July 29-Aug. 4, 2013 The cicada’s dry monotony breaks Over me. The days are bright And free, bright and free. -Jane Kenyon
Lunar phase and lore
The Sweet Corn Moon entering its final phase at 12:43 p.m. on July 29 wanes throughout the period, becoming the new Blackberry Moon on Aug. 6. Rising after midnight and setting in the late afternoon, this moon moves overhead in the morning.
Angling after breakfast should catch the fish, which are influenced by the moon, especially as the cool front of Aug. 4 presses down the barometer. Lunar passage through Taurus at the end of July and through Cancer on Aug. 3-5 favors the planting of the fall garden, especially radishes and turnips.
Jupiter and Mars in Gemini rise well before dawn, shining in the east. Mars moves retrograde into Cancer at the end of the month, moving away from Jupiter but retaining its position as one of the morning planets. Venus and Saturn, both in Virgo, shine in the west after sundown.
Weather trends
The weather in advance of the Aug. 4 front is some of the hottest of the summer. Highs in the cool 70s and lows in the 50s are rare in most of the nation between Aug. 1-3.
Rain often accompanies the Aug. 4 front (the day of the front’s arrival brings showers more often than any day since the first week of July), but after the system moves east, the likelihood for highs in the 90s begins a steady decline. The possibility for a high only in the 60s appears on the horizon of possibility.
Rainfall remains light and clouds infrequent through Aug. 9, which is one of the sunniest and driest days of the summer. Holidays for farmers
Aug. 6: Jamaican Independence Day – Demand may increase for older lambs, rams or ewes, up to 65 pounds, at this time. Aug. 7-9: Id al Fitr (The Festival of the breaking of the Ramadan Fast) – Sheep and goats for this market should not be older than one year.
Daybook
July 29: Across the land, wingstem, burdock, ironweed, tall and showy coneflowers, pigweed, thin-leafed mountain mint, blue vervain, tick trefoil, downy false foxglove and three-seeded mercury are blooming.
Along the Ohio River, tobacco topping is often begun this week after all the wheat comes in; that’s when the oats are almost half cut, and most of the corn is silking.
July 30: Wild grapes ripen; the dry onion harvest starts; geese become restless as a Judas maple here and there turns red. When Joe Pye weed sends out its purple flowers in the wetlands, then farmers are preparing for August seeding of alfalfa.
July 31: At the end of July, when the Summer Triangle of stars moves overhead just before bedtime, normal average temperatures start to fall in every state of the Union.
Aug. 1: When spiders start to increase their building of webs in the woodlot, then yellow jacket season begins in the windfall apples and plums, and morning fogs increase in the lowlands. When cardinals stop singing before dawn, farmers start to cut corn for silage.
Aug. 2: Across the lower Midwest, about two-thirds of the soybeans are flowering or setting pods. Oats and the second-cut of alfalfa, running neck and neck, are ordinarily three-quarters harvested. Farmers are making corrective lime and fertilizer applications for August and September seeding.
Aug. 3: Black walnut trees begin to lose their leaves, a sign of the great leaf-fall to come.
Aug. 4: Now take cuttings from your geraniums, coleus and other plants you’d like to save indoors this winter.
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