Planting by the moon

Not by moonlight, but by the cycle of the moon!   What seems like many years ago, but was probably our first spring here, Manolo came round one day asking if it was creciente  - what crescent?  de la luna   he said as if that made it any more obvious.  But what he was referring to was an age old custom of doing things by the cycle of the moon, when it's rising you plant things that grow up - leafy, herby types of plants - and when it's a waning moon you plant root vegetables.   There's more to it than that, but basically that seems to be how it works.

I was reminded of this a couple of weeks ago when I saw a link to this website about planting according to the different moon phases and  I read it meaning to try something and see if it grew any quicker than expected.  I sent the link on to a friend and then forgot all about it....when I next saw her she said thanks for the moon guide, the coriander and parsley both appeared after 2 days!  Really quick, especially for parsley which  is apparently very slow to germinate and I find almost impossible to grow! 

I've had a look for this week and it seems I have a bit of a break from planting as the moon is in it's last quarter and we can concentrate on digging, weeding and composting.    Apart from today that is as I have a day off  'cos it's my birthday.

Opened my cards and a present over breakfast, went out for a coffee and then spent some money on myself,  then later we had lunch and  drinks with  friends.  Another lovely sunny day, clear blue skies and not a sign of autumn yet.  Long may it last.