Feb. 20-26, 2012

Nobody else knows or cares too much about what you do, but if you get a good feeling inside about what you do, then it doesn’t matter if nobody else knows. I do think about myself a lot when I’m alone way back on the place bringing in the cows or sitting on a mowing machine all day. But when I start thinking about how our animals and crops and fields and woods and gardens sort of all fit together, then I get that good feeling inside and don’t worry much about what will happen to me.
-Wendell Berry, Renewing Husbandry

The new moon waxes throughout the week, coming into its second quarter on the last day of the month at 8:22 p.m. Rising in the morning and setting in the evening, the new moon lies overhead in the early afternoon.

Passing through Pisces on Feb. 21-23 and through Taurus on Feb. 26-28, the moon will be ideal for all your spring planting indoors, under lights. If outdoor conditions permit, put in some peas and spinach. Go fishing in advance of the Feb. 24 and 27 cold fronts; do it after lunch when the moon is overhead.

Next week is Snowdrop Winter Week, a time of meteorological ambivalence, promising spring and then backsliding. First, the warmth: The fifth major high pressure system of February comes through in the early days of the week, but it is typically the weakest front of the month. Feb. 21 is usually mild, and Feb. 22-23 are sometimes the warmest days of February.

Then, a step backward: Snowdrop Winter often arrives on Feb. 24, often one of the windiest days of the month, and bitter temperatures often return for up to 72 hours.

Zeitgebers for this week include migrant crows returning with their young, the earliest cardinals singing around 6:45 a.m. and the first migrating geese flying north.

Feb. 20: Feb. 20 marks the end of the snowiest part of the year in most states. Red and silver maples bloom in average years, introducing welcome color to the early spring landscape.

Feb. 21: New moon today is likely to bring a quick end to the mid-February thaw. Lunar position in Pisces through Feb. 23, however, favors the seeding of flowers and vegetables that will produce their fruit above the ground. But be ready for the lambs and kids to arrive after lunch when the moon is overhead today.

Feb. 22: By this week of the year, the start of snowdrop flowering season, aconite flowering season, crocus flowering season, daffodil budding season and the first dandelion bloom are all a matter of the natural history record throughout the lower two-thirds of the United States. That record offers the possibility – no matter how fierce the cold may be today – that spring could arrive tomorrow.

Feb. 23: In sunnier microclimates throughout the lower Midwest, the knuckles of this year’s rhubarb crop can be pushing out of the ground.

Feb. 24: Today is Mardi Gras, or “Fat Tuesday.” Christian Lent begins tomorrow, just as Snowdrop Winter chills the snowdrops and aconites that blossomed in the first warmth of early spring.

Feb. 25: Many sheep and goat breeders budget about 10 percent of their herd or flock income from spring and Easter sales (Roman Easter is April 8 this year, Orthodox Easter a week later), and they depend on the fall market, including autumn culls, for most of their income.

If you live relatively close to a large urban area, want to increase spring profits, cut down on pasture and feed demands over the summer and need more cash on hand to invest in breeding during the late summer or fall, consider adjusting your activities to give you more winter kidding or lambing and more spring sales.

Feb. 26: Lunar position in fertile Taurus today through Feb. 28 favors the planting of onion sets and the continued seeding of flowers and vegetables.