Dehydrating Foods: Part Two

This article is part of the Moonlight Madness event at Suite 101.

For those of you who grow the produce that you then preserve, understanding zodiac signs can be very useful to your planting and harvesting success. Certain zodiac signs are more suitable than others for planting, fertilizing, watering, harvesting, and preserving your produce. For tips on planting, you can find several references online. Tips on harvesting are fewer, and tips on food preservation are even more scarce. Don't ever pass up the Farmer's Almanac when it comes out (which is this time of year), as it is packed with useful information. Likewise, the annual Farmer's Almanac Calendar is handy to have, since it tells what the astrological sign is for each day. (You may be able to get a similar calendar at your local farm store for much less, as I do.) An annual publication, Llewellyn's Moon Sign Book, should not be passed up at the bookstore, if this kind of gardening/preserving information holds any interest for you. When you read about people planting and harvesting at night, be aware that much of this was done out of necessity many years ago. Because farmers relied on the moon and its phases for producing a healthy, bountiful garden (this is, after all what fed their families year-round), much work was done at night. Each sign stays for about 2 ½ days, so crops had to be tended during that time frame.

Many fruits and vegetables produce almost daily for weeks; these are obviously going to be harvested when they need to be. However, some fruits and vegetables, particularly those that are going to be dried and/or stored for months (as opposed to those being canned), are best picked under a sign that will promote drying and storage. As a general rule, harvest during the 3rd or 4thquarter of the moon, in one of the following dry signs: Aries, Sagittarius, Leo, Gemini, or Aquarius. More specifically, harvesting and drying should be done in either Sagittarius or Aries; both are dry, barren signs, and fruits and vegetables should dry better and store longer.

Beans, such as pinto, kidney, navy, mung, Great Northern, garbanzo, and the like, should be harvested in one of the dry signs mentioned above, and in the 3rd or 4th quarter of the moon. These are examples of the kinds of plants that do not necessarily have to be harvested the very day they are ready. Potatoes are another example; though you do not want to leave them in the ground too long once they are mature, you can generally wait for a day ruled by one of the signs listed above. Root crops, such as potatoes, are said to be best when harvested under the sign of Aquarius. Dug in a dry sign, potatoes are more likely to store better, and cuts made by the fork or shovel during digging will dry.

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