A Natural Guide to a Great Garden!
Planting by the Moon is such an easy way to have gardening success!
When you plant on a good Moon day the Earth accepts your seeds or plants…
and they thrive!
Plant on a poor Moon Day, the Earth rejects them and your plants grow poorly.
Follow the guide below for a bountiful, beautiful garden!
🌙 October 2026 — Planting by the Moon
Zone 8A — Virginia
🌙 Moon Phases
DateMoon PhaseOctober 1–2Waning Gibbous 🌖October 3Last Quarter 🌗October 4–9Waning Crescent 🌘October 10New Moon 🌑October 11–17Waxing Crescent 🌒October 18First Quarter 🌓October 19–25Waxing Gibbous 🌔October 26Full Hunter’s Moon 🌕October 27–31Waning Gibbous 🌖
The exact major phases for the Richmond area are Last Quarter Oct. 3 at 9:25 a.m., New Moon Oct. 10 at 11:50 a.m., First Quarter Oct. 18 at 12:12 p.m., and Full Moon Oct. 26 at 12:11 a.m. Time and Date
📆 October Moon Planting Details
🌖 October 1–2 — Waning Gibbous
Focus: ROOTS & FALL CLEANUP
Finish sowing the last of your:
❤ Beets
🌱 Turnips
Kohlrabi
Radishes
October 1 is around the end of Virginia Tech’s recommended Zone 8A fall window for beets, turnips and kohlrabi, so I would consider these your last-call planting days rather than planting them later in the month. Virginia Tech Publications
Also:
Harvest sweet potatoes
Dig remaining potatoes
Divide hardy perennial herbs
Add compost to empty beds
Begin clearing spent summer crops
🌗 October 3 — Last Quarter
Garden Maintenance Day
Good day for:
Pulling weeds
Removing diseased tomato foliage
Cleaning up squash and cucumber vines
Turning compost
Adding mulch
Cleaning and sharpening garden tools
🍅 Keep healthy tomato and pepper plants producing as long as the weather cooperates.
🌘 October 4–9 — Waning Crescent
Focus: SOIL & ROOT HEALTH
This is a quieter moon period, perfect for:
Building compost
Adding aged manure
Mulching perennial beds
Preparing garlic beds
Dividing perennial herbs
Preparing cold frames
🌱 Continue planting radishes
Radishes remain a particularly useful succession crop during October in Zone 8A; Virginia Tech recommends fall sowings through about October 20. Virginia Tech Publications
🌑 October 10 — New Moon
A New Fall Growing Cycle
Now we begin moving toward leafy growth.
Plant:
🥬 Baby lettuce
Mustard greens
Spinach
Radishes
If using a cold frame or row cover, you can extend the season considerably. Virginia Cooperative Extension notes that these protections can add roughly 2–4 weeks to the expected growing and harvest window. Virginia Tech Publications
🌒 October 11–17 — Waxing Crescent
Focus: LEAFY GREENS 🌿
This is an especially nice period for:
Direct Sow
🥬 Leaf lettuce
Spinach
Mustard greens
Arugula
Asian salad greens
Herbs
You can also work with hardy herbs such as:
Parsley
Chives
Cilantro
Keep seedlings evenly moist. October’s cooler temperatures mean they won’t dry as rapidly as summer seedlings, but young plants still need consistent moisture.
🧄 October 15 — GARLIC SEASON BEGINS!
Here’s one I know you’ll appreciate.
Virginia Tech’s current Zone 8A calendar recommends planting garlic approximately October 15–November 15. Virginia Tech Publications
Plant individual cloves:
Pointed end UP ⬆
Root end DOWN ⬇
Choose your largest, healthiest cloves for planting.
After planting, add a good layer of clean straw or leaf mulch.
Your garlic will establish roots this fall, rest through winter, then take off again next spring.
🌓 October 18 — First Quarter
Strong Leaf-Growth Period
Continue sowing:
Spinach
Lettuce
Mustard
Arugula
🌱 This is also a good time to tend young fall greens already growing:
Thin seedlings
Water deeply
Add light compost around plants
Check for cabbage worms and aphids
🌔 October 19–25 — Waxing Gibbous
Focus: FALL GREENS
Continue planting:
🥬 Spinach
Baby lettuce
Mustard greens
Radishes
Virginia Tech’s Zone 8A guide keeps spinach planting open through about November 1, making it one of our most useful late-season crops. Baby salad lettuce and mustard generally reach the end of their recommended planting windows around October 20. Virginia Tech Publications
🌿 Keep harvesting herbs
Before hard frost, gather:
Basil
Holy Basil/Tulsi
Lemon Balm
Mint
Sage
Thyme
Oregano
Rosemary
🌕 October 26 — Full Hunter’s Moon
What a beautiful autumn moon! 🌕🍂
Harvest
Gather remaining:
Tomatoes
Peppers
Eggplant
Sweet potatoes
Winter squash
Pumpkins
🌿 Herbal Harvest
Depending on what is still healthy and growing:
Sage
Rosemary
Thyme
Oregano
Mint
Lemon Balm
For drying, harvest herbs on a dry day after the morning dew disappears.
And I think the Hunter’s Moon deserves a CA & J Farm bonfire and drum circle. 🔥
🌕
🌖 October 27–31 — Waning Gibbous
ROOTS, GARLIC & WINTER PREPARATION
Now we’re back to underground growth.
🧄 Plant Garlic!
This is an excellent late-October project and comfortably within Virginia Tech’s Zone 8A planting window. Virginia Tech Publications
Also:
Mulch strawberries
Mulch perennial herbs
Add compost to empty vegetable beds
Plant or divide hardy perennials
Collect fallen leaves for compost
Prepare row covers and cold frames
Drain or protect irrigation equipment as colder weather approaches
🌿 What to Plant in October — Zone 8A
Your strongest October choices are:
🥬 Leaf crops: spinach, baby salad lettuce and mustard greens.
🌱 Quick root crops: radishes, with the very beginning of October serving as the tail end for beets, turnips and kohlrabi.
🧄 Garlic: begin around October 15 and continue into November.
Virginia Tech places Zone 8A’s average first fall freeze roughly in the November 1–15 range, although individual gardens and years vary. Virginia Tech Publications
🌿 October Herbs
Harvest before frost
Basil
Tulsi
Lemon Balm
Mint
Sage
Oregano
Thyme
Rosemary
Protect for winter
Mulch around perennial:
Sage
Thyme
Oregano
Chives
Lemon Balm
Echinacea
And leave some flower and herb seed heads standing for birds and beneficial insects.
🐝 Don’t Clean the Garden TOO Much!
October always brings the temptation to make everything neat and tidy.
But consider leaving some:
🌻 Sunflower heads
🌼 Echinacea seed heads
🌾 Hollow stems
🍂 Leaf litter
🌿 Native perennial stems
These can provide food and overwintering habitat for birds, native bees and other beneficial creatures.
🌞 October Garden Wisdom for Zone 8A
October is the month to think about protection rather than production.
Harvest tender crops before frost, keep planting spinach and garlic, mulch perennial plants, and prepare row covers.
Virginia Tech notes that Zone 8A’s typical first fall frost arrives in early-to-mid November, although microclimates and individual years can shift that date. Virginia Tech Publications
One more old-fashioned farm practice I especially like for this month:
🍂 Don’t waste those leaves!
Shredded autumn leaves can become:
mulch → leaf mold → compost → healthier soil.
Instead of thinking of fallen leaves as something to dispose of, think of them as next year’s garden fertility waiting on the ground.
🌕 October’s Thought
Spring teaches us to begin.
Summer teaches us to tend.
Autumn teaches us to gather.
Winter teaches us to rest.
Oct. 26th Full Hunter’s Moon
Keep up with what is happening at the Farm!