Sept. 16-22, 2019

The humming bee fans off a shower of gold

From the mullein’s long rod as it sways,

and dry grow the leaves which protecting infold

the ears of the well-ripened maize.

-William W. Fosdick

The Autumn Apple Picking Moon darkens all week, entering its final quarter at 9:41 p.m. on Sept. 21. Rising after dark and setting in the middle of the day, this moon will pass overhead after midnight, making that time the most promising lunar time for angling, especially as the cold front of Sept. 20 approaches, pushing down the barometric pressure. This waning moon favors the planting of radishes and other root crops for a late-fall garden.

Weather trends

The third week of September brings one of the most radical autumnal swings so far in the season. Not only do the chances of highs only in the 60s move from 10 to 30 percent, but cold afternoons in the 50s also become possible for the first time since June 4.

The likelihood of warm 90s or 80s falls sharply throughout the period, with Sept. 18 bringing only a 20 percent chance of highs above the 70s, the first time that has happened since May 6. Each day this week brings at least a 30 percent chance of showers, with Sept. 18 having the highest chance at almost 50 percent.

The mornings are chilly, and the possibility of a light freeze grows steadily. Two weeks ago, the odds were high against frost; now the chance of freezing temperatures in a seven-day period is up to 40 percent. Next week it will be 50 percent. In two more weeks, it will be 80 percent, and in three weeks almost 100 percent.

The natural calendar

Sept. 16: In the final two weeks of September, a rapid deterioration occurs in all the wildflowers except the goldenrod and asters. After these last flowers go to seed in early October throughout the Ohio Valley, there is no new generation of blooming plants to replace them.

Sept. 17: As the sun moves to within a few degrees of equinox, late summer's grip grows measurably weaker. When the mid-September weather system moves along the 40th Parallel, brisk afternoons in the 50s or 60s are four times as likely to occur as during the first week of the month.

Sept. 18: More hickory nuts and more acorns come down. Wood nettle seeds are black and brittle. Black walnuts are all over the ground. The huge pink mallows of the wetlands have died back, heads dark, leaves disintegrating.

Sept. 19: In the woods, ground ivy, mint, and catchweed revive in a “second spring” as the canopy thins. Waterleaf has fresh shoots. Snow-on-the-mountain has recovered from its mid-summer slump and can be as thick and as beautiful as in early spring.

Sept. 20: This week the odds for an afternoon in the 50s or 60s doubles over those odds last week. The pollen season, however, declines quickly after the passage of the equinox weather system.

Sept. 21: Leaves accumulate in the backwaters and on sidewalks and paths. Bright patches of scarlet sumac and Virginia creeper mark the fencerows. Some ash, black walnuts, and cottonwoods are almost bare. Streaks of gold have appeared on the silver olive bushes.

Sept. 22: Great crested flycatchers, blue-gray gnatcatchers, ruby-throated hummingbirds, eastern wood peewees, and bank swallows move south. Buzzards gather to ponder migration. The cobwebs that blocked summer paths become rare. Osage fruits, persimmons, acorns, hickory nuts, buckeyes, and black walnuts cover the ground. The wingstem bows to sets its seeds.

Field and garden

Consider starting to plant spring bulbs under the darkening moon. Prepare cold frames to lengthen the seasons of select vegetables and flowers through November.

Begin to bring in the house plants and herbs that you have set outside for summer sun. Clean out storage areas for the gladiolus and dahlia bulbs you will dig before a hard freeze.

Plan to renew some of your pastureland by putting in an "antiseptic crop" of mustard, radishes, and turnips.

Rosh Hashanah, Jewish New Year and first High Holiday, is celebrated from Sept. 28-30. Explore marketing to this niche. And on Sept. 29-Oct. 7, Hindus celebrate Navaratri /Navadurgara. This feast honors the goddess Durga. Female animals are typically not used for this celebration, but you may be able to sell your male lambs and kids to this market.

Almanac literature

Self-Reliance

By Tom Nichols

New London, Ohio

The year was 1952, and we moved from Sandusky to Clarksfield, Ohio. I was just 3 years old, and I had never lived in the country.

The house had no indoor plumbing, no running water, and few indoor amenities of any kind. Of course, we all had to use the outdoor two-holer (as the outhouse was called), and it was the month of January.

Well, I remember as a 3-year-old having to trudge outside about 30-40 feet or so to get to the old wooden building that was our bathroom for that first winter. It was a long and cold winter for me, especially since I was the youngest of four, and nobody else wanted to go outside in the cold with me.

So I learned that life can be pretty lonely and at the same time, can be rewarding, too. Because learning to do things on my own early in life gave me an extreme appreciation of the nice things in this life.

Fortunately, nothing crazy or extreme ever happened out there in the outhouse at I can remember, but it was still scary and spooky for a 3-year-old in the middle of the night.