Gardening by the Moon Weekend To-Do
An idea as old as agriculture, based both folklore and superstition but there are scientific ideas to back it up.
- Lunar Phase: Fall Equinox, Thursday, September 21: 2nd Quarter begins on Friday, September 22
- Saturday-Tuesday: Moon in the sign of Libra/Scorpio - Plant seasonal color,
- To have Sweet Peas in bloom for the holidays, sow the seed now. They can be started in flats or pots but are successfully germinated in the open ground.
Later in the Week
- Wednesday and Thursday: Moon in the sign of Saggittarus - Harvest apples and pears
- Apples should be harvested when the fruit is fully ripe. The color change can be deceiving since apples may turn red before they fully mature.
- For apples, the best test is to keep sampling the fruit until it has developed its full flavor. Another indicator is to slice open a few apples and check the seed. The seed will turn brown when the apple is ripe.
- Pears, unlike apples, should be picked from the tree before they are fully ripe. If the fruit is left on the tree to ripen, stone cells develop in the fruit, giving the pear a gritty texture, and the inner flesh may begin to rot from the inside. Tree-ripened fruit may also be poorly flavored.
- For optimal flavor, texture, and storage life, harvest pears when the fruit is just be beginning to turn from a bright, leaf-green to a light greenish yellow; at this stage, the small spots (lenticels) on the fruit surface change from white to brown, and the surface may become somewhat waxy.
Other Things To-do
- Now is the time to trim or pull off all the brown leaves on your Bearded Iris and divide them. It's also an excellent time to plant new varieties, as they have just arrived at your favorite garden center.
- Before starting your fall rose feeding schedule, cultivate around each bush and remove the fallen debris. You start at the trunk of each plant and work outward beyond the drip line.
- And finally, deadhead the spent blooms and flower stalks of perennial plants. This will improve the look of perennial beds as wide varieties do not self-shed themselves.