There are plenty of old farmers in Iowa, but the Old Farmer’s Almanac is trying to appeal to a younger, urban audience of backyard gardeners. Senior editor Mariann Jarvella says the annual publication, which is in its 213th year, is seeing a shift in its audience. Jarvella says most Almanac readers are between 25 and 54, own their own homes and like to garden, read, hike and use the computer. As for the season ahead, Jarvella says the publication is predicting an average start to winter, followed by a February and March that will be among the coldest and snowiest ever. She says April will be warmer than normal, almost summerlike. Jarvella says the Almanac’s forecasters were nearly on-mark last year for the Midwestern region.Jarvella says they’re usually between 70 and 80-percent accurate. For the Midwest last year, the publication was 90-percent accurate on winter temperature for the region and 80-percent accurate for precipitation. For more information, surf to the “www.almanac.com”.
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