Today is a leaf day which means we can plant & transplant just leafy things like salad & herbs. My latest wall planter has been ready for a while now, waiting patiently for this day which is decided by the position of the moon & also the planets.
Lunar planting
We are very lucky to have a lady who guides us in this subject, kindly providing a photocopy of her lunar planting calendar each month.
Looking more deeply into the subject I discovered that Rudolf Steiner was the first person to create such a calendar back in 1919.
He wrote a book called Calendar of the Soul which was difficult to find online but I was able to find a collection of essays about it here
Though something tells me our ancient ancestors didn't need books or calendars to figure this stuff out. Meditation in nature generally provides the answers we seek.
Steiner identified four categories: Flowers, Leaves, Roots and Fruit, each one lasting around three days.
It can be a little confusing because things like peas and cucumbers are considered fruit. And if one intends to collect seeds from their plants, they should be planted during a Flower period.
I have seen first hand how plants are stronger when one sticks to the correct planting periods. Amazing hey? And crazy we are not taught this kind of stuff at school!
Would love to provide a link for you all to download the 2020 lunar planting calendar, but have not yet found a free online version. I will keep searching and be sure to post here when I find it.
Otherwise you can download the book & figure it out or just message me and I will let you know what day it is!
Transplanting
We planted a short line of mixed lettuce in the garden around a month ago, with this goal in mind.
Yesterday I dug some of them up, ready for separating & transplanting today.
Moments like this are made even more enjoyable when I am joined by my children. I don't force them to help me but wait for them to offer. And happy to say this approach seems to be working.
The lettuce I planted on the last leaf day was also transplanted from the garden and seems to be doing fine hanging under the strawberries, ready to drip into the heirloom carrots which are yet to sprout beneath them.
I know it looks crowded but I am far from done here. Moving towards the solstice the sun is getting ever higher in the sky, illuminating spaces which were previously in the dark all day long.
The first light of the day hits the jasmine flowers now, adding a lovely scent to our courtyard.
I had more lettuces than pots this morning so I turned quickly to my bottle stash. Never again will I let a plastic bottle go to waste!
30mins later the problem was solved and in a month I will give these out as presents. Everyone loves lettuce!
Even this guy ;)
