The Lunar Week: Vol.3

The waning crescent of the Worm Moon will be seen in the sky until Sunday, April 3rd, when it becomes the New Pink Moon. This lunar appellation refers to wild phlox, also known as moss pink, which flourishes during April.

The general term phlox refers to a large group of flowering plants that comes in a variety of colors, sizes, and blooming patterns. Wild phlox is a dwarf variety, and an excellent ground cover. Profusions of small, pink flowers burst from dense mats of mossy leaves. Dwarf phlox is known to be fairly drought resistant, which is great for very hot and arid regions, and also for occasionally scatterbrained gardeners (like yours truly).


The Lunar Week, Daily

Monday, 28:  Moon in Capricorn.  It's a bit cloudy and drizzly in my area today, but if there's no threat of rain where you are, treat your yard to some organic fertilizer.

Tuesday, 29:  Moon in Aquarius.  I am getting back into an exercise routine that totally derailed last month.  Starting a diet to lose weight today, tomorrow, and Thursday is favored.

Wednesday, 30:  Moon in Aquarius. Feeling bogged down by routine? Join a social group that meets up once a week. You can get to know some new people, learn a new skill, and expand your mind perspective!

Thursday, 31:  Moon in Aquarius.  Start the weekend early; have friends over after work.

Friday, 1:  Moon in Pisces. Do something this evening to indulge your inner dreamer. Catch some live music, or a local theater production.

Saturday, 2:  Moon in Pisces. Give some serious thought to something that has been bothering you, and take some extra time to be objective, even if "the other side" seems completely irrational. What is it that you are doing to perpetuate this problem? Are others also influencing the situation? Make a concerted effort to push any cobwebs out of your brain and take a rational approach. Draw up a Pro/Con list, and see how the two sides stack up. Finish by weighing different courses of action, and highlight the one that seems most beneficial.

Sunday, 3:  New Moon in Aries. Get out the list you made yesterday. Review the course of action you decided was best. Get your head on straight, take a deep breath, and confront that problem with confidence!

The Lunar Week: Vol.2

I was named after my great-grandmother, and most of my memories of her are tied to the kitchen.  She was an excellent cook, and was never satisfied with anything she put on the table, regardless of how the rest of us devoured it.  So it is when I am in my own kitchen, wearing one of her aprons or using her wooden mortar and pestle, that I feel closest to her.  That probably sounds horribly un-PC (or at the very least, incredibly hokey and bassackwards), but it is what it is, and it's not just the kitchen that reminds me of her.  Specifically, when I think of my Mema, I think of her pantry.

The pantry in Mema's house lined the entire fifteen-foot wall of the utility room, which was a long hallway that connected the garage and the house proper.  The cabinets were deep, and there were four shelves on the lower level, all lined with sparkling, jewel-bright jars filled with the bounty of the garden.

Mema put up just about everything you can imagine, and I suppose family consensus would say that she was famous for her pickles (dill, kosher, bread and butter, you name it).  But I remember her preserves the most.  We had peach and plum trees, and a strawberry patch, and in the mornings we smeared Mema's homemade biscuits with sticky-sweet spoonfuls of these fruit preserves.  Strawberry was my favorite.

Two days this week are favorable for putting up jams and jellies: Tuesday the 22nd, and Wednesday the 23rd.  You don't need your own orchard to make preserves, just a big batch of fruit.  Strawberries are on sale at my local Whole Foods right now, because they're about to go too ripe.  This is ideal for preserving; you can save some money, and just-about-too-ripe-strawberries are best for making preserves.  Of course, you want to trim away and discard any brown bits of the fruit, and never put up anything with mold growing on it.  Old Farmer's Almanac has a great video on making strawberry preserves.

Not into strawberries, or allergic?  Peaches, plums, oranges, lemons, jalapeños, raspberries, blueberries, tomatoes--all of these and more can be turned into sweet and savory preserves, bursting with flavor, and outlasting time without artificial preservatives on your pantry shelf.  Pick your poison, score some glass jars (many grocery stores carry them), and jam on!


The Lunar Week, Daily:

Monday, 21:  Moon in Libra.  Take advantage of the moon's last day in this airy sign and plant pretty, fragrant flowers.

Tuesday, 22:  Moon in Scorpio.  Scorpio is a very fertile water sign, which pairs nicely with the waning moon for root crop success.  Now is the time to get the rest of your root crops in the ground.

Wednesday, 23:  Moon in Scorpio.  My crepe myrtles desperately need some quality time with a pruning instrument.  Have your trees pruned today.

Thursday, 24:  Moon in Sagittarius.    Have a kiddo who's showing signs of toilet readiness?  Consider starting potty training today through Saturday.

Friday, 25:  Moon in Sagittarius.  Fiery Sagittarius combines with the waning moon to make this day favorable for anyone considering a short haircut.  And since Friday is ruled by Venus, the results are bound to be beautiful!

Saturday, 26:  Moon in Sagittarius.  I start my Spring cleaning in February, but today is excellent for clearing out a space that we often neglect while focusing on garages and closets: our bodies!  A gentle detox diet, started today, will help your body free itself from toxins so you can make the most of the beautiful weather.

Sunday, 27:  Moon in Capricorn.  Commune with the earthy Goat and get the waning moon to work for you by doing some weekly weeding.  It's therapeutic, meditative, great for venting frustration, and the pesky little green guys will stay away longer if you do it now.

Moon in Libra

The moon will move into airy Libra tomorrow, March 20th, transitioning from earthy Virgo.  She will stay in Libra through Monday, March 21st.

While air signs are generally considered to be unsuitable for planting, Libra is an exception.  Flowers will thrive and flourish when planted during this sign, and since the moon will be on the wane as it passes through Libra, tomorrow will also be a good time to start putting root crops in the ground.

If you're a patio gardener like I am, try some carrots in a container .  It's probably too late for onions here in Texas, but if you live further north and still expect a freeze within the next four-to-six weeks, go ahead and get those beauties in the ground; they like a bit of cold weather, and its good for their growth.  Same goes for potatoes.  Both are great container crops, too.

Libra is generally not a favorable sign for cutting hair if you are looking to increase growth or thickness.  However, if you're like my aunt, who suffers chronic headaches from the masses of thick, curly hair she was blessed with upon birth, you might consider thinning your hair during a Libra moon.

Dry, airy Libra is also a good time to deep condition.  Hair will take color well during Libra; consider henna, a marvelous alternative to chemical-laden box colors.

My, What a Big Moon You Have!

In two days the moon will be full, and this will be one for the books.  Anyone observing the full moon this month might notice that she's bigger and brighter than usual.  The phenomenon will be interesting to observe, and the degree of fullness we'll see hasn't occurred for about twenty years, so it's worth stepping outside this Friday evening and gazing skyward.

The term for what we'll observe is a Supermoon.  Yes, really.  Supermoons occur when the moon enters 90% of its perigee at the same time it is full.  "Perigee" is a Greek compound that means "close to earth."  The moon's orbit around earth is not spherical, but elliptical, so the moon is not always the same distance from the earth.  The moon's perigee, then, is the section of its path that brings it closest to our planet.  So, that the moon would appear larger this month is logical.  But there's nothing like a fancy-schmancy lunar event to get people talking, and some interesting theories are out about what mischief the Supermoon will whip up for the denizens of Earth.

Some have already suggested that the Supermoon is to blame for the recent tectonic events in Japan.  Scientists quickly whisked away this theory for several reasons.  It's known that Supermoons, when full, increase high tides a little beyond their normal degree of fullness; this is called a proxigean spring tide.  But this increase is not enough to cause catastrophic events, and doesn't even occur until the moon is full, scientists say.

Still, there have been whisperings of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.  Bloggers in China point to the cyclone that ripped through Darwin, Australia in 1974, and the tsunami that slammed into Indonesia in 2005.  Both preceded by Supermoons.  Australia's own astronomer Dave Reneke has gone on record saying, "Phooey."

A staff writer for Space.com holds astrologer Richard Nolle responsible for the Supermoon-Japan association.  Nolle takes credit (among other things) for both coining the term "SuperMoon," and foreseeing a disastrous weather event associated with the August 2005 Supermoon.  That event is better known as Hurricane Katrina.

The best balm for these concerns is knowing that Supermoons, despite the buzz and cool, capitalized "super" appellation (because there's no actual scientific term for the event, and full-moon-at-90%-or-greater-perigee lacks pizzazz), are actually pretty common.  Do the research yourself, at the next Saturn hour.  Find a moderate-to-sophisticated moon phase table and look up how many times the moon has been full at 90+% perigee; try to find weather events associated with these occurrences.  Take it a step further: research and compare the number of natural disasters in recorded history that occurred at times when the moon was not full at its closest approach to earth.  You may, or may not, be comforted by the results.

Whatever you believe about the associations between Supermoons and weather phenomena, it's plain to see that the moon holds many of us fascinated, scientists, astrologers, and lay-terrestrials alike.  If the skies above your home are clear this Friday evening, and the moon is visible, step outside and say hello.  Just don't tell her that she's looking bigger than usual.  She is a lady, after all.

Why Garden by the Moon?

The pantry in my great-grandfather's house was always overflowing with good things to eat.  He and his wife lived through the depression and two world wars, so canning was as much a part of their life as was folding laundry, or washing dishes.  My great-grandmother passed when I was 13, and we didn't get to her last jar of preserves until I was in college--and they were still delicious!

Lunar gardening is a simple, time-tested way of working with nature to ensure maximum results from any horticultural endeavor one might pursue.  It is not a religion, nor a superstition.  Lunar gardening is merely a method of observing how the moon and gravitational forces affect the planet, and can be practiced without reservation by anyone.

It's pretty common knowledge that the moon affects the ocean tides.  Anyone who has been to the beach has probably noticed that sometimes the waves wash up very high on the beach, and at other times do not seem to travel as far up the sand.  This happens due to a combination of the gravitational pull of the sun, moon, and earth.  The tides fluctuate daily, and also correspond to the monthly phases of the moon.

When the moon is new, the tides are at their lowest.  Concurrently, water levels everywhere are at their lowest: in the soil, in plants, and in our bodies.  As the moon waxes, water levels rise.  Water level in the soil has a direct effect on plant health, particularly on root establishment, overall plant growth, and fruiting.

The best days to plant above-ground crops (like tomatoes, peas, beans--basically every food that you pick or pluck) are from the half-full moon to the full moon.  Roots, tubers, and foods that you dig up out of the ground are best planted during the waning moon, from the time just after peak fullness until roughly the half-dark moon.  A stellar resource for gardeners and farmers is the Old Farmer's Almanac.  You can purchase your own copy very inexpensively at your local nursery or home and garden supply, or you can visit their extensive, info-packed website.

The same logic that is applied to planting by the moon can be applied to many other areas of life.  Hair care and fishing are the two most well-known lunar-influenced areas besides gardening.  To encourage hair growth, many people trim their hair during the waxing moon.  Have a short cut that gets shaggy with lightning speed?  Trim it during the waxing moon to discourage rapid growth.

Apply the same philosophy to dieting (for gaining or losing weight), planning social events, parenting (potty learning, yikes!), and self-improvement.  Weekly lunar updates are available here, put together from a variety of resources to help you plan your week according to the moon's influence.  Check back often and feel free to leave comments and questions!

The Lunar Week: Premiere!

Worm Moon.  Crow Moon.  Lenten Moon.  Sap, Famine, Fish Moon.  Chaste Moon.  Death Moon.

All are terms, old and new, for the full moon in March.  Each has a significant meaning to the culture or tribe who uses it.

This month, the moon will reach peak fullness on Saturday, March 19th, at 1:10 PM CDT, and thence begin to wane once more.  This is Winter's last full moon, a heavenly adieu to the cold.  Here are some home-and-garden-specific activities to get in this week before the white lady diminishes:

1.  Any planting of above-ground flowers, vegetables, herbs, etc., needs to be done today, Monday, the 14th.  If you are trying to grow your hair out and it needs a trim, do that today as well.

2.  If you have roots, bulbs, or tubers that need to go in the ground, planting for those can start on Sunday, the 20th and continue until the 23rd.

3.  Over the past few days, I've noticed our little Springtime ant friends scoping out the bathroom.  If pests are a problem in your living area, you can start getting rid of them on Tuesday, the 15th.  My favorite source for organic pest control (and gardening tips) is the Dirt Doctor.  He's a Dallas local, and has his own radio show.


The Lunar Week, Daily:

Monday, 14:  Moon in Cancer.  Starting an exercise program and are looking to increase muscle mass?  Recovering after illness and want to get back to a healthy body mass?  Today's a great day to begin a diet for gaining weight!

Tuesday, 15:  Moon in Leo.  Spring inspires many homeowners to spruce up their living spaces.  For anyone considering a new color in the home, today is the day to paint--inside and out!

Wednesday, 16:  Moon in Leo.  Invite a few friends over for a dinner party!

Thursday, 17:  Moon in Virgo.  I don't know about anyone else, but I am officially tired of looking at my crunchy, brown winter lawn.  Today is great for mowing to increase the growth of beautiful, luscious green grass.

Friday, 18:  Moon in Virgo.  If you have wood floors in your house, tell the kids to put on a fresh pair of socks and get ready to slide!  Wax those floors today to protect the wood and sparkle up the planks.

Saturday, 19:  Full Moon in Virgo.  Today is perfect for making two of the greatest lifestyle changes ever: quitting smoking, and losing weight.  Resolve today to drop the cigarette habit, and begin a new, healthy diet to add years to your life!

Sunday, 20:  Moon in Libra.  One of my favorite things about Spring is Sunday afternoon late lunches outside.  You don't need a million-dollar patio or fancy lawn furniture.  Spread a few blankets and dish up a Sunday repast on paper plates: today is the day to invite people over, pour your favorite drinks, and enjoy the company of friends!