New moon:
In Capricorn, Tuesday, Jan. 8
Full moon:
In Cancer, Tuesday, Jan. 22
The stars:
The constellation Orion can be seen in the night sky to the north.
Ten years ago in Harvard:
- Devens Enterprise Commission nixes sludge plant on Devens.
- Harvard’s average tax bill is 29th highest in the state.
- Heating oil is 79¢ a gallon.
Household tip:
Use white vinegar instead of fabric softener in your washing machine’s rinse cycle. About ¼ or ½ cup will do a good job of keeping clothes soft and static-free, with no lingering smell.
Going green:
Buy a set of canvas bags to use for groceries, and pass on the “paper or plastic” choice at the supermarket.
What to do in the garden:
The seed catalogs are out. Now is the time to plan this year’s garden and the corresponding seed order. Any individual seed packet holds a lot of seeds—more than the average gardener is likely to use in a season. Consider hosting a seed-ordering party, to facilitate seed-sharing with fellow gardeners.
Going green:
If you haven’t done it yet, this is the month to replace all of the incandescent light bulbs in your house with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFLs).
Thought for the month
“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.”
—Anne Bradstreet, American poet (1612 – 1672), Meditations Divine and Moral, 1655
Do you have an almanac tidbit you’d like to share? E-mail to editor@harvardpress.com.
