Nov. 14-20, 2011 Calls of flicker and jay fill the clear air. Titmice and chickadees feed among the green and the dying leaves. Gratitude for the gifts of all the living and the unliving, gratitude which is the greatest gift, quietest of all, passes to me through the trees. -Wendell Berry
Lunar phase and lore The moon wanes through its third and fourth quarters throughout the third week of November, rising in the middle of the night and setting in the middle of the day, moving overhead (its most powerful position) in the morning. It enters its final phase Nov. 18 at 10:09 a.m.
Lunar lore suggests hunting and fishing should be most successful with the moon above you, well before lunch. Dieters, however, may have a hard time resisting glazed doughnuts at 10 a.m. As the barometer falls in advance of the Nov. 20 and 24 cold fronts, expect all creatures to feed more heavily.
The Leonid meteors fall after midnight on Nov. 17-18. The rising moon could complicate finding these meteors, but the Leonids are usually numerous and bright enough to make it worth your while to stay up to watch them.
Weather patterns Chances for weather in the 60s are still 50/50, but a high in the 70s only happens once in 20 years this time of year, and days in the 30s and 40s are becoming common. Nov. 15, 19 and 20 are the days next week most likely to be mild.
The fifth cold front of the month comes through near Nov. 20 most years, and Nov. 21 brings a slight possibility for a high only in the 20s. This year, the moon will turn new on Nov. 25, increasing the likelihood that a major front will come through this week, snarling holiday travel.
Zeitgebers (events in nature that tell the time of year) for this week include the passage of sand hill cranes, the last flocks of bluebirds flying south, the full color of beech and pear foliage and the shedding of the silver maples, sycamores, red oaks and white oaks. During this period, late-season tornadoes often move across the Great Plains and sundogs appear in the sky.
Daybook
Nov. 14: Most winter wheat has sprouted throughout the lower Midwest. In the garden, strawberries can be mulched with straw. Nov. 15: Between showers and flurries, work gypsum into the soil where salt, used to melt winter’s ice, may damage plantings. Feed the lawn – fall is a better time than in the spring – the winter’s rain and snow, freezing and thawing, will gently work the fertilizer through the soil.
Mulch the wet perennial beds to prevent drying, January’s heaving and cold damage.
Nov. 16: The poinsettia crop is typically shipped this week. The day’s length falls below 10 hours along the 40th Parallel, and low temperatures in the single digits become a possibility.
Nov. 17: After the Leonid Meteors fall (tonight), work gypsum into the soil where salt, used to melt winter’s ice, may damage plantings.
Nov. 18: The Second Spring Moon enters its final quarter today, making the week ahead an excellent lunar time for completing harvest and cleaning up the garden.
Nov. 19: Late bulbs, garlic, shrubs and trees can be planted in late fall as the moon is waning. Stake weaker shrubs and trees. Water paperwhites, daffodils, tulips, crocus and amaryllis in pots for solstice bloom.
Fertilize after harvest with organic matter, phosphorus and potassium to reduce soil compaction and ready the land for spring planting. Bring in oregano, rosemary, parsley and thyme for winter seasonings. Stake and wrap weaker shrubs and trees.
Nov. 20: Lawns may have grown since their October cutting, and can be long and thick in warm, wet years. Colors deepen in the swamp. Protected by the water, cress brightens; dock and ragwort grow back beside the dead field grasses. Skunk cabbage has already pushed to the surface and is ready to bloom in a gentle December.
Beech, honeysuckles, boxwood, forsythia and the strongest of the maples, Osage, pears and sycamores keep scattered color in the landscape past Thanksgiving. When early winter arrives between Dec. 8-15, however, it takes almost all the holdouts. |
