Farmers' Almanac Blog

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Living in the Northeast allows me to experience all four seasons. I enjoy all four seasons, but do tend to look forward to the days when more time can be spent outdoors in warm, sunny weather. Which has me thinking …inside or out?

While heading outdoors is a welcomed opportunity to get some fresh air and soak up some vitamin D, it also provides me with a list of chores that have to be done outside as well as in. Weeding, mulching, mowing, and weeding some more keep me busy this time of year. It’s a lot of work but when I think about it, I’d much prefer to do the outside work than inside.

Then there’s the first night it’s warm enough to eat outside on the patio. As the spring and summer progress, the “outside or in” question about where we are eating becomes a daily ritual. Sometimes it is too hot to eat outside, and other times the bugs are too hungry to enjoy eating outdoors, but it’s always a refreshing way to shake up the normal dinner routine. Sometimes packing the occasional picnic dinner provides even more outdoor enjoyment.

And then there’s the gym – go workout inside where the machines keep track of how much time and how many calories you burn, or go take a run outdoors at the local park?  Yup you guessed it, unless it’s really hot and humid or raining, I’d much prefer the outdoor run to the inside treadmill.

Now grant it, a few of our Farmers’ Almanac associates work in the very warm southeast, so by the time I head outdoors to partake in some outside activity, he may be heading indoors to cool off and escape the very hot weather. But wherever you live, I’m sure there’s a time of year where being outdoors is just such a better way to spend some time.

Indoors or out? Where do you prefer to eat your meals or spend your time? Which season is best for spending time outdoors for you?

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As Americans wait impatiently for a their three-day weekend to come, Canadians will be celebrating a full week earlier, with Victoria Day – or National Patriots’ Day, depending on which province you live in – on Monday, May 28.

Will the skies be sunny, or will things get soggy, this Victoria Day? The Farmers’ Almanac knows the answer! Here’s what we’re predicting for your region:

Newfoundland & Labrador
A spell of fair weather over the weekend, followed by showery conditions, with gusty winds, on Monday.

Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec
A spell of fair weather over the weekend, followed by showery conditions, with gusty winds, on Monday.

Ontario
Squally weather during the early part of the weekend, followed by fair skies.

Alberta, Manitoba, Saskatchewan
Clear, but unseasonably chilly, over the weekend, followed by fair skies on Monday

British Columbia
Clear, but quite cool, over the weekend, turning unsettledby Monday.

Happy national holiday!

Looking for the Memorial Day forecast for the U.S.? Click here!

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One of my passions in life is public education. I have served on the Maine State Board of Education, St. Joseph’s College of Maine, Educate Maine, Junior Achievement, and a dozen other related organizations. My proudest moment is the connection I have enjoyed with Montello Elementary School, a K – 6 school in Lewiston, Maine. In 1988, I started an Adopt-a-School program with the school, and 24 years later we are still going strong. Our mission is to raise the aspirations of every student – more than 750 of them – and to provide resources to educators, parents and students.

The crowning event is connected to the Farmers’ Almanac. Our publication has always been about teaching people how to do things. In 1890 it was “How to Kiss,” in 1950 it was how children should behave and more recently, it is about providing great ideas to save money, be good to the earth, and so much more. In the same factory where we print the promotional version of our Almanac, we also prepare an annual Montello Anthology honoring the best writings by students from the school. It is an annual Oscar” style event, complete with a limo, red carpet, and “paparazzi.” For an inner city school, it is an incredible moment in time.

On May 2nd, US Senator Susan Collins and Maine Commissioner of Education, Stephen Bowen joined me on stage to hand out the awards. Our theme, “IMAGINE BIG,” was a reminder that every child has tremendous potential. Whether it is reading, writing, math, science, or the arts, we can all excel at something. While parents are the first and most important teacher, it does takes the proverbial village to raise a child. I want to salute the Montello educators and students for their accomplishments. If you are a teacher and would like a copy of the 2012 Montello Anthology, contact me at pgeiger@farmersalmanac.com.

I recently received a package of letters from a second grade class in Winslow, Maine. Students had spent some time with the 2012 Farmers’ Almanac and wrote about what they likes. If you are a teacher, think about engaging your students next year with this historic but relevant publication.

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Flowers, perhaps more than any other part of the natural world, are fascinating because of the many layers of meaning people have shrouded them in throughout history.

There is a whole sub-category of etiquette surrounding which flowers are appropriate to give at what times, and to whom. The unending rules surrounding something so simple as a flower can be dizzying.

Another aspect of flower lore concerns the designated flowers for each month of the year. What many people don’t realize is that most months actually have two official flowers. Last year, we looked at one of May’s official flowers, the lily of the valley. The other is hawthorne.

Hawthorn, also known as thornapple, refers to any one of several shrubs and trees in the rose family. Hawthorn thrives in temperate regions throughout the Northern Hemisphere, including parts of North America, Europe, and Asia.

Hawthorn trees can grow to heights of nearly 50 feet, though most are smaller, and feature throny branches and small, berry-like fruits known as “haws.” The fruit is extremely tart and not usually eater raw, but can be made into jams and jellies. The flowers are usually white or pink and feature five petals.

Herbalists have long used the plant to aid in digestion, sedation, and to treat cardiovascular issues, and the modern medical establishment has taken note, researching the plant’s effectiveness at helping individuals with heart disease.

There is a great deal of folklore surrounding hawthorn. In pre-Christian Europe, it was used for magical rune inscriptions. In Britain, hawthorn is associated with faeries and was believed to mark the entrance to their world. In Serbia and Croatia, people once believed stakes for killing vampires should be made from hawthorn.

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Whether playing the game or simply supporting your favorite team, the baseball cap is a popular article of many people’s wardrobes. But did you ever wonder how it became so popular?

During the first years of major league baseball, it was actually the individual player’s responsibility to wear something that could keep the sun out of their eyes while playing the game. (Imagine the rainbow of colors they must have worn.)

In 1849, the New York Knickerbockers were the first to wear hats of straw. It wasn’t until 1954 that the “59 fifty-style” baseball cap became the official hat for all baseball teams.

The hats became so popular that baseball fans and non-baseball fans alike wear the hats for their practicality and comfort.

Today as we all know, baseball caps come in all types, teams, slogans, colors, and they aren’t just for baseball anymore.

What’s your favorite type of hat to wear? Do you have a team hat you have to wear while doing a certain chore or do you prefer a straw hat? Let us know.

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This Saturday night, the largest full moon of the year will appear. This week’s full Moon, which takes place on May 5, will be a “SuperMoon,” and should appear quite a bit larger and brighter than a normal full Moon.

Last year, the March SuperMoon got a lot of media attention because it was the largest full Moon in nearly 20 years. This week’s SuperMoon will not be quite as extreme as last year’s, but will come close.

SuperMoons are caused by the shape of the Moon’s orbit, which is not a perfect circle, but an ellipse, or oval, shape. The Moon orbits the Earth once each month, and each month reaches a point farthest from the Earth, called apogee, and closest to the Earth, called perigee.

A SuperMoon occurs when the Moon is at least 90% of the way to its perigee position at the same time it is full or new. An extreme SuperMoon is when a full or new Moon happens at the same time the Moon is close to 100% perigee. May’s full Moon will occur within an hour of the Moon’s perigee.

The reason these two Moon phases are singled out is because each of them means that the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in alignment. When the Moon is full, it sits exactly on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. When the Moon is new, it sits between the Earth and the Sun. In both cases, the gravitational pull from these two bodies – the Moon and the Sun – combine to create larger than normal tides, called “spring tides,” on Earth. When the Moon is also at perigee at this time, the effect is magnified into what is called a “proxigean spring tide.”

Of course, a new Moon at perigee isn’t very exciting to look at – because the new Moon does not reflect the Sun’s light, it is invisible – so full SuperMoons get much more attention than new SuperMoons.

There are actually about four or five SuperMoon events each year, only about half of which are full SuperMoons. Extreme SuperMoons are more rare and occur at varying intervals ranging from as little as a year to 20 years or more.

The Moon won’t be as big and bright as this week’s Moon for another two years – August 10, 2014, to be exact – so be sure to get outside this weekend and enjoy it!

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By any measure, we dodged a bullet this winter. It was mild in most regions of the U.S. What are the chances that Mother Nature will be as kind next year? The 2013 Farmers’ Almanac will be out in September to weigh in with our predictions, but now is actually the ideal time to get ready for next winter. It is almost like getting ready for Christmas, then sitting back with a smile while others scurry at the last moment.

If you use wood to help heat your home, this is actually the perfect time of the year to prepare. You can watch a couple of videos we made a few years ago on the subject: Firewood 101 and How to Season Firewood. I just took delivery of 2 cords and stacked it for a long drying summer. If you buy now – you will get “green” (wet) wood, but it will be at the best price. If you take delivery make sure you get a mix of hardwoods. Pay attention to what is or isn’t included. In fact, when shopping wood suppliers, ask for a breakdown of what is in their deliveries.

Here is a handy breakdown of wood species and approximate equivalent to gallons of fuel oil per cord air dried wood:

Hickory: 177 gallons
White Oak: 170 gallons
Sugar Maple: 155 gallons
Red Oak: 155 gallons
Beech: 149 gallons
Yellow Burch: 149 gallons
White Ash: 149 gallons
Red Maple: 136 gallons
White Birch: 130 gallons
Elm: 126 gallons
Gray Birch: 125 gallons
Poplar: 100 gallons

One more consideration: Last fall, I came across Eco Bricks at Tractor Supply Stores. This is hardwood compressed into bricks and sold in packages of eight, or by the ton. They are dry, easy to handle and burn hotter and longer than logs, without the mess. It is worth investigating and maybe mixing with regular wood. If you have any firewood questions, toss them my way. It is one of my favorite topics.

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Do you remember that TV commercial where Mother Nature thinks that she’s tasting butter but it’s really margarine? And when she realizes she’s being fooled she states “It’s not nice to fool Mother Nature” and then causes it to thunder?

Well I’m beginning to wonder if Mother Nature is being fooled or fooling us. Doesn’t it seem odd that the two snowfalls that made a big impact in the East this year came in the fall and the spring, and not in the winter? Did someone switch Mother Nature’s calendar, or is she reminding us that she’s in charge and not the calendar?

There’s been a lot of talk about a most unusual configuration of the jet stream this past winter, allowed by the phenomena known as the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) and the Arctic Oscillation (AO), which didn’t permit the cold air to penetrate as far south as it usually does. This combined with La Nina, seems to have kept the normal winter weather conditions away.

Then there’s the idea that Mother Nature balances her checkbook – meaning if we had a mild winter will she balance it out with a cold, stormy summer? Or will she wait until next winter to balance out the lack of winter weather …. Time will tell, but we will be sharing our long-range outlook for next winter this August….

But what do you think? Do you think this crazy weather will balance out? We have released our summer forecast and don’t call for anything too extreme or winter like, maybe she is waiting for winter 2013 . . .

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A few years ago, I felt moved to visited Port au Prince, Haiti, 2 ½ months after the devastating January 2010 earthquake. Anyone who participates in relief work knows that it is a life changing experience. Last week, I was able to return for the third time. We can see pictures of any disaster, but until you stand there and see, smell, and hear the aftermath, it is just another disaster. In some parts of the country, it is common to burn a field. It kills pests and dead grass. But, soon after, new life forms – bigger and better. From death comes life.

My work is done in tandem with the South Lewiston Baptist Church on behalf of Pastor Nathan of Bethesda Baptist Church, who serves people in Dalmas region (similar to where Sean Penn is doing his good work). Here are my observations two years later. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Due to decades of political corruption, decaying infrastructure, poor healthcare, and little industry, natural disasters are especially devastating. Other countries that have experienced earthquakes (Japan and Chile) are bouncing back, but this is not the case for Haiti.

After the quake, all structures crumbled. Dead bodies were still in buildings, and raw sewerage flowed everywhere. There was no electric power and very little drinking water. Almost no building was left undamaged. Today, there are only a few traces of collapsed buildings. The debris on the streets is gone and you can see some new construction using better materials. Stores are open for business.

In 2010 and 2011 people waved and said thank you as you drove by. They did not know us but were grateful that someone cared enough to come to their community. Sad faces with big grateful smiles. In fact, during my first trip, people looked stunned and wandered the streets with nowhere to go. Today, people are going about their lives not looking at strangers. There is a renewed energy.

In the past, tents were everywhere – tens of thousands of people slept and lived cheek to cheek. Families of eight lived in hot tents or metal structures that you or I might use for twp people if we were camping. There were no “facilities,” so the stench was especially strong. Today my guess is that 85% of these are gone, including all the ones in the downtown area. I did visit one tent city and it still makes you want to cry. Children grab your hand and don’t want to let go. Beautiful faces with so little.

The biggie for me – in the past everyone was begging for $1. During my first trip, our team was mobbed as soon as we got to the airport. Everyone was asking for a dollar or rubbing their stomachs asking for food. They would run along side your car and keep asking. The begging was relentless. This trip only three people approached me for money. They asked for $2. Inflation, I guess. The need is still great, but I equate it to many more people trying to sell products on the street. Essentially, they are trying to make a living even though the vast majority are without jobs.

My take-away is that things are nearing pre-earthquake conditions. But, this is still hell on Earth. The UN are there with thousands of vehicles and barracks, but no one knows what they do. So what does this mean for you? First, if you have a way to help Haiti, please do so. The need is tremendous. But, find an organization that actually gets the money to people. Pray for Haitians. Faith has been their lifeline. And, when you see any opportunity to help others (tornadoes in the US, floods, hurricanes, ice storms) be as generous as possible. Volunteers are the life blood of Americans. When there is need in your community be there. If it is not the American way, it certainly is the human way.