Weather-watchers, breathe easy. There was some confusion in the fogey set this week when the modern media announced the news that The Farmers’ Almanac, which first appeared in 1818, is going out of business, printing its final issue for 2026. It turns out that this is The Farmers’ Almanac based in Lewiston, Me., not The Old Farmer’s Almanac of Dublin, N.H., the one with the yellow cover, which has entertained readers with folksy but practical farmstead advice, grandpa humor, full moon charts, and weather prognostications since 1792.
We’re glad. Reading articles on such scintillating subjects as “what was the weather like on the first Thanksgiving?” or “the Great Appalachian Thanksgiving Storm of 1950” is a calming respite in confusing times.
We don’t often put into actual action the Almanac’s homekeeping advice on, say, choosing the correct calendar date for drying fruit, but it is nice to browse its amusing tidbits of knowledge that answer questions like, “If a recipe calls for one pound of eggs, how many would that be?” (Surely these morsels of arcane information are more readily at your fingertips via ChatGPT these days, but let’s not think of that!)
Turning to The Old Farmer’s Almanac for a forecast of Thanksgiving weather, we read that here on Long Island we can expect ideal conditions for Turkey Day: “Temperatures slip from mild early to chilly by the holiday, but skies stay bright and dry,” the Almanac says. “Good news for morning parades and holiday walks.” The Almanac predicts a colder-than-average December in the Atlantic corridor, with snow on the ground at New Year’s.
In the spirit of the Old Almanac, here are a few winterizing suggestions of our own for the homeowners and homesteaders of Old Bonac.
Don’t blast every single leaf off your lawn, despite the temptation to keep up with the unblemished blanket of green maintained by the billionaires next door. Consider leaving at least a layer of leaves in out-of-the-way spots for overwintering pollinators.
Remove dead or storm-hung tree limbs now, lest they come crashing down during a blizzard.
Mark the driveway edges with plow stakes.
Call the chimney sweep. Practice opening and shutting the flue. Vacuum ash from that fireplace or wood stove. Carry a week’s worth of seasoned firewood to the back door and store it under cover.
Test smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, and add fresh batteries.
When ripping things out for winter, let those sturdy seedheads (coneflower, bee balm) be, for winter birds. Wash your birdfeeders and fill them with sunflower seeds (for the widest audience) or nyjer (for finches), and string up a suet block for when the real cold sets in. Go to Wild Bird Crossing in Bridgehampton and ponder the purchase of a heated birdbath or a submersible de-icer. The birds — and you, watching from the window — will be happy you did, come January.