A summer rain in forecast of high temperatures

Now comes the time of rich purple in the fields and meadows, denoting not only a time but a maturity. It is as though the whole Summer had been building toward this deep, strong color to match the gold of late sunlight and early goldenrod. — Hal Borland

Above the arching jimson-weeds flare twos And twos of sallow-yellow butterflies, Like blooms of lorn primroses blowing loose, When autumn winds arise. — James Whitcomb Riley

The Moon: The Blackberry Jam Moon, ripening all the blackberries in the brambles, reaches apogee (its position farthest from Earth on August 23 and then becomes totally full at 6:56 a.m. on August 26. Rising in the evening and setting in the morning, the full Moon is overhead in the middle of the night.

The Sun: After CrossQuarter Day and its entry into Virgo on August 23, the summer’s leisurely progress towards winter quickens, and the sun moves twice as quickly toward the horizon as it did in July. Don’t forget to include winter bedding material in with your herd’s supply requirements for the coming months. Vaccinate your lambs for enterotoxemia before you let them out to clean up the cornfields after harvest. Be especially careful with your pregnant ewes during cold snaps, as environmental stress can induce abortion.

The Planets: Find Mars in Capricorn following Saturn in Sagittarius along the southern horizon after sundown. Venus in Virgo is the brightest evening star due west, Jupiter follows her in the southwest.

The Stars: The houseshaped star group, Cepheus, has moved right into the middle of the sky by midnight, marking the start of early fall. To the east of Cepheus, find the zig-zag formation of Cassiopeia, followed by Perseus (looking vaguely like a horse) rising in the northeast. The Big Dipper continues to hug the northern horizon throughout the night.

Weather Trends: This is the week that frost becomes likely in the Northern states; snow even occurs at the upper elevations out west and in Canada. Here in the Midwest, the third major high pressure system of the month brings chances for highs in the cool 70s a full 40 percent of the time on August 24, the first time since July 6 that odds have been so good for milder weather.

As that cool front moves east, the period between August 25 and August 27 usually brings a return of warmer temperatures in the 80s or 90s. On the 28th, however, the final cool wave of August approaches, and even though chances for 90s remain strong, the likelihood for chilly highs only the 60s or 70s jumps to 30 percent. The 28th also brings a 55 percent chance for completely overcast conditions and soaking rain, the highest chance for that since August 4th. Then on the morning of the 29th, there will be a five percent chance for very light frost on your roof; and the 30th brings a 50 percent chance for a high just in the 70s, the first time chances for that have been so good since the last day of June.

The Natural Calendar: Wild plums are ready for jelly. Greenbrier berries turn blue-black. Rare autumn violets bloom. Except in Northern states, ragweed pollen disappears with the last of the garden phlox. The year’s final tier of wildflowers is budding: beggarticks, bur marigolds, asters, zigzag goldenrod. Puffball mushrooms emerge in moist woodland areas. Burs from the panicled tick trefoil stick to your pants legs and to your pets, sheep and goats.

Fish, Insects, Livestock and Birds: Do your pre-winter maintenance of garage, barn and outbuildings. Complete painting and repairs, and clean out bedding, water containers and feeders. Use a good dairy disinfectant and let the area dry out before allowing the animals back in. Don’t forget to include winter bedding material in with your herd’s supply requirements for the coming months. Vaccinate your lambs for enterotoxemia before you let them out to clean up the cornfields after harvest. Be especially careful with your pregnant ewes during cold snaps, as environmental stress can induce abortion. Telephone wires fill with birds as migrations accelerate. Flickers, redheaded woodpeckers, red-winged blackbirds, house wrens, scarlet tanagers, indigo buntings, Eastern bluebirds, robins, grackles and black ducks move south. The last firefly larvae blink in the grass.

In the Field and Garden: Soybean leaves are turning gold from Georgia to North Dakota, and pods could be set on almost all of the acreage. Pickles season is usually over by now. A third of the field corn is often mature, and denting has occurred on about half of all the region’s fields. After harvest, test the soil of your fall and winter garden as well as the ground of the fields in which you intend to sow winter wheat, rye, alfalfa, canola, clover and timothy. Make corrective lime and fertilizer applications for August and September seeding. Late August and all of September offer near ideal conditions for dividing and transplanting perennials under the waning moon. And pick wild grapes. Collect hickory nuts and black walnuts.

Marketing Notes: Expand your aquaculture research to include raising catfish. Some people even sell and send fish by mail! And koi fingerlings born in June could soon be large enough to market to stores and individuals. They grow well in aquariums and should be especially beautiful by next spring.

The Almanack Horoscope: September’s relatively pleasant temperatures and clear skies keep seasonal affective disorder at bay throughout most of the month. In addition, hormonal energy may increase at this time of year, creating an “autumn surge” that combats S.A.D. (Seasonal Affective Disorder)

Journal

A cool wind throughout the day. Many cabbage white butterflies, a few blues in the garden midmorning. A little later, a hackberry brown came and bumped me on the back of my head, and then on my shoulder, and then sat on my forearm. She had emerged, perhaps, to tend the fallen peaches near the huge hackberry tree. I greeted her as my late wife, Jeanie. This afternoon, I talked with a giant swallowtail in the zinnias, then with four yellow tiger swallowtails, then with a black swallowtail and another hackberry brown, and as I sat watching, hummingbirds came and went, and golden fold-winged skippers played in the ferns by my side, and cabbage whites chased each other the length of the garden.