My dad always planted by the moon too! He was an excellent gardener.

Great article Sharon and I LOVE your moon photo

The moon.
Sitting in my tree.
Looking back at me.

Yeah, that moon. I kinda like it too, Vic.

You know, Aunt Bett and probably your dad didn't even have to know the calendar date. They could tell when it was time to plant whatever they were planting just by looking at the moon. I can remember hearing people ask her if it was time to plant peas, and she'd look at the moon and count a few days forward on her fingers then tell them 'No, wait till 3 more days, then it'll be time.'

How on earth did she do that?
Fun memories, eh Vicki?

Thank you!!!!!!!!

"If the moon holds you up in its cradle, it's time to plant tomatoes. If it spills you out like coffee from a cup, it's time to plant potatoes."

so much easier to remember!!!!

Yes!!!
You got it.
Thanks Allison.

This is really good, Sharon. Thank you. I really liked this article.

"The nox was lit by lux of luna......"

Thanks Dave! It works for me.

Woofie: 'twas a nox most opportuna . . .
And I refuse to go any furtha . . .!

cheep, cheep, cheep.......

Yep, chicken. Yep.

You plant by the moon up over there, Woof??

Heh. Don't you love all my prepositions?

Ha! You think we can see the moon up over here? (or should that be here abouts?)

Here'bouts.
One word. Two syllables.

Well sorry, Woof, that you can't see the moon. Tomorrow it will be totally full and beautiful. After that you can plant potatoes, OK? I'll keep you posted so you won't miss out on anything.

Here, that would be potato soup. Minus the heat to cook them.

Too cold, huh?? Yep, zone 5a. OK.
Sorry. Maybe next moon? Or two moons from now?

My parents and Grandparents planted by the moon. I do too!!! Great article....

Good for you, Charleen. Thank you!

The crazy thing is you can pretty well predict what is going on at work by looking at the moon too. Every time things at the hospital are about as crazy as they are going to get..... sure enough ..... that moon is almost full. It is a relief to see it wane, things will be calming down.
I don't think we really understand how important the moon was to us as a people anymore.....
Your article was wonderful, thank you.

I've heard that too, emergency rooms, local jails, all full when the moon is full. And when I was teaching, I learned never to test during full moon. The students either passed or failed; A or F, with rarely anything between. I thought that was strange but it happened more often than not.

My grandmothers and my great aunts understood this and accepted it, but you're right, the rest of us hardly give it a thought.

Thank you so much, Sherri. It's good to hear from you.

Thank you for reminding us all.

Loved this article! I think this will be the year that I start "planting by the Moon", though here it can't really happen quite yet (also zone 5a). So tempting, though, with our warm weather. Next moon phase I think! But we have to wait until there is no snow on the 'Sleeping Ute' (a rock formation that locals use to decide when it's safe to plant). Another indian tradition!

Here is Sleeping Ute Mountain, it looks like an indian lying on his back with his arms crossed over his chest.