"Labor Day is a glorious holiday because your children will be
going back to school the next day. It would have been called
Independence Day, but that name was already taken".
Bill Dodds (1952- )
Mid-Atlantic Weather Watch:
Tropical rains (1) becoming hot and humid (2,3,4). Showers and storms but much cooler (5,6,7); fair skies and very warm temperatures (8,9,) with more storms and cooler (10,11) turning fair and warm (12,13). Scattered storms (14,15), fair and warm again (16,17,18), followed by showers in the eastern part of the region (19,20). Cloudy
in the north and showers in the south (21,22,23,24); fair and mild (25,26,27) with more storms (28,29) and more fair and mild weather (30).
Full Moon: September’s Full Moon is most famously known as the Harvest Moon. It is the Full Moon that falls closest to the Autumnal Equinox at a time when the moon rises soon after sunset on several successive days. The extra hours of light from the moon during this period gave farmers more time to finish up their daily chores and bring in the harvest.
The Autumnal Equinox occurs on Sunday, September 22nd. The Full Moon closest to that date occurs on Thursday, the 19th and is therefore, the Harvest Moon for 2013. It has also been referred to as Full Wort Moon. The word "wort" is derived from the Old English word, wyrt, which refers to plants, particularly herbs, with unique medicinal properties. Holistic healers
(and witches!) would busily gather these plants during this period in preparation for the coming Winter months.
Holidays: In 2013, Labor Day falls on the first Monday, September 2nd and Citizenship Day is on Tuesday, September 17th. Religious holidays observed this month include Rosh Hashanah (the Jewish New Year) on Wednesday, September 4th and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) which begins at sunset on Saturday, September 14th.
The Garden: As the nights get longer, your lawn gets hungry as it prepares to settle down for Winter. Feed with appropriate fertilizer for your particular grass type and be sure to water abundantly, if necessary. Now is the time to reseed thinning areas of bluegrass, tall fescue, and other cool-season lawns. Gently rake off leaves when they fall. Young,
sprouting grass plants need all the light they can get so they take hold before Winter sets in. Plant new trees and shrubs now. You need to give them at least 6 weeks to get well-established before the first frost. Start moving houseplants indoors. Don’t forget to cover your woodpile with a waterproof tarp to keep it dry.
