The Farmer’s Almanac: Forecasting weather and life events with Peter Geiger

Growing Home Podcast

Terry and Len get a chance to catch up with Peter Geiger, Editor of the Farmer’s Almanac. In our annual special, we talk about helpful hints for gardening and other tasks around the house, weather predictions for Terry’s wedding, and canoeing in a pumpkin.
Join us for a meeting of old friends with new stories.
Interview Notes:
When it was founded, the Almanac was about teaching skills to immigrant populations. Now, it’s about teaching skills to younger people, who want to be more sustainable, and favor homemade solutions.
The Almanac also features recipes, which come from reader entry contests. This year’s winners were required to focus on banana in their recipe. Other sections include famous firsts, life hacks, and weather.
Geiger said that the 2019 Almanac gave a good prediction for this year’s weather. Almanacs, including the Farmer’s Almanac have secret methods for predicting the weather more than a year in advance. Terry shares his concern about the weather forecast for is September 2020, in which Geiger reveals his interpretation of the almanac’s prediction.
Tips/ Life Hacks:
Here are some of the Life Hacks that Geiger shared with us during the show:
Wash your window vertically on one side, and horizontally on the other side, so you can tell which side still has dirt or streaks.
To melt the ice of your windshield wipers, spray a mixture of half vinegar and half water.
For better traction on ice, you can spread kitty litter or coffee grounds.
To get moles to leave your garden, put a mesh bag with garlic cloves into a mole hole.
Moles don’t like the smell of garlic, and will abandon that hole.
Keep stud earrings together by keeping connected with a button.
When cooking, boil water before putting above ground crops. Boil below ground crops with the water. Above ground crops have thinner membranes and need less cooking time.