Cassis Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 What does anyone think about gardening by the phases of the moon?All the French gardening magazines have a moon calendar to guide the reader as to when it is best to plant and harvest root crops v. fruit v. other veg. Some of our neighbours swear by it but I can't for the life of me see how it can make a real difference compared to weather and planting conditions. I suppose it could be based on some idea of the moon's gravity acting on ground water and sap but ....[Www]PhilPS I have been told on two separate occasions that some French folk cut their hair by the phases of the moon .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Suandpete Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I've also heard about the hair cutting...The year before last we spent the whole spring/summer/autumn seasonsgardening strictly by the "moon" calendar - and apart from being atotal pain cos we couldn't do things that we wanted to on certain days,it seemed to make no appreciable difference at all. Yields werenot any better, weeds were not any less. So we've gone back toour more haphazard way of doing things when they seem to need to bedone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poppy Posted April 28, 2006 Share Posted April 28, 2006 I always follow the moon calendar. When we first came to France I was a bit cynical but have been caught out by too many frosts not to obey. Just when everything in the garden looked rosey we might have a frost this weekend. [6]JanLost in the Lot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted April 29, 2006 Author Share Posted April 29, 2006 Being oop north we tend to garden the same way as we did in the UK - we probably plant out frost-tender stuff only a couple of weeks earlier than we would have done there (Kent).I think it may be a little unfair to blame late frosts on the moon!Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted April 29, 2006 Share Posted April 29, 2006 I know that the a new moon can cause a change in the weather. There's anew moon this weekend. But not sure how this affects gardening.Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I thought to myself "Is that right?", and looked it up on Wikipedia. Where I found this:An approximate formula for the average time of New Moon N (conjunction) is,where D is the number of days (and fractions) since 2000-01-01 00:00:00 TT, and N is an integer.(Note that the number 29.53.. is the synodic month.)To obtain this moment expressed in Universal Time (world clock time) for future events (N>0), apply the following approximate correction: daysPeriodic perturbations change the time of true conjunction fromthese mean values. For all New Moons between 1601 and 2401, the maximumdifference is 0.592 days = 14h13m in either direction.The duration of a lunation (from New Moon to the next New Moon)varies in this period between 29.272 and 29.833 days, i.e. -0.259d =6h12m shorter, or +0.302d = 7h15m longer than average. This range issmaller than the difference between mean and true conjunction, becauseduring the lunation the periodic terms cannot all change to theirmaximum opposite value.I hope that clears something up - I've no idea what. I like the bit that says this is an approximate calculation!But does the weather really change at a new moon? I can't say I've ever noticed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 It's what I always go on Dick, what's your problem? [:-))] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Some geezer in New Zealand called Ken Ring reckons he can predict the weather by the moon, although his method seems to be keeping a weather diary rather than having any proper theory. He says on his website"So what causes cold? The main factors includeAphelion, Full and New moons, also perigees and apogee. In the picturetoo are the astrological aspects of some of the major planets, but theyare relatively minor compared with Moon position correlations."Yeah, right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tresco Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 But Mr Smith, don't the following words help you to be a bit less Yeah, right-ish, even after reading the words of Mr Ring?"The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Nope. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opas Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 WAKEY ! WAKEY! You should all have seen the moon last night with the times you were all sat posting.too late, you have missed it, you should have planted a golden grahams under your favorite tree before 8 am (french time of course) to reap your rewards! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceni Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 [quote user="Cassis"]What does anyone think about gardening by the phases of the moon?[/quote]Our farmer neighbour works his farm and his giant veg patches on this basis while accepting that sometimes soil conditions require a slight bending of the rules. Though some say that we live a good distance beyond nowhere.Try it, you have nothing to lose.John - who cannot tell his wax from his wanenot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patf Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 What about the full moon then? Where do you think the word lunaticcomes from? I once used to visit a psychiatric hospital where theylocked up the patients at full moon. Not here, in Malaya. And themenstrual cycle of some animals is triggered by the full moon. There'smore to this than meets the eye. Pat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted April 30, 2006 Author Share Posted April 30, 2006 Apparently the menstrual cycles of all the nuns in a given convent is identical. Not sure what that has to do with the moon, though!Maybe the full moon is associated with frosts because a full moon is more noticeable when the skies are clear and so there is more danger of frost.Pity the poor mental patients in Malaya - does that still go on, do you think, Pat?Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
saddie Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Well -- there was a new moon last night and we had a light frost! It is much colder this morning than of late. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-cat Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 [quote user="Cassis"]Apparently the menstrual cycles of all the nuns in a given convent is identical. Not sure what that has to do with the moon, though!Maybe the full moon is associated with frosts because a full moon is more noticeable when the skies are clear and so there is more danger of frost.Pity the poor mental patients in Malaya - does that still go on, do you think, Pat?Phil[/quote]It's always been know that the moon affects people with mental illness. One theory is that as we have such a high percentage of water, in our bodies, that any slight change in gravity (the same gravity that creates waves) affects the brain. As for the nuns - any large group of girls (be it in a school or just a large group of friends) will have their menstrual cycles at the same time (around the full moon) is again thought to be because we evolved from water based creatures - & the best time to be fertile, was at the high tide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted April 30, 2006 Author Share Posted April 30, 2006 We also had a light frost and these Golden Grahams were up bright and early. But the weather's been up and down on an almost daily basis this month. So is anyone suggesting that clear skies, which are the direct cause of the frost, might in some way be caused, in whole or in part, by the full moon? Because the previous full moon was overcast and mild here. But maybe Venus was in the ascendant.Phil and Jude (Graham) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cassis Posted April 30, 2006 Author Share Posted April 30, 2006 I know Ali meant tides, not waves - but hasn't it taken hundreds ofmillions of years for the moon to have that effect? The gravitationaleffect of the moon on a monthly basis is practically immesurable.Re nuns and groups of women, if it is a moon related phenomenon, why is it only when women are in a big group thattheir menstrual cycles coincide - why would it not be the same forwomen everywhere?Sorry, I still can't get my head around this moon theory![8-)]Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 The gravitational effect of the moon on the Earth is quite large, hence tides.There is no evidence at all for the moon affecting people's mental health. Read this: "Everything from increases in violent crime and psychotic behavior to stock market fluctuations has been blamed on the effects of the fully illuminated moon. In 19th century England, lawyers used the “guilty by reason of the full moon” defense to claim that their “lunatic” (based on the word “luna” which is Latin for “moon”) clients could not be held accountable for acting under the moon’s influence. In his 1978 best seller, How the Moon Affects You, psychiatrist Arnold Lieber argued rather unscientifically that the moon has an effect on the human body (which is 65 percent water) that is similar to its pull on the ocean’s tides. Despite these many assertions, scientists who have investigated the matter have come up empty-handed. University of Sydney researchers found no link to the moon’s cycle in two separate studies: one on violent or aggressive behavior, the other on number of dog bites that required hospitalization of a human. And in an analysis that ought to put to rest any lingering doubts, Ivan Kelly, a Psychologist at the University of Saskatchewan reviewed over 100 studies of lunar cycles and human behavior (including emergency room admissions and suicide attempts) and found nothing to suggest that humans are affected by Earth’s satellite. So why do 81% of mental health professionals, according to a University of New Orleans study, believe that lunar cycles affect human behavior? Part of the reason is historical: The illuminated moon played a more prominent role for our ancestors as both a calendar and a night-light. Before electric lighting became ubiquitous, a bright moon was more likely to disrupt sleep, producing widespread grouchiness. Kelly also cites what psychologists call “confirmation bias” which is a selective thinking process whereby we seek out information that confirms our beliefs and ignore evidence that challenges them. Says Kelly, “Some beliefs are just exciting to hold, whatever the evidence.” Marissa Kantor Psychology Today Magazine"Menstrual cycles - the same length, roughly, but they don't match lunar cycles, and not all women menstruate on the same day - we'd have noticed. National PMT day - no thanks.Mating and other behaviour of some animals - probablyBiorhythms - don't make me laugh! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-cat Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 Dick,You should know better than to believe everything you read on the Internet!! I read yesterday that John Prescott had an affair with a nice looking blond woman. Nah!! I'd never believe that could happen!! [Www]I have a friend who suffers from ME - she kept a diary for about 2 years & someone told her to compare it to the lunar cycle. Her moods swings matched virtually 100%. Makes you wonder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I may not believe the Internet, but I believe peer-reviewed journals and large-scale meta-studies.This method - keeping a diary - is about the worst 'science' that can be imagined! Re-read the article. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-cat Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 I didn't say that keeping a diary was "science" - maybe you should re-read mine! [:)] Only quoting something I had been told. I would also imagine that there are plenty of peer-reviewed studies which have found a link between the two - it just depends where you look & what you choose to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russethouse Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 We had a neighbour who was more prone to be argumentative and bad tempered when there was a full moon. It was noticable as the rest time he was an amiable chap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ali-cat Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 [quote user="Russethouse"]We had a neighbour who was more prone to be argumentative and bad tempered when there was a full moon. It was noticable as the rest time he was an amiable chap.[/quote]Thank you, Gay. I was worried that I was the only one who thought that, on here. Maybe I am going mad - & it's not even a full moon!! [:D] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Smith Posted April 30, 2006 Share Posted April 30, 2006 It is here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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