Linking About: Farmers’ Almanacs (x 3), ancient wisdom relearned, Paris replanted ...

When I wrote my first “Almanac” post a couple of weeks ago, it made me nostalgic for the actual Farmers’ Almanac. Not having a copy to idly thumb through, I called up their website (or so I thought), which was not entirely without charm, but was certainly no substitute for the real thing. My grandparents were farmers, and when I was a kid visiting the farm, I would often spend time paging through the Almanac (or the Sears catalog), with its iconic butter-colored cover and wealth of info. I hadn’t seen one in person for decades and thought about ordering one, but was put off by what I assumed was its contemporary self. Maybe a week later, I started seeing the news ping-ponging around Instagram that the 2026 edition will be the last. But HOLD UP! This news is more complicated than it sounds. It turns out the one ceasing publication is The Farmers’ Almanac based in Lewiston ME, which is newer (1818) than The Old Farmers’ Almanac (from 1792, when George Washington was President) of Dublin NH, which still bears that yellow cover, and which is not going anywhere. Nevertheless, I’ve ordered myself a copy of the 2026 Old Almanac. (And condolences regardless to the 200-year-old one.)

• This reminded me that a couple months ago The New Farmer’s Almanac crossed my feed and I’ve been meaning to check it out. It sounds like a modern literary journal crossed with an almanac, and that sounds right up my alley.

• I could stare at these giant hanging grass sculptures all day, and have also watched this time-lapse video of the planting of Paris on repeat.

• I’ve written before about my observations of the profound difference in vegetation between richer and poorer neighborhoods in Florida when I was briefly living there. Two related pieces in the Guardian this month caught my attention: The first is about “the luxury effect”: how more ecologically diverse parks and gardens in wealthier areas lead to more diverse wildlife and bugs (both outside and in the house), and that the accompanying microscopic diversity is not only good for nature, it’s good for the human biome. The second is about a study in Finland that compared the immune defenses of children who were provided a garden playground and those whose play space was asphalt, gravel and plastic. The results will not surprise you. We are relearning again and again the obvious fact that being connected to nature is critical to human health — and should be equally available to all.

• Among the elders who don’t need a study to tell them this is 86-year-old Doña Susana, one of the chinamperas of Xochimilco, a keeper of the centuries-old floating gardens in Mexico City. I found this Earthrise short about her very touching, and look forward to watching the rest of their Mother Nature series.

• Longer form, this weekend I hope to listen to this Cultivating Place podcast interview with sweetgrass basket weaver and Genius Grant recipient Mary Jackson, who is keeping Gullah basket-weaving traditions alive as well as keeping the grass itself available. Even the written introduction at that link is so informative and inspiring.

• And here’s the most jaw-dropping garden before and after I’ve seen this week.

Enjoy!