Today in the garden
Monday, August 24 · Waxing gibbous, 88% lit · 13h 14m daylight · equinox in 29 days
Moon
Waxing gibbous, 88% lit
Transplant and feed while growth builds.
Today
Monday, August 24
The 2026 edition, kept daily
Daylight
13h 14m
Losing 2 min a day (at 40 N)
Autumn equinox
29 days away
September 22, 2026
In the garden this August
The swallows are reading tomorrow's sky.
The old rhyme about low-flying swallows is one of the few weather proverbs physics grades out almost perfectly. How the sign works, how to test it from the porch, and why the instrument leaves in September.
Tip of the day
The June photo.One picture of the beds each summer is the only rotation chart a home garden needs.
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Planting & timing · Aug 25, 2026
The Nighthawks Leave Before Summer Does
A bird that spent all summer over your garden without an introduction is slipping south to Argentina this week, and the half hour after sunset is your last good chance to watch a season leave in person.
Planting & timing · Aug 24, 2026
Your Mums Are Measuring the Night
Chrysanthemums do not bloom by thermometer. A pigment in their leaves counts the dark hours each night, and the buds on your porch pot are the paperwork of a season that has not visibly arrived.
Garden myths · Aug 17, 2026
The wheel bug: a full hearing for the scariest insect in the garden
Half a gear wheel, a folded beak, and a reputation for menace. The strangest-looking insect in North America is also one of the most useful things on your roses.
Garden myths · Aug 9, 2026
A charm, a knot, a sparkle: the secret names of garden visitors
English keeps a hidden name for every gathering in your garden, and most of them are five hundred years old. Here is the full roll call.
“As the days lengthen, so the cold strengthens.”
Old garden saying
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Garden myths · Jul 24, 2026
Eggshells in the garden: what they actually do (and don't)
Half the internet swears by them, half calls them a myth. The truth is quieter than both camps.
Planting & timing · Jul 14, 2026Seeds or seedlings: which to buy, crop by cropSome crops resent the move and some don't care. Knowing which is which saves a season.
Kitchen garden · Jul 10, 2026The crops that pay: what to grow when groceries are expensiveRanked by the only math that matters at the checkout: what a bed of it would have cost at the store.
Watering & care · Jun 26, 2026Mulch is the closest thing gardening has to a cheat codeLess watering, fewer weeds, better soil, and the only real skill is not overdoing it.Did you know
Carrots were mostly purple until Dutch growers bred the orange ones in the 1600s.
Garden myths, tested
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Garden myths · Aug 25, 2026
The Goldenrod Is Innocent
Every August the showiest flower in the ditch gets blamed for allergy season, while the real culprit blooms green and invisible ten feet away. The case falls apart the moment you look at how pollen actually travels.
Garden myths · Aug 24, 2026
The Scarecrow Never Worked, but the Crow Does
A century of stomach records says the black bird in the corn is mostly eating your pests, billing you a few ears for the service, and memorizing your face while she works.
Garden myths · Aug 18, 2026
The Monster in the Pond Is Its Janitor
Snapping turtles almost never bite in the water, barely eat live fish, and clean a pond faster than anything else on the payroll. The scariest thing in the pond deserves a pardon.
Garden myths · Aug 17, 2026
The house that hears rain coming: sticking doors, tested honestly
When the back door starts fighting you, the old-timers moved the picnic indoors. The physics behind the sign, which rooms lie, and how to run the test tonight.
2026
The planting calendar
Month by month: what to sow, what to plant, and what to bring in.
Open the calendar
Sow now
- Spinach
- Kale
- Lettuce
- Arugula
Plant now
- Broccoli starts
- Cabbage starts
- Fall herbs
Harvest now
- Tomatoes
- Squash
- Beans
- Basil
New from the almanac
The Fall Planting Planner
Count back from your first frost, and nothing is left to chance. Sixteen crops, a complete garlic guide, and working pages to write in. Twelve pages you print at home, emailed the moment you buy.
See the planner, $9
A gardening community grown from a beloved Facebook page.
What began as shared photos and garden stories has blossomed into a warm, welcoming place where we grow, learn, and swap what works.