Cabbage and Collards

Last year, we planted our "winter garden" too late and it was a total bust. This summer, I've got my seeds ready to go for the upcoming way fertile new Moon in Cancer on July 21st. Even though I've got Moonflowers and other eye candy, I've been gardening with a specific purpose. To get used to growing veggies and herbs. I'm gardening now for a sense of food security with all these hints of coming shortages. Nothing rattles the cage of this Cancer like the idea of not having enough food. I live to eat!

This summer's series of eclipses highlights the issue of sustenance and the resources of land (Capricorn) and sea (Cancer) that we rely on. Food as the fruit of the Earth is on the astrological radar. There are land grabs and tightening corp-gov controls in the works, even as more people take matters in their own hands and Grow their own.

The homegrown revolution underway draws on America's agrarian past. It anchors you to your patch of Earth. It's an inkling of how we (and the world) can draw on earth-keeping traditions still viable (Pluto in Capricorn) today. The current sky gets us working together in teams, and with so many vacant lots springing up....well, maybe they should go to seed! It's about using the resources available, perhaps in unusual or experimental ways, to meet practical needs.

There's nothing quite like eating something you've grown from seed. In the garden, you can see that compressed potential in a tiny seed, come to life. It's the regenerative essence (Pluto's promise) that is the raw material of new life. Watching your own garden grow over time is enough to make you feel kinda optimistic....and all the better when it's shared with others.

• Gardening by the Moon