‘Tis Old Farmer’s Day on 12 Oct. Without the colloquial wisdom of our agricultural godfathers we’d be flummoxed and bewildered by natures seasonal ebb and flow. It was the helical rising of the star Sirius at a specific time of year, coinciding with the Nile Flooding; that triggered agricultural ‘calendars’. Prior to Solar calendars the Lunar lady was the favoured chronicle. Moon has always commanded attention in the night skies, yet the lingering mystery of planting by the Zodiac signs and moon phase may well perplex those who doubt — but for those who believe, they receive. No matter your country of origin, every culture observed moon’s modes and practiced her wise ways unlocking a fortnight of fecund planting days in every month. The Farmer’s Almanac is an agriculturalist bible.

🌿GARDENING

Perhaps you’re new to gardening, maybe even a Pandemic gardener, but even some seasoned gardeners have lots to learn from gardening by the Moon. And, No that’s not gardening in the evening by the moonlight! Most know the Sun role as a seasonal indicator, S.H folk prepare to enter Spring gardening flurry of planting up, as N.H folk have had the peak of Sols offerings as Suns descent cues Autumn Harvesting. But Luna is the guiding light that fine tunes and forms the basis for most Gardening Almanacs. We look to Moon’s transit through the Zodiac.

On Oct 12, Luna is in the sign of Virgo; three days later there’s an Eclipsed New Moon (the new Hunter’s Moon) in Libra on 15 Oct. AEST. Prior to the lunation, moon is in a waning cresting phase. Each of Luna’s phases dictate specific agricultural tasks with the current phase noding to harvesting, pruning and destroying weeds. As to planting specific produce, it depends on the pairing of phase; and zodiacal sign. In the waning (decreasing, disseminating) phase, focus falls to what’s happening below the ground so roots and bulb crops are said to thrive, when planted under these conditions. Then there’s the Zodiac sign, which are classed via temperament, as either fecund, barren, dry etc. and each sign is known to influence specific produce. In Virgo, the sign is deemed barren an advantageous sign when paired with waning phase for destroying pesky weeds. No matter where you’re domicile - Spring in Oz or Autumn in N.H - the same rules still apply - just follow Luna’s Zodiacal sign transits according to your timezone and season.

There’s another caveat; that’s to avoid planting when Luna is transiting into another sign and when she’s changing Phase. The Moon boot scoots through the 12 zodiac signs each month — she leaves the sign of Virgo on Thursday (11:22am Sydney) and heads into Libra terrain over the weekend; the social gardener’s working days. Although Libra is typically a fruitful time to plant for floral spectacular blooms; Luna’s phase(waning) is futile for planting. Devotees of Almanac will note, this weekend forebodes a weekend off to rest and recuperation or preparation of beds, tilling or weeding—the choice is yours. If apiarist pursuits are your wheelhouse then you may notice Bee colonies are a hive of activity, but behave docile.

The daylight hours of the fourth day of the working week (Thursday) is governed by the planet Jupiter, currently Retrograde. Astro mages, here some Jupiter ruled plants for if planetary magic is on the cards —asparagus, chestnuts, leeks, cloves, daises, dandelion, mint, nutmeg or strawberries. If you’re new to planetary specific nuances, start off with some Moon associated plants, here a link for some suggestions.

Lavender & rhubarb pie (I’ll add strawberries instead of raspberries

wild strawberries by carryverrijt.tumblr

Calendar months in both the Western and Chinese calendars, are linked to certain flowers and October’s floral favourite is the showy Dahlia. Or the Chrysanthemum one of a handful plants to flower in Autumn, hence why the Ancient Chinese referred to October as' ‘Chrysanthemum month’ or the ninth month.

CHINESE ALAMANC

The shift from man hunting to agricultural produce forced a greater need to record seasonal nuances, hence the introduction and use of ‘calendars’. The lunisolar calendar was useful for closely tracking tides and waxing and waning of the moon in order to predict floods in the great river basins and to forecast marine conditions for fishermen in coastal areas. However, Ancient Chinese can boast an agricultural system recognized by UNESCO’s list of Intangible Cultural Heritage back in 2016. Preserved for future generations the system is known as the Chinese 24 Solar terms (jieqi) that first appeared in historical records around 1600-1046 BC. It follows the solar calendar than records Sol’s position on the elliptic and aligns specific agricultural tasks to one of 24 Solar Terms. The current Solar term in N.H is the 17th, called Cold Dew. This solar node notes Dogwood (Cornel) as seasonally prolific during next fortnight, as well as an optimal time to harvest camellia seeds, with folks heading to the tea mountains to harvest seeds and make tea seed oil. Southern Hemi readers may prefer to chek out the opposing term of 5th seasonal node, where Spring takes hold.

Many have heard of an Almanac, but not so many of a Chinese Almanac, otherwise known as a Tong Shu. The agricultural bible, defines 12 specific types of Qi, that governing each day. Known as ‘officers’, they repeat daily, with one monthly caveat when the last day and beginning of following month, repeat. Farmer’s Day, 12 Oct 2023 falls on a ‘執 Control’ day in the Tong Shu (Chinese Almanac). ‘Control’ days are deemed worthy for repairs, building and fixing things. The ‘old of the Moon’ is an excellent time is set new fence posts - it prevents loosening! And it’s perfectly aligned for the prep needed for S.H gardeners pre planting seasons and N.H who maybe repairing tools before storing for winter. This day officer, is suitable for religious ceremonies.

OLD MICHAELMAS DAY

Old Michaelmas Day falls on 11 October (different from liturigal observed date of Michaelmas Day on 29/30 Sept) . It is said Satan fell out of the Heavens on Old Michaelmas Day, falling into a blackberry bush — an thus promptly cursed the thorny bush. Legend has it blackberries shouldn’t be picked after this date. In parts of UK it’s said the devil spat on them.

So what are you doing to mark Old Farmer’s Day? I'm going to treat myself to some planetary aligned herbs to plant up when Luna is in her appropriate sign and maybe bake a pie and meld in some planetary herbs! If you fancy whispering in the ear of Jupiter (Thursday’s planetary ruler) or Mercury (ruler of Virgo), chose a flower associated with such planets to align with the day’s energies - perhaps lavender, or cook up a storm with aforementioned herbs plus oregano, marjoram, basil, licorice, saffron or rhubarb and pomegranate.

So wherever you’re domicile, enjoy Old Farmer’s Day . . .

Agriculture is the noblest of all alchemy; for it turns earth, and even manure, into gold, conferring upon its cultivator the additional reward of health.
~ Paul Chatfield