| Phenology: Living By Nature’s Calendar
Find out why the dates on your calendar might be wrong, and learn how to let nature be your gardening guide. Join The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club to get the details. | | |
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Dear Garden Grower,
Most of us may not be familiar with the term, “phenology,” even though it’s been part of The Old Farmer’s Almanac culture for centuries. Look up almost any weather or farming adage, and you’ll find it is based in phenology. What is it, though? Phenology is the study of cyclical natural phenomena and events. It’s also described as the science of appearances. But even though the word doesn’t come up in most daily conversations, it’s an especially important word or concept for farmers and gardeners.
Unlike a traditional calendar, phenological occurrences may give gardeners better indicators of when to plant and harvest. Native and ornamental plants act as nature’s “alarm clock” by signaling that temperatures and precipitation are optimal for planting. For instance:
Plant peas when forsythias bloom. Plant potatoes when the first dandelion blooms. Plant corn when oak leaves are the size of a squirrel’s ear. Southern gardeners plant when pecan trees leaf out. When morning glory vines begin to climb, Japanese beetles appear.
Understanding nature’s phenological calendar helps us know when to fertilize and harvest crops, get ready for the appearance of insect pests in the spring, and predict allergy season. Phenology may be the easiest – and oldest – way to see and feel how the world is changing. Data from gardeners, farmers, fishers, and other nature observers are providing valuable information about how our world is changing.
A big part of understanding how phenology works is knowing about growing degree days (GDD). As the number of GDDs increases, interaction between species changes. It sounds complicated, but there’s a very simple way to find and record GDD. You can learn more about it, and read more about phenology, in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide Online Library, which comes with your membership in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club. This is the same almanac that farmers, gardeners, homesteaders, and other smart people have relied upon for over two centuries. Plus you get even more with your membership! More on that in a minute. |
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| Make Mine Purple, Please | Speaking of changes, have you noticed how more purple vegetables are showing up in supermarkets and farm stands? Eggplants and plums are sharing space with purple potatoes, purple carrots, and purple tomatoes. Why the big push for purple? They do add some colorful interest to produce bins and restaurant dishes, but there’s more to it than just color.
Plants with purple and red pigment contain compounds called anthocyanins, which studies have shown can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, metabolic diseases, and other chronic illnesses. Plants produce anthocyanins to attract pollinators and seed dispersers, repel predators, and reduce stress from environmental factors. But with so many red and purple fruits already available, why the interest in bringing more purple vegetables to the market?
The simple answer is economics. Fruit tends to be more expensive and pickier about climate. They take up more space and they take longer to grow. Anthocyanin-rich vegetables, on the other hand, allow a gardener to grow, eat, and preserve several purple crops in a single season.
Hold up, though. Before you fall prey to the seduction of a striking purple beauty, check the seed catalog to make sure your garden conditions are right. And don’t forget that vegetables of all colors offer an abundance of nutrients, including macronutrients, vitamins, and other phytochemicals. In other words, eat your colors. | | | | The Magic Of Mushrooms | Whether you’re growing purple potatoes or leafy greens, there’s an oft overlooked magic that happens in the soil. There is a vast, underground network of roots and fungi that transfers nutrients, water, and essential enzymes to the roots of plants and microorganisms. The voracious foraging of fungi improves the health of the soil and nearby plants, and, in many cases, ensures plant survival.
In short, mushrooms speed things up and add nitrogen to the soil. And, of course, many of them are edible and quite delicious in their own right. Oyster, lion’s mane, chicken of the woods, and king stropharia are all easy to grow at home.
Be warned, though, some mushrooms spell trouble. Lawn mushrooms in a “fairy” ring were once thought to indicate the path of dancing sprites.
Ready to learn more about how mushrooms can help your garden grow? Or how you can grow edible mushrooms indoors? You can find out in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide Online Library. And you can find out what Leonardo Da Vinci had to say about mushrooms more than 500 years ago.
Get the Garden Guide Library, along with much more useful information, wit, and wisdom, with an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with The Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club! |
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| Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership—save 43% today! | | | |
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With an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership, you’ll get the hangable softcover 2021 edition of the Almanac, monthly updates by email, plus much more where you’ll learn about what it takes to grow a bountiful, beautiful garden. With an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership, you’ll explore:
Making homegrown fertilizers that are affordable, and free of chemicals and animal waste How to make your own mini-greenhouse The enduring charm of plants you can share with friends and family The joy of planting an irregular, multi-cropped, arbitrarily arranged native garden Plants that “glow” at night, creating an enchanting garden you can’t resist
You’ll also get updates to our weather predictions in our monthly digital magazine, EXTRA!, sent to you each month to keep you current on changing weather and conditions. |
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| | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with The Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club! |
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| Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership—save 43% today! | | | |
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| Tap into the deep well of resources at The Old Farmer’s Almanac for a bountiful harvest of gardening tips and tools—with a Charter Membership in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club! | Announcing The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club! This new and exciting club is designed especially for you—with just the inspiration and information you need for all your gardening projects!
We’ve put together essential Old Farmer’s Almanac resources to celebrate your love of gardening and give you tons of tips for making your next gardening project as lush and lovely as it can be. And it all starts, of course, with The Old Farmer’s Almanac.
You’ll be prepared for any gardening project. Whether you garden for food, for flowers, or just for fun, a Charter Membership in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club will keep you entertained, informed, and inspired all year long!
Since 1792, The Old Farmer’s Almanac has been a traditional resource for dedicated farmers, avid and casual gardeners, folks who like to get a long view on upcoming weather trends, and people who love to collect little snippets of country wit and wisdom that they can share with family and friends.
We’re not just the oldest published almanac, but the oldest continuously published periodical in North America— and we’ve been around longer than any newspaper or magazine, too. |
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| Get your Charter Membership in The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club today—with resources to inspire you in the garden. From time-honored country gardening tips to modern garden gadgets, come share in the bountiful harvest! | With your Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership, you get everything you need to keep your garden at its greenest:
2021 Gardening Wall Calendar: Our perennial best-seller for over 40 years! Rich illustrations accompany useful gardening tips on everything from planting to enjoying your garden. The 2021 special softcover, hangable edition of The Old Farmer’s Almanac, loaded with the tips, trivia, and insights that make it a family favorite. Gardening for Everyone— Brand NEW from Old Farmer’s Almanac and only available to Club Members, this beautiful print edition covers the best of Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guides. Grow food and herbs you love, surround yourself with spectacular flowers, and get tips on the latest gardening tech! Instant Unlimited Access to our new Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide Online Library—you’ll find seven years of Garden Guides packed with no-nonsense tips, tricks, and shortcuts to make your garden a jewel in the neighborhood or out in the country. Cooking Fresh—make the most of your garden's bounty with our digital cookbook. You'll find more than 160 recipes using fresh fruits, berries, herbs, spices, and vegetables! The Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA! Our monthly digital magazine includes articles on gardening, food and other content not found in the print edition. It’s a great way to keep up-to-date on Almanacky topics throughout the year. Bonus: Not only will you get a new Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA! each month—you get free access to every issue of EXTRA! in our digital library. That’s more than 40 issues of great gardening tips, delicious recipes, and more! | | | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with the Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening club! |
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Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership— save 43% today! | | | | | An Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership will deliver exciting rewards for you—and at a special introductory rate, right now, for all new Charter Members. | When you join today, you’ll ensure that you are planting the seeds of success for your garden when you tap into the time-honored wisdom of The Old Farmer’s Almanac. Enjoy all these benefits as an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Member:
Your best garden ever—Almanac gardening advice, planting dates, timesaving tips, and detailed guidance from experts will get you growing like never before. You’ll know in advance about every important astronomical event in 2021—and how the phase of the Moon can influence the success of your garden. You’ll save time and money when you follow all of the practical advice and tips that we deliver to you about everything from gardening to food preparation and cooking. You’ll be the first to know about top tips, tricks, and shortcuts for taking your garden from good to great. You’ll learn more about gardening gadgets and gear that can make your work in the garden even more enjoyable. You’ll discover new approaches to planting—for color, for purpose, for stress relief. Whether you’re a beginning gardener or a skilled green thumb, you’ll find do-it-yourself projects to fit your schedule—and your garden.
How can you not consider becoming an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Member? | | What You’ll Get With an Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership | There’s so much gardening knowledge to gain as a Charter Member of The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club:
In the convenient, hangable, softcover edition of the 2021 Almanac, you’ll find a bumper crop of gardening tips. Many gardeners consider the Almanac their most valuable tool, so this year, for all of you trying to grow food, we’ve got foolproof advice that promises a harvest the first year and every one thereafter. Perhaps you grow flowers—or want to: In the 2021 Almanac, you’ll learn all about growing flowers, when to pick them, and how to use them (e.g., last year, we told members to pick apple blossoms in late spring and sprinkle them onto a Waldorf salad and use impatiens all summer long as a garnish).
But that’s not all. Here’s a taste of other tips you’ll find in the 2021 Almanac: Best days for planting, pruning, weeding, grafting, and controlling pests Daily weather forecasts for all regions of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii Fresh new ways to savor vegetables from your garden Easy, delicious, Almanac prize-winning recipes (and an opportunity to share your own!)
Each month, you’ll get new articles and original content with our digital magazine, The Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA! It’s a treasure trove of Almanac information that you won’t find in the printed edition, including audio and video content. EXTRA! leads you to some interactive fun when you’re ready for a change of pace. |
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| | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with the Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening club! |
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Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership— save 43% today! | | | | It’s never too early to plan next season’s garden, so enjoy the rich illustrations in our Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar. This compact calendar is the perfect size to fit on the wall in your kitchen, den, or potting shed. Each month features rich, full-color illustrations along with tips, history, or background information on the artwork.
Here are just a few of the types of tips you can find in our 2021 Gardening Calendar: Reinvigorate your houseplants by removing the top 1/4 inch of soil and top-dressing with fresh potting soil. Use an old salt shaker for sowing tiny seeds. Mix the seeds with sand for better spreading. Plants with a strong citrus fragrance will help to keep pesky bugs at bay. Try planting lemon-scented geraniums, lemon thyme, or lemon balm. Lettuce shaded naturally or by shade cloth will encourage the growth of a tender, sweet crop all summer. To attract dragonflies, create a water feature. Choose a spot in partial to full sun and plant a few native plants along the edges for wind protection. Remove the lower leaves of brussels sprouts to expose the buds along the stem. Harvest from the bottom up. Fill bird feeders to attract chickadees, nuthatches, and juncos—they will not only brighten the landscape but also clean up insect larvae and eggs on trees and shrubs.
You’ll love the advice, folklore, and gardening secrets in our 2021 Gardening Wall Calendar!
As you count the days until your next planting or your next harvest, peruse the pages of Gardening for Everyone for tips on how to grow better, naturally! Gardening for Everyone is available exclusively to Old Farmer’s Almanac Club members.
From the practical to the ornamental, plan your prolific garden and learn how to:
Plant edibles indoors and out, no matter how small your space is. Create a serene and leafy oasis—and why you should. Make a living herb wreath—a kitchen garden in the round. Grow blooms that beautify your surroundings and make breathtaking bouquets. Serve up your harvest in style with recipes that will let you savor the flavor of homegrown food.
And all of this is available to you—right now—when you claim your Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership. | | | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with the Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening club! |
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Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership— save 43% today! | | | |
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| What are you waiting for? Become a Charter Member of The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club today! | | No other Almanac has so many fun and fascinating facts, timely and accurate events and predictions, and topical and useful articles all in one place for your easy access and use—and covering more regions of North America than any other almanac or resource! Add The Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA!, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar, The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide Online Library, and Gardening for Everyone, and your garden will be the prolific pride of the neighborhood! | | Why Not Join Right Now? | | Gardeners everywhere have been using The Old Farmer’s Almanac for years to guide their gardening plans, and now the Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership offers you all things gardening in one place! |
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Charter Offer for You—Join Today!
SAVE 43%
When you respond today, you’ll be among a select group of Almanac friends to take advantage of this special Gardening Club Charter Membership offer.
With your Charter Membership, you’ll receive The Old Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Calendar, The 2021 Old Farmer’s Almanac, Gardening for Everyone, access to The Old Farmer’s Almanac Garden Guide Online Library with seven years of Garden Guides, Cooking Fresh, and a subscription to our monthly digital magazine, The Old Farmer’s Almanac EXTRA!
Plant the seeds of success for your garden today—with this incredible deal!
This is a limited-time offer, so take advantage of it right now! |
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When we first created the Gardening Club, we wanted to make it easy to use, easy to order, and packed with valuable gardening content that you could put to use right away. Be the best gardener you can be with yourOld Farmer’s Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership.
Sincerely,
Janice Stillman
Editor
The Old Farmer’s Almanac
P.S. Remember researchers have found that spending time in nature strengthens a person’s immune system, reduces stress hormones, and lowers blood pressure. Furthermore, it may improve learning and increase empathy. | | | Celebrate your Love of Gardening with the Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening club! |
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Save 43% with your Gardening Club Charter Membership! |
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| Claim your Old Farmer's Almanac Gardening Club Charter Membership— save 43% today! | | | | | We reserve the right to substitute items based on availability. |
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