When to plant garlic by the moon?

Tradition advises the descending moon and the root days. Purple garlic is planted in autumn in mild, well-drained ground; if your soil is heavy and wet, wait instead for the end of winter or plant on a ridge, because excess water harms it more than a bad lunar day.

When to harvest squash so they keep well?

Before the first frost, in dry weather, when the stalk is hard and corky: it’s the stalk that seals the keeping. Tradition places this picking in the ascending moon, on fruit days. Then keep your squash between 12 and 15 degrees, on a shelf, without them touching.

In the garden · October

Gardening by the moon in October October

In October the kitchen garden changes season for good: you bring in the squash and the last roots before the frosts, plant garlic and spring bulbs, and cover the bare soil. Lunar tradition concentrates the last fruit harvests in the ascending moon and hands everything else to the descending moon: planting, lifting and pruning now fill most of the month.

The essentials

To sow: corn salad early in the month, winter spinach, broad beans and peas in mild climates
To prune, to plant: purple garlic, spring bulbs, strawberries, shrubs late in the month
To harvest: squash, last apples, carrots and beetroot to bring in, chestnuts
Watchword of the month: bring in, plant, cover

What to do in the October kitchen garden by the moon?

A reminder of the principle: in the ascending moon, tradition reads a rising sap, favorable to sowing and to picking the fruit; in the descending moon, a sap flowing back toward the roots, favorable to planting, pruning and working the soil.

In October the ascending moon keeps a low profile: one last sowing of corn salad or spinach, broad beans and round peas if your climate is mild, and the picking of the late apples. The descending moon, by contrast, overflows: planting the purple garlic and the spring bulbs, lifting the carrots and beetroot to bring in, settling in the late strawberries and the first shrubs.

Which crops to favor, and on which days?

The days of the calendar each carry a dominant note, leaves, flowers, fruit or roots, according to the constellation the Moon is crossing. October is the great month of root days: garlic is planted then, clove by clove, point up, in drained soil with no fresh manure; carrots and beetroot are lifted for the cellar, where tradition says they keep better.

Fruit days serve the harvest of the squash: wait until the stalk is properly corky, pick in dry weather and before the first frost, then leave them to finish hardening under cover. Flower days take the tulip and narcissus bulbs; leaf days, the last winter lettuces and the spinach.

The gesture of the month: dress the soil with fallen leaves

The leaves that fall are a free mulch. Spread them in a thick layer over every bed freed up: they protect the life of the soil, slow the volunteer weeds and turn into humus by spring. A soil left bare all winter loses its structure under the rain; a covered soil works for you in silence.

In town, October is the month of bulbs in pots: layer tulips, narcissi and crocuses in a large container (the biggest at the bottom), cover, water once and forget. Tradition places this gesture in the descending moon, like all plantings.

What agronomy says

No controlled trial has shown that garlic planted “on the right” lunar day gave finer heads: drainage, variety and rotation decide far more. The calendar earns its place as a seasonal ritual: it sets you appointments, and it’s diligence in the garden that makes the difference.

The lunations of October (exact dates)

Calculated from the ephemeris, in London time, and rechecked every night. Each lunation has its own detailed page.

Frequently asked questions

When to plant garlic by the moon?: Tradition advises the descending moon and the root days. Purple garlic is planted in autumn in mild, well-drained ground; if your soil is heavy and wet, wait instead for the end of winter or plant on a ridge, because excess water harms it more than a bad lunar day.
When to harvest squash so they keep well?: Before the first frost, in dry weather, when the stalk is hard and corky: it’s the stalk that seals the keeping. Tradition places this picking in the ascending moon, on fruit days. Then keep your squash between 12 and 15 degrees, on a shelf, without them touching.