The Monthly Moon: March

PLANTING DAYS OF MARCH

MARCH 7, 2015 | WENDIW | EDIT

The Ole Farmers Almanac  has been a resource for advice and lore for decades. As a Midwestern Farmers daughter, I was familiarized to at my Grandparent’s knee. Both my grandmothers were avid gardeners, recognized as the families elder for food storage and health. The Almanac was the most important book in the house concerning planting, harvesting and storing of the families food, as well as folk remedies for  every ailment known to man.  Both my Grandfathers were  renowned for their skill as ” Water Witches”  or ” dowsing.”  They, as farmers/ ranchers, were in charge of the large planting and butchering and general animal husbandry for the farm as was common among the  farmers of that time. They  consulted the “Almanac” as well before starting any major endeavor. I remember the Almanac dog-eared and stained poking from the pocket of his overalls as we walked the fields in the Spring.

The Farmers Almanac sections of Gardening by the Moon Calendar is determined by our age-old formula and applies generally to regions where the climate is favorable. Because the gardening calendar is based on the phase and position of the Moon, it is consistent across all growing zones. Recommended dates are still “weather permitting,” and you should talk with your local greenhouse or agricultural extension office for the optimal window of time within which to use these dates but the Almanac has always been the primary source of information for all things concerning planting.

6th-8th Fine for sowing grains, hay, and forage crops. Plant flowers. Favorable days for planting root crops.
9th-10th Start seedbeds. Good days for transplanting. Excellent time for planting root crops that can be planted now. Also good for leafy vegetables.
11th-13th Barren days, do no planting.
14th-15th Any root crops that can be planted now will do well.
16th-17th A barren period, best suited for killing plant pests. Do plowing and cultivating.
18th-19th Good for planting cucumbers, melons, pumpkins, and other vine crops. Set strawberry plants. Good days for transplanting. Favorable days for planting beets, carrots, radishes, salsify, turnips, peanuts, and other root crops.
20th-21st Cultivate and spray, do general farm work, but no planting.
22nd-23rd Favorable for planting crops bearing yield above the ground.
24th-25th Seeds planted now tend to rot in the ground.
26th-28th Excellent for sowing seedbeds and flower gardens. Best planting days for aboveground crops, especially peas, beans, cucumbers, and squash where climate permits.
29th-31st A most barren period, best for killing plant pests or doing chores around the farm.

The Old Farmer’s Almanac that contains information about the  weather, the tides, planting charts, and astronomy. It also contains recipes, and articles on a number of gardening and farming techniques, as well as the general agri-community life. The book also features anecdotes and a section that predicting trends in the coming year.

Released the second Tuesday in the September that precedes the year printed on its cover,The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been published continuously since 1792, making it the oldest continuously published periodically in North America