New moon: In Taurus, Friday, April 24
Full moon: In Libra, Thursday, April 9
Astrological sign: Aries, March 21 to April 19; Taurus, April 20 to May 20
Gem stone: Diamond
Flower: Daisy
Harvard history snippet:
A highway on a “grand scale” was put through Harvard in the late 1960s. “Route 495, a six-lane super-highway … traversed a thinly populated, swampy section in the southeast corner of Harvard, some distance from the focus of community activity.”
—From Directions of a Town, by Robert C. Anderson
Household tips:
- Rub a small amount of petroleum jelly on stuck zippers to get them working again.
- Use high-quality typewriter correction fluid to cover nicks, chips, and scratches on enameled ranges and refrigerators, porcelain tiles, and sinks.
Going green:
- Cut back on or stop using single-serving and single-use products to cut down on the consumption of packaging materials.
- Cook in bulk and store away future meals in reusable containers.
- Make your own baking mixes by preparing in large batches the “dry ingredients” portion of your favorite recipes. Store in reusable containers affixed with index cards noting the remaining ingredients and baking instructions.
What to do in the garden:
- Plant fruit trees and berry bushes.
- Plant perennial fruits and vegetables, such as strawberries, rhubarb, asparagus, horseradish.
- Build raised beds for seedlings to be transplanted in May.
Thought for the month:
When the April wind wakes the call for the soil, I hold the plough as my only hold upon the earth, and, as I follow through the fresh and fragrant furrow, I am planted with every footstep, growing, budding, blooming into a spirit of spring.
—Dallas Lore Sharp (1870–1929), American author
Do you have an almanac tidbit you’d like to share? E-mail to editor@harvardpress.com.
