Question about the Farmers Almanac

[Laura]

This year is the first time I have ever purchased a Farmers Almanac.

I have always been leery for fear that it was "hocus pocus" new age stuff....as a Believer, I try to not lay my eyes on that kind of stuff.

However, someone said that it is not hocus pocus, that it is generations of people reading the earth, moon, jets streams, etc......and can come up with a pretty close estimate of the season weather.

I sure would love to hear opinions / facts about this!!
Thanks so much,

Laura

[nhlivefreeordie]

I believe it has been reported that they are like 80% since their begining, seems like a great deal, unless you are banking on the 20% that they are wrong......

[NCLee]

If I understand it correctly much of it is based on averages and long range forecasting based on current water/weather patterns in the Pacific for the US. La Nina and El Neno (sp) for example.

There's no "witchcraft" type stuff relating to it. It's like the saying here that the time to plant corn is when the leaves are the size of mouse ears. It's just something that's been observed by generations of farmers in our area.

IMHO, there's no difference in reading it and reading a gardening guide that references the planting zones and microclimates. BTW, it can be wrong, just like those zones can be wrong. Our last frost date isn't always April 10th. We've had snow flurries the first of May.

Lee

[Pokeberry Mary]

I'm a believer too and I understand what your concern is. I have looked at it and I have an old book about the seasons by someone who did some of her planting by signs. I just think its a neat book though I don't follow it closely.

I personally don't give it much credit but I also don't worry about it--if I felt like trying planting by signs I don't think I'd have any scruples about it.

My thought is that many of our scruples as believers are really just weaknesses of faith-- we worry about things that are 'nothing' in God's eyes. Paul touched on this in Galatians when he talked about going ahead and eating meat sacrificed to idols so long as nobody was bringing it up. Why? Because He knew that it was 'nothing' and the only reason to worry about it at all is if it would offend a weaker brother.

I think of planting by signs the same way--its nothing to me or to God.

I guess though-- I also don't really think it is more effective than other methods--though there could be something to moon phases having some effect we don't know about--in which case it might be useful.

I think of how lightning and real rain is better for the garden than my watering. There are things we don't know--or that folks didn't 'know why' for years and they have turned out to have grounding in science. Maybe signs have some grounding? shrug.. I don't know and don't worry about it either.
:)

[Anon001]

The problem with people not believing in the signs is only because they think of it as hocus pocus since they have never been exposed to it. It isn't the same as any other planting. There IS a big difference and not just gardening, but cutting calves, setting wood fence posts, etc.

Even the bible reinforces the signs and such.

Look at it this way. We may not understand how a small orb in the sky called the moon can cause the high tides and low tides. But we do know that the moon is THE cause of the tides. So, if the moon can cause tides and other magnetic pulls, why can it not affect germination, ground heaving, etc.?

And it's not that it hasn't been proven. The only people that think there's nothing to it are those that don't understand it. It's nothing more than that. You bring up Galatians and the apostle Paul. There are things you know to be true but you can't prove with science. To the non believer, it is nonsense because they don't understand it. Same thing with moon signs.

Another example. i've never been to London, Singapore, Madrid, The Hague, etc. Just because I haven't seen them, does that mean they don't exist? No. I know they exist because there is evidence. Same with doing things by the signs. I know it works because there is evidence. I know the moon effects things on earth because there is evidence. Also, I know that cutting calves when the sign is below the loins will ALWAYS give better results. Same thing with dehorning a calf. There is always less blood when the sign is below the head and moving down. I know it because I see the evidence. But to someone that has never dehorned or cut calves, they think it is hocus pocus because they don't understand it or have a clue.

However, don't confuse astrology and astronomy. lol

Sorry for the length of the posting...

Paul

[jen_in_southtexas]

I believe there is some truth to the signs. In the very first Foxfire book it goes much into detail about the signs from planting, to getting haircuts, to surgeries, to husbandry, setting fence posts, best time to kill weeds and on and on. I find it very fascinating and like to refer to it. To each's own.

Here's a link I refer to often: http://www.thealmanack.com/moonsign.htm


-jen

[Laura]

Paul,

You are right....the Bible speaks of the 'times' to do this or that for the farmers. Passover is determined by the moon....etc.

I was just leery of the almanac because 'man' wrote it, and a lot of the ads in it are the same advertisers in the "check out isle grocery store rags" so I was afraid that this too was a 'tabloid' type publication.

I will use it as a guide, not the end all beat all!
That's what I have my Bible for!!
Thanks again!
Laura

[Cil]

Tha Farmer's Almanac has been around for hundreds of years before tabloids. I believe Ben Franklin was quite fond of it.

[NCLee]

Interesting information on it is here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Farmers'_Almanac

Lee

[Anon001]

Paul,

You are right....the Bible speaks of the 'times' to do this or that for the farmers. Passover is determined by the moon....etc.

I was just leery of the almanac because 'man' wrote it, and a lot of the ads in it are the same advertisers in the "check out isle grocery store rags" so I was afraid that this too was a 'tabloid' type publication.

I will use it as a guide, not the end all beat all!
That's what I have my Bible for!!
Thanks again!
Laura

Laura,

There are other "almanacs" out there, and some of them are nothing but tabloid "knock offs". I think the "Old Farmer's Almanac" is the best one available and it has been around since 1792.

But, like everything else, people have preferences and favorites.

Paul

[bantyhen]

( I should make a quick re-intro here--I have been around this board since it began years ago, but haven't had time to post much until job-related cutbacks recently--not trying to horn-in or anything! :) ) For those of us who try to make as much of a living as well as a lifestyle from homesteading type activities, I for one want as much help as I can get to have a better understanding of what might be coming around the corner. Whether that be weather related or about the economy for example. I try to read as many different viewpoints as I can to formulate what I I think might happen, then go ahead with my planting, or breeding, or my investing ( big joke, that! :) ). I never forget who is ultimately in charge of the weather and everything else He created for that matter, but think it is still up to me to be as well-informed as I can to be successful.

[Lookout]

I use the Farmers as a general guide to weather. A rough idea as to what might happen to certain dates. But I mainly use it for the fall and winter when I'm in camp hunting and such.

Besides it has a lot of interesting things to read for long nights in camp.

I've never paid much attention to signs for planting gardens, cutting calves or setting fence posts.

I take everything with a grain of salt and do things when they need done.

With computers I can dial in amazing weather sites.

There is a great book on Clouds. Called "The Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather", if you really want to read signs(clouds) great book for anyone to learn from.

Just my 2 cents.