moon planting???

[Birdie Wife]

btw zazen - I absolutely love your new avatar!!

[zazen999]

Thanks - it's very apt at the moment!

[BrideXIII]

Originally Posted by jimbojetset : he was also an astronomer - rather than an astrologist; so he 'believes in the mystical powers of the stars' not a great start

wrong way round Jimbo, an astronomer studies stars scientifically, and an astrologist is the one that believes in the zodiac and its powers etc, i am aware it looks like it should be the other way round,

[Eyren]

What I like most is that it actively encourages me to do things and plan in doing things, rather than putting anything off. It also means I make notes and succession sow which lengthens the harvest.

Exactly! I like having a structure to my gardening month - it makes that long, long list of things to do look a lot less daunting! I don't expect it to give me vastly better crops than doing it at random, but it's not like it's going to hurt either. And I like being in touch with the rhythms of nature - I work in IT, so it's good to get away from the artificial, machine-dominated 21st century for a while!

If Bride were trying to preach at everyone or make outrageous claims about the benefits of moon planting, I could understand certain persons leaping in and challenging her, but as far as I can see it's all just a bit of fun

(I would just add that I do not believe the astrological stuff in the slightest. I reckon the success of biodynamics is down to increasing one's sensitivity to the needs of the plants and the soil and adopting a comprehensive organic regimen.)

[maytreefrannie]

maytreefannie - i would love to know what credentials nick kollerstrom has (in fact i just google him) - and i'm pretty sure this is going to come as a shock, it was to me - he was a research fellow at a london university (before they quite rightly stripped his role and denounced him) he was also an astronomer - rather than an astrologist; so he 'believes in the mystical powers of the stars' not a great start
but it gets much much worse widely described as a 'conspiraloon',
he is a holocaust denier saying amongst other things what a lovely place auschwitz was, he is also a denier of the 9/11 bombings and 7/7 bombings for that matter
in short if you were to take up the harmless pastime of lunar gardening i would implore each and every one of you not to buy mr (not dr) kollerstrom's book
please don't fund this deluded man's campaign of hate
further reading;
Nick Cohen: When academics lose their power of reason | Comment is free | The Observer

I bought the book purely to read about moon planting without knowing about Nick Kollerstrom, and the front cover says he is 'BBC's lunar gardening correspondent.' The book gives him no title (neither Mr nor Dr). I will certainly google him as you've done and will check the BBC website.

I had no wish to give offence to anyone by mentioning the book.

[jimbojetset]

hey birdie, interesting point, i am an organic gardener and i do hope it has an effect so fingers crossed

zazen - apologies for stressing you out!

birdie - ok doh! wrong way round (it's one of those things that i always get the wrong way round! much like my left and right) - also to be fair i don't want this to muddy the waters about our 'does lunar planting work?' debate - so asides from mr kollerstrom being a wildly delusional man which does pretty much negate any argument he puts forward that is the last i will say of him

apart from mr kollerstrom is patently an evil human being and once again i would ask anyone to buy someone else's book on lunar gardening

[jimbojetset]

apologies think we posted at the same time there
eyren - i'm glad that being in your crops gives you the same affirmation of what life is about as it does me, but in no way am i attacking bride, and i sincerely hope no offence has been taken, i am simply trying to get to the bottom of whether moon planting works
maytree - i for one am not offended, and i am pretty certain you meant know offence! i simply wanted to point out what sort of character mr kollerstrom is - btw i work as a producer for the bbc and i'm pretty sure his 'lunar gardening advisor to the bbc' hyperbolic nonsense was that he probably appeared on a local radio show to talk about it, once (if that)

[BrideXIII]

Exactly! I like having a structure to my gardening month - it makes that long, long list of things to do look a lot less daunting! I don't expect it to give me vastly better crops than doing it at random, but it's not like it's going to hurt either. And I like being in touch with the rhythms of nature - I work in IT, so it's good to get away from the artificial, machine-dominated 21st century for a while!

If Bride were trying to preach at everyone or make outrageous claims about the benefits of moon planting, I could understand certain persons leaping in and challenging her, but as far as I can see it's all just a bit of fun

(I would just add that I do not believe the astrological stuff in the slightest. I reckon the success of biodynamics is down to increasing one's sensitivity to the needs of the plants and the soil and adopting a comprehensive organic regimen.)

i think that last paragraph is spot on!!! it is, to my mind, what has been missing for a while, an identification with what we grow.

as a meatatarian i believe i should have a relationship of some sort with the animals i eat, so i buy free range etc etc, no preaching from me i promise, but..... do we not owe the veg we grow to eat the same consideration? and i don't mean they have feelings but, it behoves us maybe to look a bit closer at the what, where and why, so that we can get the best from our plants.

I have little or no patience with certain new agey stuff, and i make no apologies for that, if however following this stuff brings us back to a closer relationship with the planet that feeds us than i am all for giving it a bit of attention, I am not looking for proof, i am just looking for a feeling of being 'involved' with the process, rather than just a spectator that bungs in a seed and eats the end product.

[jimbojetset]

lovely sentiments bride, very interesting!

[Birdie Wife]

birdie - ok doh! wrong way round (it's one of those things that i always get the wrong way round! much like my left and right)

Yeah, I do that too! My Oh is constantly saying (for example) "Left. No, OTHER Left." Apparently you can be not only right or left handed, but right or left eyed too - I only found that out when I did some archery and the instructor told me to try the bow left-handed because I was in the habit of closing my right eye to shoot the arrow (my left eye was dominant). Apparently if your dominant eye is on a different side to your dominant hand, it messes up your concept of left and right explains a lot in my case anyway

[BrideXIII]

lovely sentiments bride, very interesting!

not sure about 'lovely' practical and heartfelt though.

[BrideXIII]

Yeah, I do that too! My Oh is constantly saying (for example) "Left. No, OTHER Left." Apparently you can be not only right or left handed, but right or left eyed too - I only found that out when I did some archery and the instructor told me to try the bow left-handed because I was in the habit of closing my right eye to shoot the arrow (my left eye was dominant). Apparently if your dominant eye is on a different side to your dominant hand, it messes up your concept of left and right explains a lot in my case anyway

ooohhh errrr that explains a lot, my left eye is the one i close, but my right hand is dominant! ( although i can write with both, but i trained myself to do that)