Table Of ContentA SEASONAL GUIDE TO
2019
LIA LEENDERTZ
'I love this gem of a book'
CERYS MATTHEWS
THE
ALMANAC
THE
ALMANAC
A SEASONAL GUIDE TO
2019
LIA LEENDERTZ
With illustrations by Celia Hart
MITCHELL BEAZLEY
An Hachette UK Company
www.hachette.co. u k
First published in Great Britain in 2018 by Mitchell Beazley,
an imprint of Ocropus Publishing Group Ltd
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London EC4Y onz
www.octopusbooks.co.uk
Text copyright© Lia Leendertz 2018
Design and layout copyright© Octopus Publishing Group Ltd 2018
Illustrations copyright© Celia Hart 2018
Sichuan-style bacon recipe, pp.46-47 © Li Ling Wang 2018
Jewish chicken soup with-kneidlach recipe, pp.89-90 © Josephine Haller 2018
Pierniczki w czekoladzie recipe, pp.258-259 © Ren Behan 2018
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CONTENTS
Introduction 6
Notes on using The Almanac 7
January IO
February 32
March 52
April 72
May 94
June 116
July 136
August 158
September 180
October 200
November 222
December 242
References and Further Reading 264
Acknowledgements 265
Index 266
THE ALMANAC 2019
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to The Almanac: A Seasonal Guide to 2019. For those
who enjoyed last year's edition, this book includes new features
to celebrate seasonal songs and folklore, cheeses of the month,
meteor showers and beehive behaviour. For newcomers, this
book is intended as a toolkit for connecting with the world
around you, and the year ahead as it unfolds. It is about the
things that will make each month of the coming year feel special
- the festivities, gardening, natural phenomena and seasonal
foods that mark out that month, as well as the tides, moon
phases and sunrise and sunset times that are particular to 2019.
The Almanac offers ways of appreciating the natural
rhythms of the year no matter what your energy level or
inclination. If you want to get out for a country walk at bluebell
time or watch the sunrise at dawn on midsummer's day, then yes,
this is the book for you. But if it suits you better to sit at your
window and spot Mars alongside the crescent moon Oanuary),
or eat strawberries when they are at their peak Oune), or learn
a harvest song that has been sung for centuries (August), then
you will also do well to have this almanac at your side. Maybe
you just want to stand on London Bridge at rush hour and know
that the tide is at its height. The Almanac is as happy on an easy
chair's armrest as it is in the kitchen, in the handbag or in the
backpack. While I realise it has the potential to spark outings
and gatherings, I hope above all that it will prompt a lot of
gazing and thinking, because that is what it does for me.
However you use it, I wish you a year of feeling a part
of things: of the turning of the earth and the seasons below your
feet, the buzzing of the bees and the blooming of the flowers they
land on, the arrival of crops, the coming and going of tides, and
the moon, sun and planets performing their cosmic dance, just
outside the window there.
Have a wonderful 2019.
6
NOTES ON USING THE ALMANAC
NOTES ON USING THE ALMANAC
Scope
The geographical scope of this almanac is the archipelagos of
the British Isles and the Channel Islands or, to put it another
way around, Great Britain and Northern Ireland, plus the Isle
of Man, the Channel Islands and the Republic of Ireland. 'The
British Isles' is used as shorthand, with apologies to the Channel
Islands. The cultural scope of this almanac is the stories, songs,
food and festivities of all the people who live in the British Isles.
The sky at night
The events within the sky at night sections generally fall into
three categories: eclipses; meteor showers; and close approaches
of the moon to a naked-eye planet, or of two naked-eye planets
to each other. While the first two categories are self-explanatory,
the third will benefit from a little clarification. The naked-eye
planets are those planets that can be easily seen with the naked
eye. They are generally very bright, as bright as the brightest
stars, and this makes them relatively easy to spot, even in cities
where sky-spotting conditions are not ideal. From brightest to
dimmest they are Venus, Jupiter, Mars and Saturn. Those not
included in this almanac are Mercury, Neptune and Uranus.
Mercury is very hard to spot because it is close to the sun and
therefore is usually lost in its glare. Neptune and Uranus can
only be spotted with strong telescopes.
A 'close approach' means that two of them, or one of
them plus the moon, are in the same part of the sky. They are,
of course, nowhere near each other in reality, but to us, looking
up, they appear as if they are. This can make them easier to spot
than they would be when they are lone-ranging across the sky. To
identify the part of the sky where they will most easily be seen,
I have given the best time to spot them, plus a compass point
and the altitude. The time is important;because the sky wheels
around us as the night wears on. The altitude is given in degrees:
the horizon is o degrees and straight up is 90 degrees, so find your
point somewhere in between.
7
THE ALMANAC 2019
Tides
A full tide timetable is given each month for Dover. For
approximate high water time differences for various spots
around the coast, refer to the table below. Note that these
approximations provide a fairly rough idea of tide times, though
generally will be correct within ten minutes or so.
Approximate high water time differences on Dover
Add or subtract these amounts of time from the Dover timetable
to find the tide times for the following locations. For instance,
if it is high tide at Dover at midday, it will be high tide at Bristol
(-4,h rnm) at 07. 50 and at Aberdeen (+ 2h 3rm) at r4. 3r.
Aberdeen: +2h 3rm Cork: -5h23m
Firth of Forth: +3h5om Swansea: -4,h 50m
Port Glasgow: +rh 32m Bristol: -4,h IOm
Newcastle-upon-Tyne:+4,h 33m London Bridge: +2h 52m
Belfast Lough: +oh7m Lyme Regis: -4,h 55m
Hull: -4,h 52m Newquay: -6h4M
Liverpool: +ohr4m St Heller, Jersey: -4,h 55m
Do not use these tables where accuracy is critical -you will
need to buy a local tide timetable, or sub~cribe to Easy Tide,
www.ukho.gov.uk/easytide. Also note that no timetable will take
into account the effects of wind and barometric pressure.
The approximate high water time differences may look
quite random. -;rhis is because tides do not cause a general raising
and lowering of the water all around the British Isles. They work
more like a series of huge waves travelling around the coast, the
crest of the wave being high tide and the trough of the wave being
low tide. One set of waves travels up the west coast of Wales
and the east coast of Ireland where they join up with another set
coming up Ireland's west coast. They then travel up and over the
top of Scotland and part way down the east coast of England.
Another set heads off in the opposite direction from Land's End
along the south coast of England and up the east coast, where
8
NOTES ON USING THE ALMANAC
they meet the first set of waves. So there will be tidal peaks and
troughs all around the coast at different rimes: when it is high
tide at Land's End it will also be high tide on the west coast of
Scotland and in Yorkshire. At the same time it will be low tide
in north Wales, the northeast coast of Scotland and the Thames
Estuary. Once high tide has passed, low tide will be along in
around 6 hours 12 and a half minutes. Using this and the above,
you may be able to work out the tide times for where you are.
Spring and neap tide dates are also included. Spring tides
are the most extreme of the month - the highest and lowest tides
- and neap tides are the least extreme. Spring tides occur as a
result of the pull that happens when the sun, moon and earth are
aligned. Alignment occurs at new moon and full moon, but the
surge - the spring tide - is slightly delayed because of the mass
of water to be moved. It usually follows one to three days after.
Knowledge of spring tides is useful if you are a keen rock-pooler
or mudlarker. You want a low spring tide for best revelations.
Gardening by the moon
Just as the moon moves the earth's water to create tides, some
believe that it has other, hidden but equally consequential, effects
on the natural world. If it can move the oceans perhaps it can
move ground water, too, and even the small amounts trapped in
each plant. Planting by the moon is a method of gardening that
taps into and utilises the rise and fall of water with the moon's
phases. A new moon is considered a good time to sow root and
slower-germinating crops, because soil moisture is increasing.
Faster-germinating plants that crop above ground should be
sown in the run-up to full moon, when the pull is at its strongest
and so ground water will be at its highest. The full moon is also
the best time to harvest crops for immediate use, as they will
be at their juiciest. After that, the moon's pull starts to wane
and ground water drops - these are good times for pruning
(to minimise sap loss) and harvesting for storage (skins are drier
and tougher). This almanac makes no claims on the efficacy
of planting by the moon, but if you would like to give it a try
you will find relevant dates and jobs in each month.
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