by Ellen Dugan
To discourage squash beetles, you can try planting marigolds, catnip, tansy, and nasturtiums. Also, when choosing your varieties for pumpkins, look for mildew-resistant varieties. A problem with mildew widely affected the pumpkin crops in Missouri last year. It’s just one of those things. For the first time in years, we had to buy pumpkins for Samhain. We lost our whole patch.
Harvesting
By late July or early August, the Indian corn should be mature. After gathering them, gently peel back the husks. String up some rope to hang the ears on and let the corn dry out completely. Use a protected area, like your garage or a shed. If you leave them outside the birds will get them.
In mid to late September, watch your foliage on the pumpkin and gourd vines. I know the pumpkins are starting to turn orange, but sit tight. Wait until the foliage dies back and the stems start to turn brown before you harvest them. Use a sharp pocket knife to cut the vines, remembering to leave yourself a good stem length.
Carry pumpkins like a ball, not by the stem. Wash them in a solution of bleach and water when you get them home. The bleach water helps stop mildew and washes off any chemical residue. Store your pumpkins and gourds on wood planks or hay bales, not on concrete (they’ll rot).
Selling
Open your yard stand in late September–early October. Let the kids do the selling. Just keep them supervised. Once a stretch limo pulled up in front of our house and the chauffeur, in uniform, hopped out to buy some pumpkins for his kids. He scared the hell out of my youngest son and daughter, who were about seven and eight years old at the time. (They thought the limo was a hearse.) Once I explained to them that he was driving a bride and groom around in there, not a dead body, they thought that was kind of cool.
I watch my kids through the front window, even now. If there is a problem I just step up to the door or walk out onto the front porch. Usually it’s just someone who wants to know where we grew the pumpkins, or needs to break a large bill. Have change available.
Let your kids make up a few signs. People love to buy from children. Toss gourds into a wheelbarrow and let people root around through them. They enjoy doing it and I’ve yet to figure out why. Also the wheelbarrow is handy; when you’re done for the day, just roll the wheelbarrow around back.
Display Indian corn or really pretty mini pumpkins on a card table. Ornamental corn is fragile when it dries, so don’t be too rough on the husks.
Don’t haggle over prices, clearly mark on the pumpkins close to the stem with a ballpoint pen. Make your prices very reasonable, price them to move. You don’t want to get stuck with thirty extra pumpkins, do you? Either give away any extras that are left over, donate them to a shelter for troubled kids, carve them up for a large Halloween display, or use them as compost.
But a little garden, the littler the better, is your richest chance of happiness and success.
Reginald Farrrer
Bewitching Container Gardens
Container gardening is at an all-time level of popularity. If you are limited in space, this may be your only option. You can create a fabulous garden simply with containers, window boxes, and hanging baskets in all different shapes and sizes. Turn your patio, balcony, or deck into a miniature garden that is easy to move around or rearrange.
Children's Harvest Garden Layout
1 Pumpkins
2 Mini Pumpkins
3 Gourds
4 Marigolds
5 Tomato
6 Peppers
7 Indian Corn
8 Dwarf Sunflowers
9 Giant Sunflowers
Remember, you’re not limited to flowers. There is more to container gardens than just annuals. You can grow herbs and vegetables, such as tomatoes and peppers. Strawberries can be successfully grown in hanging baskets. Lettuce may be grown in containers; I have even seen a shorter variety of carrots grown in large pots.
In the past when I have taught the public how to make their own container gardens, I gave them several themes to choose from. So I’ll do the same for you as well. Of the many different combinations of plants that I have suggested, I also included some popular cooking herbs.
Experiment with these suggestions. When you plant your flower containers, plant them full. You will be dead-heading these as the season progresses. You want those pots to look full when you start. It’s depressing to see a half-filled container because you’re waiting for the plants to get larger. Remember to fertilize your containers every two weeks, and water them every day.
To maintain vigorous plant growth and to keep your plants attractive, remove spent, dried-up flowers and seed pods. By removing these, the plant puts its energies into producing more flowers, as opposed to putting its energies into seed production. To prune, follow the stem down to the first leaf junction and clip the stem there.
Kitchen Witch Container Garden
In a large pot, try planting together rosemary, parsley, sage, chives, bouquet dill, garlic, and basil. These practical seasonings and cooking herbs (that’s what I tell the general public anyway) are very easy to grow together in a sunny location. To my witch friends, I pass along these magickal correspondences. In order, they include love and healing from the rosemary; protection and purification from the parsley; wisdom from sage; chives are great for absorbing negativity; we get protection again from the dill; garlic is worked into exorcism rituals; and the basil gives us wealth and good luck. Now that is a handy little combination to have around, don’t you think?
Fragrant Container Garden
For a fabulous mixture of textures and scents, try an arrangement of any of the following fragrant plants: miniature roses, catnip, lavender, mint, or scented geraniums. Plant these in a large pot and place in a sunny location. If you want the roses to survive the winter, transplant them into your garden to winter over. Magickal uses are as follows: roses for love and, depending on the color, other applications (see pages 11 and 38); mint bestows prosperity; catnip is for, oddly enough, cat magick; and scented geraniums are protective.
Veggie Combos
For vegetable container gardening, go with a classic: a patio tomato variety and mari-golds. Planting marigolds and tomatoes together are beneficial, and is called companion planting. Marigolds prevent bugs from infesting the tomatoes, and the plants are usually stronger and more disease resistant as well. Cherry tomatoes are a fun variety for children to try, as are green peppers and marigolds. Make sure that you give them lots of sun, fertilizer, and water. This planter would work well for growing on your deck or balcony. The magickal correspondence for tomatoes is love; in fact, an old folk name for the tomato was the “love apple.”
Also, according to Cunningham’s Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs, “when a tomato is placed on the window sill or any other household entrance, it repels evil from entering.” Hmm . . . good to know.
Would that this garland fair
Might weave around thy life
A spell to shield from care
A guard from every strife.
Anonymous
House-Warding Plant Combinations
To ward your home and property is like placing a permanent protective psychic shield against outside influences around your house and yard. Our homes naturally exude a shield of energy. Usually witches and other magick users deliberately strengthen theirs. How? They grow plants with protective properties around the house, place crystals inside the home, display hex signs on the outside of the house, or often hang a horseshoe, open end up, over the inside front door.
Garden witch containers for protection are a subtle type of magick. It’s not expensive or hard to do. Start with some good potting mix and your container of choice, and add a little garden witch flair.
Pagan Family Protection Combo
For a part sun–afternoon shade spot, plant trailing ivy, snapdragons, allysum, pink geraniums
, and dark purple petunias in a hanging basket or container by your front door. Why these plants? Ivy is protective; snaps ward off negative spells; allysum expels charms; pink geraniums are for love; and dark purple petunias add power and are very fragrant at night.
Hot Spot Container
For a very hot and sunny location, this plant combo will hold up to intense summer heat and then last into the fall. Group together zinnias, coxcomb, and marigolds in a container of your choosing. Zinnias are pretty annuals that make great cut flowers for the vase, come in an array of hot colors, and attract butterflies as well. The red coxcomb is protective and aids in healing. Marigolds have the astrological correspondence of the sun; this flower is used to repel evil and nightmares. It features prominently in the Mexican festival El Dia de los Muertos, the day of the dead. This celebration begins at midnight on November 1, and is a national holiday in Mexico that honors the spirits of deceased ancestors and loved ones.
White Witch Window Box
Red geraniums for protection and to guard the home; vinca vine for its many magickal properties that I listed before—okay, okay, I’ll list them again: bindings, protection, love, and prosperity. Allysum for fragrance and to break manipulative spells, and blue lobelia to halt gossip. This container will tolerate part sun/part shade. Be advised that the lobelia will wither back in intense summer heat, but when it cools off again it should bloom back out.
White Witch Combo for the Shade
Instead of geraniums, plant shade-loving double begonias in the window box. Double begonias resemble a rose in full bloom. They have heavy, waxy petals, and are available in many colors, such as reds, pinks, orange-coral shades, and yellow. Use the color correspondence chart from chapter 3 to match the color to your intent. Use the vinca vine, blue lobelia, and white or purple allysum to fill out your boxes.
The last two combinations are inspired by a lady that I met years ago at the very first nursery job that I ever had, which taught me many invaluable lessons. But by far the most memorable experience was the day an elderly lady came strolling into the nursery, demanding some assistance in choosing flowers for her window boxes. All the other staff took one look at her and scattered. She seemed harmless enough to me, leaning on her cane and grinning at me.
As I walked around the nursery with her and helped her choose her flowers, she told me little tidbits of plant lore that I had never heard of before. She pointed, I fetched and carried. It was an interesting half hour. I thought I was being very discreet. I made sure I said “folklore” when I asked a question, or I said something like, “What’s the story of this one?” There was no talk of magick.
Later, when I was able to double-check on those meanings of all the flowers that she had told me about, they matched up. Every one of them.
We ended up going with one of my favorite window box combinations, the one listed previously—red geraniums, vinca vines, blue lobelia, and white allysum. As I helped her load her purchases in the back of an old station wagon, she turned to me and said, “When I was a girl, my grandmother always told me that you could spot the good witches in the neighborhood by the red geraniums in their window boxes.”
I almost dropped the flats of flowers, I was so surprised by her comment. She just smiled blandly and continued by telling me, “Another way to tell was to look and see if they planted red geraniums or red begonias in circles around their trees.” She cackled at my startled expression, patted me on the arm, and started for the driver’s side of her car. So much for being discreet. She tossed her cane in, turned back to look at me, and asked, “What color of geraniums do you have in your boxes at home, girl?”
“Red ones,” I told her honestly.
“I thought so.” She laughed, climbed into her old car, and gunned it out of the parking lot. I never saw her again, but I have never forgotten her.
So wherever you are, Ma’am, thanks . . . and blessed be.
[contents]
My roses are my jewels, the sun and
moon my clocks, fruit and water my food and drink.
Hester Lucy Stanhope
6
Moon Gardening, Magick,
and Astrological Timing
A natural way to reap the benefits of astrological timing is to plant and harvest with the phases of the moon. This gives your garden witchery a big magickal boost. Gardening in harmony with the waxing and waning of the moon is a tradition that spans many, many years.
I was first introduced to the rudiments of moon gardening as a young bride by my husband’s grandmother. At the family’s farm, Grandma was always very insistent about when the potatoes were planted. She said we should plant as close to St. Patrick’s Day as we could get and be in the proper phase of the moon. It was how they had always done things.
This made me curious, so I asked her about it. Her response was that was the way her folks had planted, and all the “old timers” planted that way. Gardening with the phases of the moon . . . sounded kind of witchy to me. I was intrigued.
If you mention moon gardening to most horticulturists, they get a little bent out of shape. I had a college professor sneeringly inform my horticulture class that moon gardening was just a faery tale. This comment was made by the same person who thought it was riveting to look at a two-hour slide presentation of his compost piles.
Moon gardening is a fascinating way to add a little of that old-time magick into your gardening. Try it for yourself and see what kinds of results you get.
The Moon was but a Chin of Gold
a night or two ago—
And now She turns Her perfect Face
Upon the World below—
Emily Dickinson
Easy Moon Gardening
New Moon to First Quarter Moon
This first quarter moon phase occurs between the new moon and the seven days following. This moon rises in the morning and the crescent moon is seen as a thin curve in the western sky after sunset. Each night, the moon gains dimension and appears higher in the western sky, as the moon moves farther along into the phase.
Plant above-ground crops such as lettuce, spinach, cucumbers, corn, onions, and spinach. Plant flowering annuals like impatiens, petunias, geraniums, and annual flowering herbs. Sow seeds and transplant. Prune now to encourage more growth.
Second Quarter to Full Moon
This moon phase begins approximately seven days after the new moon. Do you need an easy way to tell for sure if the moon is in the second quarter phase? The moon will appear about half-full in the sky. This moon rises around noon and sets in the early hours of the morning.
Plant above-ground crops such as beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, pumpkins, and watermelon. Continue to plant annual flowers during this waxing, second quarter moon phase.
Full Moon
The full moon rises at sundown and sets at daybreak. This moon phase begins approximately fourteen days after the new moon. The full moon is a time of increased power and a time for blessings. Try planting a favorite magickal herb now. Gather your magickal herbs and plants as the full moon rises and take advantage of the extra mystic energy that the full moon lends to them. Harvest fruits and veggies just after the full moon for increased flavor.
Third Quarter or Waning Moon
As the moon begins to move out of the full moon phase and into the third quarter, you will observe that the moon rises later and later in the evenings. It will appear to slowly lose its fullness from the right side. This seven-day time period is called the waning moon. This is the best time to plant perennials and trees.
Plant root vegetable crops such as potatoes, turnips, radishes, and carrots. Plant bulbs, biennials, and perennials. Plant trees and shrubs in the cool evening hours now. They will suffer less transplant shock in this waning moon phase, and water or rain is thought to run straight to the roots of the plants during this time.
&nb
sp; Fourth Quarter to Dark Moon
The fourth quarter moon begins approximately seven days after the full moon. During the fourth quarter moon phase, the moon rises around two to three o’clock in the morning and sets during the afternoon. Do not plant; instead, till, cultivate, control weeds, and harvest. Lay out a plan for a new garden. Prune now to control growth.
The moon like a flower
In heaven’s high bower,
With silent delight
Sits and smiles on the night.
William Blake
Moon Signs Are for Specializing
Being aware of the signs of the moon and their effects on spellwork is an important aspect of magick for garden witches. Just as the various moon signs influence our magick, so too does the moon influence the garden as it moves through the different zodiac signs.
All of the moon’s zodiac signs will appear at least once a month and last for a two- to three-day time period. To discover what moon sign you are currently in, consult an up-to-date almanac, astrological calendar, or Llewellyn’s annual Moon Sign Book.
Each separate moon sign has its own use for a specific gardening task. These tasks will be influenced by the element delegated to each moon sign.
Fire Days are Aries, Leo, and Sagittarius. These days are for planning, designing new gardens, and maintenance. That means get in there and pull those weeds!
Earth Days are Taurus, Virgo, and Capricorn. These earthy days are for the “dirty work” of gardening—shoveling, hoeing, thinning, and transplanting.
Air Days are Gemini, Libra, and Aquarius. Use these days for communicating with the flower faeries and tree spirits. During the air sign days, plant your flowers, be they annual or perennial, sow seeds, and secure any climbing vines or roses.
Water Days are Pisces, Cancer, and Scorpio. These days are for the irrigation and watering of your garden. Water the garden thoroughly.
