Growing with the Moon in February

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Like most gardeners David & I are itching to get started… but we also have to be realistic! The ground is still far too cold to start growing anything out doors yet. Still we do have a good size heated propagator on order and hope to get some seeds going in that soon. Excitingly the peas and broad beans we planted last November have put their noses up above ground and hopefully will continue to grow and thrive. We’ll be starting to chit the potatoes in the next few days (good job the family does not visit in February as we take over one of the bedrooms to do this :-)

I’m sure many of you are itching to get things planted but, in reality, it is often better to wait that extra week or two, especially after the weather most of us have experienced in January. Giving the ground chance to warm up means the seeds do not sit in a cold inhospitable bed – running the risk of being eaten by mice! We will probably not plant anything in the open ground before March, unless the weather suddenly improves dramatically! We will be covering at least part of both the moon and the control bed with poly cloches to give the ground a start in warming.

In February you should be sowing and or preparing the land at the following times:

Roots: prepare the ground/sow seed on 2 – 5 (before 10am), 12 – 13 and 21 – 23. Carrots, celeriac, jerusalem artichoke, parsnip , radish and turnip can all be sown under protection, whilst shallots can be sown in the open ground.

Fruits: prepare the ground/sow seed on 1, 9 – 10, 19 – 20 and 28. Broad beans, peas and tomatoes can be sown under cover in individual pots in mild areas. Remember that provided the soil is not frozen you can also plant raspberry canes.

Leaves: prepare the ground/sow seed on 7 – 8, 16 – 18 and 26. Cabbage, kohlrabi, lettuce, leeks and salad greens can be sown the under cover in mild areas. Rhubarb crowns can be planted provided there is no danger of frost.

Flowers: prepare the ground on 5 – 6, 14 – 15, and 24.

Harvesting in February

Various factors influence the quality and preservation of fruit and vegetables after harvest. As a general rule, choose an ascending Moon for harvesting plant parts that grow above ground and a descending Moon for parts that grow below ground, but avoid the perigee, lunar nodes and stormy weather. Fruit and vegetables that do not store well will last much longer if you avoid harvesting during Water signs and constellations (Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces).

Harvest your root vegetables from 1 to 8 and from 23 to 28 February when the Moon is descending, the best days to harvest are between 1 – 3, 23 and 28.

Harvest all other vegetables from 9 to 10 and from 12 to 22 February when the Moon is ascending, the best harvesting days are 9 – 10, 12 – 13 and 19 – 22.

No work or harvesting should be done in the garden on 11 ascending node, 25 descending node and 27 perigee.

• 28 Jan, 2010
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