June 1-7, 2015

Now I may know the roughness of the tree trunks,

Rain on the willows, clover-sweet air.

Now I feel the life-burdened earth against my breast.

Now I may know the swift sweeping seasonal turn,

The four-quartered cycle of time.

-Janet Stevens

Lunar phase and lore

The Hummingbird Moon, full on June 2 at 11:19 a.m., wanes gibbous throughout the period, entering its last phase on June 9 at 10:42 a.m. It reaches perigee, its position closest to Earth, on June 10.

Rising in the middle of the night and setting before noon, the moon this week will move overhead before dawn, stimulating fish and dieters to eat. The cool fronts of June 2, 6 and 10 increase the likelihood that angling will be best before or near sunup as the barometer falls. Lunar conditions for planting root crops and potted annuals or perennials are ideal June 3-6, with the moon in Capricorn.

Perigee on June 10 typically increases the influence of the moon on the weather and on human emotions.

Weather trends

The low-pressure system that accompanies the June 6 front initiates a four-day period during which there is an increased chance for tornadoes and flash floods. Even after this front passes to the east, storms often strike up to 40 percent of years.

Part of the reason for the rise in the risk for severe weather is the increase in the percentage of afternoons in the 80s and 90s almost everywhere in the continental United States.

Good chances for a shower precede the June 10 weather system, and after its passage, a major heat wave often occurs across the country’s midsection.

The sunniest June days usually occur between now and June 26.

The natural calendar

June 1: Venus moves retrograde into Cancer this month, remaining the brightest evening star. Jupiter retreats into Leo, continuing to stalk Venus, and complementing Leo’s bright Regulus in the far west after sundown.

Saturn moves into Libra this month, rising after sundown and traveling all across the southern horizon through the night, visible in the southwest several hours before dawn. Mars is not visible this month.

June 2: The violet heads of chives droop and decay. Tall buttercups recede into the wetlands. Petals of mock orange, honeysuckle, scarlet pyrethrum, blue lupine and Dutch iris fall to the garden floor.

June 3: Wild strawberries sprawl through the sticky catchweed. Blue-eyed grass is open.

June 4: The columbines unravel as astilbe reddens. July’s wild petunia foliage is a foot tall. Giant yucca plants send up their firm stalks not only in Kentucky but also deep in the Caribbean.

June 5: Before midnight, the handle of the Big Dipper has started to rotate to the west, marking the time chiggers and Japanese beetles appear along the 40th Parallel. In the east, the Summer Triangle is rising, bringing all the lilies into bloom when it lies overhead. To the east of the North Star, the house-shaped constellation of Cepheus spins slowly around to the center of the southern sky; when it is almost above you, gardens will be full of bright mums.

June 6: May apples have fruit the size of a cherry. Buckeyes have half-inch burrs. Honeysuckle flowers are falling, bridal wreath and snowball viburnum rusting.

June 7: Timothy is ripe for chewing. Mulberry season has begun for both the red and white varieties, and it typically lasts until the end of early summer.

In field and garden

June 1: Early corn is often 6-12 inches tall, soybeans 3-4.

June 2: Lettuce starts to bolt in the heat; peas become starchy and lose their sweetness; radishes get hot.

June 3: Spray for potato leafhoppers in the alfalfa, cucumber beetles in the vines, corn borers in the corn and mites in the roses. Go after bean-leaf beetles in the fields. Attack fleas, lice, ticks, screw worms and fly maggots on your animals.

June 4: In the Ohio Valley, one tobacco bed in four is typically full of plants.

June 5: Fertilize asparagus and rhubarb as their seasons end. On Lake Erie, walleye fishing is usually at its best.

June 6: Approximately 100 frost-free days now remain on most farms and gardens of the region.

June 7: Sawfly larvae eat the leaves on the mountain ash. Head scab and glume blotch develop on the winter wheat. Lace bugs cause yellow spotting on sycamores, oaks and azaleas. The first generation of sod webworms is usually born near this date.

If you have a cherry tree, then you have a way to tell when the wild fruit crops are ready: You can go pick mulberries and raspberries when the cherries ripen.

Almanac literature

Great American Story Contest entry

Tuffy and the Turkeys

By Fanny Lindsey

Lee is my grandson, and he has a dog named Tuffy. Tuffy is 14 years old.

Well, me and my grandson went out and bought two black-and-white turkeys. We had them in the house for one month then put them out in the box where Tuffy was. And he right away thought he was their mother and dad. He guarded them from everything.

When they were one year old, and when I turned Tuffy loose, the turkeys would get all excited. So one day Lee was taking Tuffy for a walk and he forgot the turkeys were loose and he went out to the road, and the turkeys jumped the ditch and got on the road behind Lee and Tuffy.

Well, Lee had to come back and put the turkeys in their cage. The turkeys are not for Thanksgiving. We love them and will always keep Tuffy and them together. They are so funny to watch and take care of.

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.

TORCA – ACTOR

TORCAF – FACTOR

OARTCTR – TRACTOR

ROTFACENEB – BENEFACTOR

ELAMCAFROT – MALEFACTOR

TORPACCOM – COMPACTOR

CROTARTCON – CONTRACTOR

ROTCARTED – DETRACTOR

AAOORTCFL – OLAFACTOR

FERCARROT – REFRACTOR

This week’s Scrambler

SUOICARG

SSPCAIOU

AUAIOUDCS

FLLCSAAIOU

APARSCIOU

LFTRTSIAUOI

AAUOISCPL

SUIOACRAV

EIAIUOSCCFF

SOUICAUQOL

Listen to Poor Will’s “Radio Almanack” on podcast any time at www.wyso.org