User guide · features and tools · 4 min read
The Farmers Almanac, month by month for your zone
/farmers-almanac/ is a monthly edition written for each of Australia’s seven climate zones: what the weather did, what it is about to do, what to plant, moon planting dates, livestock notes, price cycles and pest watch. One month, one zone, one read.
Every past month and the current month are free to read. Future months come with Starter and Pro.
What’s in every edition
Each monthly edition is written for one climate zone, so a Subtropical reader and a Cool Temperate reader get different advice for the same month. Every edition carries the same eleven sections:
Looking back
- Climate overview, what this month usually does in your zone
- Last year’s numbers, the measured rainfall and temperatures from a year ago
- How did we do?, a scorecard on last month’s almanac predictions
Looking forward
- Astronomical events, moon phases, eclipses, meteor showers
- Planting guide, what goes in the ground this month in your zone
- Moon planting calendar, the best dates if you plant by the moon
Around the property
- Livestock guide, chooks, cattle and horses for the month
- Self-sufficiency focus, one skill or project each month
- Pest and disease watch, what is arriving in your zone right now
The wrap
- Price cycles, which vegetables are about to get cheap or dear
- Key takeaways, the whole month in a handful of lines
Pick your zone
At the top of the almanac a zone switcher shows all seven Australian climate zones: Tropical, Subtropical, Warm Temperate, Cool Temperate, Cold / Highland, Arid / Semi-Arid, and Mediterranean. Click yours and every month you open stays in that zone. If you are signed in and have set your postcode, your dashboard links straight to the right zone for you.
Browse months
- Open /farmers-almanac/. It loads the current month for your zone.
- Use the month strip under the zone switcher. It shows a rolling year: the five months behind you, this month, and the six ahead.
- Months with a padlock are the future editions, they need a Starter or Pro membership. The current month and everything in the past opens for everyone.
Editions never leave the archive. Months older than the strip stay in the database and still open from a direct link, they just drop off the navigation.
Free reading vs member reading
| What you open | Free account | Starter and Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Past months, any zone | Full edition | Full edition |
| The current month | Full edition | Full edition |
| Future months | Teaser only | Full edition |
The reasoning is simple. Past and current months show you exactly what the almanac is, no guessing. What is coming, the editions you would use to plan weeks ahead, are part of what a paid plan buys. Starter is $29 a year (or $3.99 a month) and every paid plan starts with a 30 day free trial, so you can read next month’s edition before paying a cent.
Open this month’s edition for your zone, read it end to end, and ask yourself one question: would it help to see this far ahead? If yes, start the free trial and unlock next month’s edition today.