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.