spring violets



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SPRING (East)

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Fruits/Vegetables: Apples, Arugula, Asparagus, Beet Greens, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Chard, Collard Greens, Cress, Fiddleheads, Garlic, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kale, Lettuce, Mesclun, Mushrooms, Mustard Greens, Onions, Parsnips, Peas (snap and snow), Potatoes, Radishes, Rhubarb, Scallions, Shallots, Spinach, Sprouts, Strawberries, Turnip Greens, Turnips

Herbs and Related: Nettles, Dandelion, Plantain, Motherwort, Mullein

Fish: Walleye, Perch


March

Full Moon 2010 Mar 30 2:28 Thu - Full Worm - Windy Moon (Cherokee) - Big Famine Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When Eyes Are Sore From Bright Snow (Dakotah Sioux) As the temperature begins to warm and the ground begins to thaw, earthworm casts appear, heralding the return of the robins. The more northern tribes knew this Moon as the Full Crow Moon, when the cawing of crows signaled the end of winter; or the Full Crust Moon, because the snow cover becomes crusted from thawing by day and freezing at night. The Full Sap Moon, marking the time of tapping maple trees, is another variation. To the settlers, it was also known as the Lenten Moon, and was considered to be the last full Moon of winter.

Vernal Equinox Mar 20

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Language of Nature
Migrating back songbirds & Geese
Spring Native Herbs and Flowers
Animals losing their winter coats
Snow fleas
Mud
Buds on Trees
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April


Full Moon 2010 Apr 28 12:21 Wed -Full Pink Moon - Flower Moon (Cherokee) - Wildcat Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When Geese Retrun in Scattered Formation (Dakotah Sioux) This name came from the herb moss pink, or wild ground phlox, which is one of the earliest widespread flowers of the spring. Other names for this month's celestial body include the Full Sprouting Grass Moon, the Egg Moon, and among coastal tribes the Full Fish Moon, because this was the time that the shad swam upstream to spawn.

May


Full Moon 2010 May 27 23:09 Thu - Full Flower Moon - Planting Moon (Cherokee) - Panther Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When Leaves Are Green, Moon To Plant (Dakotah Sioux) In most areas, flowers are abundant everywhere during this time. Thus, the name of this Moon. Other names include the Full Corn Planting Moon, or the Milk Moon.


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SUMMER (South)

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Fruits/Vegetables: Apricots, Beet Greens, Beets, Blackberries, Broccoli, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Cherries, Collard Greens, Cucumbers, Currants, Eggplant, Elderberries, Endive, Fennel, Garlic, Green Beans, Gooseberries, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Lettuce, Melons, Mesclun, Nectarines, New Potatoes, Okra, Onions (red and yellow), Parsnips, Peaches, Peppers, Plums, Radicchio, Radishes, Rhubarb, Scallions, Shallots, Spinach, Sprouts, Squash, Strawberries, Sweet Corn, Tomatoes, Turnip Greens, Turnips

Fish: Salmon, Bass


June

Full Moon 2010 Jun 26 01:38 Mon - Full Strawberry Moon - Green Corn Moon (Cherokee) - Windy Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When June Berries Are Ripe (Dakotah Sioux) This name was universal to every Algonquin tribe. However, in Europe they called it the Rose Moon. Also because the relatively short season for harvesting strawberries comes each year during the month of June . . . so the full Moon that occurs during that month was christened for the strawberry!

Summer Solstice Jun 21


July


Full Moon 2010 Jul 26 01:38 Mon - The Full Buck Moon - Ripe Corn Moon (Cherokee) - Crane Moon (Choctaw) - Moon of the Middle Summer (Dakotah Sioux) July is normally the month when the new antlers of buck deer push out of their foreheads in coatings of velvety fur. It was also often called the Full Thunder Moon, for the reason that thunderstorms are most frequent during this time. Another name for this month's Moon was the Full Hay Moon.

August


Full Moon 2010 Aug 24 17:06 Tue - Full Sturgeon Moon - Fruit Moon (Cherokee) - Women's Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When All Things Ripen (Dakotah Sioux) The fishing tribes are given credit for the naming of this Moon, since sturgeon, a large fish of the Great Lakes and other major bodies of water, were most readily caught during this month. A few tribes knew it as the Full Red Moon because, as the Moon rises, it appears reddish through any sultry haze. It was also called the Green Corn Moon or Grain Moon.


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FALL (West)

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Fruits/Vegetables: Apples, Arugula, Asian pears, Beet Greens, Beets, Bok Choy, Broccoli, Brussel Sprouts, Burdock, Cabbage, Carrots, Cauliflower, Celery, Chard, Collard Greens, Corn, Cranberries, Cucumbers, Daikon, Eggplant, Fennel, Garlic, Grapes, Green Beans, Horseradish, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Mesclun, Mustard Greens, Mushrooms, Okra, Onions (red, yellow), Parsnips, Peas (snap, snow), Peppers, Potatoes, Pumpkins, Quince, Radishes, Raspberries, Rutabagas, Scallions, Shallots, Spinach, Sprouts, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Tomatoes, Turnip Greens, Turnips

Herbs and Related: Alfalfa, Nettles, Dandelion, Plantain,Jerusalem Artichokes, Sunflower Seeds, Rose Hips, Burdock roots, Yellow Dock roots

Fish: Salmon

Meat: Deer, Turkey


September


Full Moon 2009 Sep 4 16:05 Fri - Full Harvest Moon - Nut Moon (Cherokee) - Mulberry Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When The Calves Grow Hair (Dakotah Sioux) This is the full Moon that occurs closest to the autumn equinox. In two years out of three, the Harvest Moon comes in September, but in some years it occurs in October. At the peak of harvest, farmers can work late into the night by the light of this Moon. Usually the full Moon rises an average of 50 minutes later each night, but for the few nights around the Harvest Moon, the Moon seems to rise at nearly the same time each night: just 25 to 30 minutes later across the U.S., and only 10 to 20 minutes later for much of Canada and Europe. Corn, pumpkins, squash, beans, and wild rice the chief Indian staples are now ready for gathering.

Autumal Equinox Sep 22

Harvest Vegetables, Fruits, Herbs (Cultivated, Native) Harvest Recipes
Medicine Making (Late Summer Native Herbs, Roots)
Seed Gathering,
Root Gathering
Perennial Herb Planting
Preserving - Canning, Drying, Freezing
Blue Moon Seed Exchange


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Language of Nature
Increased nutrients for animals building reserves for winter

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October


Full Moon 2009 Oct 4 06:11 Sun - Full Hunter's Moon - Harvest Moon (Cherokee) - Blackberry Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When Quilling and Beading is Done (Dakotah Sioux) With the leaves falling and the deer fattened, it is time to hunt. Since the fields have been reaped, hunters can easily see fox and the animals which have come out to glean.

Garlic Planting Columbus Day (tradition) October 13
Sunflower seed, Rose hips, Plantain seed gathering for poultry/wild birds
Tree and Shrub planting


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Language of Nature
Migrating Geese

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November


Full Moon 2009 Nov 2 19:15 Mon - Full Beaver Moon - Trading Moon (Cherokee) - Sassafras Moon (Choctaw) - Moon When Horns Are Broken Off (Dakotah Sioux) This was the time to set beaver traps before the swamps froze, to ensure a supply of warm winter furs. Another interpretation suggests that the name Full Beaver Moon comes from the fact that the beavers are now actively preparing for winter. It is sometimes also referred to as the Frosty Moon.

Soup Making - Harvested Vegetables, Meats, Herb Roots, Meat Bones


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Language of Nature
Migrating Geese
Animals growing winter coats

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WINTER (North)

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Fruits/Vegetables: Apples, Beets, Burdock, Cabbage, Carrots, Collard Greens, Daikon, Garlic, Horseradish, Jerusalem Artichoke, Kale, Kohlrabi, Leeks, Mesclun, Mushrooms, Onions (red and yellow), Parsnips, Pears, Potatoes, Rutabagas, Shallots, Sprouts, Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Turnips, Winter Squash, Nuts (Walnuts)

Fish: Steelhead, Perch

Meat: Pig


December


Full Moon 2009 Dec 2 07:33 - The Full Cold Moon; or the Full Long Nights Moon - Snow Moon (Cherokee) - Peach Moon (Choctaw) - Twelfth Moon (Dakotah Sioux) During this month the winter cold fastens its grip, and nights are at their longest and darkest. It is also sometimes called the Moon before Yule. The term Long Night Moon is a doubly appropriate name because the midwinter night is indeed long, and because the Moon is above the horizon for a long time. The midwinter full Moon has a high trajectory across the sky because it is opposite a low Sun.

Blue Moon Dec 31 19:15 Thu - A blue moon gives us a time for taking stock of your life and family, and a time to give gratitude for that. A blue moon can also be a time for prophecy.

Winter Soltice Dec 21 9:47 - Winter solstice occurs at the instant when the Sun's position in the sky is at its greatest angular distance on the other side of the equatorial plane from the observer. Depending on the shift of the calendar, the event of the winter solstice occurs some time between December 20 and December 23 each year in the northern hemisphere, and between June 20 and June 23 in the southern hemisphere, during either the shortest day or the longest night of the year, which is not to be confused with the darkest day or night or the day with the earliest sunset or latest sunrise.

The seasonal significance of the winter solstice is in the reversal of the gradually lengthening nights and shortening days. How cultures define this is varied, since it is sometimes said to astronomically mark either the beginning or middle of a hemisphere's winter. Winter is a subjective term, so there is no scientifically established beginning or middle of winter but the winter solstice itself is clearly calculated to within a second. Though the winter solstice lasts an instant, the term is also colloquially used to refer to the full 24-hour period.

Worldwide, interpretation of the event has varied from culture to culture, but most cultures have held a recognition of rebirth, involving holidays, festivals, gatherings, rituals or other celebrations around that time.

The word solstice derives from Latin sol (sun) and sistere (to stand still).




Soup Making - Harvested Vegetables, Meats, Herb Roots (Burdock, Astragulus, Garlic), Meat Bones, Squash, Pumpkin, Mushrooms, Harvest Recipes
Celebrating Season Traditions - Family Gatherings
Storytelling
Reflection & Stillness

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Language of Nature
Animal tracks in the snow
Animal Hibernation

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January


Full Moon 2010 Jan 30 06:19 Sat - Full Wolf Moon - Cold Moon (Cherokee) - Cooking Moon (Choctaw) - Moon of the Terrible (Dakotah Sioux) Amid the cold and deep snows of midwinter, the wolf packs howled hungrily outside Indian villages. Thus, the name for January's full Moon. Sometimes it was also referred to as the Old Moon, or the Moon After Yule. Some called it the Full Snow Moon, but most tribes applied that name to the next Moon.

New Life Beginnings/Changes
Storytelling

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Language of Nature
Seed Heads
Herb Berries
Natural Shelter

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February


Full Moon 2010 Feb 28 16:40 Sun - Full Snow Moon - Bony Moon (Cherokee) - Little Famine Moon (Choctaw) - Moon of the Raccoon, Moon When Trees Pop (Dakotah Sioux) Since the heaviest snow usually falls during this month, native tribes of the north and east most often called February's full Moon the Full Snow Moon. Some tribes also referred to this Moon as the Full Hunger Moon, since harsh weather conditions in their areas made hunting very difficult.

Storytelling
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Language of Nature
Bird Migration
Songbirds new voices

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Moonlight Mile Herb Farm Copyright © 2010 Susan Burek