Planting by the Moon Phases According to the Farmer's Almanac

Today I bought the Old Farmer's 2012 Almanac.  Last week I bought America's Garden and Farm Almanac at the Dollar Store. I thought I would try planting things by the moon phases.  My Grandmother used to plant by the waning and waxing of the moon.

Everything I wrote about today came out of those two books.

Here is how it works:
Plant flowers, trees, and vegetables that bear crops above ground during the light, or waxing, of the moon: from the day the moon is new to the day the moon is full.

Plant bulb flowers and vegetables that bear crops below ground during the dark, or waning, of the moon: from the day after it is full to the day before the new moon begins again.

To go into more detail you can also learn about the moon's zodiac, which is astrology not astronomy.

Aries, Taurus, Libra and Capricorn are good Fruitful Signs.  Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces are water signs and assist vegetation to withstand drought and produce much fruit and grain.  Cancer is best, Scorpio is second, and Pisces is last choice to plant during.  Sagittarius and Aquarius are poor signs.  Leo, Gemini and Virgo are barren.  Leo being the strongest down to Virgo, and are best to destroy weeds.  The first day the moon is in the sign is better than the second and the second is better than the third.

Now are you thoroughly confused?

I am ready to start some herbs indoors.  So according to the almanac the best days to plant above ground crops are January 25and 26.  These days are after the new moon and the only water sign days (Pisces) before the end of the month.  The next time to plant is February 4 and 5. Those two days are Cancer and even better than the January days.  February 23 - 26 are the second best days (Pisces) in February.

This is some fun information that I will keep posted this year.

Here is a quick reference:
Aries - Rapid growth and abundant tops.
Taurus - Quick root crop growth.
Gemini - Barren. Good time to stir soil and weed.
Cancer - Quick germination, good growth and abundant yield.
Leo - Barren. All will die.  Don't plant or prune.  Good time to weed.
Virgo - Barren.  Don't plant or transplant.
Libra - Second best to Cancer.  Good plant and root growth and reasonable amount of fruit.
Scorpio - Fruitful.  Next best after Cancer.
Sagittarius - Nothing will do well.  Not a good time to plant or transplant.
Capricorn - Rapid plant and root growth, but not much fruit.
Aquarius - Nothing will grow well.
Pisces - Fruitful.  The third best sign for producing fruit.

Starting the New Year and My Ongoing Pest Problems

Saturday I inventoried all the food I had canned, and dried.  Sunday I inventoried the things I froze.  This inventory will help me decide what to plant this year.  I must say "THANK YOU" to my mom for canning beets, peaches, and spaghetti sauce and drying apples for me.  There was no fruit on my trees and I didn't get enough beets or tomatoes to can.
This year I know that I need to plant lots of cucumbers.  The pickles are getting low.
My seed catalogs are arriving in the mail and I am getting excited for a warm afternoon to start working in the garden.
I watered the garden December 27 and left it uncovered for two days.  There is enough spinach for a salad still growing.  I will harvest that and the beets this week, since it is supposed to be warm.  The beets are planted in the coolest raised bed in the garden and I want to get that bed prepared so I can get cabbage and  broccoli started there really soon.
I will get another bed or two prepared for lettuce, spinach, and peas this month too.
I keep having the feeling to start things earlier this year, so I will.  I can cover everything if needed.
Two years ago I started my lettuce and spinach in February.  Three years ago I started my lettuce, spinach, and peas in January.  Both of those years I had great crops.
I looked out into my backyard Wednesday morning and saw a rabbit sitting near the garden.  I had noticed in November that there were foot prints near my compost buckets, but I couldn't tell what they were and I wondered if something was living in my yard.  Well I guess a cottontail rabbit was.
I opened the gate and threw rocks near him, so he would head towards the gate.  He did.  He ran out my gate and under the neighbor's gate.
I scraped the driveway gravel so that it would meet the bottom edge of the gate.  I checked the fence between us and next door.  I had to fix the chicken wire in the back corner where it was pushed in.  I'm sure the rabbit could fit through that opening.
I moved the wood and rock that I had used to block the antelope squirrels from coming in behind the beehive, since it wasn't doing any good.  I ended up making a big mess instead of blocking out the critters.  The bees are all inside the hive, so it was a good time to clean.
I also found that the cat is back and has been for a while.  It has three new places it is going to the bathroom in my yard. One place is next to the fence where there isn't any tack strip.  That side of the yard was never a problem.  Thursday I got out the box of tack strip and now the fence has carpet tack strip on it except where the grapevine grows over the fence.  I need help to get it there, but I am hoping the cat doesn't decide he can climb up and down a grapevine to get into  my yard.  There is also a section of fence that backs the desert that doesn't have tack strip on it.  I don't expect him to show up from that direction.
I got the vinegar spray bottle out and sprayed all the dirt.  I've been so busy I can't believe it is already Monday.  I will get spraying again this evening and do that daily for a while. This time I hope the cat leaves for good.
Forgot to buy more tulle at the fabric store this morning.  I have enough to cover the frame on the bed while they are short, but I will need more to cover the plants as they grow.
I am going to keep the cabbage and broccoli covered with tulle from seed to harvest.  Hopefully that will help with the bug problem better.