July 31-August 6, 2017

Take stock in August: Count the days, Measure the harvest, The hours of sunlight.

 

-Celtus

Almanac horoscope

Moon time: The waxing Blackberry Moon reaches apogee (when the moon is farthest from Earth) on August 2. On August 7, full moon occurs at 1:11 p.m. Rising in the afternoon or evening and setting in the morning, this moon passes overhead in the middle of the night.

Sun time: This month, the sun moves halfway between summer solstice and autumn equinox, entering Virgo and reaching Cross-Quarter Day on August 22. Planet time: Moving retrograde above Orion into Gemini, Venus holds on to its position as the morning star. Mars, in Cancer, is still hidden from view.

Star time: After sundown, the Summer Triangle shifts into the west, following June’s Corona Borealis and Hercules. Delphinus, the Dolphin, is due south.

Autumn’s Pleiades rise up over the northeastern tree line past midnight. Orion fills the east before dawn.

Shooting star time: The Perseid meteors brighten the east after midnight duringthe first half of August. The first week of the month provides the darkest sky for shooting star observation.

Weather time

The August 4 front: Hot weather generally follows this brief respite from the Dog Days, and thunderstorms are common as the August 10 front approaches. Full moon on August 7 is likely to make this front and the next one more turbulent.

 

Weather statistics are relatively stablethrough the second week of the month, summer temperatures remaining the rule. With the arrival of the August 10 cold front, however, the chances for precipitation rise.

Zeitgebers: This is the first week of ragweed time, and the first week of late summer. Golden and purple coneflowers and white, pink and violet phlox still dominate the gardens. Robin calls increase, short clucking signals guiding  their young for migration.

Black walnut foliage is thinning. Violet Joe Pye weed becomes gray like the thistledown. Spicebush berries redden. Rose pinks and great blue lobelia color the waysides.

Field and garden time

Sodding and seeding of the lawn is often done before the cooler days of fall. Test soil in your fall and winter garden, as well as in the fields where you intend to sow wheat, rye, alfalfa, canola, clover and timothy.

Cut corn for silage after completing the second and third cuts of hay. Dig potatoes and pick commercial tomato plants clean. Complete harvest of plums, pears, watermelons, blackberries and peaches.

The breeding season opens for your goats and sheep. Consider supplements for the rams and bucks: carrots, oats, bran, iodized salt and good greens are popular additions to feed.

Marketing time: August 7 is Jamaican Independence Day; demand may increase for older sheep and goats, up to 65 pounds at this time. August 10 is Ecuadorian Independence Day – a perfect excuse for roasting a whole lamb of 60-90 pounds in Andean style.

Mind and body time Full moon time (this week) can be related to mood change, quickened pulse and bleeding at operations. Crime and the frequency of accidents typically rise at full moon.

Creature time (for fishing, feeding, bird-watching): The round moon is overhead in the middle of the night this week, stimulating fish and humans throughout the region to feed in the dark.

Conditions should be most favorable for angling (but bad for dieting) as the barometer falls in advance of the August 4 and 10 fronts.

Starlings become more restless as full moon approaches. Watch for their murmurations – swooping acrobatic flocks – diving and rising above the corn and soybean fields.

Almanac literature

My Sophie

By Sandra Mouritsen

 

Logan, Utah Sophie was an orphan. Her mother wouldn’t claim her. My dad gave her to me. I named her Sophie because she was always really soft.

She was also one of the tamest sheep in the flock. When the sheep were at home, I could always walk right up to her and put my arms around her and stand there hugging her.

One time when I was little, I had been trying to find Sophie and couldn’t find her. I asked my dad for help, but he was too busy feeding the other sheep. Then he heard me ask, “Daddy is this Sophie?” He looked over at me, and I had my arms around one sheep, and she was just standing there, very content. My dad laughed. “Yes. I think that’s Sophie. No other sheep would let you hug it.”

Sophie would get mad at my dad whenever he had to shear or vaccinate her; he couldn’t catch her. But I could walk right up to her out in the middle of the field.

She just stood there, content. She liked and trusted me.