From the moist meadow to the wither’d hill, Led by the breeze, the vivid verdure runs, And swells and deepens, to the cherish’d eye. – James Thomson

The Moon, the Stars and Meteors

The Cows Switching Their Tails Moon waxes through its second quarter to become a full Supermoon on April 26, thanks to its position at perigee (its position closest to Earth) on April 27. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead in the middle of the night, encouraging creatures to be hungrier at that time, especially as the cold fronts of April 24 and 28 approach.

The Lyrid meteor shower peaked on April 21-22. Expect up to 20 shooting stars per hour in Lyra, almost overhead in the eastern sky after midnight. The Eta Aquarid meteors run from April 19 to May 28, peaking in May. Find them low in the east before dawn while you are still looking for Lyrids.

Late in the evening, the Milky Way fills the western horizon as Orion sets just behind the sun. Now the middle of the heavens is in it prime spring planting position, Castor and Pollux to the west, Leo with its bright Regulus directly overhead and Arcturus dominating the east. At midnight, the brightest star overhead is Arcturus, the brightest western star is Regulus and the brightest light in the east is Vega. At morning chore time, Vega is the brightest star above you. Arcturus is the brightest in the western sky. Deep along the northern horizon the brightest star is Capella.

Weather Trends

After April 22, chances of snow drop below 5 percent, and chances of a cold day in the 30s or 40s fall to only 10 percent. Beginning on April 27, highs in the 90s become possible, and the chances of a high in the 80s pass the 20 percent mark. The chances of a high above 70s degrees are now 50/50 or better for the first time this year. On the other hand, the approach of lunar perigee and full moon on the 26th and 27th are very likely to produce a frosty close to this year’s April. Lunar perigee and full moon may also increase the chances of storms as the second major tornado period of April begins this week, lasting through the end of the month.

Zeitgebers

(Events in Nature that Tell the Time of Year)

Bird migrations intensify with the arrival of red-headed woodpeckers, catbirds, cedar waxwings, yellow-throated vireos, meadow larks, indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, Baltimore orioles, cowbirds, kingbirds, and more than a dozen varieties of warblers.

The antlers of white-tailed deer begin to grow just as all major garden weeds are sprouting. Daddy longlegs start hunting in the undergrowth as cliff swallows migrate.

The first cycle of cabbage white butterflies is at its peak. Ducklings and goslings are born, and warblers swarm north.

Meadow parsnip, wood betony, honeysuckle, buckeye and red horse-chestnut flower.

Late Spring arrives as admiral butterflies hatch. Field grasses are long enough to ripple in the wind.

Mosquitoes may bite you in the garden as flowering begins on lilacs, azaleas, raspberries and ragwort.

Countdown to Spring

• One week until iris, poppies and daisies come into flower.

• Two weeks until the beginning of clover time in yards and pastures.

• Three weeks until the first orange day lily flowers.

• Four weeks until roses bloom and thistles bud.

• Five weeks until the first strawberry shortcake.

• Six weeks until cottonwoods bloom and send their cotton through the air.

• Seven weeks to the first mulberry pie.

Mind and Body

The S.A.D. Index, which measures seasonal stress on a scale from 1 to 100, reads a mild 28 on April 20, its lowest reading so far this year. It then rises quickly throughout the remainder of the month under the influence of the April Supermoon, reaching a troublesome 49 on both the 26th and 27th.

n the Field and Garden 

After full moon, destroy tent caterpillars as they hatch and plant all your remaining root crops. Weevils may be emerging in alfalfa. Iris borers are hatching now; check your roots.

Watercress flowers are opening, excellent for salads and garnishing. Field corn planting continues throughout the nation.

The high leaf canopy is beginning to fill in, casting shade on the flower and vegetable garden.

Use silage and hay supplements to take up the feeding slack if pasture growth is slow because of cold.

Aphids are appearing in the field and garden; ladybugs are hunting them. Just one month until every single tender plant can be placed outside. Winter wheat is typically 4-8 inches high.

Almanack Classics 

Cleaning Up

By Naomi Bliss

Naomi was in her 90s when she wrote this account for the Almanack at the end in the last decade of the last century. It describes the way things were in rural southern Indiana in the first decades of that century.

My family practiced cleanliness much like our neighbors: a bath in a galvanized tub once a week; hair washed every two weeks; a little sponge bath every day. We had no deodorants, so a little talcum or a dusting of soda was helpful.

Most folks only washed clothing once a week on Monday, so clothing was worn for several days before we could change. Washing was hard work, water carried from the pump and heated in the copper wash boiler on the kitchen’s wood burning range.

Two tubs were set up, one for washing clothing and one for rinsing. The washboard, a galvanized center in a flat wooden frame, was put in the tub for hot water, and the water was carried by bucket from the range. Sometimes we bought our bars of soap from the store. Sometime home-made lye soap was used.

White clothing was washed first, and then put in water in the boiler to boil – usually lye had been added to the water. Colored clothing was put in the cold water, after a good rubbing on the wash board, then wrung and hung on the wire clothes line with wooden pins.

 The dry clothing was taken off the line, dampened and folded tightly into a large basket for ironing the next day. Washing day was just that. A long day of hot work. Another long hot day, using irons heated on the coal range, was necessary in order to get all those clothes and linens ready to use!

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