Moon gardening: More than lore?

Moon gardening: More than lore?

December 31, 2020

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Taken from KeelyNet BBS (214) 324-3501

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PO BOX 1031

Mesquite, TX 75150

June 12, 1991

GEOTROPE.ASC

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This is a article that was in the Dallas Morning News on May 10,

1991. It was written by Anne Raver from the New York Times News

Service. The House & Garden Staff of the Dallas Morning News also

contributed to this report.

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SHEER LUNACY?

Growing flowers and vegetables by the moon is a centuries old

tradition, but does it really work and should we try it?

Moon gardening: More than lore?

By Anne Raver

New York Times News Service

The last full moon was two Sundays ago. And all over the

country, moon gardeners were planting by it - corn, pole beans,

sweet peas - because they know that a full moon will make corn grow

tall and pull a vining bean right up the pole.

"When I was 4, I'd go out with my grandmother, and we'd always

try to plant potatoes on the full moon," said Michael Petitt, 25,

who grew up in the hills of Kentucky. "And we'd plant pole beans and

corn and grasses on the full moon, for faster germination."

Mr. Petitt is an extension agent for Boyd County in Kentucky.

He is working on his master's degree in horticulture. But he still

plants by the moon.

"I think that geotropism - the effect of gravity on plants - is

greater on the full moon," he said. "But I think it also affects

some biochemical process. Of course I'd never say this to a client

on the phone."

Moon planters believe that the same gravitational force that

pulls the tides, the same cosmic rhythms that draw a horsehoe crab

ashore to mate, also cause crops, especially those that bear above

ground, to leap right out of the earth.

And conversely, when the moon is on the wane, as it is now, and

its light and gravitational pull are on the decrease, the earth's

gravity kicks in again, and roots burrow happily into the ground.

But don't plant anything when the moon is absolutely dark. The

next new moon is Tuesday, and that's when plants should rest. The

new moon also is a good time to kill weeds because they won't grow

back.

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The world of hard science hasn't tried to study this stuff.

"It's mythology," said Cynthia Rosenzweig, and agronomist at NASA'S

Goddard Institute for Space Studies in Manhattan. "There has to be a

physical reason why the moon's different phases would affect soil

properties, soil temperature, moisture content precipitation, which

are the actual physical factors that make seeds germinate. And that

isn't documentable."

He colleague Frank Abramopoulos, an astrophysicist, agreed.

"The tidal force - the gravitational pull of the moon - would be

there, but a level smaller than would affect any biochemical

processes," he said.

There was a long pause when he was asked if the moon, passing

through the sign of the zodiac, could affect plants.

"The moon is 238,000 miles away from us, which is very close,"

he said politely. "The nearest star is four light-years away, and

that light would not have an effect on plant life."

Scientists are so literal. That's why they're scientists.

They should look into it, Mr. Petitt said. But his people have

never worried about proof. It was there on the table, in a mess of

beans. In turnips bigger than grapefruits.

"We never said why; we just knew," Mr. Petitt said. "We didn't

question. The people who did question, they didn't have a crop."

There's a lot you can do if you read the moon right.

"Me and my grandpap, we'd cut locust for fence posts when the

moon was three-quarters full," Mr. Petitt said. "We'd cut them

green, leave the bark on and put them right in the ground. Then

Grandpap would pour about a gallon of water on them. And a month

later those posts would be sprouting. That's no lie, ma'am."

Mr. Petitt said people would come to look at those posts and

ask how it was done. "But if they didn't do it on the three-quarters

moon, it wouldn't work," he said.

Now the moon is on the wane. "Flowering bulbs and vegetables

THAT BEAR CROPS BELOW GROUNDbelow ground should be planted during

the DARK of the Moon," says the 1991 Old Farmer's Almanac. "That

is, from the day after it is full to the day before it is new

again."

Corda Kindall, 92, the sole resident of Olga, Mo. said that's

right: "Anything like radishes, onions, that grow underneath the

ground, why you plant them on a dark moon, and then they'll grow

larger and not be all tops. If you plant on the new moon, they'll

grow tail and bloom, but the radishes won't be good. Same with

potatoes. Plant them on the dark moon and they won't all go to top."

Mrs. Kindall planted her morning glory seeds, which had been

soaking in a jar, just before the moon was full. "And I'm going to

go out tomorrow and plant me some beans," she said.

It's not good to question these things too closely. The

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contradictions, for instance: Mr. Petitt plants potatoes on the full

moon, Mrs. Kindall on the dark.

But that's the way it is with moon gardeners. You can hardly

find two who plant the same way. And they all think they're right,

because whichever way they choose, it works.

"I always plant potatoes on Good Friday, because an older

gentleman taught me to do it that way, and he'd always done it that

way, and I always get more potatoes than anybody else, so there,"

said Miriam Dunlap, who farms 80 acres outside Des Moines. "My

husband's family always said, `Good seed, good potatoes, Good

Friday,' I swear it's just a reason to force you to get out there in

the mud to plant."

Maybe that's basically what it is, a ritual of chores, a giant

almanac as old as the Pyramids and the rising of the Dog Star, which

has marked the onset of spring, and spring planting, since the first

man, or woman, first put a seed in the ground.

Even the gardener in Dr. Rosenzweig, the Goddard agronomist,

believes, a little. "Even though I don't believe it scientifically.

I think the ancient traditions are wonderful," she said. "And who

knows: There are more things out there than are known by science."

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VANGARD NOTE:

It is amazing there are no scientists willing to make a study

of this. If under control conditions, the moon does have an effect

on the growing of plants, this could change the way that we farm.

Or is it possible the scientific community does not want to

admit, that the moon's gravity has an effect on PLANTS and HUMANS.

This would be an excellent experiment for one of you to do. Or

for someone in college. Better yet, how about getting one of your

kids to do this as a school science fair project?

Now if we were living on the moon and were to study the effects

of the Earth gravity on plants growing on the moon. That would mean

we would have to title this article ` EARTH GARDENING SHEER LUNACY!'

Submitted By; Ronald Barker

Vangard Sciences

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Addenda

Is it not interesting that the effects of gravity seem to be

reduced when the moon is waxing or in the full moon condition.

If regarding this with the PULL GRAVITY theory, then the moon

would partially cancel the earth gravity by pulling mass in its

direction. This article therefore not only leads to ecological

improvements but opens up some interesting thoughts regarding

gravity.

There are indications that moonlight is polarized. Is it

possible that the light reflected from the moon might have a

spin whose direction is dependent on whether the moon is waxing

or waning?

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As an interesting note, in the metaphysical literature,

"scryers" or "crystal gazers" are advised to NOT allow their

crystal to be exposed to the light of the moon as it supposedly

interferes with the images seen within the crystal. (the

method of "cleansing" the crystal is to hold it under cool or

cold running water)

There are strange effects involving counter-clockwise and

clockwise spins, known as Coriolis forces when applied to spin

in the upper and lower hemispheres of the Earth.

Does this possibly indicate something relating to anti-gravity

having to do with a counter-clockwise spin? Note many files on

Keelynet which seem to indicate such a tendency, particularly

observations noted when viewing the Meyer Chronicles (a UFO

documentary on Swiss farmer Billy Meier).

In addition, the work of Davis and Rawls on magnetic fields

tends to support this observation. South Pole energy has a

counter-clockwise spin and causes mass to expand, while North

Pole energy has a clockwise spin and causes mass to contract.

The file RFP on KeelyNet gives more on this although there are

some discrepancies which have yet to be resolved. RFP was

written several years ago and needs to be updated, which I have

not had time to do.

Jerry W. Decker

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If you have comments or other information relating to such topics

as this paper covers, please upload to KeelyNet or send to the

Vangard Sciences address as listed on the first page.

Thank you for your consideration, interest and support.

Jerry W. Decker.........Ron Barker...........Chuck Henderson

Vangard Sciences/KeelyNet

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Jerry at (214) 324-8741 or Ron at (214) 242-9346

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