Gardening: After 200 years, gardeners lose an old favorite
Recently, the news headlines announced that the Farmers’ Almanac was shutting down. That sent a shock wave through the gardening community. Gardeners everywhere are wondering where they were going to get their winter forecasts, moon planting schedules and the other humorous bits found in this over 200-year-old tradition.
Well, take heart. There are – or were – two farmers almanacs out there and only one of them is going away. The Farmers’ Almanac is closing up shop with their 2026 publication after 207 years of prognostications. The Old Farmer’s Almanac first published in 1792, will continue to provide weather forecasts, stories and bits of wisdom.
An almanac is defined as a calendar of the heavens. As such, it predicts and announces events in the year; sunrise and sunset, moonrise and moonset, length of day, astronomical events such as conjunction of planets and other celestial bodies, meteor showers and bright stars. Before the invention of weather forecasting and technology, the almanac was a critical source of knowledge on all kinds of weather information for farmers. Our agrarian society of the time needed to know the best days to slaughter their animals or put up a fence, start seeds, set out plants and harvest. Beyond that, the modern Old Farmer’s Almanac also provides gardening tips, astronomical data, recipes, and articles on topics like folklore, trends, and history tidbits.”
The Old Farmer’s Almanac was first published in 1792 in New England by Robert B. Thomas. Over the years, Thomas developed a secret formula that allowed him to calculate all kinds of weather and astrological information. It involved a study of sunspots, past weather history, observations of environmental events and a lot of local folklore. Today with modern science and technology, the almanac has refined its process that uses “three scientific disciplines to make our long-range predictions: solar science, the study of sunspots and other solar activity; climatology, the study of prevailing weather patterns and meteorology, the study of the atmosphere.” All that said, the exact formula is safely locked up in a safe and known to only a few people. Originally written for the New England region, the modern editions include regionalized forecasts. The almanac’s publishers claim their predictions are 80% right. Their website is almanac.com.
The Farmers’ Almanac was a victim of financial challenges of producing and publishing the book in a quickly changing and chaotic media environment that has people looking up information online and not buying it at bookstores and newsstands. They published their last print edition in November and discontinued digital content on Dec. 1. Farmers’ Almanac editor Sandi Duncan hopes the legacy “to remind people to stop and smell the roses. To appreciate all the wonders of nature, to realize that there is so much we can learn from the natural world even if we live among concrete skyscrapers.”
For others and me, it’s sad when old traditions disappear. But the times, “they are a changin’,” as the song goes. The Old Farmer’s Almanac is available locally at garden centers and bookstores.
Garden on , friends.