Old Almanacs and Warm Weather 

By Leslie Neff

The rotations of the seasons are always lined with the intricacies of nature. With each turn of the calendar page, its own cycle and for those of us who farm the lands in this valley, fall and into winter will bring lambs and (goat) kids to our barn floors. I have ten bred does and plan to have a friend come out to artificially breed several of the young heifers in the beef herd. This part is new to me, and I hope to learn and be able to implement the knowledge later on for better management with the large livestock.

   Seasonally it’s not just the animals who are on the to do list. A long summer season of hay equipment has been greased and covered, the bales in the small livestock barn have been counted and now we wait. Watching for full udders and the signs that it’s about to get really busy. 

  My own personal musings about cold weather and threatening to return to Florida while fussing with a heavy coat and boots has begun. This is a yearly rite of passage for me. My home place in Greenmount Virginia where I spent my childhood and Port Saint Lucie Florida where I was born and returned to every winter with my late father who worked on aircraft during the colder months. Alex, my father was an avid complainer about the cold weather and always said if God gave a bird brains enough to go south every winter than that was logic enough for him. 

   They say this is the last year for one of the almanacs that’s been in production since the 1970s and an earlier version has been in print since the late 1800s. Theres so much wisdom to be passed down and shared I suspect we will do fine planning and planting these next few years without the trusty almanac. Although as a younger person in the farming industry, I use the term “younger” here loosely too. Most folks farming are statistically closing that age gap into retirement without many younger hands to take up the more than full time commitment that most operations require. I do however see hope on the horizon with the future of agriculture. As an adult volunteer with the local 4H and one of my children involved heavily in the FFA. Our local agriculture chapter leaders in the classroom have absolutely gone for gold when it comes to bringing field and farm experience into the grasp of our youth.  The hundreds of local children that participate in the county fair have the unknown luxury of participating in one of the largest agricultural fairs on the east coast. It was reported in 2016 we were possibly the largest agricultural fair in the country. 

     While I’ve seen a few seasons and certainly didn’t come from a farming family. I see the vitality and care; the deep love and dedication it takes to genuinely learn animal husbandry. While I do partake in my family legacy of bemoaning the cold and winter weather. Watching the ebb and flow of life in all its wonder fill pens and shared on local social media pages. We all oooh and ahh over whose got the best genetics and who we plan to contact when it’s time to add to our flocks. That excitement never grows old. My palm tree dreams pale in comparison to new life in a dusty old barn and nothing beats this valley of the stars when it comes to feeling at home. 

   For now, as the almanac would advise me our final day of losing daylight will be December 21st on the winter solstice and that the spring equinox on Friday March 20th will be our tipping point for more daylight than darkness. 

    Until the warmer days and the birds return may we all share our knowledge in the new year and be the almanac to our younger generation. 

Peace

Leslie