Pick up organic ‘grown by the moon’ vegetables at Barefoot Farmer
Whilst Isaac Newton established the laws of gravity and proved that the gravitational pull of the moon affects tides, others have since proved that these same forces affect the water content of the soil and that there is more moisture in the soil at the time of the new and full moon, which encourages seeds to sprout and grow.
Growing by the moon is the farming philosophy of Franco Cencig, a second-generation farmer from Birkdale – ‘the salad bowl of Brisbane’ on the south side. Franco is also known as the Barefoot Farmer, affectionately nicknamed by his Seven Hills State School students, due to his lack of footwear. Franco took over the farm from his father and developed a passion for Rudolf Steiner’s biodynamic methods of planting, which establishes a relationship between the elements of earth, air, fire and water that correspond to specific parts of the plant. Earth relates to roots, water generates leaf growth, fire to seed production and air corresponds to flowers.
Franco follows these principles in his farming resulting in healthy plants and great tasting vegetables. His produce consists of the likes of broccoli, carrots, beetroot, lettuce, parsley, silverbeet, tomatoes and kale as well as Asian vegetables like bok choy and tatsoi. Selling the results of his crop at the Kelvin Grove Village Market and Boggo Road Market under the name Luna Farm Organic Vegetables, the Barefoot Farmer is certainly worthy of your time to stop and get some healthy produce as well as have a chat about growing produce by the moon.
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