Moon Phases August 2023 in Fuling, China

This month's full moon: the Sturgeon Moon

The giant sturgeon of the Great Lakes and Lake Champlain were most easily caught in August.

The Green Corn Moon and Grain Moon reflect the ripening harvest. The Red Moon name comes from the reddish tint the moon takes on rising through summer haze.

Lore

The huge sturgeon of the Great Lakes were easiest to catch in August, and the moon took their name. The Grain Moon and Green Corn Moon mark the start of harvest, and the Red Moon describes the rising August moon seen through summer haze.

Trivia

• The Perseid meteor shower peaks around August 12, so the Sturgeon Moon's phase decides how good the show is.
• Lake sturgeon can live more than a century and grow over two metres long.
• Perigee full moons often cluster in late summer, so the Sturgeon Moon is frequently a supermoon.

All Sturgeon Moon dates ›

This month's full moon: the Blue Moon

A second full moon in one calendar month. It happens about every two and a half years and has nothing to do with color.

The monthly definition became popular after a 1946 Sky and Telescope article misread the Maine Farmers' Almanac, which used an older seasonal rule: the third full moon in a season that has four. Both definitions are in use today. The phrase "once in a blue moon" predates both and simply means rarely.

Lore

The phrase once in a blue moon is older than any astronomical definition and originally meant something absurd or never. The modern rule, a second full moon in one calendar month, spread from a 1946 magazine article and a 1980s radio programme. Genuinely blue-looking moons have been seen after huge volcanic eruptions and forest fires, when smoke particles scatter red light.

Trivia

• Monthly Blue Moons happen about every 2.7 years.
• The older seasonal rule calls the third full moon of a season with four the Blue Moon.
• After Krakatoa erupted in 1883 the Moon appeared blue or green for nearly two years.

All Blue Moon dates ›

Gardening by the Moon in August 2023

• Aug 1 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
• Aug 2 to Aug 7 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.
• Aug 8 to Aug 15 · Rest and tend: Rest days for the soil: weed, cultivate, turn compost, harvest crops for storage, prune to discourage regrowth, prepare beds. Avoid sowing.
• Aug 16 to Aug 23 · Leafy crops: Sow leafy crops and above-ground annuals whose seeds form outside the fruit: lettuce, spinach, cabbage, broccoli, celery, herbs. Transplant seedlings. Mow to encourage growth.
• Aug 24 to Aug 30 · Fruiting crops: Sow above-ground crops whose seeds form inside the fruit: beans, peas, tomatoes, peppers, squash, cucumbers, melons. Graft, repot and sow lawns.
• Aug 31 · Root crops: Plant root crops and anything that overwinters: carrots, beets, potatoes, onions, garlic, bulbs, perennials, trees and shrubs. Prune to slow growth.

Full planting calendar for August › · How gardening by the moon works

How to read this moon calendar

Each day shows the Moon as it looks from Fuling at midday local time, with the illuminated percentage, moonrise and moonset. Days with a principal phase show the exact local time the phase occurs. Because the Moon moves about 50 minutes later each day, roughly once a month there is a date with no moonrise or no moonset at all.

The eight phases of the Moon