Out of curiosity I have just received the 2007 diary/almanac for
planting by phases of the moon. The allotmenteer in the recent
television series seemed to think there was a definite advantage to
growing and sowing etc by the phases of the moon.
Thought I'd give it a go in 2007
New book starts in October 2006 so should be fun and MIGHT remind me to
do jobs that I keep putting off until
a) the seedlings are long and drawn for want of planting out
or
b) the seedlings go into the soil a bit too early and I lose them all



Janet
--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

In reply to Janet Tweedy ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

Out of curiosity I have just received the 2007 diary/almanac for
planting by phases of the moon. The allotmenteer in the recent
television series seemed to think there was a definite advantage to
growing and sowing etc by the phases of the moon.
Thought I'd give it a go in 2007
New book starts in October 2006 so should be fun and MIGHT remind me
to do jobs that I keep putting off until
a) the seedlings are long and drawn for want of planting out
or
b) the seedlings go into the soil a bit too early and I lose them all

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?

In article , Uncle Marvo
writes

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?





Well it will be one way to get a bit of order into my gardening list of
things to do!

--
Janet Tweedy
Dalmatian Telegraph
http://www.lancedal.demon.co.uk

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Uncle Marvo wrote:

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?

Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public holiday
and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that workers had.
Therefore it was often the only day they could plant their potatoes.

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

On 27/9/06 21:21, in article ,
"David Rance" wrote:

On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Uncle Marvo wrote:

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?

Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public holiday
and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that workers had.
Therefore it was often the only day they could plant their potatoes.

And it is, of course, the day on which you sow parsley seeds.

--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk
South Devon
http://www.discoverdartmoor.co.uk/

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Uncle Marvo wrote:

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might
have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?

Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public holiday
and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that workers had.
Therefore it was often the only day they could plant their potatoes.

David

....

So where exactly did these workers work ?

Surely set working times only came in with factories in the 19th
century?


michael adams

....


--
David Rance
http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados,
France

In reply to michael adams ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say :

"David Rance" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 25 Sep 2006, Uncle Marvo wrote:

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by
which I have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by
dint of cunning calculation by the church, and I believe that
phases of the moon might have something to do with that, so perhaps
there is some truth in it all?

Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public
holiday and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that
workers had. Therefore it was often the only day they could plant
their potatoes.

David

...

So where exactly did these workers work ?

Surely set working times only came in with factories in the 19th
century?


That's a good point. They were possibly mainly farm workers in these times,
and probably nicked the spuds from work :-)

On Wed, 27 Sep 2006, michael adams wrote:

"Late crop spuds should be planted on Good Friday" is an adage by which I
have had much success with spuds. Good Friday occurs by dint of cunning
calculation by the church, and I believe that phases of the moon might
have
something to do with that, so perhaps there is some truth in it all?

Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public holiday
and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that workers had.
Therefore it was often the only day they could plant their potatoes.


So where exactly did these workers work ?

Surely set working times only came in with factories in the 19th
century?

So how old do you think the saying is and how do you know? Bygone days
can refer to the 20th century, let alone the 19th!

David

--
David Rance http://www.mesnil.demon.co.uk
Fido Address: 2:252/110 writing from Le Mesnil Villement, Calvados, France

In article ,
"michael adams" writes:
| "David Rance" wrote in message
| ...
|
| Nothing to do with that. Good Friday was traditionally a public holiday
| and, in bygone days, was one of the few holidays that workers had.
| Therefore it was often the only day they could plant their potatoes.
|
| So where exactly did these workers work ?
|
| Surely set working times only came in with factories in the 19th
| century?

That has nothing to do with it. During the winter, farm workers worked
all of the daylight hours. The very word holiday is just a derivation
of "holy day".

In fact, I have similar holiday conditions (though the current University
bureaucrats would like to deny it). I am employed to do a job, and the
only days that I get as formal holidays are Sundays, Christmas Day and
Good Friday. However, I am entitled to at least 7 weeks leave, so it
isn't quite as bad as it sounds :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

Janet Tweedy wrote:
Out of curiosity I have just received the 2007 diary/almanac for
planting by phases of the moon. The allotmenteer in the recent
television series seemed to think there was a definite advantage to
growing and sowing etc by the phases of the moon.
Thought I'd give it a go in 2007
New book starts in October 2006 so should be fun and MIGHT remind me to
do jobs that I keep putting off until
a) the seedlings are long and drawn for want of planting out
or
b) the seedlings go into the soil a bit too early and I lose them all

This has always been a baffling thing for me too. I have followed to
the closest time when to plant seeds but never seedlings simply because
the book cannot see my seedlings and which stage they are at. I try to
be approximative - but for the seeds I try to follow to the day not the
hour on some occasion. I really didn't feel like getting up at 2.15 am
on a tuesday night to plant my peas !! This year's broadbeans were much
more civilized - the recommended time was 6pm )

Janet Tweedy wrote:
Out of curiosity I have just received the 2007 diary/almanac for
planting by phases of the moon. The allotmenteer in the recent
television series seemed to think there was a definite advantage to
growing and sowing etc by the phases of the moon.
Thought I'd give it a go in 2007

There is a marginal advantage to digging the veg garden by moonlight.
You won't break the dormancy on quite so many of the perrenial long
lived seeds in the ground that way. Show them some strong sunlight
while you dig and they will grow.

New book starts in October 2006 so should be fun and MIGHT remind me to
do jobs that I keep putting off until
a) the seedlings are long and drawn for want of planting out
or
b) the seedlings go into the soil a bit too early and I lose them all

I would be a lot more inclined to base planting time on the local
weather.

If you insist on planting at say "full moon" (or any other specific
lunar phase) you are stuck with either planting 2 weeks too early (and
risk see everything lost to a late frost) or two weeks too late getting
a poor crop.

Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown wrote:
[...]
I would be a lot more inclined to base planting time on the local
weather.

If you insist on planting at say "full moon" (or any other specific
lunar phase) you are stuck with either planting 2 weeks too early (and
risk see everything lost to a late frost) or two weeks too late getting
a poor crop.

Not that two weeks either way usually makes a big difference, but I
think you're right: these ideas may simply date from times when people
didn't have calendars, and couldn't have read them if they had. I can't
imagine any mechanism by which the moon would significantly affect
plant growth*. But the idea's proponents are persistently keen on it: I
prefer to remain cautiously open-minded about it till there have been
lots of good experiments.

*(And I'm always fascinated to think that people who reject religions
which have been carefully thought out by first-class minds over
hundreds of years can be tempted by primitive superstitions and such.)

--
Mike.

Mike Lyle wrote:
Not that two weeks either way usually makes a big difference, but I
think you're right: these ideas may simply date from times when people
didn't have calendars, and couldn't have read them if they had. I can't
imagine any mechanism by which the moon would significantly affect
plant growth*.

I'm surprised at you. It has nothing to do with prehistoric calendars -
there are significant scientific explanations and proof that it does
work. It's not complicated - it works like photoperiodism works and the
effect of the light of the moon as well as it's effect on water, sap
rising and tides. There's been lots of good experiments: thousands of
years of planting by the moon in my region. I myself is influenced by
the moon every months )

*(And I'm always fascinated to think that people who reject religions
which have been carefully thought out by first-class minds over
hundreds of years can be tempted by primitive superstitions and such.)

Religions carefully thought out by first class minds?! LOL!!! You're
jocking aren't you )

La Puce wrote:
Mike Lyle wrote:
Not that two weeks either way usually makes a big difference, but I
think you're right: these ideas may simply date from times when people
didn't have calendars, and couldn't have read them if they had. I can't
imagine any mechanism by which the moon would significantly affect
plant growth*.

I'm surprised at you. It has nothing to do with prehistoric calendars -
there are significant scientific explanations and proof that it does
work. It's not complicated - it works like photoperiodism works and the
effect of the light of the moon as well as it's effect on water, sap
rising and tides. There's been lots of good experiments: thousands of
years of planting by the moon in my region. I myself is influenced by
the moon every months )

I'm surprised to learn there are reputable scientific studies: I'd love
to see the references. Thousands of years of tradition may or may not
be evidence -- tradition used to tell us to believe in evil spirits,
and signally failed to reveal even quite simple things like the
circulation of the blood. I'm not sure that the extremely variable
amounts of already very weak light from the moon could form the basis
of any prediction.

As for tidal effects, if they operate at all at the cellular level
(where, if I understand correctly, capillarity and osmosis are the key
forces) I'd expect them to be cancelled out and often reversed by puffs
of wind or vapour pressure. I won't dispute your observations of your
personal synchronisation with the moon: but I'll believe in a causal
link only when you show that the effects are similar for a large
proportion of other people -- or when you let me know of changes when
the moon starts behaving differently! You'll then need to show me that
your physiology closely resembles that of a plant.

*(And I'm always fascinated to think that people who reject religions
which have been carefully thought out by first-class minds over
hundreds of years can be tempted by primitive superstitions and such.)

Religions carefully thought out by first class minds?! LOL!!! You're
jocking aren't you )

No, I'm not jocking. You don't have to believe in religion to know that
people like Aquinas and the Muslim, Hindu, and Buddhist thinkers had
first-class minds. In fact, the traditional views of the physical world
wouldn't have enslaved us for so long if these minds had applied
themselves to scientific questions instead.

--
Mike.

"Mike Lyle" wrote in message
oups.com...

[La Puce wrote about being affected by the moon]

As for tidal effects, if they operate at all at the cellular level
(where, if I understand correctly, capillarity and osmosis are the key
forces) I'd expect them to be cancelled out and often reversed by puffs
of wind or vapour pressure. I won't dispute your observations of your
personal synchronisation with the moon: but I'll believe in a causal
link only when you show that the effects are similar for a large
proportion of other people -- or when you let me know of changes when
the moon starts behaving differently! You'll then need to show me that
your physiology closely resembles that of a plant.


Come on, even *I* knew what she meant!

(I think)