PLANTING BY THE MOON + SIGNS - April

QUICK TAKES

>March 30-31: VERY fertile, Taurus/neck , above-grounders

>April 1-2: Gemini/arms, pea/bean sign, read more below

>April 2-4: Cancer/breast, VERY fertile, above-grounders

>April 6-7, no planting, killing sign Leo/heart in force

>April 8-12: flowering signs Virgo/bowels (2), Libra/reins (3), flowers only/bloom days

>April 12: Full/dark moon comes to rule at 8:22 p.m. EDT

>April 13-14: VERY fertile, Scorpio/secrets, below-grounders

>April 15-22: Fertile, Sagittarius/thighs (3); Capricorn/knees (2); Aquarius/legs (3), below-grounders

>April 23-24: VERY fertile, Pisces/feet, below-grounders

>MAKE CHANGES, April 15-24 (see more below)

>April 25-26: No planting, killing sign Aries/head

>April 27: New/light moon, 3:31 p.m.

>April 27-28: VERY fertile, Taurus/neck, above-grounders

>April 29-30: Gemini/arms, pea/bean sign, read more below, above-grounders

APRIL OVERVIEW

 MOON PHASES: March ends and April begins with the moon in the light phase where it continues until the full/dark moon at 8:22 p.m. EST April 12. The new/light moon returns April 27, 3:31 p.m. EST

 When the light moon is in force, plant above-ground producers and it’s below-ground producers when the dark moon rules.

 Don’t plant when either of the killing signs, Aries and Leo, is in force or veggies when the flowering signs Virgo and Libra rule since they are bloom days.

 Planting when the fertile signs rule is a viable alternative to the VERY fertile signs, which are Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, and Cancer. The fertile ones – just a little below VERY fertile - are Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius.

 If you can only utilize one aspect of the system for planting, I would suggest going with the moon phases but still completely avoid the killing signs Aries and Leo and the flowering signs Virgo and Libra for anything but flowers.

 THE SIGNS: Check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above and on any calendar) before planting anywhere, or other moon-related activities. April begins – and ends - with Gemini/arms, the pea/bean signs ruling, that’s where we will start.

 PEA/BEAN DAYS: Gemini/arms, April 1-2, 29-30, snow peas on the early days (1-2); on the late days (29-30) it will be statistically fine for an early planting of bush or pole beans and on the edge of safe planting for lima beans.

 VERY FERTILE DAYS: Cancer/breast, April 3-5, cool-weather loving above-grounders; Scorpio/secrets, April 13-14, below-grounders; Pisces/feet, April 23-24, below-grounders; and Taurus/neck, April 27-28, above-grounders. April has four days ruled by the VERY fertile signs under the dark moon for below-grounders, and five with the light moon in force for above-grounders.

 KILLING DAYS: Leo/heart, April 6-7; and Aries/head, April 25-26. There are only four days ruled by the two killing signs during April, down from seven in March and the absolute minimum.

 FLOWERING DAYS: Virgo/bowels, 8-9; and Libra/reins, April 10-12.

 FERTILE DAYS: Sagittarius/thighs, April 15-17; Capricorn/knees, April 18-19; and Aquarius/legs, April 20-22. There are eight days in April ruled by these three signs, all with the dark moon ruling. Almost impossible to have any more than that! These are all great for below-ground producers.

 MAKING CHANGES: We have 10 days to make changes! They are April 15-24 with the signs going out of the body beyond anything that functions and the moon in the dark phase, specifically Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees, Aquarius/legs, and Pisces/feet.

 Changes might include starting a diet or exercise program, stopping smoking or other unhealthy habits, scheduling elective surgery or dental work – anything requiring us to do something differently from the way we are doing it now.

 POURING GRAVEL: If you have gravel to pour on a drive or road on your farm, do that while the light moon rules, which is through most of April 12. After that wait until the new moon arrives on April 27th through May 11th.