Time to plant fall peas, cabbage, kale and collard sets
“We propose that the world, all of Nature, is engaged in a sacred conversation, speaking about everything there is, everything there was, and everything there will be, leaving nothing out.”
— Peter London
The moon and stars and planets
The Restless Billy Goat Moon wanes throughout the first week of September, becoming the Hickory, Black Walnut and Pecan Nutting Moon on Sept. 6 at 9:52 a.m. Rising after midnight and setting in the evening, this moon passes overhead in the morning, encouraging all creatures to be more active at that time, especially as the cool fronts of Sept. 8 and 12 approach.
At midnight, the Milky Way runs from east to west across the sky. The stars of the Summer Triangle are setting in the far west, and Orion is climbing from the eastern horizon. Hercules, which was overhead at 12 a.m. in the first week of June, is now setting in the northwest, and Castor and Pollux, the twins of Gemini, are appearing above the tree line in the northeast.
Venus remains in Virgo this month, setting near sunset throughout the month. Mars moves retrograde from Leo into Virgo, joining Venus in the far west, barely visible near sundown. Jupiter travels retrograde into Capricorn and, together with Saturn, becomes visible at dusk in the south and travels across the southern horizon through the night.
Weather trends
Between Sept. 4 and 6, there is an increased chance of an afternoon in the 90s. But the second high-pressure system of September, which arrives between the 5th and 11th, pushes lows into the 30s one year in 20. Chances of highs in the 90s hold at less than 10 percent, the first time that has happened since the last days of May. Cold highs in the 60s occur another 10 percent of the time, with 70s and 80s sharing the remaining 80 percent.
New moon on Sept.6 will bring the first chance of frost in the northern tier of states. Lunar perigee on the 11th brings the second chance, and full moon on September 20 is likely to threaten light frost all the way to the Miami Valley.
The allergy index
On a scale of 0 to 700 grains per cubic meter: By the end of September, significant pollen counts end throughout much of the country until spring. September 5: 240 September 10: 160 September 15: 60 September 20: 30 September 25: 20 September 30: 10
Zeitgebers (Events in nature that tell the time of year)
This week is the final week of late summer, and the final tier of wildflowers starts opening throughout the country. White and violet asters, orange beggarticks, bur marigolds, field goldenrod and zigzag goldenrod come into bloom, blending with the last of the purple ironweed, yellow sundrops, blue chicory, golden touchme-nots, showy coneflowers and great blue lobelias.
Squirrels are shredding Osage fruits in the woods. Rose of Sharon, which was bright from Missouri to Connecticut a few weeks ago, has suddenly lost most of its blossoms. Japanese knotweed flowers darken and fall. False boneset begins to lose its brightness along the freeways.
As the day moves to within a few degrees of equinox, sycamores, tulip trees, slippery elms, poplars, locust, elms, box elders, buckeyes, dogwoods, chinquapin oaks, lindens and redbuds may begin to show their autumn colors. Some ash, black walnuts and cottonwoods are almost bare. Streaks of gold have appeared on the silver olive bushes.
Bees are awkward and stiff in the cool mornings. Sometimes on sunny days, woolly bear caterpillars hurry across the warm blacktop of country roads. Kingbirds, finches, ruddy ducks, herring gulls and yellow-bellied sapsuckers
move south.
Mind and body
The S.A.D. Index, which measures seasonal stress on a scale from 1 to 100, rises into the 40s as the moon turns new, but most of that rise has to do with lunar influence. In fact, September’s relatively pleasant temperatures and clear skies keep Seasonal Affective Disorder at bay throughout most of the month.
Hormonal changes may occur at this time of year, creating an “autumn surge” that combats S.A.D. In addition, numerous signals from fauna and flora (observed and named or not) alert the observer to coming changes in the season. The resulting anticipation at the approach of a landscape entirely transformed in shape and color and sound often reverses any negative effects of the shortening day, frost and the moon.
In the field and garden
Late summer and early fall are the prime times for gathering nuts. Walk the parks and woods now to identify the trees and their fruit.
Grapes are ready to be picked as the first asters bloom in the pasture. In a typical year, nearly half of the tobacco has been cut.
Farmers and gardeners have gathered about half the summer’s tomatoes and potatoes. Almost all of the soybeans are setting pods, and some plants are beginning to shed.
As the moon waxes, plant your fall peas. Put out cabbage, kale and collard sets. Seed the lawn. Prepare cold frames, and then seed your late-autumn greens for October, November and December salads.
In September, an average of one major cold wave per week crosses the nation from west to east. Have protection for your tender garden crops as each front approaches.
Complete autumn culling now before supplements become necessary. Animals that can be kept at relatively low cost in the summer turn out to be much more expensive as pastures become dormant.