David Ruf, owner and president of the Greenhouse Garden Center in Carson City, knows his way around a garden. One tool he relies on year-after-year is the Old Farmer’s Almanac.
“It’s a great resource and it’s [for] more than just gardening,” said Ruf.
The publication, recognizable by its traditional yellow cover symbolizing the four seasons, is on its 234th edition, founded just 16 years after the United States.
“They’ve been around a lot longer than the weather station here in Reno or even NOAA,” Ruf said. Echoing the words of Ruf is Tim Goodwin, the senior editor for the 2026 release of the Almanac. “We’re the oldest continuously published periodical in North America.”
Readers have a wide-variety of neat topics, from planting and gardening resources, to horoscopes, astronomical events and patterns, you name it.
Meteorologists and forecasters alike typically forecast the weather on a short-term basis, looking ahead to the next few days, or even the next few weeks. The Old Farmer’s Almanac covers more long-range forecasts, not only for a specific region, but for the entire country.
“So the ones that you’re seeing in the 2026 Almanac, we started putting together in January of 2025,” said Goodwin. National experts in meteorology help editors at the Almanac break down the data. “We use data provided by those government agencies. We do partner with some very knowledgeable weather professionals to help put our forecasts together. They’re the ones who are kind of digging through the data. They’re are the ones who are really kind of helping shape these forecasts.”
As with any weather forecast, it’s not a guarantee, it’s a prediction. Despite its age, the Old Farmer’s Almanac has been fairly consistent, earning the trust of readers with its 80% accuracy rate.
While many people turn to the book for leisure, a majority of readers, like Ruf, use it for gardening.
“It is great for somebody that’s new. It’s also good for somebody that may be wanting to go and try a different crop here and see what the predictions are,” said Ruf.
Since the early 1970s, David Ruf’s family have helped northern Nevadans for their gardening needs. Every year, Ruf recommends the Almanac to his patrons, even offering suggestions on how to best use it.
“This works best when you’re planting from seed,” Ruf said. “If you’re doing transplants, it’s not that important, but the almanac here is going to go and help allow people to follow that. And at times it also mentions like the zodiac signs and when to plant.”
Aside from the weather predictions and gardening tips, the Almanac also offers up some history lessons and folklore. According to Goodwin, it’s the book’s nostalgic feel that keeps readers hungry for the next edition every year.
“It’s something that speaks to people. It is something that they remember from their time as a child or it links them to their grandparents or their parents that may no longer be with them,” said Goodwin.
Email reporter Anthony Ramos at aramos@sbgtv.com. Follow @antramosnews on X and Anthony Ramos on Facebook.
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