Feb. 15-21, 2010
Simple attention to the details of nature, as always, helped me keep in sight both my center and my life’s destination and purpose, which was to live skillfully and mindfully each step of the journey.
-Stephen Altschuler
Lunar phase and lore

The new Running Maple Sap Moon swells throughout the week, entering its second quarter at 7:42 p.m. on Feb. 21. The moon grows stronger throughout the period, inviting you to plant April greens directly in the ground, and May tomatoes in flats.

The arrival of early spring, combined with the waxing moon, is expected to excite the maple sap. Be ready. During the nicer days this week, spray trees for scales and mites, but don’t spray if lows are expected to fall into the low 20s.

Go out to the lake, river or farm pond in the afternoon this week. The crescent moon will be directly overhead at that time, making fish hungry, especially as the barometer falls in advance of the Feb. 20 and 24 cold fronts.

Children, pets and farm livestock should be relatively calm this week, as the moon lies halfway between new and full. Hospital personnel and law enforcement officers should have to deal with fewer crises.

Weather patterns

The average temperature of 26 degrees, which held through most of January, has climbed four degrees in the past 20 days. In the next four weeks, the average reaches its full springtime stride of one degree every three days, coming up 11 degrees by equinox.
In spite of the sporadic cold, these numbers favor April over January. From now on, the thaws that began with highs in the 50s near Groundhog Day steadily build momentum, the thaws of Feb. 18 and 22, and March 1, 5, 11 and 25 pushing until the full tide of wildflowers moves across the landscape.

Early spring is here, and it lasts through the remainder of February and all of March. Although temperatures are fickle during this phase of the year, highs can reach into the 70s (but lows can go below zero). Sometimes counting the days until middle spring helps the time go faster: About 40 days stand between you and the first hepatica flowers.

Or, count the major cold fronts: There should be a total of nine, arriving on or about Feb. 24 and 28, and March 2, 5, 9, 14, 19, 24 and 29.

Almanac daybook

Feb. 15: The front that crosses the Mississippi today is the last front of late winter, and it should be followed by milder weather almost everywhere in the nation. Zeitgebers (events in nature that tell the time of year) for this week include the first markers of the six-week season of early spring.

These include the sporadic blooming of dandelions in sunnier lawns, the increasing activity of water striders and small moths on warmer days, the running of maple sap (as new moon and early spring arrive together), the nesting of cardinals, the nighttime mating of salamanders in shallow pools, the courtship of raccoons (the young to be born in late April) and skunks (babies usually appearing in May). Bald eagles are incubating their eggs at this time.

Feb. 16: Today is Mardi Gras, the traditional start of Christian Lent. That means Easter is only six weeks away, and it’s time to get ready to sell your lambs and kids to the Easter market.

Feb. 17: The season of spring birdsong begins most years in late January, but it is the middle of February that consistently turns late winter into early spring. Sometimes the weather doesn’t change for the better in the early days of the year’s second month; sometimes, the cold is worse than in the middle of January. But the sound changes and fills the silence of dormancy, songs accumulating like leaves emerging.

Feb. 18: This is winter’s Cross Quarter Day, and maple syrup time has arrived in many locations. Leaves of the grape hyacinth pace the garlic, which is pacing the growing daffodils and the Resurrection lilies.

Feb. 19: Throughout the country, the ground temperature is moving toward or above 35 degrees, the temperature at which earthworms become active again. That means the pastures will soon be starting to grow again.

If you hear spring peepers (they sound like “peep-peep”) or wood frogs (they sound like a flock of ducks), then you really know it’s almost time to let the livestock out to the driest, greenest piece of ground.

Feb. 20: The Feb. 20 cold front, the first front of early spring, is usually mild and it is often dry, as well.

Feb. 21: The moon enters its weak second quarter today. Continue planting in flats flowers and vegetables you want to set out in May. Lower growlights close to the new sprouts to keep them from getting too stalky.

Living with the seasons

The likelihood of seasonal stress falls slowly but steadily throughout February.  Even though clouds usually continue to deprive the human brain of the benefits of sunlight, the length of the day complements the gradually rising improving temperatures.
When February ends, livestock is often wormed before being turned out to pasture – if pastures are ready. Mares show signs of estrus as the days grow longer. The last of the lambs and kids conceived in middle autumn are born.

Decide now which pastures to rotate and when. Consider fencing streams and springs to prevent surface water contamination.
Many sheep and goat owners budget a percentage of their herd or flock income from spring and Easter sales (Both Roman and Orthodox Easter fall on April 4 this year), and they use the fall market, including autumn culls, for more of their income.

If you live relatively close to a large urban area, want to increase spring profits, cut down on pasture and feed demands over the summer and need more cash on hand to invest in breeding during the late summer or fall, consider adjusting your activities to give you more winter kidding and lambing – and more spring sales.