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Start tomatoes and peppers under lights, to set by May 1
 
Poor Will's Almanack by Bill Felker  
 
March 9-15, 2015
A redwing singing almost furiously from a marshy site, meadowlarks calling from the orange sunlit swamp grass around the edge of a small pond. A toad or two send up their trill – water bugs are out – a cold wind blows out of the North – I walk through the swamp pasture, and I sink deep in the turf, the water bubbling around my shoes.
-Charles Burchfield, Journal
Lunar phase and lore

The Flowering Moss Moon wanes throughout the period, entering its last quarter on March 13 at 12:48 p.m. Rising near the middle of the night and setting in the middle of the day, this moon travels overhead in the early morning.
The most favorable lunar position for fishing occurs with the moon above you: before, during and after breakfast. Lunar planting conditions for root crops and shrubs are especially favorable as the moon passes through Scorpio on March 9-11 and through Capricorn March 14-16.
For the most auspicious fishing, setting and seeding, do all these activities as the barometer falls in advance of the cold fronts due March 14 and 19.
Weather trends

The March 14-15 cold front is often accompanied by brighter skies for a day or so before it moves toward the Atlantic to make way for the much stronger and more disruptive weather system of March 19-20.
That cold front is one of the last wintry fronts in the South; even in the central portion of the country, it marks the end of the worst of the weather systems of the first half of the year.
The natural calendar

March 9: Crows are pairing and selecting nesting sites. Five weeks until all the fruit trees start to flower.
March 10: The robin chorus begins half an hour to an hour before dawn. Cardinals usually join in after a few minutes.
March 11: Purple martins migrate to the lower Midwest. Peregrine falcons lay their eggs. Bald eagle chicks hatch.
March 12: White tundra swans arrive along Lake Erie.
March 13: Earliest henbit blossoms. Day lily foliage is 4 inches tall.
March 14: Two weeks to tulip season and the first butterflies and first wave of blooming woodland wildflowers.
March 15: Your lawn is growing. Fix the lawnmower!
In field and garden

March 9: Mites, scale and aphid eggs will mature quickly when the temperatures climb above 60 degrees. The insects will be more easily controlled by dormant oil spray the closer they are to hatching.
March 10: Inspect trees for winter damage. Remove dead and dying limbs.
March 11: Honeysuckle leaves are opening on the lowest branches.
March 12: Onions seeds and sets, radishes, beets, carrots and turnips can be sown directly in the ground anytime between now and the moon’s first quarter (March 20).
March 13: Set flats of pansies out of doors on milder days to harden them for late March planting or early April planting.
March 14: Average date for flower and garden shows throughout the East.
March 15: Warm-weather crops such as tomatoes and peppers should be ready to set out in the first of May if you start them this week under lights.
Almanac literature
Great American Story Contest entry
Jodie
By Charles D Yates
Westminster, Md.
About six years ago, I had a bottle lamb named Jodie. Jodie, like most ewes, got pregnant and had a baby. When Jodie saw the baby, she ran to my wife and bleated: “What is that? Why is it coming toward me?” And “MAKE IT GO AWAY!”
So, I ended up with her baby, Watkins. Watkins was adorable and friendly. He would keep me company as I did my chores.
He would hang out if company came over. He was a well-behaved lamb and a pleasure to have around.
One Halloween, after I came back from dinner with friends, Watkins came rushing to the house. At first I thought he wanted some crackers or chips. I offered him his Doritos, and he turned them down. I offered him time in the house. As I went to sit on the sofa he refused his dog bed. He jumped on the sofa and wouldn’t let me sit. I decided to kick him out of the house. When I kicked him out, he looked back at me. I decided to make sure he went back to the sheep. He would walk, and then stop and look at me. I was a bit annoyed and irritated.
Instead of going to the sheep, he walked to the pen where I had my goats. He kept looking at me. I looked in the pen to see what he was interested in. It was dark, but I could make out goats arguing with each other. Then I heard it.
I heard a soft quiet “maaah.” I started looking for the baby goat. Soon enough I found it, the smallest baby goat I’d ever seen. (Later, the scale said 1 pound, 8 ounces.) I grabbed it and started drying it off and trying to get it warm. Nibblet the goat owes her life to Watkins.
While nothing that dramatic has happened again, Watkins more than earns his keep. If babies get separated from the herd or flock, he guards them ’til their mothers come back. And, when my fosters are allowed out on their own, he watches over them.
Jodie went on to take excellent and loving care of all her other babies. And once Watkins was grown, they would travel around the farm as a mini-flock.
Winners of the Great American Almanac Story Contest will not be announced until all selected entries appear in this column.
Last week’s Scrambler

In order to estimate your Scrambler IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ.
MIEARPL – IMPEARL
IRGL – GIRL
LRUCH – CHURL
RULH – HURL
WSLRI – SWIRL
LRUNK – KNURL
RUBL – BURL
LRSQUIER – SQUIRREL
RULP – PURL
FULR – FURL
This week’s Scrambler

ENIL
WNIE
NSEIW
NEBNGI
ENIHS
RNHEIS
TIEHN
AIEPNL
LENIYB
MINEOBR

For your autographed copy of the 2015 Poor Will’s Almanack, send $20 (includes S&H for First Class mail) to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. Or, order online at www.poorwillsalmanack.com
Listen to Poor Will’s “Radio Almanack” on podcast any time at www.wyso.org
3/6/2015