July 10-16, 2017

To loll back, in a misty hammock, swung From tip to tip of a slim crescent moon That gems some royal-purple night of June, To dream of songs that never have been sung Since the first stars were stilled and God was young ...

-James Whitcomb Riley

 

Almanac horoscope

Moon time: Full on July 8, the Sweet Corn Moon wanes through the week, entering its last quarter at 2:25 p.m. on July 16. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead a little past midnight.

Sun time: The sun moves toward equinox at the approximate rate of a little less than a sixth of a degree per day this week. That means it will move about 1 degree out of the 23-degree journey to autumn in the next seven days.

Planet time: Mars is not visible this month. Jupiter is the evening star in the far west after sundown.

 

Star time: Hercules and Ophiuchus fill almost all of the southern sky at 10 p.m. throughout the week, hovering above Scorpius and Sagittarius. Moving in from the west with the Milky Way, Cygnus, Lyra and Aquila precede Delphinus and Pegasus.

At noon, Sirius, the Dog Star, adds its heat and light (you can often see Sirius, even with the sun shining, at midday), tipping the scales to the Dog Days of middle summer.

Weather time

Mid-July weather is relatively stable in most years (hot and dry with an occasional thunderstorm), but the likelihood for rain increases as the July 21 front moves across the United States.

Thanks to this weather system, highs in the mild 70s are recorded about a fourth of all the years in the lower Midwest. The nights around July 23 bring relatively cool sleeping conditions more often than at any time in July. Zeitgebers: Sycamore trees shed their bark, marking the center of summer.

Hemlock and parsnips turn brown and brittle in the sun. Peaches ripen, a sign that strawberries are coming in throughout Ontario, and peonies are flowering on homesteads along the northern rim of the Great Lakes.

When you see the foliage of multiflora roses yellowing, you know that poisonous

white snakeroot is budding in and around the woodlots. And when wild grapes ripen, then begin the dry onion harvest.

When the green fruit of the Osage orange is big and fat enough to come down in thunderstorm winds, then watch for swallows to be congregating on the high wires, resting on their way south. Morning birdsong continues to diminish, making way for the increase of insect volume.

Blackberries are August size this week, but still green in the North. Milkweed pods emerge almost everywhere; they will burst at the approach of middle fall, just 80 days from now.

Field and garden time

Wild cherries darken on the wild cherry trees, alerting farmers and gardeners that potato leafhoppers could be causing serious damage to the potatoes. The most intense period of heat stress begins for summer crops. San Jose scale and flathead borers are active on flowering fruit trees.

Double-crop beans are being planted after wheat harvest. Get out autumn collards, kale, cabbage and broccoli while the moon waxes.

July can be peak parasite month in the fields. Drench lambs and ewes together (it’s easier) every 30 days as long as they are on lush pasture. If possible, keep lambs in a field that has not been used since winter.

Watch for brown spots in the lawn, signs of the sod webworm. Give plenty of water to the infected area, and treat with pyrethrums. And don’t cut the lawn too short while the summer is at its hottest; let it rest a little longer than you would in June, and cut it high.

Mid-July rains can cause soybean root rot and leaf yellowing. Japanese beetles reach major levels in the soybeans. Calculate estimated losses in productivity due to late planting, drought, insect infestations, hail and other problems. Plan countermeasures such as increased production in other areas of your farm and garden operation.

Marketing time: In preparation for next April’s Easter Market, flush the ewes and does to be mated this fall, moving them to better pasture and/or feed them more grain, and worm them too. Some owners shear or clip in midsummer to improve

flushing.

Mind and body time

The Almanac horoscope favors staying alive this month. Even though July weather may bring an increase in deaths related to heat stroke, fewer deaths occur in the period between June and September than during winter months.

Creature time (for fishing, hunting, feeding, bird-watching): The waning moon will be overhead before dawn this week; be on the water before sunrise and stay fishing until lunchtime. The arrival of cool fronts on July 14 and 21 will cause the barometer to dip and should stimulate more angling action.

Once their young are grown, adult geese start getting restless (you’ll see them flying back and forth and hear them honking).

Watch for changes in the number and kinds of birds visiting your feeders. 

Listen for changes in bird calls. Keep track of the presence of fledglings, noting dates of their appearance; that way, you can create a general timetable for the breeding season in your yard.

Almanac classics

Duck Killer

By Susan Perkins Hardtimes Farm, Ky. Two summers ago, my daughter-in-law, Brandi, came running into the house screaming, “I think a snake’s getting the baby ducks!”

My daughter Laurie and I jumped up and ran out to the shed where Brandi said she heard a bunch of glass breaking. A mother duck had made her nest in a cardboard box stored on the top of some wooden shelves used for storing my canning jars.

It was real dark in the shed, but I could make out part of a snake in the filtered light that made its way through the oak boards covering the building. When our eyes became adjusted to the dark, we could not believe what we saw.

A huge – and I mean huge – cow snake had coiled around the mother duck twice and was squeezing the life out of her. His intention was not to eat her but, rather, all her newly hatched babies. The mother duck must have fought him like the devil to cause him to try to kill her.

And kill he would have, if I hadn’t grabbed his tail, startling him enough to uncoil and allowing the duck to break free. The snake disappeared through the cracks in the floor, falling beneath the building.

Three of the babies were dead, crushed from the fight that had taken place. If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I would never have believed a snake could kill a big duck by playing python. We moved mother and the remaining babies to a safe location, as I was sure the snake would return to finish the job.