1 Average temps today: high 43º, low 28º. Sunrise: 7:32am. Sunset: 5:00pm. 2 Planting outdoors in December in Utah? Yes! The seeds of many pollinator-friendly flowers actually perform best if strewn about now (that’s all—no digging); choose a day with no snow on the ground. For details, see James Loomis’ column in the Autumn CATALYST […]
Oct 8 Pick up a variety of root crops at the farmers market this week. Buy some to culture—say, cabbage and carrots with your favorite seasoning (I like fresh ginger and cumin). In a few days your ferment will be delicious and teeming with the beneficial bacteria that make your gut healthy. Oct 9 Save […]
September 1 Sunrise 6:54 am, Sunset 7:59 pm. Av. high: 78 degrees; Av. low: 58. September 2 National Preparedness Month. Make an evacuation kit for your pets: leash, crate, health records, any meds, i.d./microchip documentation, photographs of you and your pet, water, food, dish, bags/litter box, blankets, toy. More on disaster prep: https://extension.usu.edu/ueden/ September 3 Birthstone: […]
1 Average temps today: high 92º, low 67º. Sunrise: 6:24am. Sunset: 8:42pm. On this date in 1944, Anne Frank wrote her last diary entry. 2 James Baldwin was born on this date in 1924. Check out PBS’s “I am Not Your Negro.” 3 FULL MOON @ 09:59am. This full moon was known by early Native […]
July 1 Average temperatures today: high 90º, low 64º. Sunrise: 6:10am. Sunset: 8:56pm. July 2 Garlic at a glance: Hardneck and softneck (Allium sativum) and elephant (Allium ampeloprasum). Hardneck garlic has shorter shelf life but larger cloves and more flavor. Softneck garlic, the type usually found in stores, has less flavor but stores well. So-called […]
June 1 Average temps today: high 78º, low 54º. Sunrise: 5:58am. Sunset: 8:53pm. June 2 These easy annuals are pollinator-friendly: alyssum, cosmos, calendula, zinnia, sunflower. June 3 There are female dragonflies and male damselflies. Dragonflies hold their wings in airplane mode at rest; damselflies fold them back against their bodies. A dragonfly can eat 100 mosquitoes […]
May 1 Average temperatures today: high 67º, low 45º. Sunrise: 6:25am. Sunset: 8:24pm. May 2 Stuck in the house with a well-stocked pantry but out of ketchup? Make your own: https://bit.ly/3eVcrIX May 3 What to plant in the garden this month: beans, beets, carrots, chard, corn, cucumber, eggplant, endive ground cherries, kale, kohlrabi, melon, peas, […]
April 1 Average temps today: high 58º, low 38º. Sunrise: 7:10am. Sunset: 7:53pm. April 2 Red cedar is not a cedar, Norfolk pine is not a pine, Douglas fir is not a fir and Australian pine isn’t even related to pines, says The Curious Coniferite author Jerome David Belanger, who turns 82 today. He is […]
Mar 1 Average temps today: high 49º, low 32º. Sunrise: 7:00am. Sunset: 6:19pm. Mar 2 The National Pest Management Association predicts that our wetter winter will be followed by a warmer and drier summer, with increased cockroach, ant and fly populations. Mar 3 Protect migrating songbirds—turn off unnecessary outdoor electric lights 11pm-6am during March, April […]
Feb 1 Average temps today: high 39º, low 25º. Sunrise: 7:24am. Sunset: 5:59pm. Feb 2 Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, live in Utah. The most common of the many species here is the yellow-bellied marmot. Their tunneling prowess is renowned, with sometimes 50 feet of underground mazework. They are strict herbivores who hibernate in cuddle […]
Jan 1 Average temps today: high 32º, low 22º. Sunrise: 7:51am. Sunset: 5:10pm. Here’s a timely spiritual practice from Bulgarian philosopher and mystic Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov (1900-1986): Say the first 12 days of the year represent the whole year (Jan. 1 stands for January, Jan. 2 for February, and so on. For 12 days, practice […]
DECEMBER 1 Average temps today: high 43º, low 28º. 20% chance of precipitation. Sunrise: 7:32am. Sunset: 5:00pm. DECEMBER 2 Red Butte Garden in the winter is especially fetching. Enjoy half-price admission throughout December, January and February. DECEMBER 3 The Utah chapter of Slow Food USA works with local farmers, chefs and foodies to build a […]
NOVEMBER 1 Average temps today: high 57º, low 38º. 18% chance of precipitation. Sunrise: 7:58am. Sunset: 6:24pm. NOVEMBER 2 Write a novel this month! Find tools, resources and support at www.nanowrimo.org/ NOVEMBER 3 Daylight Saving Time ended at 2am this morning (Mountain Time). Turn your clocks back one hour if you didn’t do it before […]
Giving thanks to the original innovators of the Americas I am no fan of the Columbus Day holiday that is still unfortunately observed in the U.S. (this year on Monday, October 14). My hope is that, in time, this day will instead honor the memory of the upwards to 200 million inhabitants of the Americas who […]
September 1 Average temperatures: high 86º, low 61º. Sunrise: 6:54am; sunset: 8pm. Chance of precipitation: 14%. September 2 Labor Day now means mostly back-to-school sales. But the story behind the national holiday began in the streets as a critique of capitalism, growing out of decades of labor unrest. 19th century industrial workers protested 12-hour workdays, […]
