April 22 -28, 2019

Out of its little hill faithfully rise

the potatoes dark green leaves,

out of its hill rises the yellow maize-stalk,

the lilacs bloom in the dooryards.

-Walt Whitman

The Cows Switching Their Tails Moon enters its fourth quarter at 5:18 p.m. on April 26 and after a chilly middle April, lunar influence finally wanes, favorable for a warm planting period before May.

The period before lunch should be the best lunar time for fishing. Continue seeding root crops throughout the week, and set out hardy vegetable and flower plants.

Weather trends

Late spring arrives this week, the warm weather creating unmistakable markers in the progress of the year. Among those landmarks:

•April 26 and 30 record freezing temperatures less than 5 percent of the time, the first time that has happened since late September

•After April 22, chances of snow drop below 5 percent below the 40th Parallel

•Chances of a cold day in the 30s or 40s fall to only 10 percent on April 22, then plummet another 8 percent on April 26

Beginning April 27, highs in the 90s become possible, and the chances of a high in the 80s pass the 20 percent mark. The chances of a high above 70 degrees are now 50/50 or better for the first time this year.

The natural calendar

April 22: Peonies are budding, garlic mustard, celandine, and buckeyes flower. All the dandelions go to seed.

April 23: Bees, flies, and mosquitoes become peskier. Worms breed in the wet earth, and the first young grass snakes hatch and explore the undergrowth.

April 24: Redbuds complement the last of the crabapples as the land gets ready for May: wild phlox, wild geranium, wild ginger, celandine, spring cress, sedum, golden Alexander, thyme-leafed speedwell, garlic mustard, and common fleabane are budding and blooming.

April 25: Ducklings and goslings are born along the lakes and rivers; warblers move north.

April 26: The Milky Way fills the western horizon as Orion sets just behind the sun. Now the middle of the night’s sky are in their prime spring planting positions, Castor and Pollux to the west, Leo with its bright Regulus directly overhead, and Arcturus dominating the east.

April 27: Black tadpoles swim in the backwaters. Bass move to the shallows. Great brown May bugs begin their evening flights. In the woods, nodding trilliums are blossoming.

April 28: Ruby-throated hummingbirds arrive at local feeders. There are buds on the black raspberries, mock orange, and mulberries. Star of Bethlehem and wood hyacinths have come up in the lawn. Nettles are waist-high along the fencerows.

Field and garden

The high leaf canopy casts the first shade on the flower and vegetable garden. It’s time to be planting in the sunniest part of your property.

Orthodox Easter takes place on April 28 this year. Orthodox Easter animals should be milk-fed. They can be a little bit bigger than the Roman Easter lambs (between 40-60 pounds), and should be nice and fat.

Haying is often underway below the Ohio River. Some orchard grass and rye may be ready to harvest in southern Ohio. Transition your livestock slowly from last year’s old hay to this year’s fresh hay.

 While the moon is still relatively dark, fight armyworms and corn borers. Attack carpenter bees around the barn. The dark moon also favors traditional worm control methods such as liming the pasture, planting garlic, and plowing in mustard.

In the countdown to summer, there are:

•One week until clover blooms

•Two weeks to the great warbler migration through the lower Midwest

•Three weeks to strawberry pie

•Four weeks until the first orange daylilies blossom

•Five weeks until roses flower

•Six weeks until the first mulberries are sweet for picking and cottonwood cotton drifts in the wind

•Seven weeks until wild black raspberries ripen

•Eight weeks until fledgling robins peep in the bushes

•Nine weeks until cicadas chant in the hot and humid days

•10 weeks until thistles turn to down

Almanac literature

Sylvia and Tiny Tim

By Michael Steinfelt

Westfield, Pa.

Lambing season was approaching. Sylvia was a first-time mother-to-be. She was a Northern Cheviot and Suffolk mix with a white around her eyes. She was very friendly out in the pasture, but wild in the barn.

“Wild” was the word! I tried to shear around her teats so the lambs could find their meals when born. My wife, Rosie, told me I was too old to do the job. Sylvia proved her right by kicking the shearer out of my hands and breaking it in two, right in half.

I bought a new pair for $329 and got Jeff, a neighbor, to help. And we finally did it. Sylvia was now ready to lamb. Finally the day arrived, and Sylvia had twins – a big ewe lamb and a small ram half her size. Rosie called the little ram Tiny Tim.

Sylvia didn’t pay him any attention and raced around the lambing pen like a wild animal. When we tried to get him to nurse, well, Sylvia stepped on Tim’s rear leg and broke it.

We brought Tiny Tim to the house and fed him with a bottle. The next day, Jeff, our neighbor, and Mr. Clair, an experienced shepherd, put a splint on the broken leg: three popsicle sticks and gauze and white tape. When it came off partway, and Rosie and I redid it.

After three weeks, Tiny Tim is doing great. He now steals milk from other ewes, but the ewe lamb is still twice as big. (I’m 66, but I still like having sheep.)