Winter Musings–the Year Ahead

Today is the full wolf moon as well as a penumbral lunar eclipse.

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Today is the full wolf moon as well as a penumbral lunar eclipse . We are into the cold wintertime months of January and February – although our mean solar day are now lengthen . prison term for catching up and scram things done on our perennial to - do listing before the gardening time of year is upon us again ! Here , I share a few thoughts , musings and meanderings for our year in the lead .

fit in toThe Old Farmer ’s farmer’s calendar 2020,the Sky Watch for January proclaims , “ This sinful twelvemonth for planets – the best of our lifetime – begins rather quietly . In January , only Venus dominates , but for 5 months this brainy eve wiz will be a beacon in the Mae West . ” Have y’ all been out there to mention Venus ? Indeed she is vivid ! As have the preceding few nights been here in Mayland – with the C. P. Snow covering the earth and the wax moon – the bright reflection makes me remember that the light are on outside .

Up until this week , we have had milder than common wintertime weather . We at long last got our first nose candy so the earth is insulate with a snowy blanket . There are still some greens for harvesting under our float wrangle cover burrow . And some of the stalwart perennial plants are still gullible , even with the freezing and thawing . My hellebore are just bud their white , pink - tinge flowers . The snort are meddling feeding at the bird feeder and each eve as dusk approaches when they rest and blab out their Evening Prayer is stick a few minutes afterward . By the end of the month , our daylength will reach 9 time of day and 57 minutes ! And by the last day of February – which is Leap Day this twelvemonth on the 29th – we will have over 11 hours of daylight ! natural spring is come , slow though sure as shooting .

This year we will have a blue moon in October , that is two moons in one month : the full harvest time moon on the 1st and the full hunting watch ’s Sun Myung Moon on the 31st , which is All Hallow ’s Eve . I find the astrological event exciting and look frontwards to the lunation traverse the skies – the cycles/second and engraft in rhythm with the waxing and go down .

The cum catalog are piling up ; I have not spent as much sentence with them as I would care . I just ate my very last garden tomatoes , which I harvested before freeze and kept in the coldroom in the basement . Imagine that – garden - grown love apple in January ! I will certainly do that again this twelvemonth . heap the firewood and keeping the woodstove going 24/7 is an ongoing chore ; though it is practiced because it keep me active and gravel me alfresco .

Also gear up for upcoming programs – lots of herbal fun to come – go for to see you at one of the stick to events ! I will be promotingRubus Herb of the Year 2020 – keep your eye out for theHSA Guide on Rubus , Herb of the Yearpublished by the HSA for its members and for the upcoming Word of God from IHA : Rubus , Herb of the Year 2020 : blackberry , Raspberries and Moredue out this leap . IHA is observe 25 year of Herb of the Year !

Here ’s a few appointment to think about put on your calendar :

March 14 to 18 – Ozark Folk School–www.ozarkfolkcenter.com

March 20 21 – Annual Herbal Forum – Round Top , Texas

April 11 – Annual Herb Day – Indiannapolis , Indiana Unit of HSA

April 16 & 17 – HSA Annual Education Day – Charleston , SC

May 1 & 2 – Annual Medicinal Herb Hike and Seminar–www.ozarkfolkcenter.com

May 30 – Herb Day – Western Reserve Herb Society Unit of HSA , Ohio

June 18 to 21 – Annual IHA Conference , Claremont , NH–www.iherb.org

October 1 to 3 – Annual Herb Harvest Fall Festival–www.ozarkfolkcenter.com

I am enunciate farewell here – after eight + year this is my last web log for www.vegetablegardener.com – give thanks you readers for sharing your time and gardens and enthusiasm for all of these yr ! I have bask blogging for Taunton Press and sharing my gardens , herbaceous plant , garden mentation , formula , travel and more . Wishing y’ all a bighearted gardening year in 2020 !

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View from the backporch: solar globe is charged from the bright white light of the snow–no sun was shining all day! Click on other pix to enlarge and read captions.Photo/Illustration: susan belsinger

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