March 4-10 2019 In gardens you may note amid the dearth The crocus breaking earth; And near the snowdrop’s tender white and green, The violet in its screen. -Henry Timrod The Skunk Courting Moon reaches apogee (its position farthest from Earth) at 7:25 a.m. on March 4 and becomes the new Cabbage White Butterfly Moon at 11:03 a.m. March 6. Lunchtime is the most favorable lunar time for fishing, especially as the cold fronts of March 5, 9 and 14 approach. The moon will be favorable for planting flower and vegetable seeds in flats throughout the week. Weather trends March’s second quarter brings one more major pivot in the year’s weather patterns. The rate of spring’s advance quickens, and odds for milder weather increase with every sunrise. Chances of an afternoon above 50 degrees rise to 40 percent per day by the end of the week. The third cold wave of the month arrives on March 9 or 10, but it is typically one of the mildest so far in the year. On March 13, the chances for highs above 50 degrees climb to 45 percent, and they remain near that level until March 22, when they rise even higher. Frost strikes the early garden 60 percent of all the nights, however, and there is still a 5-10 percent chance each day this week for a high only in the 20s. Odds for rain or snow are about one in three most days of the period; March 10 is the wettest day, with a 50 percent chance of precipitation. But the sun typically shines a little more than it did last week, with March 14 and 17 often producing fewer clouds than any time since Jan. 26-28. The natural calendar March 4: Daffodils have often put on several inches since Valentine’s Day and are now 3-9 inches high, many of them budded. Tulips, day lilies and Resurrection lilies pace the daffodils, only an inch or so behind them. March 5: The month-long Carnival season ends with a big party and feast before Ash Wednesday and the start of the Lenten fast. This is a good time to sell lambs or kids for a barbecue bash, and for Mardi Gras fundraiser events. And bake some traditional hot-cross buns to sell (and eat). March 6: Jupiter begins the procession of Morning Stars, coming up with Ophiuchus and rising higher in the eastern sky as the night goes on. Following Jupiter along the southern horizon, Saturn travels with Sagittarius as robins start their mating calls, and Venus follows Saturn in Capricorn, replacing Jupiter as the brightest Morning Star in the east before dawn. Rising later than these three planets, Mars follows Aries, almost obscured by the brilliance of the day but following the sun to arrive above the western horizon in time to become the Evening Star. March 7: Maple Syrup Season, Snowdrop and Aconite Season and Pussy Willow Season continue. Daffodil Budding and Crocus Blooming seasons commence. Migration Season reaches its apex for Canadian geese. Walleye, sauger, saugeye, muskie, bass and crappie feeding seasons get underway. Earthworm Mating Season starts in the warming rains. Junco Season usually ends at bird feeders. March 8: The sun reaches a declination of 5 degrees today. That is 80 percent of the way to spring. March 9: Horseradish leaves are typically an inch long today, their length announcing the appearance of Virginia bluebell sprouts on the hillsides and the blossoming of the earliest jonquils in the garden. March 10: Daylight Saving Time begins; set your clocks ahead one hour at 2 a.m. Field and garden This week is one of the first for planting the most hardy vegetables directly in the garden. Try a first row of radishes, leeks and peas. Put in spring wheat when conditions permit. Most bedding plants should be started in their flats. Only 9-10 weeks remain before the most delicate flowers and vegetables can be planted outside. It is four weeks until most hardy plants can be set out. Remove old rhubarb and asparagus stalks, cleaning out around the beds, digging in well-rotted manure. Uncover and fertilize strawberries. Cut off tips of young black raspberry branches, and remove old canes. In the countdown to spring, it is: •Just a few days to the beginning of the morning robin chorus before sunrise •One week to daffodil season and silver maple blooming season and the first golden goldfinches •Two weeks to tulip season and the first wave of blooming woodland wildflowers and the first butterflies •Three weeks until golden forsythia blooms and skunk cabbage sends out its first leaves, and the lawn is long enough to cut •Four weeks until American toads sing their mating songs in the dark and corn planting time begins •Five weeks until the Great Dandelion and Violet Bloom and the peak of wildflower season begin •Six weeks until all the fruit trees flower •Seven weeks to the first rhubarb pie •Eight weeks to the great warbler migration through the lower Midwest •Nine weeks to the first cricket song of late spring •10 weeks to the first orange daylilies blossom Almanac literature Our Baby Groundhogs By David Raber Ashland, Ohio This story by David, like his recent story about the Canada goose he and his father found in a field, evokes the successes and failures of my own childhood – a time when it seemed necessary to explore nature in person, to really find out what was around me and discover what happened when I tried to keep it for myself. One day last summer, we were in the woods when I saw a hole in the ground. I thought maybe there would be little raccoons in it. So, we went home and got some shovels and started to dig. It was nearly dark, and we thought we had him, or just about, when Mom came and got us. The next morning, we went back again. The dog went along. We started digging when the dog started to bark at another hole. So we went over there and started digging. All at once the dog had something in his mouth and started running away. Then we saw it was a little groundhog. We looked into the hole and saw another one, and then we dug with our hands until we had them all. There were five or six of them. We took them home and gave them milk with a dropper for a week. Then they died; that was the end of that. |
