After a very cold spring, this gardener decided to spend Earth Day in the garden with my hands in the earth. What better way to celebrate Earth Day than communing with nature?

It was a perfect spring day–sunny and cool–at least the gale-force winds seem to have abated. Yesterday and today up until 1:09 pm this afternoon, we were in a 2nd quarter moon, in the sign of Cancer, which is a fruitful planting sign, so I wanted to get my aboveground plants transplanted and seeds sown before the moon traveled into Leo which is a barren sign. (I truly believe that with the waxing and waning of the moon affecting the tides of our oceans and the moisture in the earth (not to mention we human beings), that planting by the moon does have an affect on the plants we grow.)

I transplanted all of the baby greens and brassicas and then watered them in, which is of utmost importance. I sowed seed of more salad mixes, annual herbs, hardy dark greens, and some of my favorite edible flowers like calendula and nasturtiums. And I accomplished this task before 1 pm; although then I spent more time, making labels–using wooden craft sticks of the tongue depressor size–rather than the plastic kind of tag that breaks and doesn’t last the season. And then drawing the plans of what was planted in each bed in my gardening notebook.

Keeping a journal with the garden plan is a good idea, since labels do have a tendency to disappear throughout the growing season. I keep track of the date planted, the sign of the moon, the type of seed sown, its botanical name, and seed source. This is a good idea, so I can look back on my notes and know the plants that I want to grow again, or perhaps ones that I do not care to cultivate.

There are good planting dates for annuals and leafy greens later in the week and then with the full pink moon on the 29th of April, the moon begins to wane and it is time to plant root crops again. I look forward to the monthly lunar cycle and coincide my planting dates accordingly.

I celebrate and am thankful for this communion with nature, the earth, and growing plants every single day–not just because it is Earth Day–to a gardener everyday is earth day.

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