I’m a little late this month sorry, Martinborough Fair snuck up on me as has the New Moon which is tomorrrow (12th April). Thank goodness it’s a day of rest and there’s naught to do in the māra (garden)..
So, what can we do for the rest of the moon calendar for this glorious Autumnal month; Paengawhāwhā, the 11th month of the Māori year..
Haohaoata, 14th April
A very good day for planting out any seedlings you have on hand. Have you got your garlic beds ready? Compost and/or manure them now (until first quarter) so they’ll be ready for your cloves next month’s full moon. Or maybe you’re going to plant them early to try to beat rust? What’s the plan? (I have an article here about fungal diseases, mainly powdery mildew but there’s links to rust and garlic possible solutions..)
Tamatea kai ariki, 18th April
According to the maramataka that I follow (Ātiawa version) Tamatea kai ariki can be a bit changeable weather wise. If it’s been raining and it’s not now- go and compost + mulch all your fruit trees today. If it’s actually raining now- then when it’s stopped go and do the same!
Māwharu, 23rd April
Plant out your compost crops, lupins, broadbeans etc. If you’re in a warm enough area, last chance saloon to sow your cornsalad and rocket (cornsalad is a fantastic green to have on hand for winter salads and rocket of course to give it a kick) silverbeet, rainbow chard, brassicas inc. kale, peas, miners lettuce, celery, parsley and coriander. For us in the colder parts of NZ, you can still plant out seedlings.
Atua, 24th April
It’s not a good day for planting but it’s a great day to foliar feed your garden.
Turu, 25th April
From midday you can get back into your planting and make use of the long weekend. A lot of winter vegies like your brassicas and celery are heavy feeders so give your beds lots of goodness before planting them in- manure, compost, lime if you have it- and mulch, mulch, mulch.
Rākanui (day after Full Moon), 28th April
The next two days are the best for your root vegetables – if you’re in a warm-ish area this is your last chance to sow carrots + beetroot. the Full Moon period is the best time to plant garlic, you can do so this month or wait til next month.
Takirua māheahea, 30th April – Tangaroa piri a mua, 4th May
Take it easy!
Tangaroa piri a roto, 5th May
For the next four days finish off your winter beds, whether it’s manuring/composting them, planting cover crops or compost crops, double digging if you’re into that, putting out the last of your seedlings and mulching, mulching, mulching. Prep your strawberry beds too.
Perfect time to harvest your keepers – potatoes, pumpkins, kumara, dried beans, apples and pears.
If you have herbs that are grown for their roots you can start bringing them up now. Yellow dock, Comfrey, Echinacea, Chicory, Valerian, Elecampane, Horseradish, Marshmallow. Or you can wait ’til next last quarter.
Mauri, 10th May
Kua oti! Smashed it! Well done, take a load off as we’re coming up to the New Moon (Whiro) period.
And hey, if you’ve got some time, feel free to give me some feedback, it sometimes feels like I’m talking to an empty room on this blog! x
Share your thoughts!