Poor Will's Almanack
By Bill Felker

Sept. 6-12, 2010
Not the sun or the summer alone, but every hour and season yields its tribute of delight; for every hour and change corresponds to and authorizes a different state of the mind.
-Ralph Waldo Emerson

Lunar phase and lore
The end of late summer ripens almost all the wild plums in the Northern Hemisphere, and when early fall arrives, elderberries are ready to pick and squash and strain and turn into wine or jelly under the Elderberry Wine Moon, new on Sept. 8 at 5:30 a.m.

The new moon always moves overhead in the middle of the day, making lunchtime the most favorable time for fishing and scouting for game. Fish, animals and your own stomach should be most active around noon, as the cool fronts of Sept. 8 and 12 approach.

The dark moon favors vaccinations and general livestock care. Changes in the season bring weather extremes as well as stress, so you will be managing routine health needs at the most important time of the year. The new moon will also favor all kinds of planting and transplanting, including the sowing of winter grains.

One of the stellar rewards for getting up before the sunrise to do chores during September and October is seeing Orion standing tall in the southern sky. Above him, the brightest star is Capella. Castor and Pollux of Gemini follow him to the east, and Aldebaran, the red eye of Taurus, precedes him to the west.

Weather patterns
Typical highs fall below 80, and normal nighttime lows move below 60 until the second week of next June. Chances for highs in the 90s hold at less than 10 percent each day this week, the first time that has happened since the end of May.

Highs in the cold 60s occur another 10 percent of the time (with the possibility of 50s for the first time since June 4), with 70s and 80s sharing the remaining 80 percent.

Frost is rare at this stage of September, but chances for a light freeze increase to 10 percent on Sept. 13-14 as the third high pressure system of the month comes through.

Daybook
Sept. 6: Schedule fall pasture improvements. Your herd can graze an area close now, and then you can fertilize and seed those fields in early spring with a legume.

Sept. 7: Sycamores, locust, elms, box elders, chinquapin oaks, lindens and redbuds start to show their autumn colors. Leaves gather in the backwaters and on sidewalks and paths. Sycamores are changing to a golden green, dogwoods to pink.

Bright patches of scarlet sumac and Virginia creeper mark the fencerows. Some ash and cottonwoods are almost bare. Slippery elms are turning yellow-brown, and poplars fade.

Sept. 8: Today is new moon day for the Elderberry Wine Moon; it is also the average date for a cool front to cross the Mississippi. At higher elevations in the West and North, this front is the first of the autumn weather systems that carry the danger of significant snowfall.

The hottest weather of the year usually ends near this date throughout the East and Midwest, and the milder weather is accompanied by Judas maple trees and bright goldenrod.

Sept. 9: As the moon waxes after the arrival of the Sept. 8 system, get ready to seed or reseed spring pasture and the lawn. Put in winter tomatoes for greenhouse fruit, but protect them from whiteflies.

Sept. 10: If your chickens are laying more eggs than you can eat or give away, consider freezing the eggs. One method is to mix yolk and white together, pour the mixture into a container and freeze.

Sept. 11: Watch for the pasture to shift toward its autumn composition as the number of plants available for browse starts to diminish and the rate of growth begins to slow.

Sept. 12: The Sept. 12 cool front often sweeps rain across the region around this date. The middle of September marks a turning point in the year during which the percentage of cloud cover gradually begins to increase and the chances for colder temperatures grow.

Countdown to middle fall
Watch the fields, vineyards and orchards to track the passage of the year: The corn is usually ready to harvest for silage at the beginning of early fall. By the end of that season, the grain harvest starts for corn, cabbage and cauliflower.

Grapes are being picked as the first asters bloom in the pasture, and the third cut of alfalfa is almost complete. Summer apples are almost all in the basket, and the fall apples have started to come in.

Most of the soybeans are setting pods and some plants are beginning to shed as early fall deepens. When middle fall approaches, shedding picks up speed and the bean harvest gets under way just about the time that sugar beet farmers dig their sugar beets.

Living with the seasons
Pollen counts begin to decline this week, but mold counts remain high. Leaf mold becomes a significant source of irritation for many people, even though the leaves have just begun to come down. Continue to keep your yard and garden raked and clear of plant debris, in order to minimize the sources of mold closest to you.

(Please refer to the newspaper for the remaining portion.)