2026
| Full moon | Date | Time (U.S. Central) | Garden guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Harvest Moon | Sat, Sep 26, 2026 | 11:49 a.m. CDT | Read the guide |
| Hunter’s Moon | Sun, Oct 25, 2026 | 11:12 p.m. CDT | Read the guide |
| Beaver Moon | Tue, Nov 24, 2026 | 8:53 a.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
| Cold Moon | Wed, Dec 23, 2026 | 7:28 p.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
2027
| Full moon | Date | Time (U.S. Central) | Garden guide |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wolf Moon | Fri, Jan 22, 2027 | 6:17 a.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
| Snow Moon | Sat, Feb 20, 2027 | 5:23 p.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
| Worm Moon | Mon, Mar 22, 2027 | 5:44 a.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Pink Moon | Tue, Apr 20, 2027 | 5:27 p.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Flower Moon | Thu, May 20, 2027 | 5:59 a.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Strawberry Moon | Fri, Jun 18, 2027 | 7:44 p.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Buck Moon | Sun, Jul 18, 2027 | 10:45 a.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Sturgeon Moon | Tue, Aug 17, 2027 | 2:29 a.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Harvest Moon | Wed, Sep 15, 2027 | 6:03 p.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Hunter’s Moon | Fri, Oct 15, 2027 | 8:47 a.m. CDT | Posted about a week before |
| Beaver Moon | Sat, Nov 13, 2027 | 9:26 p.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
| Cold Moon | Mon, Dec 13, 2027 | 10:09 a.m. CST | Posted about a week before |
Times are U.S. Naval Observatory data, shown in U.S. Central time: CDT in summer, CST in winter. The moon is full at the same instant everywhere, so elsewhere just adjust for your time zone. A full moon that falls late at night in Central time can fall on the next calendar day farther east.
How to use it in the garden
Traditional moon gardening splits each month in two. The waxing half, from new moon up to full, is for sowing and transplanting crops you harvest above ground. The waning half, from full moon back to new, is for roots, bulbs, soil work, pruning and cleanup. The full moon is the hinge between them. Our moon-phase gardening guide goes through all eight phases.
We’ll be straight about it: University of Illinois Extension reviewed the research and found no consistent evidence that the moon changes how plants grow. What the moon does give you is a dependable rhythm, with two clear windows a month to get the right work done. The season and your local frost dates still decide what that work is.
Where the names come from
The names are the traditional ones popularized by the Old Farmer’s Almanac, drawn from Native American, colonial American and European sources. Two of them move around. The Harvest Moon is the full moon closest to the September equinox, so it can land in September or October. The Hunter’s Moon is the full moon after it.
Sources: U.S. Naval Observatory, Phases of the Moon · Old Farmer’s Almanac, “What Makes the Hunter’s Moon Special” · University of Illinois Extension, “Lunar Influence on Gardening”