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I have been told that you are currently asking for experience with planting specifically by the moon (rising and falling phases) and would like to offer my own, if it might be of any help to you:-

Many years ago, my French Mother in law who lived in the Languedoc of southern France - taught me the ancient Celtic method of planting by the moon.

Apparently this method was used by the Celts who lived all along the Languedoc before the Romans invaded. It is still being used there, so it must be good ! It is very simple and involves the following:-

For those plants which grow upwards, they should be planted when the moon is in its "rising" phase. For those who grow down, such as potatoes, carrots etc., the opposite is true.

When my Mother in law first moved to the Languedoc many years ago, she was told of this planting method which was new to her as she had been born in the district of Alsace-Lorraine in North-Eastern France.

To check it out, she first of all did a test to see the effects for herself:-

At the wrong moon, she first of all sowed radishes (a root crop) at the rising moon.
Then when the moon was falling, she sowed her second group of radishes.
Some time later, she observed that the first group had produced radishes with full, big leaves, but with skimpy little radishes.
The Second group however, produced modest leaves but had big, juicy radishes.

With all that in mind, I myself on my return to England also did my own test:-

Mine was with runner beans and I was very specific with my test : only the very same of everything for the runner bean seeds:e.g. the same time of soaking the seeds overnight; the same amount of water and only the soil taken from the same area in my garden etc. etc.

I first of all planted my bean seeds at the wrong moon and then certain days later I planted the second lot under exactly the same conditions.
To my joy, not only did the second batch overtake the first batch, but when it came to harvesting the beans, the second batch gave at least 35 to 40% more beans.

Incidentally, the French women also take note of the moon's phases when they cut their hair:- this is however the opposite way round from that when dealing with plants:- if they want their hair to grow longer, they have it trimmed when the moon is falling, but if they want it to grow thicker, then they have it trimmed when the moon is rising.

And it works, because I tried that too, wishing for longer hair - after about two months or so of following the French/Celtic method - one day I was thrilled to notice that my eyelashes and eyebrows were all growing longerI do hope that these observations will be helpful to your research.

Not long afterwards, I heard of Maria Thun's own research and switched over to that as it was so very finely observed from one kind of plant to another, that I have since found it preferable.

BUT - it has always occurred to me, that if ever our modern economy is unable to produce the MariaThun's annual diaries, we can all revert back to the ancient and pagan Celtic method.

Incidentally, I would like to become a member of your Association. Also - please do let me know if my French observations are of any help to you.

Sincerely,

Mr. Margaret Idoux-Goff B.Sc.(Hons) M.F. (Phys)

PS I forgot to mention one caveat to my French Mother-in-Law's advice - One must not plant anything in association with the three days around full moon:-

Not on the day before; the day of the full moon itself and the day after the full moon. I was told that the energies on those days are too strong:-

When one considers that the word "loony" in our English language indicates someone who becomes mentally unfocussed over the full moon period, it shows that this has also been observed for some considerable time in years past.

Further, in the old mental hospitals, before the war, stronger medication was always given to certain patients at the full moon times. More recently, I have been told that in New York, there are more police on the streets as they expect trouble at those times. I hope this is helpful to you.

Sincerely,

Margaret Idoux-Goff