Planting by the Signs

May 28, 2027, 6:15 p.m. EDT

Quick Takes, June Overview

QUICK TAKES
I have included specific times for the sign changes through the middle of June. All times are Eastern Daylight Saving Time. Adjust for your time zone.
See the May 27th post for information about the last few days of May.

> MOON CHANGE, May 31: full/dark moon comes to rule at 4:45 a.m., then below-grounders until 10:54 p.m. June 14

>MAKE CHANGES: Most of May 31-June 8

>May 31-June 6: Fertile signs – Sagittarius/thighs, Capricorn/knees, Aquarius/legs, below-grounders.

>June 7-8: VERY fertile, Pisces/feet until 4:35 a.m. June 9 . when Aries takes over.

>June 9-11: NO PLANTING, killing sign Aries/head until 8:25 a.m. June 11.

>June 11 (after 8:25 a.m.), all of 12, 13: VERY fertile, Ta**us/neck, above-grounders

>MOON CHANGE: June 14, dark to light, 10:54 p.m.

>June 13 (after 9:03 a.m.), all of 14, 15 (until 8:17 a.m.) Gemini/arms, pea/bean sign, half of formula is correct

>June 16-17: VERY fertile, Cancer/breast, above-grounder

>June 18-19: NO PLANTING, killing sign Leo/heart

>June 20-23: Flowering, Virgo/bowels (20-21), Libra/reins (23-23), no veggies/flowers only

>June 24-26: VERY fertile, Scorpio/secrets, above-grounders

>MOON CHANGE: June 29, light to dark, 7:57 p.m.

June 27-July 3: Fertile, Sagittarius/thighs (June 27-28); Capricorn/knees (June 29-July 1); Aquarius/legs (July 2-3). above-grounders through most of June 29, then below-grounders.

The only caution now is to avoid planting in wet soil, particularly in the in-ground garden that is pretty much all dirt.
Remember the Clod Test to check if it’s safe to plant: Scoop up and handful of soil and squeeze it. If it crumbles, then proceed with planting, but if it sticks together to make a good old-fashioned clod, then wait until another day.
Getting overzealous and planting in wet soil is much like sticking plants or seeds in wet concrete: when the medium dries, it will be hard and won’t break up without damaging the plants or the seeds as they TRY to emerge.
Please try to wait.
If you are seeding, transplanting - planting in any way – the signs and moon phases apply.
Don’t plant anything when either of the killing signs, Aries or 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, Ta**us, and Cancer. The fertile ones – just a little below VERY fertile - are Sagittarius, Capricorn, and Aquarius.
If you can utilize only 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.
JUNE OVERVIEW
MOON PHASES: June begins with the moon having just moved to the dark phase on May 31, 4:45 a.m. The dark moon remains in force until the new/light moon at 10:54 p.m. on June 14 and rules until the full/dark moon returns at 7:57 p.m. June 29.
When the light moon is in force, plant above-ground producers and it’s below-ground producers when the dark moon rules.
THE SIGNS: Check to see if the moon is in the light or dark phase (information here and on most any calendar) before planting anywhere, or other moon-related activities.
FERTILE DAYS: Sagittarius/thighs, June 1, 27-28; Capricorn/knees, June 2-4, 29-30; and Aquarius/legs, June 5-6. There are 10 days in June ruled by these three signs, rolling on into July with three more!
VERY FERTILE DAYS: Pisces/feet, June 7-8, below-grounders; Ta**us/neck, June 12-13, below-grounders; Cancer/breast, June 16-17, above-grounders; Scorpio/secrets, June 24-26, above-grounders. There are nine days in June ruled by the VERY fertile signs; five for above-grounders and four for below.
KILLING DAYS: Aries/head, June 9-11; Leo/heart, June 18-19. No planting anywhere on Leo or Aries days. There are five days ruled by the killing signs in June. Use these days to cultivate, clean out fence rows, irradicate weeds – anything but seeding or transplanting.
PEA/BEAN DAYS: Gemini/arms days, June 14-15. The moon is in the dark phase on the 14th, changing to the light at 10:54 p.m., and the light phase on the 15th until June 29. Thus the 15th is perfect for southern peas or beans! (See Quick Takes for specific times).
FLOWERING DAYS: Virgo/bowels, June 20-21; Libra/reins, June 22-23. Flowers only, no veggies since these are bloom days. There are four days in June ruled by the flowering signs.
MAKING CHANGES: There are nine perfect days for making changes this month – June 1-8 and 30 – when the moon is in the dark phase and the signs are moving out of the body beyond anything that functions, thighs through feet/Sagittarius through Pisces.
And that beat continues on July 1-6.
Here are some of the most popular ones: stopping smoking, starting a diet or exercise program, weaning small animals or children, scheduling elective surgery (not emergency!) or dental work. “Changes” are doing anything differently than the way you are doing it now.
POURING GRAVEL: If you have gravel to pour on a drive or road on your farm, do that while the light moon rules, which is June 15 through most of June 29.
Don’t pour or spread June 1 through most of June 14 and June 29-July 13 with the moon in the dark phase. You don’t want that gravel or those stones on a path sinking in the dark phase.

May 28, 2027 3 p.m. EDT

TO ALL PBTS FOLLOWERS: Spread the word that the June Overview will be posted later today!

May 27, 2026, 11:15 a.m. EDT

UPDATED: GREAT THREE DAYS COMING!

The long run of days for planting flowers ends at 8:54 p.m. EDT today, May 27, with the arrival of Scorpio/secrets, one of the VERY fertile signs. Scorpio continues to rule until 8:46 a.m. May 30 with the moon in the light phase.
If you have above-grounders to plant, the 28th and 29th are perfect days all day long for that with the moon moving toward the dark phase, the full moon arriving at 4:45 a.m. May 31 - the second full moon of May.
UPDATE: Saturday, May 30, will also be a fine day for above-grounders with the moon still in the light phase all day. The sign moves to Sagittarius/thighs, a FERTILE sign just a little below the VERY fertile Scorpio, but still fine. This provides us with three complete great days for above-grounders!
I have some to plant, but like much of the country east of the Mississippi River, it's been raining copiously for several days now and the ground is saturated. The near-drought conditions some were experiencing are over, but now we're facing another challenge - wet ground.
As excited as you might be to plant, please don't if the ground is wet. When it dries your plants or seeds will be facing real challenges. If your "soil" is a planting medium, however, then that isn't quite as much of a problem. Still don't plant if it's soaked.
We will be entering a long stretch on the afternoon of May 30 for below-grounders continuing through June 7 with the moon in the dark phase and favorable signs ruling through the period.
My June Overview is about ready, and I will publish it in the next couple of days.

May 16, 2026, 8:45 a.m. EDT

A LOOK AT TODAY
Here is a quick review of today, May 16. I'm in the EDT zone, and USDA Planting Zone 7a. Adjust accordingly for your location.
>THE MOON is in the dark phase until 4:01 p.m. EDT for the planting of BELOW-GROUND PRODUCERS.
>AT 4:01 the moon moves to the light phase for the planting of ABOVE-GROUND PRODUCERS.
>THE SIGN is Ta**us/neck, a VERY fertile sign, until 10:38 p.m. tonight when it moves to Gemini/arms, the pea-bean sign.
>SUMMARY: below-grounders until 4:01 p.m.; above-grounders from 4:02 until 10:38 tonight. A 6.5 hour window for above-grounders.
All the best in you planting!

May 15, 2026 1:20 p.m. EDT

THE WEEKEND IS HERE!
PBTS NOTE: Adjust this information for your location. I am in USDA Planting Zone 7a and in the Eastern Daylight time zone where spring is struggling to take claim a foothold!

The weekend is upon us and its. the start of several great days for veggies continuing through May 20. Let's get right to it.
TODAY AND SATURDAY find the VERY fertile Ta**us/neck ruling with the moon in the dark phase until 4:01 p.m. EDT Saturday with the arrival of the new moon. This stretch is perfect for below-grounders and ALMOST perfect for your above-grounders.
I don't normally embrace planting above-grounders in the dark phase, but if you have above-grounders that can't wait to get in the ground until after 4 p.m. Saturday when the moon changes, go ahead and plant. We will be close to the change - or wait a few days (see below).
WITH THE MOON moving to the light phase Saturday afternoon, after 4 p.m. makes it absolutely perfect for above-grounders.
MAY 17-18 see Gemini/arms coming to rule with Gemini taking over from Ta**us at 10:23 p.m, on May 17. It continues in force until Cancer/breast arrives at 9:52 p.m. May 18.
Gemini in the light phase is perfect exclusively for beans and peas.
When Cancer takes over, continuing until 10:51 p.m. May 20, you may plant anything that produces above the ground, including those beans you didn't get in on the Gemini days.
TAKE A BREAK May 21-22 when Leo/heart, one of the killing signs, rules. When Leo is done, it's flowers with Virgo/bowels and Libra/reins ruling through May 23-27.
And it just keeps going on through June 8 - but we will save that for another day!