Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: indigo on February 04, 2010, 05:15:26 PM
-
This year I'm hoping to get back into my garden, sow some seeds, grow some new plants etc. When I was doing a lot, I used Maria Thun's calendar. I see there's a Nick Kollerstrom one too - any preferences for ease of use? I did find the Maria Thun one made me have to think a lot, dangerous stuff ;)
-
i have never heard of these calendars- i have heard of planting things according to the moon, but don't know much about it...
-
Welcome to the Forum, Indigo.
Like cohan, I know nothing of these calendars but I know there are some here who garden by the lunar calendar so they will doubtless be along to comment!
I am thinking of Carol and David Shaw of Findhorn who write an 'In Tune with the Moon' blog. See the blog and more aboutCarol and David here: http://intunewithmoon.findhornpress.com
-
Just sent you a PM Indigo
-
ah, I'm surprised, a minority group? Lots of reads, few comments. Hopefully I've sparked some interest.
Thanks Maggi, just been over to the blog, at least I'm not entirely on my own for once ;) You and Cohan should give it a go - makes all the difference! When I was using it you should have seen my garden - amazingly big healthy plants ;D
Cohan, I have a good friend near Calgary, you guys are brave living there, I'm fascinated as to what flowers you have there.
Carol, thanks, will pm you back shortly ;D
-
Since this Forum is open to all you will find that there are always more 'views' than responses, Indigo. :)
Growing- or living- in tune with the lunar cycles is nothing new, of course; the ancients were doing it before "gardening" as we know it was even a concept.
.....Another of the many natural sciences that has fallen out of common use in recent times.
-
Indeed. We humans dropped a lot of good stuff and are slowly relearning what we should know.
-
Sounds a lot of "blah" to me, but, there you are, each to his/her own ::)
-
I have an open mind David, and I continually think that there may well be something in it as the Moon exerts the gravitational pull on the water in the oceans that creates the tides. Plants and people are largely also composed of water so perhaps there is an effect on the water in them as well.
-
As you say David, each to their own. You'll just have to try it and see ;)
Having seen the results, I wouldn't garden any other way now and several sceptical people who saw my garden when I was really working in it are converts too.
Well spotted Brian :) The moon affects many aspects of life - human, animal, plant etc as well as the tides which most people accept quite happily.
-
I agree with Indigo. Last year we 'played' with growing some vegetables by the lunar calendar and were quite impressed by the results. This year we are doing a much larger and more scientific trial in the vegetable garden. I am quite sure that the moon's pull has influence on many aspects of our life.
-
I can just see the moon from the window as I type. Hang on, it's trying to tell me something-oh yes! time to go for a pint ;D
-
.....Another of the many natural sciences that has fallen out of common use in recent times.
Natural sciences ::) ::) ??? ???
-
I'd be interested in how you'd create a scientifically valid experiment given all the other known influences like moisture content of the seed, soil moisture at the time of sowing and afterwards, temperature, variations of all sorts. Even if the moon has an influence (and you might have twigged I'm a little sceptical) I suspect it would be swamped by these much larger effects.
You'd end up having to do something in which statistics could play a meaningful role which implies a large experiment
-
.....Another of the many natural sciences that has fallen out of common use in recent times.
Natural sciences ::) ::) ??? ???
Would you prefer "natural philosophy" ?
The natural sciences might be called earth sciences, I suppose.....systems that are natural rather than man-made...... :D
-
How about just a simple 'control' bed, Martin, just planting at random times such as we usualy do.
-
Hi,
Believe it or not:
http://www.kaykeys.net/spirit/earthspirituality/moon/moonseed.html
people have done experiments.
I'd imagine you'd have to remove all other influences i.e. sow your seed under lights, controlled temperatures etc. Because if you just sow in the normal way the progress of the seasons, changing day length, temperature. are going to be the biggest time dependent influences.
-
.....Another of the many natural sciences that has fallen out of common use in recent times.
Natural sciences ::) ::) ??? ???
Would you prefer "natural philosophy" ?
The natural sciences might be called earth sciences, I suppose.....systems that are natural rather than man-made...... :D
Maggi - oh dear, I forsee another endless debate. I should keep my mouth shut (or my keyboard inactive). In answer to your question - no.
In relation to your second point, the natural sciences (or the 'earth sciences' or any other sciences or systems) are entirely man made.
-
Gerry... gawd forbid we should turn this into a debate about the meaning.....I gave no thought to a wider meaning, such as might be understood in a technical way, I was only trying to express my own feeling about the ancient human reactions and interactions with the forces of nature.... to my mind the action of the moon on the tides etc is a physical effect which can be decribed as as science, in that it is a process....and it is certainly not man made.... that's as far as I meant to go! :-X
-
I've often wondered about the effect of the lunar cycle on seed germination. The question I have about sowing relates to whether all bulbous species are to be regarded as "root vegetables" as the only advice I've seen relates to vegies and the distinction is made between "root" crops needing to be sown in the waning moon and others during the waxing moon!
cheers
fermi
-
Fermi, whilst I am quite happy accepting the lunar influence on vegetables, and other annuals, I think it is more difficult to apply the principles to perennials.
Take the example of Cyclamen. It is a corm so it is a root. We grow cyclamen for their flowers, so, a flower but I also grow them for their beautifully variegated leaves - a leaf. As I am also interested in propagating our cyclamen I am interested in their seeds - a fruit. So, I have covered all four rotational groups (roots, flowers, leaves and fruits) in the one plant.
No, gardening by the lunar cycle is much easier to understand when just looking at one aspect of the plant eg,parsnips being a root or cabbages being a leaf vegetable.
-
I have a very long experience of finding out the reasons for problems in manufacturing plants.
I have found that a good remedy is to put in a guy in a white coat and give him a note board and a pen.
He can make notes and the problem goes away immedietaly. If he is doing crosswords they also go away.
This sounds like a joke but it is the naked truth.
The thing that works is the extra effort. Minor acts of sloppiness are suppressed by the supposedly vigilant controller.
I should think the the Calender thing is a similar phenomenon. My experience is that
A: yes some things work better at certain times. This is because at certain times the plant seed or whatever is in a stage where whatever we do works and that the yearly season is in a stage where it works. However the moon has very little to do with this.
B: Whoever takes the effort of growing things according to a calender will also pay a lot of attention to other details and have excellent results for that reason. This is the problem with many of the "new" or "old" ways of growing things that give such wonderful results. It is not the new or old method. It is that fact that someone puts in an extra effort.
Cheers
Göte
-
B: Whoever takes the effort of growing things according to a calender will also pay a lot of attention to other details and have excellent results for that reason. This is the problem with many of the "new" or "old" ways of growing things that give such wonderful results. It is not the new or old method. It is that fact that someone puts in an extra effort.
Wise words, Gote.
-
Answered my own question. Got the Nick Kollerstrom and due to exasperation then got Maria Thun which arrived yesterday - much easier! It's actually improved since I last had it.
So, for me, it's Maria Thun every time ;D