You know how it goes. When it comes to the Farmers’ Almanac, you come for the weather forecast but stay for the trivia. The planting tips. The heaps of amazing factoids you didn’t realize you were desperate to know.

For instance, did you know that there’s a fungus that grows on corn that some cultures consider a delicacy? It’s called “Corn Smut” and you can read all about it on page 86.

Did you know that a group of Dalmatians is called a “Splatter” while a pack of terriers is called a “Tornado?”

Did you know that in 1776, the most popular cocktail in the country was a concoction known as “Flip” which contained rum, brown sugar, a raw egg and ale heated with an iron poker?

Or that if you drop a dish towel in your kitchen, you better be prepared to feed some unexpected guests?

Read the 2026 Farmers’ Almanac, hitting shelves Aug. 11, and you are free to share all these fascinating facts with strangers on bar stools or colleagues in the boardroom.

“We want you to be the most interesting person in the world,” almanac Editor Sandi Duncan said.

And how can one not be interesting if he knows all there is to know about the sordid history of garlic, the superstitions that rule the kitchen or the top 11 celestial events to come?

The almanac, prized for 200 years for its listing of optimal dates for everything from planting to fishing to cutting hair and potty training youngsters, comes this year with a new look.

The much adored calendar, for one, is a little bit easier on the eyes with this new edition.

“It’s always been a traditional calendar page but it had such small type, we couldn’t fit all the information,” Duncan said. “We changed it up so it’s more like a monthly kind of look so you can see what the Zodiac is, what the weather lore is, the birth flower and so on. We made a new addition to the Best Days calendars. We added a Pets section. We’ve added the Best Days in 2026 to train and breed your pets, if that’s what you’re into.”

The almanac, as always, is crammed full of information on how one can thrive in the natural world just as our forebears did for so long. In here is a near endless array of tips on gardening, cooking, controlling pests and surviving when the weather gets wild.

Are you one of those who peels back the husks to check on the condition of corn in the grocery store? Stop doing that, bub. The minute you peek at that corn, the kernels start drying out.

Want to test the freshness of your eggs with just a plain old glass of water? Turn to page 93, my friend, and become an instant expert.

“We’re kind of helping people remember how to unplug and enjoy the good life. We talk about wellness gardens, we talk about bird watching, seasonal tips, like how you can look for birds all four seasons no matter where you live. We offer people ideas on how to slow down and reconnect with nature.”

There’s a section called “Nature’s Free Show” that’s all about the beauty of sunsets and one sky phenomenon you might be missing.

Behold “The Belt of Venus,” a light show most of us turn our backs to when we’re oohing and ahhing over a glorious sunset to the west.

“When the sun touches down on the horizon of the western sky when watching a sunset, you should actually turn around and look in the opposite direction,” Duncan said. “There you’ll see a dark blue or purple band of light right above the horizon, and that’s called the belt of Venus. So on one side you have the beautiful sunset with the oranges and the glow, but on the other side it’s pink and purple.”

In the section “11 Must See Astronomy Events in 2026,” you’ll learn everything you need to know about some upcoming sky phenomena, including a couple eclipses and something called a “planet parade.”

“That’s when the planets line up,” Duncan explained, “and you have an opportunity to see them in a row.”

The almanac is 184 pages of tips, hacks and guides, with the “Best Days Planning Calendars” spread throughout; calendars that advise us on when to do everything from setting eggs to enjoying fall foliage.

There’s a lot in here. It may take one the full year to get all the way through.

“Every year I say the newest edition is my favorite,” Duncan said, “but this one I’m pretty excited about.”

There are the facts about the winner of last year’s recipe contest — some bloke from Myrtle Beach won it — and information about this year’s contest, which will focus on the humble strawberry.

But of course, the almanac is best known for its forecasts of the coming year of weather. Who doesn’t want to know what winter will be like, or how wet spring is going to be?

After you read through a list of weather lore — did you know that if there’s a white Christmas there’s bound to be a green Easter? — you will find all you need to know, with maps included for a visual representation of what’s to come.

So, what’s to come?

The almanac sums up the coming winter weather with the simple line: “Chill, Snow, Repeat.”

“It’s going to cool down, it’s going to snow and then it’s going to happen all over again,” Duncan said. “It’s going to be a little more like a good, old-fashioned winter, especially in New England. We’re saying there’s going to be some decent snowfall, which should make the skiers and snowmobilers very happy.”

The Farmers’ Almanac has always been so confident in its forecasts, it doesn’t hesitate at all to make predictions for holiday weather or for specific times of the year. Want to know when it’s going to be cold or snowy so you can plan around it?

Start thumbing through the almanac and the big picture reveals itself pretty quick.

“We’re basically saying it’s going to be a dry, cool start with a stormy finish,” Duncan said. “The cold temperatures are going to start sneaking in in December. Christmas looks pretty cold. The big news is in January and this is where the chill, snow, repeat comes in. In the middle of January, we’re seeing some very cold conditions from the 8th to the 15th, and then, just when you’re hoping it goes away, we come to the middle of February with a very cold period as well.”

The 2026 Almanac hits the shelves and goes live online Monday, Aug. 11. You better check it out, my friend, or you might never come to know what breed of dog makes up a pack known as the “Sniffsnort.”

Find out more at farmersalmanac.com