Thank you for your patience, dear readers. Today, we have a practical walkthrough for planting by the signs.
The crops: Potatoes, tomatoes, and beans
Starting date: 1 March 2010
Planting zone: 6
I include the planting zone because this version of planting by the signs will depend a little on frost-free dates. Whatever the last frost free date is for your zone, you’ll want to use that as your guideline. Everything I am about to explain is based on my area’s frost-free date around the 1st of April.
And we’re off!
Date(s): March 18-19, 23-24
Action(s): Plant sprouting seeds (tomatoes and beans) indoors in greenhouse, or sunny window pots.
Why: Taurus, Cancer, and Pisces are three of the best signs for planting, particularly above-ground crops. While March 13-14th does have the moon entering Pisces, it’s also the tail end of a waning moon, which can inhibit growth. Instead, the waxing first quarter on the 18-19th when the moon enters Taurus ensures sprouting in a fruitful, moist sign with a healthy increasing moon to encourage growth. The 23-24th would also be reasonable for a later start to planting, when the moon is in Cancer and a waxing 3rd quarter.
Date(s): March 20-21, 27-28
Action(s): Cultivate, till, clear weeds.
Why?: The barren signs—Aries, Gemini, Leo, Virgo, Sagittarius, and Aquarius—are best for cultivating the soil, as planting during these times leads to less fruitful yields or no growth at all. Because I will likely be sprouting seeds on the 18-19th, I like to prep the soil soon afterwards. True, the moon is waxing and almost full, so it might be better to wait until a dark moon/new moon to do so, but that would lead to a later planting, which I don’t want. Cultivating the soil is less affected by the moon than planting is, so it’s less of a worry to me what phase the moon is in.
Date(s): April 5-6, 10-11
Action(s): Plant potatoes.
Why?: The best sign for planting potatoes is Capricorn, a dry, productive Earth sign. The moon enters Capricorn on the 5-6th, so that is a good time to plant them, but it is also worth paying attention to the moon phase here. It’s only in its 3rd quarter, which isn’t the best for potatoes. The “old” moon, or fourth quarter right before the new moon, is a great time for planting root crops (and also for gathering them, but we’ll get to that). On the 10-11th, the moon is “old” and the sign is Pisces, which is good for planting in general, and especially for root growth. Yes, I know I said a waning moon in Pisces was not great for growth just a bit ago, but that was for my sprouting crops. My root crops should do just fine.
Date(s): April 15-16, 20-21, 28
Action(s): Transplant sprouts (if big enough) into garden bed. Make sure you are past your frost-free date for this, and if your sprouts aren’t big enough, wait a few weeks before transplanting. Check root growth before planting, too. Beans will likely be ready by now, but tomatoes may have to wait a while.
Why?: The best signs for planting and transplanting are Taurus, Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. Pisces, as we noted with potatoes, is in a waning moon however, so I ruled those dates out for planting. Taurus is a great sign for planting and comes right as the moon begins waxing on the 15-16th, so that’s a great time to plant. The 20-21st is ruled by Cancer, and is another good planting time with a waxing moon. The 28th is a full moon in Scorpio, and probably the best day for transplanting tomatoes (sturdy vines like Scorpio for some reason).
Date(s): May 13-14, 17-18, 26-27
Action(s): Transplant sprouts if they weren’t big enough in April.
Why?: This is the same progression of signs (Taurus, Cancer, Scorpio) from April, with the same waxing-to-full moon phase pattern.
From here, it could get a bit tangled if I tried to keep explaining individual plantings the way I have been, because germination times are going to vary. Most plants will be fruiting between 60-90 days, but that’s still a big window, and you will likely continue to have growth after the initial fruiting (if you live in a zone with 200+ growing days like me, you hopefully will get at least two good harvests). So what I’m going to do next is describe a specific activity (such as pruning, harvesting fruit, harvesting roots, etc.) and give you a date along with the sign. If you want a good description of each of the signs individually and why I’ve selected the dates I have, a concise description of moon signs and their properties can be found here. I put information on New and Full Moons where I can, but you may need to look up at the sky a few times before making decisions about harvesting.
Weeding (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Aquarius)
June – 2-3 (Aquarius), 6-7 (Aries), 11-12 (Gemini), 15-17 (Leo), 28-29 (Aquarius)
July – 3-4 (Aries), 8-9 (Gemini), 12-13 (Leo), 25-27 (Aquarius)
August – 1 (Aries), 4-5 (Gemini), 8-9 (Leo), 21-23 (Aquarius), 27-28 (Aries)
September – 1-2(Gemini), 5-6 (Leo), 18-9 (Aquarius), 23-24 (Aries), 28-29 (Gemini)
Fertilizing (Capricorn)
June – 25-27 (Full Moon on 26th)
July – 23-24
August – 19-20
Harvesting Fruit (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Aquarius) (Full-to-Waning Moons are best for harvesting)
June – 2-3 (Aquarius), 6-7 (Aries), 11-12 (Gemini), 15-17 (Leo), 28-29 (Aquarius)
July – 3-4 (Aries), 8-9 (Gemini), 12-13 (Leo), 25-27 (Aquarius, Full Moon on 25th)
August – 1 (Aries), 4-5 (Gemini), 8-9 (Leo), 21-23 (Aquarius), 27-28 (Aries)
September – 1-2(Gemini), 5-6 (Leo), 18-9 (Aquarius), 23-24 (Aries, Full Moon on 24th), 28-29 (Gemini)
Harvesting Roots/Tubers (Aries, Gemini, Leo, Aquarius) (Waning-to-New Moons are best for harvesting)
June – 2-3 (Aquarius), 6-7 (Aries), 11-12 (Gemini), 15-17 (Leo), 28-29 (Aquarius)
July – 3-4 (Aries), 8-9 (Gemini), 12-13 (Leo), 25-27 (Aquarius)
August – 1 (Aries), 4-5 (Gemini), 8-9 (Leo, New Moon on 9th), 21-23 (Aquarius), 27-28 (Aries)
September – 1-2(Gemini), 5-6 (Leo), 18-19 (Aquarius), 23-24 (Aries), 28-29 (Gemini)
There are all sorts of other aspects of this that I could go into, such as when to can, when to plant herbs, etc. If there’s enough interest in this topic, I might do more on it, but for now, this should give you a fairly solid overview of the process as it would happen this year.
The signs don’t just affect planting and harvesting, by the way. Seasonal hunting, fishing, and building projects can be coordinated astrologically, and there are lots of healing techniques and beliefs associated with specific signs. Maybe someday I’ll get around to writing about those, but for now I hope you’ve enjoyed this little discourse on planting by the signs.
Thanks for reading!
-Cory
New World Witchery - The Search for American Traditional Witchcraft 
You know, understanding the universe, its common sense to plant according to star alignment. I’ve never really done it though so I appreciate this information.