May 25-31, 2015 Before the roses and the longest day- When garden-walks and all the grassy floor With blossoms red and white of fallen May And chestnut-flowers are strewn- -Matthew Arnold Lunar phase and lore
The Hummingbird Moon enters its second quarter on May 25 at 12:19 p.m. and continues to wax throughout the week, becoming full at 11:19 a.m. on June 2. Rising in the afternoon and setting before dawn, this moon moves overhead late in the evening. The round moon above you at night favors fishing in the dark, especially as the cool fronts of May 29 and June 2 approach. The waxing moon in Scorpio on May 30-June 1 is particularly auspicious for planting in field and garden. The waxing moon favors the continuing harvest of strawberries and spring vegetables. Weather trends
Normal temperatures rise at the rate of 1 degree every four days this month throughout most of the United States. In the lower Midwest, average highs move from the upper 70s on June 1 to the middle 80s by the beginning of July. Lows climb from the mid 50s into the lower 60s. The average temperature for the entire month is usually in the low 70s, up about 10 degrees from May. A typical June temperature distribution looks like the following throughout the lower Midwest: four days in the 90s, 12 days in the 80s, 12 days in the 70s, two days in the 60s, with a slight chance for one of those cooler days to be in the upper 50s. The natural calendar
May 25: Black walnuts, silver olives and oaks become the other major sources of pollen. July’s wood nettle is a foot tall. May 26: The third and final major wave of songbird migration reaches the Lake Erie shore in the last days of May, dominated by female Canada, magnolia and bay-breasted warblers, the American redstart, indigo buntings, the vireos and flycatchers. By the middle of June, virtually all migrations are complete. May 27: Northern Spring Field Crickets, the first crickets of the year to sing, are singing. May 28: Scorpion flies make their appearance in the barnyard. May 29: Neon-green six-spotted tiger beetles race along woodland paths. May 30: The multiflora rose, pink spirea, yellow sweet clover, Canadian thistle, privet and yellow poplar are budding and blooming. Evergreens have 4-6 inches of new growth. May 31: Sycamore and ginkgo leaves are almost full size, and the rest of the maples are filling in. In field and garden
May 25: Memorial Day; have your lamb and chevon at local markets for Memorial Day cookouts and picnics. May 26: Slugs assault the garden. Flies bite the livestock. May 27: Bean leaf beetles prowl the fields. May 28: Pickle planting ends throughout the lower Midwest, and farmers are harvesting zucchini and squash. May 29: It’s pruning time, after flowering, for forsythia, quince, mock orange and lilac. May 30: As warmer weather changes the growth patterns of bacteria around the farm, keep udders neatly clipped, and be sure to disinfect them before milking. May 31: The new canopy of leaves is almost complete, reducing the danger of sunburn on goats, shorn sheep and unprotected picnickers. Almanac literature Great American Story Contest entry George, the Bottle Lamb By Sandra Mouritsen Logan, Utah George was premature, and he was born blind. He had a twin brother that didn’t make it. When George was blind, he would bellow a lot. If you stood right next to him or held him in your arms, he was content. He liked to cuddle with me. George’s eyesight kicked in when he was about two weeks old. He must have worn a wristwatch then because you could set a clock by him. He would come to the back door at 10:30 every morning and bellow. He even figured out how to knock on the back door with his hoof. I would then start making his bottle, and he would walk away from the door. I would go outside when his bottle was ready and call: “George! Here, George!” And he would run over saying, “Mom!” in baaaa terms. After he had his bottle, he would follow me back to the house. He would listen at all the windows and follow me around the house to see what I was doing. Winners of the Great American Almanac Story Contest will not be announced until all selected entries appear in this column. Last week’s Scrambler
In order to estimate your Scrambler IQ, award yourself 15 points for each word unscrambled, adding a 50-point bonus for getting all of them correct. If you find a typo, add another 15 points to your IQ. TERCENDROBA – CENTERBOARD DROCERPRE – PRERECORD REUNDOSCDER – UNDERSCORED GERNIFAOBDR – FINGERBOARD SICHHARPDRO – HARPSICHORD DELORPLXEUN – UNEXPLORED ARFSDBRUO – SURFBOARD DAROBNGIS – SIGNBOARD JORFD – FJORD RRDAOE – ROARED This week’s Scrambler
TORCA TORCAF OARTCTR ROTFACENEB ELAMCAFROT TORPACCOM CROTARTCON ROTCARTED AAOORTCFL FERCARROT
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