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Ruralite Cafe: Published 09/14/00

By Lynn Hotaling



Farmer's Almanac provides down-home wisdom

 By Lynn Hotaling - Associate Editor
Here in the self-styled Information Age that's fueled by computers, electronic mice and voyages into Cyberspace, it's nice to take a break to recall a simpler time when all you needed to know came from the pages of a little paperback book with a familiar canary-colored cover. "The Old Farmer's Almanac" for 2001 still sports that traditional yellow front and is filled with the sort of information that doesn't have to be accessed by modems or viewed on monitors.

As soon as you open it, you'll be transported back to a better place and a sweeter time - one where grannies and aunts sit around breaking beans on the porch and swapping household hints and recipes and passing on those quaint sayings that are not part of our newfangled e-language.

Sit back and relax. On every page you'll find knowledge you can share with someone. For example, there's an admonition popular in Canada (that cold country north of New York, not our local community where the volunteer firefighters will be hosting their annual barbecue this Saturday), "Don't lick your plate clean, or your husband will be bald," Canadian mothers tell their daughters.

This year's almanac offers two cures for those seven years of bad luck they always told us would happen if we broke a mirror. Just wait seven hours before picking up the pieces or bury the shards by a cemetery on a moonless, starless night.

Here are a couple of tidbits you can pass along to any world travelers you encounter. First, don't shake hands with a Russian while standing in a doorway. And second, if your friends are traveling by boat, be sure to warn them not to say the words "church," "egg," "knife," "minister" or "pig" while at sea.

There's good advice for those who change houses, too.

"If you must leave your old house and move to a new one," the almanac says, "do not take your broom with you. And do not take your cat unless you wave it at some friends when you leave, and pass it through a window when you arrive, and butter its paws so that it stays put. And do not take your pig trough. And do not move on Friday."

Our new almanac should prove invaluable in the Cafe. The 209-year-old farmer's guide has published the "final word" on more than 20 kitchen controversies. We found out that, while tradition has its place, when it comes to piecrust, use butter for best taste. Also, let asparagus "lie down" to cook, get rid of your flour sifter, and never (not ever) refrigerate tomatoes. It seems they hate the cold and will give up all semblance of texture or taste. Weather predictions are a staple of the Farmer's Almanac, and this year's book calls for temperatures to be close to normal for most of the year. Be advised, however, that compared to the much-warmer-than-normal years of the past decade, 2001 may feel a little chilly.

The calendar pages offer all kinds of information, like sunrise and sunset times, moonrise and moonset times and length of day. There's even a set of conversion factors to help you figure out the exact times the sun and moon will rise and set in your neck of the woods as compared to the Atlanta times given in the almanac.

And it's educational. Not only does the book list the sun's "declination" for each and every day of the year, it tells you what that means and why you should care.

It includes tide charts for those near an ocean, as well as zodiac signs and the age of the moon (measured in days since the previous new moon). It provides both the moon's astrological place (its place in the zodiac) as well as its astronomical place (its actual place in the heavens).

If you need more, there's information about planting by the signs, and plenty of gardening tips. The most fertile signs for planting, we discovered, are the water signs - Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces - though Taurus, Virgo and Capricorn make good second choices.

In case you're still wondering about that declination thing, it refers to the "celestial latitude of an object in the sky, measured in degrees north or south of the celestial equator, analogous to latitude on earth." The almanac gives the sun's declination at noon, EST or EDT.

This great book was scheduled to hit the bookstore shelves Tuesday, Sept. 12, so anyone who wants a copy should be able to find it. And, for those who cannot bear to leave their computers, portions of the almanac are available via the Internet, and the book can be ordered online.

It appears to be a bargain at $4.99. Where else can you find a book that has so many fascinating facts and even reminds you that if you're ever in a group photo in the Philippines, and there are only three of you, you should never stand in the middle?

Back to Archive: 09/14/00.