June 2024 Overview – Planting By The Signs

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

As I always have, I will continue to give the days when the signs change, and the time as found in my Almanac for the moon change. If you want it more precisely than the day, you’ll need to do a bit of homework.

All times given are Eastern Daylight and I am in USDA Planting Zone 7a. Adjust for your location. If you find any mistakes here – and that’s a real possibility – let me know and I will fix them!

QUICK TAKES

May 31-June 2: NO PLANTING, Aries/head/killing sign

June 3-4: VERY fertile, Taurus/neck, below-grounders

June 5-6: Bean/pea days, Gemini/arms; June 5/dark; June 6/light

June 6: MOON MOVES from dark to light phase, 8:38 a.m.

June 7-8: VERY fertile, Cancer/breast, above-grounders

June 9-11: NO PLANTING, killing sign Leo/heart rules

June 12-16: Flowering signs Virgo and Libra, bloom days

June 17-18: VERY fertile, Scorpio/secrets, above-grounders

June 19-25: Fertile – Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees, Aquarius/legs, above-grounders thru most of 21^st, below 22-July 5

June 21: MOON MOVES light to dark phase. 9:08 p.m.

June 26-27: VERY fertile, Pisces/feet, below-grounders

June 28-29: NO PLANTING, killing sign Aries/head rules

June 30-July 1: VERY fertile, Taurus/neck, below-grounders

JUNE OVERVIEW

MOON PHASES: June begins and ends with the moon in the dark phase. It moves from dark to light with the new moon arriving at 8:38 a.m. on June 6 and then back to the dark phase with the full moon at 9:08 p.m. on June 21.

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. June begins with a killing sign ruling, so that’s where we’ll start.

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: Aries (the head) June 1-2, 28-29; Leo (the heart), June 9-11. There are seven days in June ruled by these two signs – far too many in my opinion!

VERY FERTILE DAYS: These signs are accompanied by the phase of the moon in which they occur. Taurus (the neck), June 3-4, 30, all dark moon;  Cancer (the breast), June 7-8, light moon; Scorpio (the secrets), June 17-18, light moon; and Pisces (the feet), June 26-27, dark moon. There are nine days in June ruled by the VERY fertile signs – five under the dark moon and four with the light moon in force.

FERTILE DAYS (formerly called “so-so days”): Sagittarius (the thighs), June 19-20; Capricorn (the knees), June 21-22; and Aquarius (the legs), June 23-25. There are seven days again in June ruled by these three signs.

BEAN/PEA DAYS: Gemini (the arms), the bean/pea sign, rules June 5-6. The dark moon rules on June 5, making half the equation right, but the light moon is in force for most of June 6 making it a perfect day for bush or pole beans – light moon/Gemini ruling. If you want a fall crop of Southern peas, wait until after July 1 to plant them; and after Aug. 1 for snow peas.

FLOWERING DAYS: June 12-16, Virgo (bowels, two days) and Libra (reins, three). No veggies on flowering days. Some want to debate that for some veggies, but as for me, I’m sticking with no veggies.

MAKING CHANGES: As the cycle goes, the number of days perfectly suited for making changes is dropping dramatically – and will continue to do so for the next several months into the fall until it starts back the other way, the way we have enjoyed for the last several months.

There are only five perfect days in June, down from 11 in May and 12 in  April. The days are June 23-27, the first three ruled by Aquarius/knees and the final two under Pisces/feet.

The moon is in the dark phase these days and the signs are going out of the body – legs and 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.

The signs involved are Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees,  Aquarius/legs, and Pisces/feet. See how they are moving down the body beyond “parts” that function like the heart or bowels with Aquarius and Pisces being the only two in play with the complete formula in June.

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 most of June 6 through most of June 21 since the moon changes phases early on the 6^th (dark to light) and late on the 21^st (light back to dark).

The same applies for stones on a garden path: Place them when the moon is in the light phase, so they don’t sink. If you’re setting fence posts, do that in the light phase of the moon so the posts don’t sink.