Gardening Astrology
Welcome to Gardening Astrology, if you haven’t tried it before. The astrologers Stephanie Johnson and Jennifer Matthews (Victoria and New South Wales, Australia) and gardener, author and astrology fan Louise Moran (England) join us for this Astrology Show special.
Taurus rules food, and also money. You’ll also see two experiments – planting silverbeet, parsley and a Japanese onion – on the New Moon. We’ll have before-and-after clips on YouTube so we can see how Mark Ferguson, Richard O’Gorman and Jane Pirkis fared with their New Moon planting experiment. And – you can try this any time. Will lunar lore work for you?
Here is a list of all the Lunar Cycles for gardening in 2020: we start with a New Moon (always a new beginning) and then check growth when the New Moons are trine the original position. We also check the Full Moon, a time of reckoning. We stick to the same element groups – so the first example, April 23rd 2020, is about Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn (earth).
This is a twist on some old astrological ideas, but it works very well for ‘planting’ and ‘seeding’ projects and plans in career and business, so let’s apply this to gardening. Maybe you’ll see the required amount of sunshine and rainfall cluster on these days.
Check Your Gardening Progress by the Lunar Cycle
April 23rd 2020: New Moon in Taurus.
New Moon in Virgo September 17th, Full Moon in Taurus October 31st, New Moon in Capricorn January 13th 2021.
May 22nd: New Moon in Gemini
New Moon in Libra October 16th, Full Moon in Gemini November 30th, New Moon in Aquarius February 11th 2021.
(We skip June’s New Moon in Cancer because it is an eclipse).
New Moon in Cancer July 20th, New Moon in Scorpio November 15th, Full Moon in Cancer December 30th, New Moon in Pisces March 13th 2021.
New Moon in Leo August 19th, New Moon in Sagittarius December 14th, Full Moon in Leo January 28th 2021, New Moon in Aries April 12th 2021
New Moon in Virgo September 17th, New Moon in Capricorn January 13th 2021, Full Moon in Virgo February 27th 2021, New Moon in Taurus May 11th 2021.
New Moon in Libra October 16th, New Moon in Aquarius February 11th 2021, Full Moon in Libra March 28th 2021, New Moon in Gemini June 10th 2021 (Eclipse – there may be a blind spot or missing information about the final result).
New Moon in Scorpio November 15th, New Moon in Pisces March 13th 2021, Full Moon in Scorpio April 27th 2021, New Moon in Cancer July 10th 2021.
New Moon in Sagittarius December 14th 2020, New Moon in Aries April 12th 2021, Full Moon in Sagittarius May 26th 2021 (Eclipse – expect a blind spot) New Moon in Leo August 8th 2021.
Conceiving, Creating on New Moons
The New Moon is about new beginnings in general, not just growing silverbeet or afalfa sprouts. The Sun (father) and Moon (mother) are conjunct, or joined at the same degree, in the same zodiac sign. They are conceiving something. Creating something, or making it. We’ll look at every New Moon this year, and invite you to plant or sow seeds – as part of an experiment @astrology show. You can join us on YouTube – look for Jessica Adams’ astrology.
Astrological Wisdom – New Moons in Focus
Louis MacNeice (Astrology, Bloomsbury Books, London 1989) educated a whole generation of professional astrologers with his work. “In the Renaissance it was thought that dreams come true when the Moon is in any of the four “fixed” signs – Taurus, Leo, Aquarius and Scorpio” he noted.
I think, as a fellow astrologer, it’s because you can literally ‘fix’ things. Fix a plan. Fix an issue. There are some interesting New Moons in Leo and Scorpio in 2020 you may want to use. You can pick up the dates for these, in a moment.
Amy Herring on the Moon
Essential Astrology by Amy Herring (Llewellyn Publications, Woodbury, Minnesota 2017) is an excellent guide to your horoscope. She writes “The Moon reveals the ways that we want to care for others and be cared for ourselves.” So true.
Is this why gardeners who talk to their plants, and (by hand) nurture and care for them, watering them, feeding them and sheltering them – do better?
That New Moon in Taurus on April 23rd 2020 and You
As Taurus rules business, and the Moon is ‘taking care’ this was a Taking Care of Business moon. A new start, as a New Moon always is. Yet, with Uranus also in Taurus, this was not business as usual. It was business as ‘unusual’ if you like. Now, the golden rule with astrology is that the Full Moon in the same sign is the answering call. So, we have a Full Moon in Taurus on October 31st, 2020 which is also Halloween. And whatever you ‘planted’ or ‘seeded’ will have an outcome then, if you did it on 23rd April 2020. It’s the same for big announcements, launches or beginnings in public life. Watch Halloween.
Photo by Blake Wheeler
The Natural House System
If you use the Natural House System (as a Premium Member your personal birth chart automatically uses it) then this New Moon in Taurus will have been in your Second House of charity, money, property, possessions, business.
Robert Hand, writing in Planets in Transit (Whitford Press, 2001, PA) suggests “This is a time when you emotionally identify with your possessions or whatever you value.” You know, the first edition of Hand’s book came out in 1976 and it still works. So, whatever was going on in your life around April 23rd will have long-term financial impact. With an outcome at Halloween 2020. This applies to the people around you too. And the big organisations.
Key words for Taurus, apart from bullion and bull markets, include – business, finance, houses, apartments, eBay, exchange, barter, donation, hoarding, donation, charity, philanthropy, share markets, ownership, insurance, legacies, wills, shopping, sales, debt, credit – you get the picture.
Extract from 2020 Vision – The Moon and You
I wrote 2020 Vision (Penguin Viking, Australia, 2008) before my next book, 2020 Astrology: Your Five Year Horoscope Guide. Both times I was fixated on this year because, of these particular New Moon cycles, which were picking up Uranus (revolutionary, radical change) but also Pluto (sweeping transformation).
My old Penguin book is out of print, and quite expensive and difficult to find now, but here is an edited extract, about the kind of New Moon we’re seeing on April 23rd. I hope it’s useful for you. Apply this to astrology gardening or just life itself.
THE CYCLES OF THE MOON
The Moon, by itself (neither eclipsed, nor full, nor new) always delivers someone, or something, to nurse. It describes the need to protect and nurture people, animals, projects, plans – or yourself. If you feel like being ‘babied’ now, it will be in connection with the life areas being triggered by the Moon. As the Moon passes through your Second House, for example, you may need to give yourself extra T.L.C (or ask other people for it) because your financial situation is making you feel vulnerable. As the Moon passes through your Tenth House, you may find yourself tending to the boss – or taking the afternoon off, so that you can ‘nanny’ yourself and your current career issues! In all Moon cycles, you can learn some incredibly important lessons from your inner child, but also from the people around you who require your care and protection. As you might expect, the Moon passing through a particular sign and house can bring babyish, childish behaviour – but also trigger strong maternal instincts. It’s about neediness, but also the need we all have to feel needed! The Moon automatically sets up situations where someone gives, and someone (or something) else takes. It can be a tender, emotional and instructive time if everyone gets it right, but if the demands are too much, or the ‘giver’ is going overboard, the Moon’s emotional pull may need to be monitored and managed. Nevertheless, if all concerned get it right, the childlike, innocent, vulnerable feelings feelings which emerge now will educate you and open your eyes.
THE CYCLES OF THE NEW MOON
At this time, the Sun and Moon come together and operate as a team. This is an extremely good time to begin new plans, because what you organise now will faithfully meet the needs of your left brain and right brain, at the same time! The mind, body and spirit will be working together in the most amazing way, over the two days that the New Moon is operating. Consequently, you can charge ahead without any of the mixed feelings, contradictions or inner conflicts that can get in the way of progress at other times. If you are one of those people who tend to live in their heads, the New Moon will ground you, and put you back in touch with your body. Equally, if you often ignore your brain, in favour of your body, you’ll now become aware that both sides of you are finally working together. When the New Moon is in your Sixth House, you will have a unique opportunity to find a workable lifestyle choice, medical option, eating plan, or alternative health practise. You’ll understand the principles of holistic medicine more fully, when the New Moon is in your Sixth, and be able to launch a new way to work and live, that accommodates all of you. When the New Moon is in your Seventh House, you’ll often be facing a different phase in your marriage or relationship, or dating someone new. It’s a good time to make relationship choices, because your need for sex, and comfort, and physical closeness will dovetail with your ego, your spirit, your essence and your soul. You’ll feel ‘together’ in a way that’s quite unusual, when a New Moon arrives – total focus and certainty is now easy to achieve.
New Moons are Emotional – Shirley Soffer
The Astrology Sourcebook by Shirley Soffer (Lowell House, Los Angeles, 1998) is a great resource no matter if you are an experienced or beginner astrologer.
“We are all familiar with the Moon’s tug on the sea, which causes the tides to change. But the Moon also tugs on the waters of our physical body,” she writes, “causing our emotions to change. When we are emotional we cry, secrete, perspire and salivate; our blood itself is stirred.” Soffer puts it really well, doesn’t she?
New Moons, when the Sun is in conjunction with the Moon, and Full Moons, when the Sun is opposite the Moon, can be emotional times. This is especially true if you know that any New Moon or Full Moon will fall on the same degree (number) and in the same zodiac sign as anything in your chart. If you are a Premium Member you can always check that in your extended weekly horoscope.
Photo by Christian Joudrey
The Moon, Gardening and Astrology Rhythms
The Dictionary of Symbols, from Penguin was written by two Frenchmen, Jean Chevalier and Alain Gheerbrant.
It has been with us since 1969 and is a great resource. They write that “The Moon is a symbol of life-rhythms: a body which waxes, wanes and disappears…The Moon also symbolises passing time, living time, which it measures by its successive and regular phases.” This is why we associate the lunar cycle with steady and slow growth, like a pot of mint producing leaves
Louise Moran – Astrology Gardening in Britain
Reader Louise Moran, who is green-fingered, but also interested in the impact of astrological cycles on her life and times (and her garden) is our guest for this episode, too. You can email her about her new astrological gardening diary – to be published in 2020 – at this address: [email protected].
“As a child I spend time on the allotment with my grandad, popping peas, digging up potatoes or picking blackberries to take home to mum to make jam, wine or crumble. Gardening is inherent in me, as it is all of us.
I was very ill after the birth of my son, Luke… At that time gardening and especially planting seeds was important, to see them sprout and grow gave me hope that I had a future as I nearly did not make it twice.
Recovery was long and slow; I was not able to work as I had before due to fatigue. I could garden for an hour or so and have short walks with my camera.
I love and now appreciate even more the ability to be in nature and the importance of our gardens and green spaces for our wellbeing and the health of our planet.
I have followed astrology as far back as I can remember with Jonathan Cainer and Russell Grant.
The new moon in the Earth sign of Taurus in April with the sun starting its journey in Taurus is zig-zagging with positive energy, asking us to start something new and practical: Mother nature needs our help.
We are locked in and shut down, the one thing we can do is spend time in our gardens and green spaces for exercise. We could now be sowing the seeds for fruition at the farmers markets by the full moon in Taurus at the end of October.
A nice one to start with is beetroot as they grow as well in pots on a balcony as they do in the garden. Sow some seeds in compost in an old plastic or tin food tray, if you have no flowerpots. Put them on top of a warm radiator near a sunny window and they will soon sprout. Giving you time to find a pot or a place in your garden. They will need potting on and hardening off before they are planted out.
Your monthly challenge? How about a bee watch the next time you are out walking. Herts wildlife trust have a great website full of things to do in isolation. Here is the link to a bee chart you can download and print, to see how many bees you can identify.
Every month on The Astrology Show we plant ideas, visions, plants and much more, on the New Moon. If you would like to be featured in our May 2020 show, please follow @astrologyshow and send Alicia a Direct Message for details.
Photo by Nick Collins
For Australian Readers – Jennifer Matthews on Beetroot
Jennifer is a widely experienced gardener whose interest in complementary therapies and astrology goes back many years. In fact, she runs a local group in Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.
These are her words of wisdom on those of you who are planting beetroot on the New Moon. Another excellent Australian astrology gardening website, recommended to us, is Aussie Organic Gardening.
Podcast: Growing Beetroot
Click player to listen to audio.
Copyright Jennifer Matthews 2020
Stephanie Johnson on Astrological Gardening
Planting by the lunar cycle becomes easier once you use state-of-the-art software programs, tailored to suit you. Stephanie, one of our brilliant tutors at The Sun Sign School www.sunsignschool.com has created a podcast about using the Moon – and particularly the Moon cycle of April 2020. Remember that idea about Taurus being a fixed sign. So – it’s time to ‘fix’ things.
Even if you are listening to this later in 2020, check back with your emails (dated) or your diary – and see what you were starting, around April 23rd, 2020. That New Moon in Taurus will have an outcome for you at Halloween 2020.
Podcast: Taurus New Moon With Stephanie Johnson
Click player to listen to audio.
Copyright Stephanie Johnson 2020
Margaret Thatcher’s Chosen Gardener – and Moon Gardening
The well-known Cornwall gardener John Harris, singled out by the former British Prime Minister Margaret 
Thatcher as 10 Downing Street’s next green thumb – also uses the Moon. His wonderful book about a lifetime spent gardening on a vast estate, using lunar lore, is essential reading if you are really curious about how to use the full cycle of the New Moon and Full Moon, with the quarters, to monitor what you are growing. John writes, “We all know that Earth is influenced by the moon. But so is the earth in your garden, and all the plants that grow from it.” Harris claims that his career as head gardener at the beautiful Tresillian Estate has been helped by something as simple as knowing the moon’s phases – even if you just have a handful of seed, a fork, a hoe and an allotment. When Margaret Thatcher visited the estate in 1990 Harris tells a funny story about her sending her aides scuttling away while she spent 20 minutes talking about plants, instead of politics. Sadly, Harris never did bring his moon gardening to 10 Downing Street, because the Prime Minister was replaced by John Major a few weeks later. Still, it’s a good anecdote and this is a great book, available at www.amazon.co.uk.
Testing New Moon Gardening – Full or New?
I believe a New Moon is the time to plant anything – herbs, beetroot, ideas, relationships or a business. Gardening astrology is divided on the subject of a New Moon, though.
According to one theory, plants that are sown in the few days before a full moon become stronger and more productive. So, although many astrologers like me claim a New Moon is the time to plant, reaping (hopefully) a bumper crop at the Full Moon about six months later – some disagree. The pro Full Moon gardeners claim that the gravitational force of the full moon affects the level of groundwater in the soil, just as it does the level of the oceans.
Then Again, It Depends
Some almanacs suggest it’s not just the Moon phase, it’s the type of vegetable or fruit that counts. Thus here:
To plant by the Moon, follow these guidelines:
- Plant your annual flowers and fruit and vegetables that bear crops above ground (such as corn, tomatoes, watermelon, and zucchini) during the waxing of the Moon—from the day the Moon is new to the day it is full. As the moonlight increases night by night, plants are encouraged to grow leaves and stems.
Testing the New Moon in Fitzroy, Australia
Jane Pirkis, author of Who Weed on That Weed, with Richard O’Gorman (Red Pillarbox Books/Apostrophe Press) and the dog co-star of the book, Kipper O’Gorman, planted silverbeet and parsley seeds on the exact night of the New Moon in Taurus on April 23rd, 2020. Jane is a Gemini and Richard is a Cancerian, but the Taurus New Moon was about food and money .
So with any luck, Jane and Richard could collect a huge amount of silverbeet and parsley on the Full Moon in Taurus, on 31st October 2020 (Halloween) and sell it at the market. Or maybe just eat it and save on takeaway! They used recycled filing cabinets (Taurus rules recycling) as their planting containers and stuck to the rules – putting seeds and seedlings down on the New Moon in Taurus, 23rd April 2020.
The clip is also on our YouTube channel and we’ll check back at the Full Moon in Taurus on October 31st, 2020 for Jane and Richard’s progress, to see if the old astrology theory is right. Does planting on a New Moon produce the best vegetables? (If they can keep the dogs off them?)
Replanting in Sydney – on the New Moon
Mark Ferguson and friend Jack tried replanting a previously unsuccessful Japanese plant for a favourite recipe – using chopsticks. Mark was hoping to see some New Moon results in 2-3 weeks (planting on his apartment balcony in the city) but according to astrology, the really amazing progress should be on the Full Moon, on Halloween. Will that April 23rd New Moon come good on October 31st or will Mark see Taurus rewards before then? (He’s planning to use the crop in his favourite Japanese recipe). You can watch the video on our new YouTube channel.
Are You a Premium Member?
Download your 2020 Moon Guide now, if you haven’t already. This is an exclusive addition to your 2020-2021 Astrology Journal. Let Alicia and I know your progress @astrologyshow #astrologygardening #newmoon – and happy planting. Try every New Moon of the year and remember to use those lunar cycle dates to check for growth spurts.
Featured Image By: Devi Puspita Amartha Yahya
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11 Responses
Hi Jessica
This new moon will semi sextile my natal jupiter in gemini at 3 degree. Plus a lot of factors at 2 degrees. Can you tell me what unexpected to expect?!
It’s a very fleeting pattern but a New Moon is always a new beginning. The North Node going into Gemini is a bigger deal. From May 2020 onwards, through 2021 and early 2022, you will return to one or two languages you knew before in a previous life, either learning them or teaching them, and it will feel very familiar to you. You could call it your solid karma.
Thank you Jessica! Hope you are doing well.
Personally new moon and full moons when aspecting natal points have been life altering many times. So I always pay attention to them.
What should I be mindful about south node going over my natal saturn-uranus conjunction?
Thank you.
That’s big. From May 2020 when the South Node enters Sagittarius in the late degrees (going backwards, 29, 28, 27 Sagittarius) it will certainly form an exact conjunction with your natal Saturn-Uranus conjunction in your Ninth House. This is karma taking you back 19 years, and another 19 years, and so on (into past lives). You will rediscover a long-lost connection to a foreign nationality or country, and spend 2020, 2021 settling up past life debts and credits. You may be owed, spiritually, or you may owe – on some level. You will recognise this as soon as it happens. Saturn-Uranus in Sagittarius is shared by a generation – your old schoolfriend in class – and you have all reincarnated to create a new ‘one world’ built on shared languages, and new understandings. Some of this goes back to the last war, when we also saw the Nodes in Gemini-Sagittarius. Have a look on Search for North Node in Gemini, South Node in Sagittarius for more. It will take time for closure but you will get it. Learning, teaching or publishing may be involved.
Jessica!
I have a mentor in my life currently, who is of a foreign background. Also natal sun in the sign of archer at 5-6 degrees. The link between us is genuine but the relationship is layered. My personal focus tarot cards for the months of both march and april have been queen of wands. And she actually carries a wand at the work place! This person is valuable to me as a mentor. But the uranian currents in my solar 7th house have made all my relationships (personal-professional) unpredictable! Can you please give me some psychic insights here? Thank you.
You are being taught by the Queen of Wands. Go back to the card and look again, assuming you are using Pamela’s illustration? You are missing the sunflower (Leo) the lions (Leo again and the Fifth House). Where are the children, teenagers or young adults in this story? That is your clue.
Hello Jessica,
The new moon will conjunct my south node in taurus and oppose my north node in Scorpio.
What should I expect from this dynamic?
I have had a tumoltous year proffesionally full of struggles, but as you predicted the situation got better after Jupiter went to Capricorn.
I hope and wish by year’s end 2020 to get promoted and relocate abroad.
Is this new moon an omen for a promotion at work?.
Thank you so much.
This is past life stuff, but it also goes back to life in about 2001-2002, and it’s really about karma. You need to settle up debts and credits, not so much directly about money, business, possessions or property – but spiritual. By that I mean, you owe others, or are owed. This may even go back into past lives. I am launching a special podcast on the North Node and South Node next Tuesday, April 28th for #TransformationTuesday so please be sure to listen on this website as it covers the meaning of the Nodes. Taurus rules your own values. Your ethics and principles. Your bottom line, philosophically, spiritually or intellectually. You don’t sell out for – what? Scorpio is about other people. The family, often, or a former, current or potential partner. People you name in a legacy, but others whose legacies also name you. When we have a New Moon here, it’s a brand new start. You want a promotion and a new job abroad. You need to wait to see what the new rules are, globally, and that won’t happen until the South Node moves to Sagittarius (emigration, travel, visas) which happens in the first half of May. So, your future depends on the whole world, actually, and that brand new global system which is emerging.
Thank you dear Jessica for your useful advice and insights.
I will come back and ask you on the same issue once the nodes have changed.
Stay healthy.
Juno
Hi, Jessica
I want to start learning Astrology using your free Introduction to Astrology post. Is this practical? For people who use Astrology, this sounds practical but not for many people. And giving that Astrology doesn’t judge, I’m wondering if it is practical.
Thank you for your work and hope your gardening goes well!!!
It’s absolutely practical to start learning astrology with our free weekly class. If you want to start at the beginning (we commenced in March) feel free to go back to the start. Or, repeat as you wish. The next step up from this is The Sun Sign School, with some amazing tutors…