When to Plant App
When to Plant App The When to Plant app is available now for $1.99! Knowing the best times to start seeds, direct sow and transplant garden crops is key to growing a successful garden. Our When to Plant app — recommended in Wired magazine's App Guide as a Top Pick for gardening apps — gives you the best planting times for vegetables, herbs, fruit, cover crops and common companion planting flowers. By using your ZIP code and a database of almost 5,000 weather stations across North America, the When to Plant app locates average frost dates for your garden from the nearest station, and calculates the best range of planting dates for each crop. This app is a helpful tool for spring, summer and fall planting. The When to Plant app is available in the Apple App Store for $1.99 and is compatible with iPhone, iPod touch and iPad. Here is a glimpse of the When to Plant app, plus more about what it can do: The app provides easy access to National Weather Service long-range forecast maps (U.S. only).
Garden calendar to keep your kitchen garden growing - vegetables and herbs to sow and plant right now
Vegetables to grow in winter
With the help of a bit of cover, and carefully selected varieties of seeds, it is possible to grow vegetables and herbs all year round in the United Kingdom, and presumably therefore in other temperate countries that have frosty winters.In my corner of Scotland, away from the sea and up in the hills, there is only one month of the year that can be guaranteed to be frost free and that is July. Most years we cannot grow courgettes or runner beans outside without cover. In our case, experimenting has paid off and we often have more produce in winter than in summer. Last year by the end of winter we were fed up with salad! Why grow vegetables in winter? There are a number of advantages to growing vegetables in winter: Mature overwintered veg keeps growing until December under cover, stands for the winter then comes away fast in February. Protecting plants from frost We had great success last year with an old caravan window found in a lay-by which we put on top of some lamb's lettuce.
Lunar Planting
What if we told you that mowing your lawn on certain days would mean you could mow less often? Before you roll your eyes, think about it. The moon influences more than the ocean tides. Just ask any bar worker, clergyman or nurse. In fact, my friend Emma braces herself before going to work. Amy works at the hospital and when the moon is full, those nights in the emergency room are, as she calls it, "memorable." Many scientists insist that the myth that a full moon affects the behavior of humans, animals and plants is a bunch of baloney. Before I go further, let me tease you with a possibility: What if mowing your lawn during certain phases of the moon retarded growth which meant you didn't have to mow as often? According to a National Geographic news article more gardeners today are turning to the moon for sage advice on the best time to plant, prune, weed, and harvest. Gardening by the moon is as old as time. Moon gardening has been passed down through many generations.
Guide to planting by the moon - The Gardeners Calendar
Moon planting calendar for fruit, vegetables and flowers In ancient times when man had not quite got round to inventing the wristwatch, the most reliable source of telling the time was the sun, moon, and stars. There seems to be several opinions of who came up with the moon planting calendar first. Was it the Egyptians or the Babylonians? It is more than likely that each and every farmer had a planting calendar based on the moon phases, and there would be different variations depending on the geographical location. As their calendars where passed on through the generations they evolved to cover the different crops they tried to grow, and the more productive farming techniques used. It was noticed that different plants grow better when they are planted during different phases of the moon. To provide more accurate records it was noted that certain crops faired better when planted whilst the moon was in a specific constellation. Moon planting rediscovered Three Moon planting methods
Gardening by the Phases of the Moon
The moon has four phases or quarters lasting about seven days each. The first two quarters are during the waxing or increasing light, between the new and the full moon. The third and fourth quarters are after the full moon when the light is waning, or decreasing. Planting by the moon is an idea as old as agriculture, based both in folklore and superstition, but there are scientific ideas to back it up The Earth is in a large gravitational field, influenced by both the sun and moon. The tides are highest at the time of the new and the full moon, when sun and moon are lined up with earth. For more information about how lunar planting works, including research and references, continue on to the next page, or skip to the topic of your choice. At the new moon, the lunar gravity pulls water up, and causes the seeds to swell and burst. In the second quarter the gravitational pull is less, but the moonlight is strong, creating strong leaf growth.
