In another age and time, the almanacs had an enormous influence on just about all of the mountain folk. Especially country folk who had few if any books outside the Bible. The almanacs were filled with practical information. Folks relied on them, for they told them when to plant and when to reap, whether there would be rain or snow or sun, a cold snap or a dry spell.
They provided entertainment and helpful hints for lightening household chores. There were recipes and proverbs too. Bits of poetry and history, flights of sentiment and a calendar that did away with notching or marking the wall for days of the week and the months.
From an almanac dating from the mid-1890’s here are some excerpts from the monthly calendar that are probably just as practical for now as then:
January – This is the month to put your house in order, a time is as bleak and bare as your fields now but it awaits only your sowing….this month your farm is your cellar and your barn.
February – Plan your garden, order your seeds. Have a look at the bider barrel. Keep a box of wood ashes in your chicken house so the hens can dust out the lice.
March – start shedding, but hold on to the red flannels. This is the best month to split wood. March lambs have a better start but April lambs bring the best wool. No better tonic this time of year than the sun and the wind. January and February are the time for dosing – and dozing.
April – “Out early and in late. Let John O’Dreams sleep on his bank, but spring fever flows no furrow.” And now, “Mother, while the menfolks go prancing around the farm, look to your clothes closet, the world is full of moths”.
May – Your garden should be under way now…watch the apple blossoms swell….pasture fences won’t wait fixin’ much longer.
June – This is the month for bees….Discount your apple blossoms in late May or June unless the weather is right for the bees to pollinate. Damp and stormy weather may quarter your possible crop.
July – Don’t let your grass get too ripe…Chickens should have plenty of outside space…When the water’s pouring off you in the hayfield get the womenfolk to fetch a gallon of oatmeal water.
August – It is time to start cutting brush about the farm…Sell off your old hens before they begin to molt.
September – Grass should be sowed not later than the middle of the month if there is to be a good catch before winter and a good crop next June. And by the way, fair time is coming up. So get ready.
October – This is apple picking time, cider making time. Handle your apples like eggs but twice as carefully. Eggs do not bruise.
November – Harvest time has come and gone. It is a time to give thanks. Give a thought to hunting and sitting by the fire. But first see that everything is bedded down for winter.
December – This is the top of the hill, the end of the year. Time to turn a page. Time to lay aside the old almanac and start reading a new one…