And then with the thaw comes up the sudden rush

Of growth that waited only on this hour,

On this disclosure of the life beneath.

Vita Sackville-West, The Garden

Lambing and Kidding Moon is new on January 29 and presides over the period during which most ewes and does give birth, rises in the morning and sets in the afternoon or evening, passing overhead in the middle of the day. It stimulates creatures to be hungrier and more active at that time, especially as the January thaw precedes the cold front due around January 25 and the last cold front of the month near the 30th.

The Sun enters its sign of Aquarius on the 20th, foreshadowing late winter. And the day’s length is approaching a spring-like ten hours along the 40th Parallel.

Weather Trends

After the January thaw, the likelihood of crueler conditions increases briefly, sometimes making the 25th and 26th some of the coldest days of the month. January 26 is also the first day of the season of late winter. Late winter contains five to six cold fronts and lasts through February 18.

 Although the 31st can bring subfreezing temperatures 40 percent of the time, that day introduces the possibility of a high in the 60s for the first time since January 7. Between the 26th and 28th, dry conditions prevail 75 percent of the years, and the 27th is the usually sunniest day in January, bringing an 80 percent chance for clear to partly cloudy skies. The 30th is the cloudiest day in the second half of January, with a 70 percent chance for overcast conditions and precipitation,

The Countdown to Spring

• One week until the skunk cabbage blooms in the wetlands

• One and a half weeks until cardinals start to sing before dawn. Flies and cabbage butterflies sometimes hatch on indoor plants.

• Two weeks until doves join the cardinals, and maple sap is running

• Two and a half weeks until the first red-winged blackbirds arrive in the wetlands

• Three weeks to the very first snowdrop bloom and the official start of early spring

• Four weeks to major pussy willow emerging season

• Five weeks to crocus season

• Six weeks to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise

• Seven weeks to daffodil time

• Eight weeks to the major wildflower bloom

• Nine weeks until the yellow blossoms of forsythia bushes appear

• Ten weeks to tulip season

In the Field and Garden

There is no better time than the dark moon in January to force daffodils and tulips into bloom. If you don’t have any, go out and cut a pussy willow branch, put it in some nice warm sugar water and then watch March appear.

Frost seeding typically begins at this time of the year: red clover is broadcast in the fields, and grass seed is scattered over bare spots on the lawn. 

Reserve your spring chicks for March, April or May so they can gain weight throughout the summer and be ready to lay by late summer and early autumn.

Rhubarb leaves emerge in the sun, and Lenten roses are budding. Those farmers and gardeners who fly to central Florida for a January vacation can find elderberries and azaleas blooming in milder years. Calves and lambs will be out in the fields throughout the warm South.

Plan ahead and fertilize while the weather is still cold. Winter fertilizing not only frees up time in the spring for the many farm and garden chores that follow warm weather, but it provides a modicum of insurance against spring rain delays. The frozen soil of winter also resists compaction from heavy equipment. 

In late winter,  treat ash, bittersweet, fir, elm, flowering fruit trees, hawthorn, juniper, lilac, linden, maple, oak, pine, poplar, spruce, sweet gum, tulip tree, and willow for scales and mites. Spray trees when temperatures rise into the upper 30s or 40s.

Do your winter pruning under this week’s dark moon. Start your worm farm, too. 

The pre-Lenten carnival marketing season begins near this date, about a month before Mardi Gras. 

The Easter Market (mid-April this year) is a major marketing time for lambs and kids. Explore the Passover Market, too.

Almanac Literature

Help! What Do I Do?

By Nancy Minor, Bergheim, Texas

We have a young female Border Collie who loves her lambs. Although we gave her the grand name of Tay, we’ve always called her Tater, which more clearly reflects her personality. Often intimidated by the older ewes, she decided that she would prefer to work only with the lambs, gently herding them in the pen and carefully guarding them in the field.

One day last year, Tater was called upon to perform a duty above and beyond her job description. A ewe with twins had left the pen and walked up the hill leading to the pasture, taking only one twin with her. As she reached the pasture, the ewe called out to her lambs to come and nurse. The twin who had been daydreaming and had been left behind, started up the hill toward the sound her mother’s voice. 

At that moment, Tater started walking down the hill. As the lamb approached her, Tater stopped, and the lamb, not seeing her mother but hearing her voice, approached Tater and started to nuzzle under her back let, looking for milk.

Tater froze and looked at me with such pleading in her eyes, as if she were trying to ask me, “Help! What do I do?”

I was trying so hard not to laugh that I couldn’t give a command. So Tater dutifully lifted her back leg for the lamb to nurse!

At this point, the lamb realized there was no milk to be had and jumped back, mortified I’m sure, to be caught nursing on a dog.

Editor’s Note: Columnist William Felker has said he will no longer be offering the Word Scrambler as part of his column.