The new moon was this morning. This is a good day to begin a new project or put in motion something you’ve been planning. As the name suggests, the new moon is perfect time to start something new. This is because the energy of the moon moving to fullness will influence the flow and fruition of your project.

There is no place better to witness the effects of the moon than in nature. Both low tides and high tides are at their maximum during the new moon (as well as the full moon). The moisture levels in the ground also fluctuate in response to the moon. The new moon drawing more moisture up to higher levels in the ground. Because of the increased moisture and the energetic aspects of creating fullness, the time between the new moon and the full moon is perfect for planting seeds.

I find that seeds germinate faster when the moon is moving towards fullness. You can plant on the new moon, but really anytime between the new and the full moon is fine. In fact, for seeds that only take a week to germinate, I’d recommend just a few days before the moon is full. I once seeded out some basil, which typically takes 5 to 10 days to germinate, and I was seeing sprouts in under 48 hours!

Last week I prepared my garden bed (See June 21 post) and  installed a mini-sprinkler line  Now I’m ready to plant.  So what do I plant?

When I first came to Phoenix I relied on the Urban Farmer’s Low Desert Planting and Harvesting Calendar.  I was new to this climate and needed all the help I could get picking the right plant for the season.  However, I’ve found that some of their recommendations are not right on for me.  For instance, squash and pumpkins planted in the summer never produced for me, but the tomatoes I planted in August did great.

I’ll try the squash again.  It would be nice to have pumpkins in October.  Although I’m thinking an August planting might be a better idea.  I suspect corn will do great as well as the sunflower.  And I’ll put out some watermelon.  They will look good climbing up the fence.  I already have some volunteers in the back yard.  I even ate my first watermelon a couple of weeks ago.  I saw a packet of Nasturtium in my collection, but found via a quick internet search I will have to wait for it to cool down to plant those.

If you want other ideas – basil is fantastic all summer long (but I have so many volunteers I wouldn’t dream of planting that).  In fact if you want some nice lemon basil, just stop by!  Let me know what you like to plant in the summer…