July: 'Once in a blue moon'
For those of you gardening according to the phases of the
moon and signs of the zodiac, here’s the information for the month of July.
And, as always, don’t hesitate to be in touch if you have questions.
The moon
July in one of those rare months with two full moons — on the
first and last day of the month. This phenomenon occurs only once every three
years, giving rise to the saying, “Once in a blue moon,” which is typically
taken to mean the event — whatever the event may be — occurs very rarely.
The first full moon of the month is at 10:20 p.m. July 1 and
the second, the “blue moon,” is at 6:43 a.m. Eastern Daylight Time on July 31.
Thus the dark moon rules beginning late July 1 until the new
— or light — moon at 9:24 p.m. July 15. The light moon is then in force until
the second full moon of the month at 6:43 a.m. July 31.
“General Tips” for dark- and light-moon activities are below
and if you are planting in flats, seedbeds, the garden — anywhere — it’s
above-ground producers in the light moon and below-ground producers when the
dark phase is in.
The signs
Remember: Again,
check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above)
before proceeding with planting, or other activities, indoors or out.
Like June, July begins – and ends — with the so-so signs in
force, so here we go.
So-so days: These
aren’t particularly fertile nor destructive, just so-so: Capricorn (the knees),
July 1-2 and 28-29; Aquarius (the legs), July 3-4 and 30-31; and Sagittarius
(the thighs), July 26-27. Again this month we have 10 days ruled by the three
so-so signs: Sagittarius, Capricorn and Aquarius.
Fertile signs: The
most fertile signs in the zodiac rule these days: Pisces (the feet), July 5-6;
Taurus (the neck), July 9-10; Cancer (the breast), July 14-15; and Scorpio (the
secrets), July 23-25. There are nine days this month ruled by the fertile signs
— Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus and Cancer.
Pisces, Taurus and Cancer days are while the dark moon is in
force. On the second Cancer day the moon moves to the light phase, but it’s at
9:24 in the evening and that could be a little late for planting. The three
Scorpio days are with the light moon in force.
Killing signs: No
planting, transplanting, or dealing with things you want to thrive should occur
on these days. Reserve them for cultivating, cleaning out fencerows — anything
but planting: Aries (the head), July 7-8 and Leo (the heart), July 16-17. Again
this month there are just four killing days ruled by either Aries or Leo – the
absolute minimum.
Flowering days:
These are “bloom days” and well suited for planting flowers. Virgo (the
bowels), July 18-20 and Libra (the reins), July 21-22. There are five flowering
days this month.
Gemini days:
Gemini rules the arms and is in force July 11-13. Unfortunately, like June, the
dark moon rules all of these days. At least half of the ideal equation is in
force with the sign in Gemini, the bean sign, although the moon is in the light
phase.
Fall gardens
Even though summer just began (June 21), it’s time now for
gardeners to start thinking about and preparing for the fall garden when the
days are growing shorter, the soil and air temperature slowly cooling.
Many of the same veggies that like the spring garden on the
front end of the gardening season enjoy maturing in the fall. We’ll have more
on fall gardens in the August Overview.
General tips
Again, here are a few general tips for activities other than
planting:
>If you have gravel to pour on a drive or roadway, do that
when the light moon rules. The same applies for stones on a garden path: Place
them when the moon is in the light phase so they don’t sink.
>If you’re setting fence posts, do that in the light of
the moon so the posts don’t sink.
>If you’re putting on a new shingle roof, do that when the
moon’s in the dark phase so that the shingles stick down and don’t curl up on
the ends.
>If you have changes to make, we have 5 full days this
month and an hour and a half of another. The moon moves to the dark phase at
10:20 p.m. July 1 with the sign in Capricorn. Then Capricorn, Aquarius and
Pisces rule, in that order, through July 6.
During this time the moon will be in the dark phase and the
signs going out of the body past anything that functions – Capricorn through
Pisces/knees through feet.
The next days when the so-so signs rule — those ruling parts
of the body that don’t function like the internal organs — are all when the
light moon is in force, July 26-30. This is at least half of the ideal equation
(dark moon/signs going out of the body past anything that functions) and the
half I personally like best if we can’t have the whole thing.
Each month now for the next several there will be fewer days
that fit the formula perfectly so the ideal window will be smaller. For
instance, in June it was 7.5 days — this month it’s 5.
These days are good for weaning babies or small animals,
scheduling elective surgery – not
emergency surgery since that usually can’t be “scheduled,” stopping smoking or
using other tobacco producers, starting a diet or exercise program. Consider
what it is you want to do and if it involves making a change — like starting or
stopping something — then this is the best stretch for it according to the
phases and signs.
