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11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Lots of information, Low price, September 15, 2010
This review is from: The Old Farmer's Almanac 2011 (Paperback)
Published since 1792, one of the oldest periodicals in the country is still available. I like to keep two of these on hand, this year's and the edition for next. As always, great information and entertainment. The usual holiday and observance times, astronomy guide, monthly breakdowns, a very interesting article on scything, a table of measure conversions, and more.
For an amateur skywatcher, you can't beat the Old Farmer's Almanac for telling you when and where to expect interesting sights, well in advance so you can plan your viewing. If you are a professional astronomer, you should by all means use a dedicated astronomical almanac. For my level, this sort of information is all I need and far cheaper. Yes, it has a lot of ads, but that's the tradeoff for selling this amount of data for less than seven bucks.
For example, I know from my 2010 edition that there will be a full eclipse of the moon December 21st starting at 12:28 a.m. and becoming total at 2:40 a.m. My 2011 edition says the weather at that time should be sunny and warm. Is this weather information accurate? We'll find out! That's half the fun of this book.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another year of fun from the Old Farmer's Almanac, November 24, 2010
This review is from: The Old Farmer's Almanac 2011 (Paperback)
I always enjoy getting my annual copy of this work. Last year, we had a special event scheduled for February and everyone was nervous about getting snowed out. I reached for my trust Almanac, and it said that the weather would be fine. Indeed, the Almanac was right (of course, no one felt especially confident because of my reference to this publication!).
Each year, there are some unique elements; others are traditional from year to year (such as the weather projections). Some matters of interest--the calendar for meteor showers (page 92). On January 24, 25 meteors per hour will rain down in the skies. Best viewing is just before dawn and the meteors will come in from the north. What more information could one want for watching a meteor shower? I'm not a fisherman, but I can see how a person interested in angling might find useful the section on "Best fishing days and times." For instance, the Almanac says that July 1-15 will be prime, when the moon is between new and full. One nice thing about these projections is that one can actually check them out to see if the Almanac is even close. There's also a brief sidebar on how to estimate the weight of a fish. Or, the extent to which manners have or have not changes (pages 168 and following).
Of course, the one part that is so often focused upon is the weather predictions. I am located in Region 3 (which includes central Pennsylvania, and extends from Elmira, NY in the north to Asheville, NC in the south). Since winter can get frisky here, let's take a look at February. Temperature will average a wee bit higher than normal; precipitation (code word for snow) will be average. Dates when snow might hit us include the 11th-15th (snow showers) and the 16th-19th (snowstorm and then sunny) and the 25th-28th (rain turning to snow). So, I'll keep this little prediction (and others) in front of me to see how well the old Almanac does!
Another year and another visit from this old publication friend.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
First Time getting the Almanac, May 24, 2011
This review is from: The Old Farmer's Almanac 2011 (Paperback)
I got it for the first time and didn't know what to expect. Its fun but light on farming information. Its not really about farming too much as it is about old timey stuff, folklore, moon cycles, astrology, and stuff that is a little out there for me. I don't think I will buy it again, but it was still fun to read it, just don't expect scientific farming information.
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