Days getting shorter, coming in under 11 hours

7:35 PM Saturday, October 17, 2009

The woods is shining this morning.

Red, gold and green, the leaves

lie on the ground or fall,

hang full of light in the air still.

— Wendell Berry

This week

The new Buzzard Migration Moon waxes throughout the week, entering its second quarter at 7:42 p.m. on Oct. 25. Rising in the middle of the day and setting late in the evening, the waxing, crescent moon is over Springfield in the afternoon.

Oct. 23 is Cross Quarter Day, the halfway mark between autumn equinox and winter solstice. The sun enters Scorpio at the same time.

Saturn remains in Virgo during the month ahead, rising before Venus, which continues to move retrograde into Libra. Mars stays in Cancer overhead at dawn. Jupiter sets in Capricorn after sundown.

The weather

Highs are usually in the 50s or 60s this week, with the odds for 70s about one in four. The danger of frost remains similar to that of last week; about one night in three or four receives temperatures in the upper 20s or lower 30s. But by this late in the season, the chances for a hard freeze have risen past 25 percent, and the odds get better each night for killing lows. This week is generally a brighter one than last week. Chances for sun are about 70 percent throughout the period, and some of the driest October days often lie ahead.

Daybook

Today, Oct. 19: Colder ground temperatures combine with a reduction in the average amount of daylight and sunlight to bring a gradual end to the grazing season in much of the northern half of the nation. Make the autumn feeding transition to supplements and hay as gradual and stress free as possible, and that includes a gradual transition at the end of Daylight Savings Time early next month.

Oct. 20: The length of the Clark County day falls below 11 hours for the first time since Feb. 21, but winter wheat is sprouting in a few fields, promising spring.

Oct. 21: When frost threatens, be prepared to store your green tomatoes in boxes between layers of newspaper. Dahlias, gladiolus, and camas should be dug and stored before November’s deeper freezes.

Oct. 22: By the final week of October, harvest continues all around us, with half of the corn and three-fourths of the soybeans cut. Apple orchards have been picked clean of fruit.

Oct. 23: At the end of October, the winterberry vine, common throughout Clark County, shows off white or pale pink fruit that formed in early August. In the first weeks of November, the fruit capsules will begin to break open, revealing their orange seeds just as ginkgo and white mulberry trees lose their leaves.

Oct. 24: If you want your hens to lay all winter, consider providing fourteen hours of light for them – the period that usually produce best production.

Oct. 25: Today is the average killing frost date for Clark County. Between now and the arrival of early winter around Dec. 8, there should be about 20 to 25 relatively mild, dry days for fertilizing, harvesting, wood cutting, planting spring crops, raking leaves, transplanting, taking long walks, and digging in spring bulbs.

Mind and body clock

The farm year offers lessons that are applicable to urban dwellers as well as to those who own pets, have children or care for aging relatives. Many of those lessons emphasize nutrition, comfort, shelter and simple awareness of changes in the environment.

Moon and livestock

The new, waxing moon will be overhead in the afternoon this week, tempting fish, game and dieters to eat at that time. When the barometer falls in advance of the Oct. 23 and 30 cold fronts, hunger is expected to become more intense.

Bill Felker has been watching local weather and writing almanacks since 1984. Contact him at wfelker@woh.rr.com or visit his Web site at poorwillsalmanack.com.

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