The grass of spring covers the prairies,

The bean bursts noiselessly through the mould in the garden,

The delicate spear of the onion pierces upward,

The apple-buds cluster together on the apple-branches.... – Walt Whitman

The Sun: April 21 is Cross Quarter Day, the halfway point between equinox and solstice. The Sun enters its Late Spring sign of Taurus on the same date.

The Stars: At midnight in the middle of April, lanky Scorpius lies along the southeastern horizon. In front of Scorpius, almost due south, is the parallelogram formation of Libra. Over along the southwestern tree line, find a smaller parallelogram, Corvus. Overhead, the most prominent star is Arcturus. Vega is the brightest star in the east, Regulus in the west.

The Shooting Stars: The Lyrid Meteors are active after midnight between Cygnus and Hercules during the second and third week of April, peaking April 22. These shooting stars often appear at the rate of 15 to 25 per hour. The waxing crescent moon will not interfere with meteor watching.

Weather Trends: After April 20, high temperatures almost always reach 70 at least once or twice in a week, and chances for a day in the 80s jump from 10 percent on April 16 to 60 percent on the 25th. Cold days with highs below 50 occur only three times in a decade during this week of the year, and the 20th completes major snow time in the region. The 20th is also the date after which the average number of frosts per week drops by 40 percent. Eight years in 10, most April precipitation is complete by the 20th, and a major increase in the average daily amount of sunlight occurs: a rise from early April’s 50/50 chance for sun or clouds up to a brighter 70 percent chance for clear to partly cloudy conditions.

The Natural Calendar: Between now and the first of May, most dandelions go to seed in the central states. Throughout the country’s midsection, black and gray morel mushrooms come up at this time of the month, the same time that orchard grass is ready to harvest. When ticks and mosquitoes become troublesome, the morel season is about over.

This week usually starts full apple, redbud and dogwood blossom week along the 40th parallel. Grape vines leaf out. Grasshoppers are born in the woods and hedgerows. Locusts, mulberries, ash, tree of heaven, and ginkgoes get their foliage. The first daddy longlegs are hunting. By this time of the year, honeysuckles and spice bushes have developed enough to turn the undergrowth pale green. Flowering begins on lilacs, azaleas, raspberries and ragwort.

Fish, Game, Livestock and Birds: Pheasants lay their eggs, and bird migrations peak with the arrival of whip-poor-wills, 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. Fish are active in the shallows and should be especially hungry at moonrise and moonset, as well as in the afternoon with the moon overhead as the April 21 cold front approaches.

Mid-April is a fine time to clean out the litter in the chicken coop and make it look like spring is really coming. You might put out some lime on the floor to help with odors. This is also a good time to spread diatomaceous earth to help keep mites and lice in check. Change the straw in the nesting boxes, too.  Be sure your boar has its vitamins and selenium to keep his performance high.

In the Field and Garden: The juniper webworm emerges, and eastern tent caterpillars may begin to weave webs on flowering fruit trees. Cutworms and sod webworms work the cornfields. Don’t forget to put in medicinal herbs: plant lavender, marjoram, rosemary, sage and thyme to increase the milk yield of your does and ewes. Marjoram and rosemary will sweeten the taste of your milk and add a measure of health to both the ewe and doe that produces it and the person who drinks it. April is a fine time to plant late summer and autumn grasses and legumes to extend your grazing season. And remember to seed the cabbages: they promote good digestion in your livestock and in you.

Be alert for a change in odor in the barn that might be related to disease. Disinfect the area as desired, and maybe put a little lime around to keep down the odors; then start going after the flies.

The canopy of leaves closes rapidly now, with maples and box elders coming in. Sometimes the sun gets ahead of the size of your leaves, however, bringing sunburn or overheating to livestock ordinarily “safe” in the shade during the summer.

Marketing Notes: Memorial Day is May 28. Be sure you have your roadside stand set up or have reserved your place at a local farmers market. And if you have lambs or kids, investigate the halal market for the breaking of the Ramadan fast on June 14.

The Almanac Horoscope: Some studies have shown that bad cholesterol levels rise in the winter and then decline as the weather warms. Although the percentage of summer improvement can be relatively low, some people have experienced a drop of up to 50 percent. The change may be associated with better eating habits in spring and summer months (the increase in consumption of fruits and vegetables), changes in hormone levels or enzyme activity, and the addition of more outdoor work or exercise.

Almanac Classics

The Little Red Hen

Watching Tadpoles 

Work finished for the day, I allow myself the luxury of resting a while by the backyard pond to watch tadpoles of the American toad.

When I place my hand into the water and swirl it around them, they show no alarm at all, completely intent on their investigation of the pond. Apparently oblivious to enemies, they possess a confidence that nothing can happen to them. They seem so intent on their journeys, so oblivious to danger, reckless in their faith that if they do what they were born to do, everything will be all right.

Their only need seems to be to reconnoiter and to search and to eat their landscape. They never look ambivalent. After a minute rest on a stone or water plant, they set off again in a new direction. They do not seem to need each other. The job of each one is to find a way out of the pond and to follow the course of the day.

In the morning, when the Sun strikes the water, one by one they leave their nighttime retreat in the deeper core of the pond and work their way to the shallow west edge. They bask on the rocks, nuzzle the mysterious line where air and water meet. They root in the watercress and wiggle through the dangling hyacinths.

Then as the Sun moves west, the little toads start to return east toward the pond’s darker center. By dusk, they have all migrated away from the quickly cooling shallows to the more stable water a foot or two below the surface. They stay there until the midmorning sunlight brings them back to the shore of small round stones which fascinate them and onto which they will soon climb and discover the grass and life in the open air.