So as I was taking my walk this morning and I was thinking about what this winter is going to be like. For the past two years here, winter has been so unusual, we have had a blizzard each winter and the ice has been horrid. So that made me think of all the different predictors out there.
There is the National Weather Service which will give the latest scientific predictions.
Then there is the Farmers Almanac which also has their own, plus you can search their site and find folklore predictors also.
Like the Woolly Bear, (aka woolly worm), here in North America it is said that you can predict the winter by the thickness of the band around their middle. The Woolly Bear is black on both ends with a brown or orange band in the middle. Now if the band is wide we'll have a mild winter but if the band is narrow the winter will be harsh. (Pic. is semi-wide) I haven't seen any Woolly Bears around here but I do have persimmons trees.
You see you can also predict the winter by cutting open a persimmon seed. You need to use the seeds from a persimmon that was grown locally not a store bought one. The trick for me to getting some seeds is to go out in the pasture before the critters get them all, possums and raccoons love them.
What you need to do is cut open a seed, very carefully to see what shape the germ is.
Knife – Signifies icy cold winter weather coming with wind that will cut through like a knife.
- Fork – Signifies a mild winter with light feathery snow in the outlook.
- Spoon – Signifies a lot of wet heavy snow to be shoveled.
Well, I found some while walking and when I cut them open, this is what was inside
Hard to tell really, looks like it is a cross between a knife and a spoon. I'm going to take a leap here and say knife.
Icy cold weather and dry.
I'll let you know by spring if the persimmon is right.
I would like to know if anyone else is or has try this and what is the prediction for your winter coming.
I have been linked here
Till next time,
Kat
=^..^=
Congratulations Kathleen! You won the give away from last weeks Farmgirl Friday blog hop!
ReplyDeleteSend me an email and I'll get your Autumn Note Cards off in the mail asap! Thanks for joining the hop and our little farmgirl community!
Deb
That is really interesting!
ReplyDeleteI read the Little House series over the summer. There were things in there that spoke of weather predictions.
For instance the mud on the muskrat's hut...Pa said it would be a terrible winter season.
The of course there was the Grasshopper Winter...of which I'm terrified right now.
Since reading I was wondering about this sort of thing...
I am off to look for some natural predictors for my region.
congrats on your 'give away win'too!
Hmmm. Like you, I have been plagued by weird weather all year so far, and I am searching for answers. I had not heard this bit of folklore before. Thought provoking. I had better do a little research too. Congratulations on the giveaway win. Deb's note cards are amazing!
ReplyDeleteI try to pay attention to what the squirrels are doing- if they seem to be burying nuts early in the summer, usually seems to be a bad winter, more storlmy and snowy. Boise used to have very dry winters, and cold. The last several years have been getting heavy snow storms, and it's on the ground longer...
ReplyDeleteI can typically tell by how many spiders start coming inside. We've had more than ever this year.
ReplyDelete