Sept. 5-11, 2011

But on the hill the golden-rod, and the aster in the wood,
And the yellow sunflower by the brook in autumn beauty stood …
-William Cullen Bryant

Lunar phase and lore
The Monarch Butterfly Moon waxes gibbous throughout the period, becoming completely full on Sept. 12 at 4:27 a.m. Rising late in the day and setting after midnight, this second-quarter moon is overhead after dark.

Fishing is favored (and dieting challenged) with the moon above you after supper next week, especially as the cool fronts of Sept. 8 and 12 approach. Full moon on Sept. 12 is expected to intensify the high-pressure system due to arrive that day, and frost is a distinct possibility throughout the lower Midwest.
Weather and lunar strength are also expected to increase the likelihood of crime, road rage and domestic violence in the middle of next week. So, stay in the garden: Lunar position in Pisces on Sept. 10-12 favors late seeding of greens. And, get ready to transplant perennials as the moon wanes between Sept. 13-27.

Venus moves into Virgo with Saturn during September, almost lost in the horizon and the dawn. Mars is in Cancer, high in the east before sunrise. Jupiter still in Aries, rises before sundown and moves across the sky throughout the night, shining brightly in the far west before the sun comes up.

Weather patterns

The likelihood of precipitation increases at the approach of the Sept. 8 cool front, and once this system goes through, it almost always brings in early fall, a month-long period of Judas maples, late goldenrod and the encroachment of chillier nights. Temperatures, which began to cool at the pivot time of Aug. 10, decline more noticeably.

A slightly stronger system often follows the Sept. 8 high, making the 12th one of the two cloudiest and wettest days in September. Sept. 12 also marks the beginning of a decline in percentage of daily sunshine, a downward shift that continues through December (the year’s darkest month). Chances for a light freeze increase on Sept. 13 and 14 as this third high-pressure system of the month shows its full power.

Daybook
Sept. 5: The first of the beggarticks and bur marigolds bloom in the wetlands. The first fall violets appear beside the dry stems of May’s garlic mustard. Fields of brilliant oxeye, coneflowers, goldenrod, wingstem and ironweed hide the decay of Canadian thistles, fringed loosestrife, skullcap, wild petunias and meadow rue.

Lizard’s tail is dropping its foliage into the rivers. Seeds of the jumpseed plant leap from their stems at the slightest touch.

Sept. 6: Hickory nutting season opens as sweet corn time winds down. Burrs from tick trefoil stick to your stockings when you wander off the trail. Lizard’s tail drops its leaves into the creeks and sloughs.

Sept. 7: A few sycamore leaves have fallen now, and Judas maples are becoming a little more common. Pokeweed berries are dark and shiny, and the flowers of blue vervain climb to the top of their spikes. Cardinals are finally quiet in the morning, after seven months of singing.

Sept. 8: The cool front due around this date is the first of the autumn weather systems that carry the danger of significant snowfall at upper elevations in the West. The hottest weather of the year usually ends near this date throughout the East and Midwest.

Sept. 9: Cicadas are dying. Bees are awkward and stiff in the cool mornings. Sometimes on sunny days, woolly bear caterpillars hurry across the roads. Kingbirds, finches, ruddy ducks, herring gulls and yellow-bellied sapsuckers move south.

The fat Osage fruits are falling. Berries are red on the silver olives, orange on the American mountain ash, purple on the pokeweed.

Sept. 10: Rose of Sharon, which was bright from here to the Atlantic Ocean a few weeks ago, has suddenly lost most of its flowers. Japanese knotweed petals darken and fall. Ironweed is now deteriorating quickly, wingstem in its last week. Fawns born in the spring are now weaned, and most of them have lost their spots.

Sept. 11: In a typical year, the sweet potato harvest has begun in North Carolina, the potato harvest in Wisconsin and the peanut and sorghum harvest, in South Carolina.

Farmers are cutting corn for silage all across the nation’s midsection, cutting spring oats and wheat in Wyoming, spring barley in California, hay in Alaska and bringing in tobacco throughout the border states.

Almanac literature
Boss To The Rescue
By Ann Witte
Gaelyn Glen Farm, Springfield, Neb.

Beardies (Bearded Collies) are fairly soft-natured, yet their bravery surfaces when it is needed. Boss was one of those typical Beardies who proved his courage in many ways, but in one particular way for me.

I had put our four-horned Jacob ram – a very hateful and nasty ram, at that – in with three wethers so he had some company. One day I noticed one of the wethers had a messy rear that had dried and thus, needed to be trimmed off.
The sheep had gone behind the shed in a three- to four-foot-wide alleyway to stay in the shade. As usual, I had Boss along to help with all the sheep work for the day. Without thinking at all, I went into that narrow area to get the wether; Boss tagged along.

Before I knew it, the ram had appeared and, lowering his head, rushed directly at me. The next thing happened faster than reading will tell. Boss jumped ahead of me to stop the ram; he took the hard blow that was intended for me! The dog cried out but still managed to bite the ram, which backed the sheep off.

A quick trip to the vet and a couple of x-rays later, Boss was said to have three broken ribs and a bruised heart and lung. He spent the next six weeks in a rib wrap – there is no way to cast ribs – but he insisted on accompanying me after four weeks, so we went out to work the sheep together.