THE ORIGINAL FARMER’S ALMANAC “USEFUL, WITH A PLEASANT DEGREE OF HUMOR” M . C O T C E C. NO. , A 227 S N E S A P M I ” • AL SPRING SUMMER S, ECL R Y E A T D T I A L O M H G THE N S, NI OLD DE I I A T T ER A R MER ES, T F ' L EN S AB 2019 T D 2019 N L A A L, MIC U O F N W, USE BENJAMIN FRANKLINALMA N A C® ROBERT B. THOMAS ASTRO NE G N “ ROBERT B. T HOMA S URI T FOUNDED IN A E 1792 F O S L A WINTER AUTUMN WEATHER FORECASTS FOR 18 REGIONS OF THE UNITED STATES SUN, MOON, STARS, AND PLANETS 3/8” Safety Offical Colors: PMS 364C CMYK: 72/33/100/19 Light Green CMYK: 62/16/100/1 Take me out to the G A R D E N P N & e w B P ark’s ew xclusi v e hoPPer ell ePPer 15 % YOUR NEXT O R D E R OFF WITH CODE: WHOPPER18 USE BEFORE: 6/01/2019 *Not valid with aNy other offer. to redeem eNter the code above iN your checkout cart. 1-800-845-3369 www.ParkSeed.com 3/8” Safety Cvr2_OFA19_JPPA_ParkSeed.indd 2 6/13/18 4:51 PM N U M B E R T W O H U N D R E D A N D T W E N T Y - S E V E N THE OLD FARMER’S ALMANAC CALCULATED ON A NEW AND IMPROVED PLAN FOR THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 22001199 2019 Being 3rd after Leap Year and (until July 4) 243rd year of American Independence Fitted for Boston and the New England states, with special corrections and calculations to answer for all the United States. Containing, besides the large number of Astronomical Calculations and the Farmer’s Calendar for every month in the year, a variety of New, Useful, & Entertaining Matter. ESTABLISHED IN 1792 BY ROBERT B. THOMAS (1766–1846) Learn to make the most of life, / Lose no happy day, / Time will never bring thee back / Chances swept away! –“The Lesson of the Water-Mill,” Sarah Doudney, English writer (1841–1926) Cover design registered Copyright © 2018 by Yankee Publishing Incorporated Library of Congress U.S. Trademark Office ISSN 0078-4516 Card No. 56-29681 Cover illustration by Steven Noble • Original wood engraving (above) by Randy Miller The Old Farmer’s Almanac • Dublin, NH 03444 • 603-563-8111 • Almanac.com 2019 The Old Farmer’s Almanac 1 19OFE_Frontispiece.indd 1 6/13/18 12:02 PM CONTENTS 7 8 13 2019 TRENDS Forecasts, Facts, and Fascinating Ideas 6 ABOUT THIS ALMANAC 84 Contact Us 1, 98, 100 To Patrons 4 AMUSEMENT Essay Contest Winners 248 Mind-Manglers 250 ASTRONOMY Anecdotes & Pleasantries 252 Adventures in the Zodiac Zone 84 Eclipses 102 Bright Stars 104 The Twilight Zone/ Meteor Showers 106 The Visible Planets 108 190 Astronomical Glossary 110 The Day the Sun Exploded 156 ANNIVERSARY The Fastest Man’s 156 Last Death-Defying Ride 186 Baseball’s Most Amazin’ Season 190 ASTROLOGY Secrets of the Zodiac 224 Best Days for 2019 226 2 2019 19OFE_Contents.indd 2 6/7/18 5:37 PM CALENDAR HUSBANDRY Three-Year Calendar 114 The Pros and Cons of Backyard Livestock 174 How to Use This Almanac 115 Gestation and Mating Tables 229 Calendar Pages 120–147 Holidays and Observances 148 MISCELLANY Glossary of Table of Measures 234 Almanac Oddities 152 A Reference Compendium 257 Tides 235, 236 Time Corrections 238 NATURE Duck Stamp Dynasty 62 162 The Northern Mockingbird: Nature’s Great Crooner 166 Best Fishing Days 228 FOLKLORE PETS Must Be a Full Moon! 162 Take Two Cocker Spaniels and Call Me in the Morning 180 Telling the Bees 164 FOOD The ABCs of Pickling 52 Recipe Contest Winners 56 How to Make Sausage at Home 196 72 56 SPECIAL REPORT Farmer to Table 72 WEATHER Winter/Summer Weather Maps 96 GARDENING General Weather Forecast 97 Join the Green Thumb Club 26 How We Predict the Weather 202 Plate Your Petals 40 How Accurate Was Our Planting by the Moon’s Phase 230 Forecast Last Winter? 204 Frosts and Growing Seasons 232 Weather Regions Map 205 How to Rotate Crops 233 Forecasts by Region 206–223 2019 3 19OFE_Contents_HC.indd 3 6/7/18 5:40 PM TO PATRONS GLAD “TIDINGS” Good news, Patrons! We may be Really good news for us is that “Old,” but every year we also you continue to send us questions, bring you the “new”—and 2019 is no comments, and observations via exception. snail mail, email (Almanac.com/ In the Calendar Page spreads Feedback), social media, and tele- (120–147), you’ll find on the left-hand phone. That’s right: When the phone pages our customary “calendar of rings, we, the editors, actually an- the heavens,” replete with its gal- swer it—or we call you back (if you axy of celestial information and sea leave a number). We appreciate that of tidal data, the latter now back on you care enough to let us know how these pages after a year’s hiatus. we’re doing. On the right-hand pages, as you We’d love to meet you. If your trav- enjoy discovering each month’s spe- els take you to New Hampshire, do cial days and Moon phases inter- drop in! We’ll personally sign your mixed with trivia that is trivial even Almanac, show you around our head- by trivia standards, don’t overlook quarters, and regale you with Alma- the “doggerel”—longtime writer Tim nacky tales. Or visit from home via Clark’s amusing, italicized, vertical Almanac.com/Webcam and view our weather rhyme—which is usually an barn-red office building in Dublin, uncannily accurate forecast! with the church steeple, Police De- Please join us in welcoming Ver- partment, and Town Hall behind it. monter Julia Shipley, award-winning In closing this opening, we send writer and poet, as the first woman in you glad tidings, wish you a new year 227 years to pen our Farmer’s Calen- filled with good news, and thank you dar essays. A keen observer of nature, for your trust in this Almanac. We’re Julia is a farmer, too, having raised here for you and because of you. cows, sheep, chickens, turkeys, and –J. S., June 2018 vegetables on her 6-acre homestead. Speaking of farmers, we’re always However, it is by our works and not our interested in hearing from hard- words that we would be judged. These, working farm families about how we hope, will sustain us in the humble they are successfully meeting to- though proud station we have so long day’s challenges. If you’re a farmer held in the name of or rancher (or you know one), young Your obedient servant, or old, in the United States or Cana- da, with a story to share, please let us know at Almanac.com/Feedback. 4 19OFE_To Patrons.indd 4 6/7/18 5:36 PM advertisement CURCUMIN 3/8” Safety f o r l i f e Super Bio-Curcumin® is a must for anyone serious about a lifetime of great health. This remarkable extract of turmeric spice helps keep nearly every part of you healthy — all in a vegan- friendly, super-absorbable formula: • Supports Breast, Heart, and Brain Health • Promotes Healthy Immune and Digestive Systems •Provides Antioxidant Protection Super Bio-Curcumin® from Life Extension®. 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M0K0A5Q_OAFVA11890_5L0i4fe OExldt.Finadrmd A 5lmanac_Ad.indd 1 6/152/1/1/188 4 5:5:114 P PMM 2019 TRENDS MENUS ARE GOING MEATLESS Top-end restaurants used to serve steak and potatoes, but now they have lentil dishes and other plant-based proteins. –Mike von Massow, associate professor, University of Guelph, Ontario • 43% of Canadians plan WHAT’S COOKING? to eat more plant-based proteins (soya, lentils, Instead of scheduling our days around and chia seeds are mealtimes, we’re scheduling our meals growing in popularity) around everything else going on in our days. –Laurie Demeritt, CEO, The Hartman Group, Bellevue, Washington PROOF IS A PRIORITY People want proof of SMART FOODS food sources: Cpt–mEoKmoao artpenrkeroaseyn twuvNitinm lielegeerl,ne,s C eCrtenChsar,D legViafi yoIPrrnr, e snnbt roiosraevuena aedritnsckio aesinnn.s, dg EaaBtb terUoohreZaratsZr attaWd aior nOugcfmRfraaeaDmdernesnets ts : lpw••inr esiocklcldeia nt uncrgcren eetaaroatb emavldeni d mipmeaaoacdskl esoa fbwg eeiitsnh g • coffee creamer made “traceable” milk (to • commuters bringing identify the source farm) with grass-fed butter cutlery and ingredients • beverages made with to work to create reishi mushrooms gourmet lunches PEOPLE ARE TALKING • exercising at grocery ABOUT . . . stores • nutritionists in res- • DNA kits that help us taurants to help patrons to choose foods based choose healthy foods on genetics 6 Photos, from top: andresr/Getty Images; artiss/Getty Images 19OFE_Trends.indd 6 6/7/18 5:43 PM 2017 TRENDS FORECASTS, FACTS, AND FASCINATING IDEAS THAT DEFINE OUR LIFE AND TIMES Compiled by Stacey Kusterbeck • restaurants certified “GROCERANT” GROWTH as “green” that, e.g., Convenience has more use recyclable contain- currency than ever, ers, solar panels, food with restaurants and from local sources; food markets colliding reduce waste and in the ready-to-eat water use; compost spaces at grocery stores. • menus “augmented” restaurants, then –Sylvain Charlebois, professor, with apps that show served to diners. Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia food prep and/or • Mini-farms are (continued) ingredients used appearing in grocery store aisles and on BY THE NUMBERS rooftops. 22% • Greenhouses are of U.S. vegetable being built adjacent to buyers want supermarkets. produce grown on store premises FROM DISCARDED TO 20% DELICIOUS of Canadians • Imperfect fruit is trust health being pressed into juice. claims on food EATING IS EXTRA • Fruit pulp is being packages Average time spent made into chips. 40% preparing, presenting, • Plant leaves and of Canadians have and cleaning up food fallen victim to stems are being used in each day by generation “food fraud” (e.g., “root-to-stem” cooking. honey, saffron, (in minutes): or olive oil diluted • Traditionalists: 101 FLAVORS WE CRAVE with cheaper • Baby boomers: 136 • sugar-free syrups ingredients) • Gen Xers: 143 made from dates, 70% • Millennials: 88 sorghum, and yacon root of U.S. consumers • banana milk and flour want to FRESHNESS FIRST understand an • Produce is being • fish-free tomato “sushi” ingredients list grown indoors at • bacon-flavor seaweed Photos, from top: AleaImage/Getty Images; thesomegirl/Getty Im ages 7 19OFE_Trends.indd 7 6/7/18 5:44 PM 2019 TRENDS IN THE GARDEN People want plant-related projects that are easy and lifestyle-friendly—adaptive to short attention spans, hectic schedules, and smaller spaces. –Tom Soulsby, senior horticulturist, Chicago Botanic Garden GETTING TO • the future of growing • Edible flowers GROUND ZERO indoors hydroponically are everywhere— Gardeners are in Internet-connected, in salads: pansies and composting, gardening, refrigerator-size boxes nasturtiums; in and reducing their water pitchers: roses, footprint, as zero- GROW TO SHOW lavender, and lilacs; waste living becomes • Succulents are fleshy, in ice cubes: marigolds aspirational. compact, colorful, and and impatiens. –Katie Dubow, creative director, low-maintenance—and –Jennifer Smock, outdoor Garden Marketing Group fun to have a bowl-full supervisor, Kemper Center for Home Gardening, Missouri of on a coffee table. Botanical Garden PEOPLE ARE TALKING –Dave Forehand, VP of ABOUT . . . gardens, Dallas Arboretum • Gardeners want • DNA testing used on and Botanical Gardens plants that are social media–shareable: plants displayed at displays of bold tropical public botanical gardens foliage with unique to prove that certain colors, shapes, species still exist, even patterns, and variations, though they’re no indoors and out. longer found in the wild –Soulsby (continued) 8 Photos, from top: fstop123/Getty Images; Photology1971/Getty Images 19OFE_Trends.indd 8 6/7/18 5:44 PM