Planting  by the moon means that you take into consideration the phases of the moon before you do your planting.

Gardeners who plant by the moon also tend to harvest,  cultivate or deal with pests according to the phases of the moon.

Here in the southern hemisphere, the 22nd September is Spring Equinox day when knowledgeable organic and moon gardeners arrange to do their planting.

It’s supposed to be a very favourable time for planting because moon gardeners believe that plants thrive hugely when they are planted this way.

Well, I don’t know if planting by the moon works or not but I was willing to try.  So I prepared the soil carefully with compost the week before.  All my garden beds were ready and waiting for the important day. 

On exactly the right day I bought all my plants and seeds early so that I could spend the day planting.

Then as luck would have it, as soon as I had completed all my planting, the first spring rains came and gently watered all my handiwork. What a win!

All I had to do was to rest my weary limbs and wait patiently for some noteworthy results.

But there’s one more thing – moon gardeners are also supposed to talk to their plants.  I’ll be jolly careful to do this while no-one is watching or listening.  But talk I will.  I’m even prepared to sing to them! No point in doing things half-way!

An update on  my garden – It’s interesting to compare the results on two separate beds of aubergines.  I planted them at the same time but in one bed the plants are twice as tall as those in the other bed.

I can’t quite work out why.  Maybe I haven’t been singing loud enough!

Today organic gardening is becoming more and more popular and even mainstream because the public has become much more health conscious.  Many individuals refuse to buy fruit and vegetables that have been treated with chemicals and sprays.

Green Movements Encourage this Trend

Food industries are very aware of this and are at pains to find ways to get their suppliers to produce “clean” food. Ecology awareness and “Green” movements are encouraging this trend.

These days you can buy a wide variety of organically grown produce in supermarkets from  organic vegetables, free-range eggs, unpasturized milk, natural honey and a host of other naturally produced foods.  All these fetch a higher price simply because they are organic.  The demand for organic food is huge and people are prepared to pay for it.

You just need a little Patience!

To be an organic gardener you need patience and you need to be willing to learn by trial and error.  But the advantages of organic gardening are so obvious that it is worth the extra effort.

Unfortunately Many Gardeners Don’t Want to Go The Organic Route

Unfortunately many gardeners don’t want to go the organic route because they have to learn new ways to manage pests and diseases. They simply lose patience at the first sign of a few aphids. It’s so much easier to get rid of unsightly bugs with a quick spray of insecticide.

The thought of having to do without fungicides and insect sprays can be daunting. But there are many environmentally friendly ways of dealing with pests and diseases. There are also many companies that are becoming involved in this type of research by producing effective non-toxic sprays.

There’s a perception that organic gardeners can only produce flowers and vegetables of inferior quality.  But nothing could be further from the truth. Organic gardeners are capable of producing healthy fruit and vegetables that have far more flavour than those that have been treated with chemicals and poisons.

Organic gardening may require more effort and commitment than conventional gardening.  But the thought of being able to eat health-giving food that is free of chemicals is what makes organic food so popular.

The good news is that anyone can try it. Nature will tell you what to do if you observe your garden carefully.

If you are keen to learn how to get rid of pests without using poisons here is a valuable book “Organic Pest Control Secrets” that you can download instantly:

Determination like that needs to be rewarded and the very least I could do was nurture it. So here it is – a seedling that I hope will flourish.

Nature is a Patient Teacher

Nature is a patient teacher. And that’s just as well because we learn best from our own practical experiences.

But Nature also requires us to be open-minded.  So now and again if we are caught talking to our orchids or planting by the moon, let no one laugh!

And so I hope to put together a collection of tips and ideas gathered from practical, hands on experiences with organic gardening. I am a firm believer in gardening the natural way and I want to explore it personally by recording some of my successes and failures.

Join me by Adding your Comments

I hope you will join me by adding your own comments so that together we can create a practical collection of tips and ideas that will be useful to other organic gardeners.

It promises to be a fun and learning experience and I will be honoured if you will accompany me on my quest to find better ways to garden with nature.