Awaken Your Gratitude ~

Hello, avid readers of past wisdom and predictions 1840's style ~ Today we step a bit further back in our Almanac time machine to experience that which was of import in 1818. Yes! That's right, we have at our dispose, the sage words and wisdom of The Old Farmer's Almanac from October 1818.

"The goodly show of summer's pass'd away,

No more we hear the cheerful warbler's lay;

Each fruitful field made desolate by frost,

And floral beauties in oblivion lost."

~ Excerpt from October

The Old Farmer's Almanac 1818

Click image to see a PDF you can zoom as large as you desire.

In 1818 gardening, farming and harvest were of utmost importance for human survival throughout the year and especially in the upcoming winter months.

There was great concern regarding the upcoming generation of young men becoming "gentlemen" rather than hard workers because there was a trend by mothers (surely to give their sons a more apparent genteel life) to not allow their sons to toil in the fields, "Billy must not work . . . by no means." As well as the trend to "smoak cigars, snap whips, drink grog, run horses, wear a watch chain, and swear roundly." Did you have any idea that a watch chain had such implications?

Garden Chores:

The list of chores is great to prepare for winter.

"Busy is the word! There is no time to lose.

Your flax, your cider, your roots, your seeds,

your manure, all . . .

all call aloud for your care and attention."

Be sure to visit our Garden page and stroll through our web-garden. There are some fascinating facts, recipes, and photos of our great bounty in our first year of gardening. Just click the image above!

"Such an abundance of good things is pouring in upon you that your gratitude must be awake."

More pages will be published each week until the entire almanac is published.

Thanks to The Old Farmer's Almanac for making these old treasures of wisdom available to us today!