May 10-16, 2010
You watch the afternoons of spring across the river,
and you know that nothing only is or happens once,
and that our hearts spin like the earth around the sun.
-Alonso Quel
Lunar phase and lore

The Rhubarb Pie Moon, becoming the Duckling and Gosling Moon on May 13 at 8:04 p.m., waxes throughout the rest of the period and comes into its second quarter a 6:43 p.m. May 20.

The new moon this week creates ideal lunar conditions for seeding every flower and vegetable you have. Strawberries and raspberries should thrive; new trees and shrubs, as well. Put in all the plants you have been growing in the greenhouse. As conditions permit, complete pasture planting.

This week’s dark moon also favors worming, weaning lambs and kids, clipping feet and dipping for external parasites. Since flea season is under way, this is an excellent time to treat your pets, as well.

The moon overhead at noon this week favors midday fishing and feeding of livestock, children and pets. If you are dieting, play along with lunar power, scheduling your largest meal at lunchtime. Fishing should be most productive and dieting most difficult as the cool fronts of May 12 and 15 approach.

While the days surrounding the new moon are excellent for planting, they are the second-most-disruptive lunar days of the month. Health care workers and public service employees might, therefore, expect more problems.

Weather patterns

 Just as tender bedding plants are set out before Mother’s Day, the last really dangerous, frost-bearing front of the spring moves across the nation. After the passage of that cold wave, however, mild weather often occurs, helping the new seeds sprout.

A morning below 32 degrees, which could be expected at least one day in seven around May 4, happens only one day in 70 on May 16.

The cool front due to arrive May 15 is often followed by the “Strawberry Rains,” the wettest time of May in the lower Midwest and the Mid-Atlantic states.  Therefore, May 15 is a good target date for having fields planted in order to avoid a serious delay in seeding.

Clouds and precipitation sometimes remain through the end of May, the stagnation reflecting a general slowdown in the conflict between spring and summer. Although fields planted prior to late May rains are almost sure to sprout, cool and damp conditions can stunt growth in soggy fields.

Daybook

May 10: Since mosquitoes can spread disease in your animals (and family), keep your land free of insect breeding areas such as puddles of water in tarps or old containers. On the farm, spray for control of Canadian thistles before blooms appear; but be careful of wildlife; this is the time that pheasant, grouse, and turkey chicks appear along the fences. In vegetable gardens, dig the thistles instead of spraying.

May 11: Wild black raspberries are in bloom. They should be ready to pick in four weeks. Insect activity is nearing the economic threshold in the field and garden. Flies become pesky in the mild afternoons. Crappie fishing peaks in the shallows.

May 12: Think about selective breeding for the production of sheep milk and cheese. Premium milk can sell for considerably more than cow’s milk. You may want to experiment with the East Friesian and Arcott Rideau breeds, crossing them with the breed you currently own.

May 14: Spring is the time to complete the culling process before animals move to pasture. If your animals are tagged (or you know each one by name), and if you have kept good records (or have a wonderful memory), you will make the best decisions.

May 15: Tobacco transplanting begins along the Ohio River when the first strawberry ripens, and swallowtail butterflies visit the star of Bethlehem and bleeding hearts.

May 16: Major planting of peppers, cantaloupes and cucumbers takes place in the Lower Midwest. Morel season, complete in your woods, has started at higher elevations in the West. Worming time begins for your horses.

Countdown to early summer

The speed of late spring brings so many markers that it is sometimes difficult to track the approach of early summer. Suddenly, haying begins above the Ohio River, then tobacco planting, then cantaloupe and pumpkin seeding, then commercial sunflower seeding.

Then, locust trees come into bloom, announcing the approach of thistle bloom and the first ripe strawberries, and the hatching of the last goslings and ducklings, the heading of winter wheat and the end of soybean planting, the spawning of bass in farm ponds. If you miss all those signs, just look up at the trees: When all the leaves are full size, late spring has ended.

The progress of the season is so dramatic at this time of year that we sometimes feel we are getting left behind. On the farm, late seeding has a direct impact on yield, and farmers can experience pressure and anxiety. Gardeners understand the deadlines for best sprouting and transplanting, but often miss their goals. Students dread the coming of final exams.

In January, it is easy to tell yourself you have plenty of time to meet your goals. When late spring comes, however, you may feel pushed to fulfill all the promises you made to yourself back before the snow melted. So sit down and make a new list of things to do, scaled back and more realistic. Give yourself less to do. But also schedule more time to relax and enjoy the wonderful changes taking place around you.

Almanac literature
The Spirit’s Message
By Virgil L. Downs
Mansfield, Ohio
I mowed the Spring Mill Cemetery for 28 years. It is halfway between Mansfield and Shelby on State Route 39.

There was one spot where the ground had settled. I put in two wheelbarrows of soil to level it off and planted seed, and the grass came on very heavy.

There was a father with two sons buried in the cemetery. This one day he parked his car, walked across to his sons’ graves and on his way, he crossed the place where I had planted the seed. He said it looked like someone had lain on the grass – the grass was flat in that spot and had the shape of a body.

There wasn’t any headstone at that particular grave (which was not the grave of his sons), and as he walked on he got to thinking that the body’s spirit wanted a grave marker, and he told me what he thought.

There were pieces of old markers at the corner of the cemetery. So, I got a piece and placed it on this grave. The next day, the man came back to check it. The grass was as normal as could be and green.

I told two different pastors this story and they said it was a bunch of hogwash. They didn’t believe in spirits? But I told this account to the people on a tour bus on the way home from Toronto. Needless to say, after I told it, the people never said a word for 100 miles.
Poor Will pays $3 for any original, unusual animal or family story published in this column. In addition, he is putting together the Almanack for 2011, and will pay an additional $7 for any story accepted for that book – especially those that describe how animals have brought people together. Send your tale to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387.

Follow the progress of the year with Poor Will’s Almanack for 2010. Mail $16 (includes shipping and handling) for each copy to: Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, Yellow Springs, OH 45387. To order by credit card, visit www.poorwillsalmanack.com