A Seed Saver's Garden

Decoy1 · 2026-04-19T01:22:28-0500

heirloomgal said:
I'm thinking sowing is the putting of seeds in soil and planting as transferring seedlings into the outdoor garden? I'm not 100% sure. I'm not even certain the last 2 days were ideal for potting up into bigger containers, or what that's called on the calendar? I guess I'm pretty loosey goosey when it comes to everything but 'rest' days when you aren't supposed to sow seeds. I have tried to align planting carrots in the 'root vegetable' sowing window too. I guess it's a bit of a juggle between fitting things in those lunar windows and seasonal time constraints.

Yes, I definitely reckon to use the two words in that way - sowing for seeds and planting for plants. I find it difficult when I hear the word ‘plant’ used for what I think of as sowing. Quite useful to have a clear distinction between the two I think.

I’ve always sown and planted as and when time, opportunity and nature allow. For me, introducing a further constraint would just be too much of a handicap. One day, I’ll perhaps monitor and see whether no sowing days create poor results but until then I’ll just muddle on!

heirloomgal · 2026-04-19T14:11:51-0500

Decoy1 said:
Yes, I definitely reckon to use the two words in that way - sowing for seeds and planting for plants. I find it difficult when I hear the word ‘plant’ used for what I think of as sowing. Quite useful to have a clear distinction between the two I think.

I’ve always sown and planted as and when time, opportunity and nature allow. For me, introducing a further constraint would just be too much of a handicap. One day, I’ll perhaps monitor and see whether no sowing days create poor results but until then I’ll just muddle on!

Me too, I always hesitated to consider the lunar calendar in my sowing plans because I usually feel like my plate is full as it is, without yet another consideration to have to factor in. It was when I was planting some ground cherries a few years ago & noticed a big shift in germination rates when planted in one window and then another that I started to be willing to think about it. And physalis can be a stubborn family to germinate, so I was impressed. It went from about 20% to 100%. I was shocked that perfectly fresh seeds from just the year before germinated so differently when planted inside vs outside the 'appropriate' window.

It also leads me to the conclusion that the less domesticated a species is, the more sensitivity it will have to the lunar calendar though. This is (I think) why people do so well generally planting without thinking about the moon phases. My guess is that when you get into wilder crop seeds like perennial allium seeds, hablitzia etc it's probably more important than say tomatoes, which germinate at the drop of a hat. Domestication likely reduced the impact of lunar influence, since we select ease of germination as a trait.

Another strange factor in all this has been - strangely - my dog. A beagle with nose to the ground so much, he inhales microscopic parasites easily. I've had to stay on top of that, and rely on homeopathic medicines, which work in conjunction with moon cycles. I have to treat him based on the lunar calendar, as the parasites reproduce by it. The medicine is ineffective if I don't capture the right window beginning to end, and it's been enough years with this treatment that I can tell the moon phase we're in just by how my dog's behaving. How much overlap there is between those two things (seeds & microscopic organisms) though is the question I suppose.

heirloomgal · 2026-04-19T15:53:46-0500

I ordered some iris's online last night, now that is a first for me! I've come by the only 2 iris varieties I've ever grown by a neighbour giving me some, and I saw a nice one at a greenhouse 2 years ago. I only have one left now. So, seeing as I've been so happy with the remaining one (now that it bloomed so nicely last year) I decided to get some more. I love that iris are so hardy, and the blooms can be pillowy.

I'm really hoping the photos on the website are somewhat based in reality; I did my due diligence and researched each one independently. After much himming an hawing over the course of a couple evenings I made the final decision on what to get (not easy!). I don't think they'll ship until July, so there will be no blooms this year, but hopefully next.

Clearly, people are most enthusiastic about the smallest iris varieties because those were almost totally sold out, the biggest being the least sold out. So I probably got a few that will grow to the full 45 inches. Exciting!

Captain's Choice