August 2024 Overview – Planting By The Signs

PBTS NOTE: Following the Quick Takes for your easy reference we have the August Overview. I remind you that the zodiac signs don’t change precisely when the bell tolls midnight on the day mentioned. If you are online, search for and load one of the apps that tells you the precise time of the change.

QUICK TAKES

Aug. 1-2, VERY fertile, Cancer/breast, below-grounders
Aug. 3-4, NO PLANTING, killing sign Leo/heart
Aug. 4, moon moves to light phase, 7:13 a.m.
Aug. 5-9, flowering signs Virgo/bowels and Libra/reins
Aug. 10-12, VERY fertile, Scorpio/secrets, above-grounders
Aug. 13-18, fertile, Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees, Aquarius/legs, above-grounders
Aug. 19, moon moves to dark phase, 2:26 p.m., below-grounders until new moon Sept. 2, 9:56 p.m.
Aug. 19-20, VERY fertile, Pisces/feet, below-grounders, make changes (see more below)
Aug. 21-22, NO PLANTING, killing sign Aries/head
Aug. 23-24, VERY fertile, Taurus/breast, below-grounders
Aug. 25-27, Gemini/arms, bean sign
Aug. 28-29, VERY fertile, Cancer/breast, below-grounders
Aug. 30-31, killing sign Leo/heart

AUGUST OVERVIEW

MOON PHASES: August begins and ends with the moon in the dark phase. It moves from dark to light with the new moon arriving at 7:13 a.m. on Aug. 4 and then back to the dark phase with the full/dark moon at 2:26 p.m. on Aug. 19 and until the new moon at 9:56 p.m. Sept. 2.
When the light moon is in force, plant above-ground producers and it’s below-ground producers when the dark moon rules.
Don’t plant when either of the killing signs, Aries and Leo, is in force or veggies when the flowering signs Virgo and Libra rule since they are bloom days.

Planting when the fertile signs rule is a viable alternative to the VERY fertile signs, which are Scorpio, Pisces, Taurus, and Cancer. The fertile ones – just a little below VERY fertile – are Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius.

If you can only utilize one aspect of the system for planting, I would suggest going with the moon phases but still completely avoid the killing signs Aries and Leo and the flowering signs Virgo and Libra for anything but flowers.

THE SIGNS: Check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information above and on any calendar) before planting anywhere, or other moon-related activities. August began with two VERY fertile days, but they have passed. Here’s where we are now with a pair of killing days.

VERY FERTILE DAYS: These signs are accompanied by the phase of the moon in which they occur. Cancer (the breast), Aug. 1-2, 28-29, all dark moon; Scorpio (the secrets), 10-12, light moon; Pisces (the feet), Aug. 19-20, dark moon; and Taurus (the neck), Aug. 23-24, dark moon. There are 11 days in August ruled by the VERY fertile signs and all but the three Scorpio days, Aug. 10-12 that are under the light moon, find the dark moon in force.

KILLING DAYS: No planting, transplanting, seeding, re-potting or dealing with things you want to thrive should occur on these days. Reserve them for anything but planting anywhere. No planting! Here’s when they rule: Leo (the heart), Aug. 3-4, 30-31, and Aries (the head) Aug. 21-22. There are six days in August ruled by these two signs.

FLOWERING DAYS: Aug. 5-9, Virgo (bowels, three days) and Libra (reins, two). No veggies on flowering days. Some want to debate that for some veggies, but as for me, I’m sticking with no veggies.

FERTILE DAYS: Sagittarius (the thighs), Aug. 13-14; Capricorn (the knees), Aug. 15-16; and Aquarius (the legs), Aug. 17-18. There are six days in August ruled by these three signs all with the light moon ruling.

BEAN/PEA DAYS: Gemini (the arms), the bean/pea sign, rules Aug. 25-27. The dark moon rules all of these days, making half the equation right.

MAKING CHANGES: As promised, the number of perfect days for making changes continues to dwindle in August. Part of Aug. 19, all of the 20th, and most of the 21st is the perfect stretch. The moon moves to the dark phase on Aug. 19 at 2:26 p.m., through most of Aug. 21, since the sign doesn’t move to Aries/head until 7:06 p.m. In the middle you have all of the 20th! The moon is in the dark phase and the sign is in Pisces/feet.

Changes might include starting a diet or exercise program, stopping smoking or other unhealthy habits, weaning small children or animals, scheduling elective surgery or dental work – anything requiring us to do something differently from the way we are doing it now.

POURING GRAVEL: If you have gravel to pour on a drive or road on your farm, do that when the light moon rules, which is Aug. 4-18.