114 51 7MB
English Pages 140 Year 2001
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Old Farmer's Almanac f
i
Krommes -Beth
Useful Advice and Folk Wisdom from the Publishers of The Old Farmer's Almanac
Copyright 2001 by Yankee Publishing Incorporated Editor: Jeff Baker Art Director: Margo Letourneau
Daily text information by Martha White Selected illustrations by Beth Krommes Cover design: Margo Letourneau
Cover art: Bouquet of Chrysanthemums, hand-finished stipple engraving, Jean-Louis Prévost, Paris, 1804
To order The Old Farmer’s Almanac Engagement Calendar, call 800-223-3166, or visit our Web site at www.almanac.com. PRINTED IN U.S.A.
ISBN 1-57198-206-X
2002 SM)
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|AvN UA RY with The Old Farmer’ Almanac
aS Oe FARMER’S
CALENDAR,
FULL
OA JANUARY
1952
y good old neighbors tell me that in the first year of their married life (some sixty years ago), one of the main roads of the town was the now lovely, but impassable, lane behind our house. Outlined in towering maples and magnificent stone walls, it is a foot track only. Of the red brick schoolhouse that stood at the crossroads of the lane and the “winter road” that wound from the center of the town up the long valleys to the north, there is no sign, though an idle foot poking in the leaves may turn over an earthcovered brick, an epitaph to generations of farm boys who lived their lives out here at the corners. These thousands of acres were farmland once—fairly rich in flocks and grains and orchards. The four corners of yesterday are the haunts today of beaver, deer, and even an occasional bear. Such abandoned corners are to be found throughout New England—seemingly strange contradictions in an age of vastly increasing population and travel. Yet not contradictions, really, since our generations prefer to shrink
to the towns and seek elbow-to-elbow sidewalk living and their precious three freedoms of radio, television, and hotdog stands. As the ages see it, it is well for the land that the four
corners return to the wilderness. What is lost is the heritage of character, of courage and hardiness, that belonged especially to those who loved the soil and made it their own.
OLD
MOON
ae
Ww
Whee:
Aa If birds begin to whistle in January—
frosts to come.
t will be the same weather for nine weeks as it ts on the ninth day
after Christmas.
A fair day in winter is the mother ofa storm.
we I
e
Resolutions written by Woody Guthrie
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.
7. 8. 9. 10.
Work more and better Work by a schedule Wash teeth if any Shave Take bath Eat good—fruit vegetables - milk Drink very scant if any Write a song a day Wear clean clothes— look good Shine shoes
12. Change bed clothes often 13. Read lots of good books 14. Listen to radio a lot 15. Learn people better 16. Keep rancho clean 17. Don’t get lonesome 18. Stay glad 19. Keep hoping machine running 20. Dream good 21. Bank all extra money
Me Change socks
22. Save dough
24. 25. 26. 27.
28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33.
Send Mary and kids money Play and sing good Dance better Help win war—beat fascism Love Mama Love Papa Love Pete Love everybody Make up your mind Wake up and fight —courtesy Woody Guthrie Archives
23. Have company but don’t waste time
a.
CARNATION
OR
SNOWDROP
Phere. GARNET
7
CAPRICORN
DECEMBER 2001 o% JANUARY 2002
Monday
A different world cannot be built
by indifferent people.
To ensure abundance forthe coming year, eat well today. Wednesday
Push cloves into an apple, top with mistletoe, and set on
a tripod to welcome the New Year.
Thursday
January's birthstone isthe garnet, fortruth and constancy.
CAPRICORN
January 2002
February 2002
Watch for the
Quadrantid meteor shower now around 5:00 a.m. EST.
Last Quarter Moon
~ Saturday
Krommes —Beth
Time to get out the seed catalogs.
Twelfth Day (Epiphany)
Krommes —Beth
decorations down today to avoid bad luck.
JANUARY
Today is Distaff Day, when spinners resumed their work, and Plough Monday, when farmers returned to the fields.
A great deal of superciliousness Is based on biliousness. —Ogden Nash, American
writer (1902-1971)
Wednesday
Thursday
A chinook is a warm, dry wind in the Rockies, coming after a cold spell.
To cure warts, make
a paste of aspirin and water, apply to the wart, and bandage.
Renew daily.
January 2002
Listen carefully to mourning doves infight and youwillhear their Wings whistle.
Q. What’ the
February 2002
Friday
Saturday
definition ofvitamin? A. It’s what you do when a friend comes to the door.
New Moon
Sunday
b
Apropitious daytomarry! ; sunavensavenseesucenneuancesnassensersntsonscnsonsnsssneasenesbasenende
steednedabizennessinnsssvnosasbayedsdnspsitnnsdaeysipgsbenngtdunegincipensenssdasecareucensnasuseseatensearsneasassacacnasnsnee
JANUARY
Monday
Tuesday
Eat bananas or baked potatoes to help lower blood pressure.
When yougo to bed with aclear head, youwillnever risewith a headache.
Wednesday
Keep poinsettias in a sunny, cool, and humid location.
Krommes —Beth
Thursday
Benjamin Franklins Birthday
Anthony, today’s saint, was patron of basket weavers, brushmakers, and domestic animals.
January 2002 SMTWHT FS
By one account, Daniel Webster’ last words (1852) were: “Life,
February 2002
Friday
life! Death, death! How curious it is!”
To remove rusty screws or bolts,
presoak them in lemon juice or cola.
“i Apropitous day birth ofmen.
fort
Saturday
JANUARY
First Quarter Moon
@
Martin Luther King Jr’s Bir thday (observed)
Tuesday
Make perennial garden beds about twice as wide as the height of
the tallest plant.
he
Wednesday
DfJaniveer’s calends be summerly gay, ‘Twill be winterly weather till the calends ofMay.
Thursday
Gold! at Sutter’s Mill, California, 1848.
January 2002
February 2002
Friday
Bring new flowers in during the darkest
days of winter.
Shake and shake
,
Saturday
the catsup bottle. None will come, and then a lot'll. —Richard Armour, American poet (1906-1989)
Winterfindswhat summer laysup.
Sunday
JANUARY o& FEBRUARY
Monday
Full Old Moon
2)" December without a Cold Moon; January takes the Old Moon.
Tuesday
fall the world were just There would be no
need ofvalor. —Plutarch, Greek biographer (A.D. 46-120)
Wednesday
Books cannot be killed byfire. —Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd
USS. president (1882-1945)
Thursday
Geese are great to have around. ... They are sagacious, contentious,
storm-loving, and beautiful. —E. B. White, American writer (1899-1985)
February 2002
Chickadees live
about nine years. (Don’t forget to feed the birds.)
Groundhog Day Candlemas
Colors seen by candlelight will not seem the same by day. —Elizabeth Barrett Browning,
English poet (1806-1861)
I swear to the Lord I still can’t see
Why Democracy means Everybody but me. —Langston Hughes, American
writer (1902-1967)
March 2002
Friday
f [ p R UA DY ait The Old Farmer’s Almanac
February 27
He FARMER’S
ae CALENDAR,
ae FEBRUARY
FULL
1952
his is the month of good excuses. It’s too cold, too wet, too snowy, too blowy to get outside or into your barns—except for chores. But your farm business doesn’t have to be outside or in your barns or woodlot. There is a world of work, if you would get at it, inside the house and barns. And so we say February is as good a month for farm business as any other. How shall we advise you other than we have advised before? Look to what repairs you have to do and improvements within the house. Put up new pantry shelves, scrape and refinish the floors, and ifyou have had the time and the foresight to rig up a workshop in the basement, repair the screens and paint them, mend the rakes, sharpen the scythes and saws. Or go to your desk and work out in dollars and cents what your next farm year is coming to.
Your cows will relish the cold nip of winter if there is enough sunshine with it. Rain or shine, blizzard or cold, your horses should be out a bit each day. And if it is really warm for this time of year, let them have all the hay they want on the snow and stay out as long as they will—or as long as they eat the hay. If you have orchards, you should now be at the pruning of them. But do not touch your Baldwin trees till the first of March. Their fruit is sturdy and tough, but the trees themselves are as tender as a baby’s skin.
SNOW
MOON
ae
me
OAs
perenne I]Sfbees get out
in February, the next day will be windy and rainy.
When in cold weather the soot falls from the chimney, the weather will change.
Where is always one fine week in February.
IfFebruary givemuch snow,
Lang fine summer it doth foreshow.
of, of a Cold o the FLu
SINUSITIS
ALLERGY
Muscle aches
Occasionally
Runny, stuffy nose
Occasionally
Sneezing
Occasionally
Itchy eyes, nose, throat :
Rarely
Rarely
ate
AQUARIUS
Flore VIOLET. OR\\PRIMROSE
‘
i
\
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Usually
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Never
FEBRUARY
Last Quarter Moon A
:
(3
Start new parsley
plants indoors. (Parsley is a biennial.)
Ifsnails come out in February, theywill stay home inMarch.
-Be Kro
Wednesday
If you have trouble with hives, try vitamin C, a natural antihistamine.
Amethyst, February's stone, isfor sincerity and sobriety,
February2002.
Extend your welcome to the blue jays; they eat gypsy moths.
To restore a dented Ping-Pong ball, immerse it in very hot water.
Start assembling tax-related documents now, for the
April 15 deadline.
~
March 2002
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
EEBRUARY
ie
New Moon *A
7G
Abraham Lincoln's Birthday Mardi Gras, or “fat
Tuesday,” celebrates the increasing light of
February and March. Wednesday
Ash Wednesday
Lent begins today, 40 days before Easter, not counting Sundays. Thursday
=
———
SS
Ifthe piecrust trimmings fallover yourhand,youwill Mary young.
g
February 2002
Susan B.Anthony's Birthday
March 2002
Friday
(Fla., Wis.)
Tfone is lucky,
a solitary fantasy can totally transform one million realities. —Maya Angelou,
American poet (b. 1928)
Saturday
Spread wood ashes around lilacs now for
better spring blooms.
Sunday
FEBRUARY
George Washington's Birthday (observed)
Labour to keep alive in your breast that little spark ofcelestial fire— conscience. —George Washington, first USS. president (1732-1799)
Cold rice and cold tea are bearable, but cold looks and cold words are not.
—Japanese proverb
Wednesday
First Quarter Moon
Rule for a Long Life One should eat to live,
and not eat to satiety. —The [Old] Farmer’ Almanac, 1793
Thursday
A white rooster willcrowall the mice out ofa house.
February 2002
March 2002
Well, it will be a new experience, anyway. —last words of George Bernard Shaw, British playwright
(1856-1950)
Hasten spring
rhubarb by placing a barrel over the
plants now.
Never letthe bottom ofyour purse or your mind be seen.
Saturday
FEBRUARY o MARCH
Monday
Q. How do you get
down from an elephant? A. You don’t; you get down from a goose.
—Beth Kromme
Wednesday
Full Snow Moon
ee et Also called the Full Hunger Moon,
because hunting was curtailed and food was scarce. Thursday
Snow creep isa
_., continuous, eareindy » slow, downhill
royement ofa a layer
To honor Stiatwtlees
_ilojourhattoday
Texas oer Day
The bloodstone is March’s birthstone, offering mental
acuity and courage. Is yon strange creature a common chickadee, Or a migrant alouette
from Picardy? —Ogden Nash, American
writer (1902-1971)
Saturday
M A p C H with The Old Farmer’ Almanac
: 50
FARMER’S
ee
CALENDAR,
:
ae
MARCH
1952
March 28 FULL
WORM
MOON
a
se
o quote The Old Farmer’ Almanac of March 1898, “As the sun mounts higher toward the zenith, the farmer is reminded that the growing season is approaching, and that the earth
will soon change its winter coat for its beautiful summer garb of ever-changing hues; and that the ground will soon be in condition to receive the seed for the reproduction of those crops which furnish food to both man and beast.” Amen, say we—and 50 shall it allbe. . . we hope. Unfortunately, we cannot today approach the bursting world of spring with the same smug sense of wellbeing and satisfaction. We know that what we plant may grow as well as the seed planted in the spring of 1898, and probably a lot better. And there will be for us the same satisfaction in our growing crops. But beyond that, we don’t know. If we grow potatoes, apples, cotton, just for example, what is our assurance? We may have subsidy on these—from a paternal government—or we may not have subsidy. Whatever we grow, subsidy or not, will be grown with asense of insecurity. We farmers, subsidized or not, have the feeling that we are part of a juggling act, and we wonder when the act is going to end— Or just scatter.
Our advice for March, as ever: spread your manure, prune your fruit trees, pay your taxes, slaughter your pigs, and get ready to prepare your ground “to receive the seed.”
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(©) AmericanExpress
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Visit our Web site often to see what’s new! www.almanac.com/go/home
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www.almanac.com/go/store2003
OCTOBER
Horses sweating inthe stableisasign ofrain,
Good bargains empty our pockets. —German proverb
Krommes —Beth
New Moon ae b
Keep a can of cooking oil spray in your toolshed to spray onto tools to keep them rust-free.
October 2002
NL BS ae
November 2002
Friday
Saturday
QOC T O R LiM with The Old Farmers Almanac
October 21
5O Oe. HiARM ERS) 1G Ale NupiA Ree
PUiik
Th, OG O BeEMRe
LUNE
Reese VinOLOnn
“i.
Ww
19/52
nce ina while,” Clara J.Hallett of Hyannis,
Massachusetts, tells us, “I like to roam around in some of the old cemeteries. They are about the only quiet, peaceful spots left to us now. When we realize that all these people lived day to day and from year to year,
C2
we get a different, broader view of what eternal life means.
“How strange, and amusing, and pathetic the old stones seem. Some express such faith in celestial bliss, others foreshadow eternal doom. Here area few of the epitaphs I have saved from these visits: ‘Hannah Green, Spinster—Died at the age of 92: God takes the good, too good, On earth to stay, And leaves the bad, too bad, To take away.’ Added by a wag: ‘And that’s the cause of Hannah’s long delay.’
Proverks Much rain in CFs
much windin| Deen
.
;
When : Moon be
|
i
“Mary Ann lies here to rest, With her head on Abraham's breast; It’s very nice for Mary Ann, But it’s rather hard on
Abraham.’ “Under this stone a lump of clay, Lies Annabelle Young, Who on the 24th of May, Began to hold her tongue.’ “In one church yard, a Mr. Church buried four wives. In burying the fourth, he had to move the other three with the result that their bones became hopelessly mixed. Consequently, the following was given as an inscription to the last one, Emily: “Stranger pause and drop atear, For Emily Church lies buried here, Mixed in some perplexing manner, With Mary, Matilda, and probably Hannah.”
'
LY rain canas pee in
about ten ie 2
Fall. SPlanted Bulbs PLANTING DEPTH (INCHES)
SPACING (INCHES)
Early-Spring Blooms Crocus
FLOWER HEIGHT (INCHES)
3
2-3
4-6
Glory-of-the-snow Grape hyacinth Snowdrop
3 3-4 4
2-3 3 2-3
6-10 8-10 6
Mid-Spring Blooms Daffodil
ie
3-4
6-18
2
4-6
3-6
6-28
2
3-4
3-18
4
3-6
15-24
6
6-8
4-12
Ornamental onion
6
4-6
6-24
Spanish bluebell
3
3-6
15-20
Squill
Tulip
8
Windflower
8
Late-Spring Blooms Dutch iris
Hyacinth
Floor GALEN DULA
||
sean LIBRA
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OR
TOURMALINE
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PBS
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Sa
OCTOBER
Monday
Child Health Day
Have you checked your home for lead
paint? Tuesday
The squirrel gloats on his accomplished hoard. —Thomas Hood, English
—Beth Krommes
Wednesday
LeifEriksson Day
Thursday
oldest form of social security.
October 2002
November 2002
Cut yourfingernails on Friday, cut them forwoe.
Friday
Dream ofa pumpkin and you dream ofplenty.
Saturday
Use a stamp pad and fresh herbs to make prints for personalized stationery or wrapping paper.
OCTOBER
Columbus Day (observed)
Thanksgiving Day (Canada)
Turn off the TV. Put a fire in the fireplace, make popcorn, or crack nuts. To cure “the piles,” apply warm treacle or a
bruised onion, skinned. —John Wesley, English religious leader (1703-1791)
Wednesday
Plunge the water out of the toilet bowl before you clean it;
otherwise, your cleanser is diluted.
Thursday
Only the mediocre are always at their best. —Jean Giraudoux, French writer (1882-1944)
Krommes -Beth
October 2002
November 2002 S2MoLe
Wek
3 4 1011 17 18 24 25
Alaska Day
St. Luke’s “little summer’ carries a
reputation for~ unseasonably warm” weather.
—
Let your flowers and rosebushes be protected
against the frost by straw and coarse dung. —The [Old] Farmer’ Almanac, 1801."
It works! Say “Nine sups from a cup cures the hiccups” three times without taking a breath.
Saturday
=Rics
OCTOBER
Full Hunter's Moon +
+A
If migratory birds arrive early and in great numbers, it will be a cold winter. Harvest the last of the fragrant herbs now and make potpourri for winter gifts.
Wednesday
Rinse milk bottles and empty onto houseplants as a mild liquid manure.
United Nations Day
Governments
never learn. Only people learn. —Milton Friedman, American economist (b. 1912)
October 2002
November 2002 SMTWTF
In 1900, a third of all cars in New York City, Boston, and
Friday
Chicago were electric.
Saturday
The first and last frosts are the worst.
Sg season and rise early; this will save your health, as well as wood and candles. —The [Old] Farmer’s Almanac, 1794
Daylight Saving Time ends at 2:00 A.M.
ee
ti
co
S§
OCTOBER os NOVEMBER
Monday
This isa good . month to set out trees for fruit or shade. Cf
Kromm —Beth
Weather, wind, women,
and fortune change like the Moon. —French proverb cetnecusunansauunsccsnarsonnacucsusnsseuranessncnssonncsutenssscunsauusapananeusaucucensnaesunaseeassusraseancasesnsnsdenunasessuveucsuvasseeosayalgguiwececsnnneagFeancseccsensbseuscssssscsssavecsognecesnssasssessansesessapauerssensueesavasausesuesacascuscyeeseuavsversenses
Wednesday
a |
The covetous man is ever in want. —Horace, Roman poet
(c. 65-8 B.C.)
Thursday
Halloween
A snail leftto crawl through the ashes on the hearth tonight willdraw the initials ofyour future spouse.
s November 2002
November's birthstone, the topaz, protects from poisons and infidelity.
December 2002
Friday
Saturday
Soul! Soul! for an apple or two! Tfyou have no apples, Pears will do... Need more bookshelf space? Donate some books to your school or library.
Sunday
N OV E M R LEp with The Old Farmers Almanac
50
FARMER’S
OL.
CALENDAR,
BEAVER
FULL
go
NOVEMBER
November 19
7
(i 1952
MOON
“4