At dawn the chorus begins. I awake early, and from my bed listen to the announcement of spring, and count the number of bird songs I can hear. – Eliot Porter

In the Sky

Mars and Saturn in Aquarius are the earliest Morning Stars this coming month, followed by Venus in Pisces, which is the brightest of the Morning Stars. Jupiter in Aries is difficult to see morning or evening.

The stars at bedtime tell that the danger of frost is almost past. June’s Arcturus still hangs a little to the east of the center of the sky, and that means a light freeze can happen one year in 10. But as that star shifts into the west, it pushes away the chances of freezing mornings with it. When Arcturus is well into the west at bedtime, any tender vegetable or flower can be planted without risk.

By April 1, the sun will have reached a declination of four degrees, 52 minutes, almost 60 percent of the way to summer. Prepare now for the total eclipse of the Sun coming to central Ohio on April 8.

The Moon in April

April 1: The Termite Migration Moon               enters its last quarter.

April 8: The Tadpole Moon is new.

April 15: The moon enters its second quarter.

April 23: The moon is full.

Weather Trends

Seven major cold fronts move across the nation in an average April. Snow is possible in Northern areas with the arrival of the first three fronts. Average dates for the weather systems to reach the Mississippi: April 2, 6, 11, 16, 21, 24 and 28.

Major storms are most likely to occur on the days between April 1 and 11, and between April 19 through the 27. Although the intensity of the high-pressure systems moderates after the 22nd, be alert for frost at least two days after each system pushes through your area.

New moon on April 8, perigee on April 7 and full moon on April 23 can be expected to intensify the weather systems and bring frost and flurries near those dates. In general, most precipitation usually occurs during the first two weeks of the month.

Peak Activity Times for Creatures

When the moon is above the continental United States, creatures are typically most active. The second-most-active time occurs when the moon is below the Earth. Activity is likely to increase at new moon and full moon and at perigee (when the Moon is closest to Earth), especially as the barometer falls in advance of cold fronts near those dates.

Date              Best              Second-Best

April 1:Midnight to Dawn    Afternoons 

April 2-7: Mornings                Evenings

April 8-14:  Afternoons  Middle of the Night

April 15-22: Evenings.       Mornings

April 23-30: Midnight to Dawn   Afternoons

The Natural Calendar

 Buds form on wild raspberries, a sign that it is time for gall mites to be working in the ash trees and pine weevils and moths in the evergreens.

Water striders mate. Ragweed sprouts. Allergies intensify as pollen and mold begin to become significant.

May apple spears are up in the woods, prophesying morel mushroom season. The first buckeyes, apple and peach trees leaf out. Eastern tent caterpillar eggs hatch between now and the middle of April. Look for their webs, especially on fruit trees, throughout your property.

Carpenter bees appear around the house and barn, looking for nesting sites. Those bees typically return to locations they have used before.

On the hillsides, hepatica and toothwort are opening. Spring beauties flower in lawns and woodlots. The first Virginia bluebell reveals its blue bells.

Ramps (native wild onions, famous throughout Appalachia for healing and seasoning) are three to six inches tall, their foliage unraveling in wetlands.

Countdown to Summer

• Within a few days, goldfinches will be all gold and the fat toads sing

• Two weeks until lilacs bloom in your dooryards

• Three weeks until all the honeysuckles flower

• Four weeks to morel and May apple blooming seasons

• Five weeks to the first rhubarb pie

• Six weeks to the great warbler migration through the Lower Midwest

• Seven weeks to the first peas from the garden

• Eight weeks until the first orange daylilies blossom

• Nine weeks until the high canopy begins shades the garden

• 10 weeks until the first mulberries are sweet for picking and cottonwood cotton drifts in the wind.

In the Field and Garden

Remove mulch from around rose bushes. Spread manure or other fertilizer before the major growing season gets underway.

Complete all field planting preparations. Seven weeks remain until the most tender vegetables and flowers can set out in the garden.

Under the dark moon in the first week of April, put out broccoli, cabbage, collards and kale sets.

Commercial potato planting is typically underway, and farmers are band seeding alfalfa.

Be sure your boars are getting enough vitamin E and selenium so they will be ready for breeding.

 Plan to serve the graduation cookout market – high school and college graduations can start as early as the first week in April and extend into the middle of June.

Almanack Literature

Mark and the Skunk

By Lucille K. Doenges, New Bremen, Ohio

This is a true story about a skunk. It happened 50 years ago, but it’s still fresh in my mind.

My husband and another man were working on the roof of a garage right outside our house. Our little boys were playing nearby. All at once I heard my husband yell. A skunk had come in our yard and was on top of our 13-month-old baby, Mark.

My husband grabbed a board and managed to kill the skunk without hurting Mark. The skunk had tried to bite Mark through his diaper. There were tooth marks on his buttocks. No skin had been torn.

We called the doctor. He told us we had to call the sheriff. He wanted to know what happened to the skunk. When we told him we had killed it, the sheriff came out immediately and picked up the dead skunk. It would be taken to Columbus to be tested for rabies. It is unusual for skunks to come up to where there are people and especially in the daytime.

A few days later, we were informed that the skunk was rabid, and we were to take Mark to our family doctor. The state would send the serum that was necessary, and Mark would get a shot every day for 14 consecutive days.

So, every morning, Mark and I would head for St. Marys. He was so good about it. He knew why we were going. He never cried or acted as if he didn’t want to go. He would walk into the office and get on the cot without a complaint. When the nurse gave him the shot, he would leave out a little cry, give the nurse a really dirty look. He got a shot in the stomach one day and the next day in the buttock. His body looked like it had been scalded after two weeks were up.

The nurse felt worse than Mark after several days. She would give him a sucker. He would say “Thanks” and “Goodbye.” The shots never seemed to bother him, but I was very glad when those two weeks were over.

(Lucille’s story has an important moral: always be suspicious of animals – wild or domestic – that are acting in a way you don’t think animals should be acting. Stay away from them.

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