Before everyone in this nation had a computer or smartphone, before Netflix & Facebook, people in this country spent evenings reading an Almanack. One of the cheapest sorts of books to publish, they were possessed by many families. The most well-known of them was Poor Richard’s Almanack, authored and published by none other than Ben Franklin.
A plethora of knowledge was included in Almanacks, such as agricultural advice and weather forecasts. What gardening tips can we glean from passages from Poor Richard’s Almanack?
Benjamin Franklin Facts
Benjamin Franklin is often regarded as a statesman who assisted in guiding the formation of the United States of America. Before that, however, he worked as a printer and operated the Benjamin Franklin Print Shop. The publication of Poor Richard’s Almanack, authored under the alias Richard Saunders, brought him his greatest commercial triumph. 0 out of 1 min. 47 sec. 0% volume This advertisement will expire in 40 seconds.
When this Almanack was released in 1733, it quickly gained popularity. There was a jumble of information in it. Although initially just a calendar, the Almanack also included weather reports, proverbs, poetry, and comments from Ben Franklin, often advocating the advantages of working hard and being thrifty.
Franklin originally featured a lot of funny jokes and witty language, making fun of attorneys and physicians with lines such as, “A countryman among two Lawyers, is like a fish between two cats,” and “God heals, and the doctor collects the charge.” In the end, the book’s legacy was its use of proverbs and maxims as filler.
Franklin also expressed his ideas on a broad range of subjects, although his main emphasis was on providing serious education in the sciences, especially astrology. For the next 25 years, new versions were released each year.
Almanac History
Franklin saw Poor Richard’s Almanack as a kind of literature for everyone and a method for regular people without access to books to learn. The most popular secular literature in the colonies was Almanacks because it contained a wealth of useful information. And since people loved them so much, 10,000 copies were printed annually and even translated into French & Italian.
Franklin’s is perhaps the most well-known Almanack, yet it was not the first. With the advent of astronomy, timetables, and calendars about 3000 B.C., several types of Almanacks may be traced back.
Gardening Wisdom
Franklin’s Almanack included some of the most crucial information on gardening. The book featured weather forecasts to assist farmers and gardeners in determining when to sow their crops.
Since there were no daily weather forecasts or weathermen at the time, these predictions were very well-liked. To determine when to grow crops and what weather to anticipate in the spring, people would have turned to their Almanack.
