Next Week's Moon Signs

For those that are interested in gardening by the moon, here are a few tips to help you along. Until early Saturday morning, April 21, the moon is still waning. In other words, it is heading towards new moon. If you want to plant corn, beans, squash, tomatoes, or any other above-ground crops, wait until Saturday if possible. Then it will be past the new moon and entering the first quarter. As of right now, the moon is in the constellation Aquarius, which is considered a barren, dry, and airy sign. This is the best time to cultivate and destroy weeds and pests. It is also a good time to trim plants or cut grass in order to slow its growth.

Early Monday morning, April 16, the moon leaves Aquarius and enters Pisces. This is a fruitful sign, moist and watery. (If you like to fish, now's the time to get on the water, too.) This sign is especially good for root growth. Plant biennials, perennials, bulbs and roots. This would be an excellent time to do last-minute pruning. It is also a good sign to irrigate and fertilize in.

About noon on Wednesday, the moon enters Aries. This is similar to the sign of Aquarius, listed above, and is used for the same activities.

Just after midnight Friday night the moon slips into Taurus. This sign is productive, moist, and earthy. Use for planting many crops when hardiness is important, especially root crops. However, a mere three hours later, at 3:18 Saturday morning, is when new moon occurs, after which planting potatoes is less favored. So if you still want to plant potatoes but don't want to do it in the middle of the night, go for second best, as I probably will. That would mean planting them in Pisces sometime between Monday morning and Wednesday noon, or planting them Saturday with the moon still in Taurus, but starting to wax, which is better for planting above-ground crops. Either way, though not ideal, you will probably still get a little something for your efforts. The next waning moon doesn't happen for another two weeks, which here in central Arkansas is a little late for planting potatoes. The longer you wait, the more chance there is of hot, dry weather setting in, and potatoes do not do well at all in that kind of conditions.

Blessing to all!