Planting By the Signs is one name for a folk practice that uses an agricultural calendar or almanac to determine when to plant, plow, or harvest as well as tackle many other farm and home chores. Other names include planting by the moon or even moon farming. People used (and still use) the moon phases and zodiac signs to determine when to wean animals -- including their children -- cut wood, can vegetables or visit the dentist. This blog will focus on gardening but will also include explanations of the other practices so you can get a better understanding of the tradition as a whole.
Although rapidly disappearing, the tradition is still practiced by a few people in some areas, especially in southern Appalachia, where I learned it from community elders.
What Planting by the Signs is NOT…
· Biodynamic agriculture
· Wicca or witchcraft or other earth-based religions
People who follow those paths may also incorporate lunar or zodiac wisdom, but they have many other beliefs not included (or required) to plant by the signs. This blog will cover the tradition as I’ve learned it from those who learned it -- not from a book -- but from their families and neighbors in southern Appalachia.
Planting By the Signs also does not mean planting at night or ignoring common sense gardening know how. The moon doesn’t matter if it’s too cold or wet, or if you attempt to plant cool season crops in the heat of the summer or corn in February.
Just the facts, ma’am
Here’s a brief overview of the tradition’s two basic parts: moon phases and zodiac sign.
Part 1: Determine the proper moon phase.
This part is the easiest: plant crops that yield their produce above ground when the moon is waxing and crops that yield their produce below ground when moon is waning. The trick is to look for “fruitful” days during those periods. Keep reading.
Part 2: Determine when the moon is in the proper Zodiac sign.
Plant when moon is moving through fruitful signs of Cancer, Scorpio, and Pisces. Don’t plant when moon is moving through killing signs of Leo or Aries or the barren signs like Sagittarius, Aquarius. (The nuances get more complex; these are the basics.)
Putting both parts together
Both of those conditions – the moon phase and the moon sign – need to align for various tasks. Image a round slide rule with the moon phases on the outside and the zodiac signs on the inside. You’d have to maneuver both circles till the you find the optimum day for your task. Let’s take a look at the two conditions as applied to planting.
For a 2022 fall garden in north Georgia, collard seed should be sown about six to eight weeks before the first frost. t frost in my area is mid to late October, so I want to get my seeds in by late August or early September. The waxing moon for that period is Aug. 27 to Sep. 10. The moon is in the fruitful signs of Scorpio on Aug. 31 and Sep. 1 and in Pisces on Sep. 9 to Sep. 10. I’ll try to avoid the barren signs of Aquarius on Sep. 6 – 8.
In the next post, I’ll talk about how planting by the signs has a language all its own and requires decoding. I had no clue what my neighbor meant when he said, “If you plant potatoes when the signs are in the Feet, they’ll turn to nubbins.” I did and they did.
But for now, review the basics of lunar phases and zodiac sign and get your hands on an agricultural calendar. Check with feed and seed stores, funeral homes and drug stores. I bought my last one from American Calendar Company out of Greenville, TN.
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