Winter Activities:
Gardening Calendar

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One of the most common ways to keep track of time is a calendar, based either on the phases of the moon or on the revolution of the Earth around the sun. Twelve lunar months, however, are 354 days or 11 days shorter than the solar year. It doesn't take long for lunar calendars to fall out of synchrony with the seasons; December can end up in the summertime unless adjustments are made. The Jewish lunar calendar, for example, adds an entire month every few years.

The calendar we use today is a solar calendar, which of course adds a leap day every four years because it takes slightly longer than 365 days for the Earth to revolve around the sun. Over the centuries, our calendar has changed from a lunar calendar to a Roman to a Gregorian calendar for both practical and religious reasons.

People farmed long before they had written calendars, however. They marked time according to seasonal events such as bird migrations, trees leafing out, the winter thaw, the onset of the rainy season, and the position of the rising sun. In ancient Egypt, planting followed the annual flooding of the Nile. In temperate climates, seasons are tied to changes in temperatures. In tropical climates they are tied to changes in rainfall--the rainy versus the dry season. Planning a successful garden has to take into account seasonal changes.

• Make a list of significant annual events in your life such as your birthday, favorite holidays, the start and end dates of school, etc.
• Describe the time of year that the event takes place without using calendar dates.
• Observe zone maps in seed catalogs to help determine planting times for your area. Pencil in planting dates on your school calendar.
• Communicate with a school where the zone maps are different. What is happening in their region of the country?