There, through the long, long, 

summer hours

The golden light should lie,

And thick young herbs and groups of flowers

Stand in their beauty by. – William Cullen Bryant

The Moon: The Wild Black Raspberry Moon, full on the 3rd and reaching perigee on the 4th, wanes throughout the period, entering its final quarter on July 9 at 9:49 p.m. Rising in the night and setting in the afternoon, this moon passes overhead in the morning.

The Sun: At 10:36 a.m. on July 6, the Earth reached aphelion, the point at which it is about 153 million kilometers (its greatest distance) from the Sun. Aphelion occurs almost exactly six months from perihelion, Earth’s position closest to the Sun (about 148 million kilometers).

The Planets: Jupiter in Aries rises after midnight and travels high in the sky by dawn. Saturn arrives in the evening sky with Aquarius in the southeast and follows the southern stars throughout the night.

The Stars: At noon, the stars overhead are the stars of winter’s midnight: Orion due south, the Pleiades overhead. On the clearest July afternoons, January’s Sirius (the Dog Star of Deep Summer) is visible in the southeast.

Weather Trends: The Corn Tassel Rains often occur during this period, and temperatures, which cooled somewhat during the first days of July, begin to grow warmer. July 7, 8 and 9 are some of the worst Dog Days of the year: all three bringing a 10 percent chance of heat above 100 degrees.

The Natural Calendar: Look for the last black raspberries of the season this week. After that, check the orchard for the first of the summer apples. Out in the woods, you could find the first black walnuts fallen to the ground. Milkweed pods have emerged almost everywhere; they will burst at the approach of Middle Fall in three months.

In the Field and Garden: Heat stress intensifies for summer crops. Keep flowers and vegetables well watered and fed to help them resist the onslaught of the insects and weather. Consider that about 80 the frost-free days remain in your garden, and calculate the estimated harvest time and the fall garden schedule. Select varieties for midsummer planting which are able to grow well even as the days shorten. For frost-sensitive vegetables like beans, try to use varieties that ripen quickly. Late plantings of the fleetest sweet corn and squash can be sown as the Moon waxes next week. Also order seed for green manure production for autumn or early spring.

As the July Dog Days intensify, they often bring more Japanese beetles to the roses and soybeans, leafhoppers to the potatoes and aphids everywhere.

Keep training of livestock you plan to show at the fair: Talking to your animals, walking, standing, accepting the lead from the left and from the right can all be important. Don’t forget a little extra grain for the coat, and a little brushing, maybe a little udder ointment.

Mind and Body: Some people suffer from S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorders) in the middle of the summer as well as in the middle of the winter. If you work in an air-conditioned building (or keep the air on at home all the time) you may be suffering from summer cabin fever. Try getting outside more and keep to a moderate exercise routine. Drink plenty of liquids, eat lightly and avoid a lot of sugar.

Almanack Classics

Nanny and the Lamb

A Story by Bob, Bonnie and Shirley Applegate, Washington, Iowa

Mother Ewe Number 9 had two boy lambs at the barn. They were white, and one was bigger than the other. The big one started to push off the little one.

Bob and Bonnie carried the little lamb to the goat shed so he could suck on a nanny goat. In a few days, the lamb just would follow them to the shed.

In a short time, the lamb found an extra-wide space in the fence, and he crawled through the holes to get to the nanny. He also found an open space under the loading chute at the barn, and he would go by himself to the goat shed and get breakfast, dinner and supper.

We watched him many times go across the yard by himself, “baaaing” all the way. The black nanny would come out of the shed and answer him. He crawled through the fences and would eat, crawl back out and go back to the barn 300 feet away. If it was hot out, he would stop in the shade of a piece of machinery and rest a while.

As time went along, the lamb grew and the hole in the fences got so he could not squeeze through, so he just stayed with the goats and finished growing up, and the black nanny did a real good job of raising that lamb.

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Follow the days of August with Bill Felker’s A Daybook for August in Yellow Springs, Ohio, that contains all of his daily almanack notes for that month. Order that and his other daybooks on Amazon.

Copyright 2023 – W. L. Felker