root Crops, In The South. Lettuce, Cabbage, Collards, And Other Leafy Vegetables Will Do Well. Start Seedbeds. Good Days For Transplanting.
Leaf Planet: Scorpio MOON: Last quarter
Synodic:
Do not sow anything in the garden. Instead use this time to weed and harvest. It is an excellent time to start building a new compost heap.
Biodynamic:
Moon in Scorpio:Water sign. Sow Leaf plants like Cabbages. Do not sow Fruiting plants like Broad Beans, Cucumbers
Sidereal:
Moon in Scorpio: An excellent time for planting, germination and strong sturdy growth will result Plant Carrots, Turnips, Onions, Beets, Irish Potatoes And Other Root Crops, In The South. Lettuce, Cabbage, Collards, And Other Leafy Vegetables Will Do Well. Start Seedbeds. Good Days For Transplanting.
It looks as though whatever we chose to do today, it will be supported by one of these calendars...LOL!! So on this day, Feb 15th, I sowed the following "leaf" seeds:
Celery Utah Lake Valley Seeds 2012
Coriander/Cilantro Confetti Value Seeds 2009
Cilantro Large Leaf Pinetree Seeds 2010
Lemon Balm Pinetree Seeds 2010
Lemon Grass Pinetree Seeds 2010
Lettuce Australian Yellowleaf Seed Saver's Exchange 2012
Lettuce Baby Oak Cherry Gal Seeds 2010
Lettuce Baby Red Cherry Gal Seeds 2010
Lettuce Bibb Ferry Morse Seeds 2008
Lettuce Buttercrunch Value Seeds 2009
Lettuce Butterhead Red Park Seed 2010
Lettuce Esmerelda Park Seed 2010
Lettuce Grand Rapids Ferry Morse 2000
Lettuce Grand Rapids Ferry Morse 2000
Lettuce Grand Rapids Ferry Morse 2007
Lettuce Marveille De Quarte Saisons Cherry Gal Seeds 2010
Lettuce Red Deer's Tongue trade with Mellen 2009
Lettuce Tom Thumb Page Seeds 1991
Parsley Triple Curled Pinetree Seeds 2010
Spinach Bloomsdale Long Standing Pinetree Seeds 2010
Coleus Wizard Scarlet Pinetree Seeds 2010
Dichondra Silver Falls Park Seed 2010
Dusty Miller Chrysanthemum ptarmicaeflorum Burpee 2010
Dusty Miller Silver Dust Senecio cineraria Swallowtail Seeds 2010
Ornamental Millet Purple Majesty Swallowtail Seeds 2010
Plectranthus Silver Shield Park Seed 2010
I planted Babington leeks Feb 12 (root day, moon in Virgo). So far one tray (the greenest of the rooted bublets) has tiny sprouts coming up on the tops of a few of the bublets! The florence fennel date on the 13th (root day, moon in Virgo). The broadleaf sage I planted on the 7th (leaf day, moon on a node) is breaking through the potting soil; unfortunately the white ceremonial sage done at the same time isn't doing as well. Only 1 seedling out of 6 seeds... 2 came up very fast, but one has pooped out.
I cut fruit scions for rooting 2 days ago, and today dipped in hormone and "planted" 16 elderberries, 15 Nanking cherries (for the birds), and 12 filberts (fruit day, moon in Saggitarius). I've never tried to do woody cuttings before, so it will be interesting. The biodynamic book I got today says scions should be cut when the moon is ascending, and then planted at the right time. Mine were cut in a descending moon...
17 & 18 February 2012
Fruit Planet: Sagittarius MOON: Waning crescent.
Synodic:
Do not sow today. Only weeding and harvest . It is an excellent time to start building a new compost heap.
Biodynamic:
Moon in Sagittarius: Fire sign. Do sow Fruiting plants like Beans, Tomato. Do not sow Leaf plants like Cabbages, Lettuce...
Sidereal:
Moon in Sagittarius: Dry and barren. Plant onion sets and bulbs.
Today, Feb 17th I sowed the following seeds:
Pepper Ancho Hazzards seeds 2010
Pepper Anaheim trade 2010
Pepper Golden Bell Pinetree Seeds 2003
Pepper Gypsy hybrid Pinetree Seeds 2003
Pepper Sweet Banana Trade 2011
Eggplant Rosa Bianca Trade 2011
Eggplant Fairytale Gurneys 2011
Egglplant Long Purple Trade 2011
Tomatillo Giant Yellow Trade 2011
Tomatillo Purple Pinetree Seeds 2010
Tomatillo ? Trade 2010
And the following tomatoes:
Caro Rich Totally Tomatoes 2010
4th of July Burpee 2009
Early Wonder Tomato Garden Supply 2009
Mortgage Lifter Tomato Garden Supply 2010
Pink Ponderosa trade 2010
Fireball Bentley Seed 1999
Kellogg's Breakfast Park Seed 2010
Yellow Brandywine Platfoot trade 2010
Bull's Heart Trade 2010
Marianna's Peace Trade 2010
Golden Jubilee Ferry Morse 2010
Principe Borghese Pinetree Seeds 2010
San Marzano Lampadina 2010
I'm happy to report the Florence Fennel I sowed on the 13th are pushing up through the medium! Not fully emerged, but I can see a bunch of them.
Here's one tray of the Babington Leeks I planted on the 12th... the other 2 trays (started with less-green bublets) are lagging behind but I see nubbins starting on a few of them.
Nice!
24 & 25 February 2012
Leaf Planet: Pisces MOON: Waxing crescent
Synodic:
Sow leafy vegetables and annuals that produce above ground. Lettuce, Spinach, Asparagus, Broccoli, Cabbage, Cauliflower, Sweetcorn, Cucumber. Grains are also good to plant now. Vegetables harvested today need to be eaten, they will not stored well.
Biodynamic:
Moon in Pisces: Water sign. Do sow Leaf plants like Cabbage. Do not sow Fruiting plants like Cucumbers,,
Sidereal:
Moon in Pisces: water sign promotes root growth.
Did anyone here say LEAF??
On Saturday, 2-25-2012, I sowed the following seeds:
Lettuce 'Grand Rapids' Ferry Morse 2000
Lettuce 'Grand Rapids' Ferry Morse 2007
Lettuce 'Marveille De Quarte Saisons' Cherry Gal Seeds 2010
Lettuce 'Tom Thumb' Page Seeds 1991
Lettuce 'Red Sails' Pinetree Seeds 2003
Lettuce 'Baby Oak' Cherry Gal Seeds 2010
Lettuce ' Crispmint' Thompson & Morgan 2009
Lettuce 'Butterhead Redcap' Park Seed 2009
Cilantro 'Large Leaf' Pinetree seeds 2010
Celery 'Utah' Lake Valley Seeds 2012
Basil 'Flat Leaf' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Dark Opal' Park Seed 2009
Basil 'Osmin' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Genovese' (trade) 2011
Basil 'Lemon' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Lime' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Queenette' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Siam Queen' Ferry Morse 2008
Basil 'Violetta Aromatico' (trade) 2010
Basil 'Green Ruffles' Burpee 2009
Coleus 'Wizard Scarlet' Pinetree Seeds 2010
Dusty Miller 'Silver Lace' Chrysanthemum ptarmicaeflorum Burpee 2010
Dusty Miller 'Silver Dust' Senecio cineraria Swallowtail Seeds 2010
Salvia argentea 'Artemis' T&M 2009
Shall I start a new thread for March, or shall we continue here?
1 - 2 March 2012.
Root Planet: Taurus MOON: First quarter
Synodic:
This is a good time to sow vegetables that produce internal seed bearing fruits. Tomatoes, beans, peas, peppers, chillis, pumpkins,
Biodynamic:
Moon in Taurus: Earth sign . Do sow Root plants like Carrots, Chives, Early Potatoes, Onions, Parsnips,Shallots. Do not sow Flower vegetables like Broccoli ….
Sidereal:
1- March 2012 Moon in Taurus: Sow Root vegetable crops especially when hardiness in drought conditions is needed.
2 – March – 2012 Moon in Gemini: Barren and dry, and yet good for promoting flower growth.
I guess I won't do any root veggies today, since it has been snowing all day.
Who has sown anything lately or has new babies arriving?
I think posting more here is just fine...
Here are the cuttings I started rooting on Feb. 17...First photo os Elderberries, 2nd one is a mix of Nanking Cherry and Hazelnut. The hazels aren't showing any growth yet, while the cherries have already gone from flowering to some tiny leaf tips showing.
I don't dare disturb any of them to see if any rootlets are starting!
Looks good, Darius!
Thanks. I meant to add that they were potted up on a "fruit" day.
We use Blum's Farmer's & Planter's Almanac, so on the Feb 20 we planted red potatoes and Yukon Gold potatoes--saw the first sprouts today, March 7. Planted smooth sided English peas on March 4.
I am not familiar with the other calendars you mentioned, so I will go to the other threads to become acquainted with them.
Welcome gingerlily!
I suppose there are many different almanacs and we are trying to see what works and what are the variables, such as certain barren signs and if the biodynamic calendar will trump that or just avoid the barren signs altogether.
Where do you find a biodynamic calendar?
The Florence fennel I started Feb. 13 are growing their first true leaves, but I am losing some of them to damping off disease. I might try transplanting them to individual pots with clean, new soil mix today.
The ceremonial white sage (Feb. 7th) decided to sprout a few more seeds (4 out of 6 seeds sprouted) and I lost one to damping off. The culinary sage (Feb. 7) is getting true leaves (and a little damping off also) and need transplanting to individual pots, but the only good time by Maria Thun's calendar is next Tuesday from 8am-1pm EST.
By the way Evelyn, you asked me some time back about transplanting dates vs. sowing dates. I missed it at first, but if you look at the photo of Feb dates that drthor posted on another thread, there's a tall vertical green bar at the left of the colored bars for fruit, leaf, and roots. It shows the best Northern hemisphere transplanting times during each month for each type. It's not all month. On my page of that calendar, the best transplanting times for March stop several days after the full moon (full moon was 3/8 and transplant times end 3/12 - 3/13). They begin again 3/29.
gingerlily, here's a website... It's set to GMT, so you have to adjust the time zone differences, which I think is adding 5 hours for us on the East Coast. There's a good explanation of the differences in the three moon planting methods on that same page.
http://www.the-gardeners-calendar.co.uk/Moon_Planting.asp
I'm using Maria Thun's Biodynamic planting guide this year, available from Amazon. Her dates do not completely correlate with the biodynamic dates on the link just above. Maria has 50+ years working with biodynamics and Rudolpf Steiner's methods, and so far my results from her data has been spot-on.
Thank you, Darius for sharing that information. We all look forward to a healthy growing season.
Thanks, Darius. Sounds interesting.
11 - 12 March 2012
Flower day Planet: Libra Moon: Waning gibbous
Synodic:
Sow root vegetables, berries, bulbs, onions, biennials, and perennials.
Biodynamic:
Moon in Libra: Air sign. Sow Flowering plants like Broccoli, Cauliflowers. Do not sow Rooting plants like Beetroot, Carrots, Chives,Leeks, Onions, Potatoes ….
Sidereal:
11/3 2012 Moon in Virgo: Dry and barren. Garden maintenance only.
12/3/2012 Moon in Libra: Sow green manures or cover crops.
Today is a "flower" day via the BD calendar. It is too wet outside to sow or put out any roots anyway as it rained last night. I put some potatoes in yesterday, as it was a "root day". Some in the ground and some in a "Square Foot Garden". The gophers MAY get what is in the ground.
You have heard that "Man does not live by bread alone." I say that "(this) woman does not live by veggies alone"!
I have sown the followed flowers:
Ageratum 'Blue Horizon'
Consolida (Larkspur) 'Blue Cloud'
Heliotrope 'Blue Wonder'
Heliotrope 'Marine'
Lobelia 'Palace Blue'
Reseda alba
Reseda odorata 'Machet'
Salvia 'Blue Angel'
Tropaeolum azureum
All seeds are from 2010 except the last one which was from a DG member last year. Some were put outside and some under heat and lights indoors, and others on the bottom shelf no heat little light. I am running out of room.
Anyone else sow anything lately?
This message was edited Mar 13, 2012 1:47 PM
Just some Musselman Leeks yesterday (actually it may have been the day before). I usually buy leek starts from Dixondale, but they no longer have the Musselman leeks, and I don't like their nre variety as much. For one thing, Musselman's can be left in the ground all winter. I;ve dug them from under snow and ice several times!
I just lost my entire post...where did it go? I wasn't through typing it yet...I have to wintersow now, until anything gets big enough to take outside as all of my indoor spaces are taken now. The following I sowed into 4" pots and covered them with a plastic bag.
Yesterday, March 12th, I wintersowed the following "flowers":
Forget Me Not 'Bluebird'
Larkspur 'Blue Cloud'
Clarkia 'Apple Blossom'
Anchusa 'Blue Angel'
Painted Daisy single Mix
Iberis gibraltica
Hollyhock 'Peaches and Dreams'
Alyssum 'Apricot Shades'
Alyssum 'Aphrodite' wine red
Alyssum 'Royal Carpet'
Centaurea 'Alaska'
Calendula 'Apricot Daisy'
Lupin Cherry Red (saved seed)
Anchusa 'Dropmore'
Heteropappus meyerendo
Canterbury Bells pink (from saved seed)
I was able to put most of my trays out on the porch today since it was warm. Tomorrow is said to be mid-high 70's but that won't last. We'll have more frost, just maybe not hard freezes, until May.
Like you, Evelyn, I'm out of indoor space for seedlings...
I have more to do, but it will have to wait until tomorrow. It has been pouring rain all day and cold and windy! Winter was mild...Dec, Jan, Feb....much warmer and dryer. I was wondering if we would get winter, but now it is here. We have only had the tiniest bit of snow....it's raining now.
I guess I should not have complained on the lack of snow....we are getting some now
Today, March 19th, I have transplanted the following into individual pots and them put them in my basement under lights. (I am out of room so I am adapting other benches with lights as well as the fluorescent light shelves.)
Chiogga Beet (Pinetree Seed 2010) sown 2/2
Bull's Blood Beet (Pinetree Seeds 2010) sown 2/2
I had more but I ran out of soil mix and I did not want to go out in the snow to get one of the components of the mix, as it is late, cold, and I have run out of space in the basement as I need more light shelves. It is too soon to harden anything off right now as the daytime temps have been 40° during the day and under 30° at night.
According to my biodynamic calendar, today (March 22) is a leaf day, and I planted the following, mostly herbs. I found this neat self-watering container made from 2 liter soda bottles, so I made a dive into the recycling center's bins for bottles. They are great, but you MUST use a soil-less mix that will wick water up to the top. Do download the PDF from the blog post below... it's very specific on how to make them. I now have about 20 on my shelf just below the windowsill.
http://welcomehomefarm-tj.blogspot.com/2012/03/sub-irrigation-planters-from-soda.html
Today's seed planting:
garlic chives
fenugreek
green shisho (perilla)
Mrs. Burn's lemon basil
borage
summer savory
sweet marjoram
sweet basil (old seeds, not expecting anything much to germinate)
Italian basil a friend sent 3-4 years ago, (old seeds, not expecting anything much to germinate)
lemon bee balm
catnip
tall purslane
redbud (flowering tree)
wormwood
I intended to start some chervil today too, but the package says to plant the seeds in the ground as it doesn't like to be moved.
Here's my elderberry cuttings I started Feb. 17... 34 days to today's photo.
Darius ~ Are you thinking of making elderberry wine? ^_^
LOL, probably not, but I do make an elderflower cordial and an elderflower champagne-like fizzy I like. I mostly make an elderberry cough/cold preventative syrup. Some of the cuttings will be traded.
All of it sounds good! (Especially the "fizzy"!) I will be posting my sowing a bit later on today.
Oh, my goodness... I planted a few seeds of Tall Purslane on 3/22, a leaf day... and on 3/25 I had about 50 sprouted seeds over half an inch tall!!
Darius ~ Are we the only ones left?
Looks like it... LOL
Today, March 29th, with the Moon in Taurus, being a "root day" on the byodynamic calendar I put 11 cal-Organic (sprouted) potatoes, that were ready to plant for quite a while now. I was waiting for the right time, and of course, not when it was snowing, LOL!! It rained yesterday and the night before last with a lot of wind.
Those potatoes have been covered by compost 3 times already as they are growing vigorously.
The peas have yet to sprout, but the seedlings are doing well. Our weather has been variable to say the least. It has been cold and windy today, and they are predicting a "chance of rain". And then another warm-up for the next few days after that. It is a miracle that any plant knows what to do. So far the apple trees have not yet shown any buds or blooms. Not sure if they will or if they already got knocked off. The companion plants for apples is nasturtiums. I hope I remember to do this this year. When spring comes, there are SO many things to do all at once.
Some of the spinach has bolted due the warm weather, and some has not...go figure!
I think it is too late to plant any more of it, but since I have seedlings not yet up to size, I will plant them in the shady side of corn and/or tomatoes. Same thing with my lettuce seedlings. The parsley and cilantro seedlings are coming along nicely as I have recently pricked them out into pots and/or cell packs.
It is almost time to start squash, beans and melons as well as corn. I will wait for the appropriate moon sign and go from there. If the weather continues to be variable, I could start a few inside. I think we are frost free now, but we still could get rain and cold, windy weather. I know they all like the warmth. I have been thinking of a portable greenhouse. I have tomato starts ready to put out as well, though some are farther along than others.
OK, the next post will be from my journal....LOL!!
This message was edited May 3, 2012 2:11 PM
Yup, this was a good day to plant 'taters... good for you! It was also a good day to transplant any roots, so I got some goldenseal tubers and 3 dozen ramps planted over on my steep, shady hillside.
Would it be good to plant rosemary on a "root day"? Or do I have to wait for a "flower day"?
Neither... it's considered a "leaf" plant even though it often has tiny flowers.
Thanks! Are all shrubs "leaf" plants?
No. Some, like currants and blueberries are fruits even though they flower. I think it depends on what their primary purpose is, like lavender has flowers but it's a leaf plant. Don't know about all of them though.