The Old Farmer's Almanac Now Treats Cannabis Like Tomatoes, and That Tells You Something

A 234-year-old gardening institution added cannabis to its planting calendar, and the quiet way it happened says more about normalization than any celebrity launch.

By Cannible Editorial

The Old Farmer's Almanac, in print since 1792, now carries a full cannabis cultivation guide covering seeds, planting, soil, watering and harvest timing, presented the same way the publication presents tomatoes. Cannabis also sits in the Almanac's planting calendar, and the September 2025 print edition carried cannabis advertising. The practical upshot: if you are a curious home gardener, mainstream horticultural guidance for this plant is now available from a source your grandparents trusted, but that guidance is not legal permission, so check your state and local cultivation rules before you buy a seed.

Here is what the reporting establishes.

This article is general information, not legal advice. Cannabis cultivation laws vary by state, county and municipality and change frequently. Confirm current rules with your state regulator or a licensed attorney before growing anything.

The Fresh Toast: The Old Farmer's Almanac Embraces Cannabis — The news hook: a 234-year-old gardening institution quietly adds cannabis to its planting calendar.

How a 234-year-old institution made room for the plant

Cannabis normalization has come in loud packages for years. Celebrity brands. Splashy dispensary openings. Political campaigns. This one came quietly, tucked between planting calendars in a publication that has been printing since before the United States existed. No press release. No campaign. A cannabis guide sitting next to the tomato guide.

The Almanac is North America's oldest continuously published periodical. It covers weather, astronomy, gardening and home economics, and it has been doing that since George Washington was president. As one report put it, the publication is not known for chasing cultural fads. That history is what makes the cannabis inclusion worth paying attention to.

The 2024 Garden Guide print edition ran a cannabis cultivation feature titled "Yes, You Cannabis!" The guide was later adapted into an online grower's guide in November 2024, and cannabis was added to the Almanac's planting calendar at the same time.

Who pushed the feature through, and why

The decision had a specific author. Carol Connare became editor in chief in 2023 and pushed the feature through despite internal resistance. Her predecessor actively did not want it.

My predecessor really didn't want to put it in there, but I had come from Massachusetts, where everybody grew, and I grew, and people were asking.

Carol Connare, editor in chief of The Old Farmer's Almanac, speaking to High Times

Connare gave that account in an interview with High Times. She responded to reader demand the way any editor responds to a gardening question. People asked how to grow a plant. She answered. For a subject that has carried this much legal and political weight for this long, that is a fairly unremarkable chain of events.

The commercial layer came after. The September 2025 edition, the familiar yellow cover, carried a full-page ad for Homegrown Cannabis Co. and a smaller companion ad. Planting tips came with it. One suggests surrounding cannabis with fragrant thyme to attract pollinators and marigolds to repel pests. Cannabis now generates ad revenue for a legacy gardening publication the same way seed companies always have.

What the Almanac's cannabis advice actually covers

The structure of the Almanac's cannabis guidance is identical to its tomato guidance. It walks through basics any gardener already knows.

A curious gardener encounters the plant in familiar language, in familiar steps, from a source their family has trusted for generations. It sits next to peppers and herbs and sunflowers. Nothing about it reads as exceptional.

This overview is deliberately brief. For the full walkthrough, go to the Almanac's own cannabis growing guide.

Why ordinary treatment carries more weight than celebration

Normalization happens when a subject stops getting special treatment.

A celebrity endorsement makes cannabis an event. A political campaign makes it a fight. A planting calendar just makes it a plant. That third framing does quieter work, because it asks nothing of you except basic gardening curiosity. No position. No allegiance.

That is also why it reaches an audience a headline does not. Someone standing in a yard with a practical question is not looking for an argument about drug policy. They are looking for a sowing window and a watering schedule.

What the 2024 Harris Poll says about demand for home growing

The demand side fits this pattern. A 2024 Harris Poll survey found that 59% of Americans support the right to legally grow cannabis at home. Among cannabis consumers specifically, that number rises to 81%.

The same survey found two other figures worth holding onto.

That last number is the interesting one. People want to grow a plant, know what is in it, and trust what they are getting. The Almanac serves that the same way it serves people who want better cucumbers.

What academics mean by differentiated normalization

Academic researchers argue that claims of full normalization are premature. Cannabis use is still stigmatized in a lot of contexts. The frame they use is "differentiated normalization," meaning acceptance grows within specific groups and settings while stigma holds elsewhere.

One gardening guide illustrates that idea. It does not settle the larger question. Full normalization would mean cannabis receives no special treatment anywhere, and that has not happened.

Home growing is still a legal question where you live

Cultural comfort and legal reality are not moving at the same speed, and that is worth being direct about.

Home cannabis cultivation is still illegal in many places and heavily regulated where it is allowed. A mainstream gardening guide written in a casual, practical tone does not change your local rules. If anything, that tone can make things feel more settled than they actually are in your jurisdiction.

Before you plant anything, you need answers to these local questions.

Culture moves faster than law does. The Almanac reflects where culture is. Your local statutes govern your actual backyard, and those two things are not always aligned.

What a general gardening guide cannot tell you

A general guide is a starting point. There is plenty it will not cover.

Climate, genetics and grow method all shape your outcome. A seed that thrives in one region can struggle in another, and outdoor and indoor approaches require different knowledge bases. No single guide accounts for all of that, and the Almanac does not claim to.

Risk management matters too. Pests, mould and contamination are real concerns for anyone growing a plant they intend to consume. Responsible handling means going beyond planting-and-watering basics.

No guide promises yield, potency or a good harvest. Anyone making those promises is selling something. Cannabis is a plant, and plants are unpredictable.

Frequently asked questions

Does The Old Farmer's Almanac have a cannabis guide?

Yes. The Almanac publishes "How to Grow Cannabis: From Planting to Harvest" on its website, covering seeds, planting, sunlight, soil, watering and harvesting. Cannabis also appears in its planting calendar.

Is it legal to grow cannabis at home?

Legality depends on your state and locality. Many jurisdictions prohibit home cultivation, and permitted jurisdictions regulate plant counts, visibility and security. Check your current local rules before planting.

Does the guide cover indoor and outdoor growing?

The Almanac's guidance focuses on core fundamentals such as site selection, soil, watering and seasonal outdoor timing. Growers using specialised indoor setups will need additional resources.

When did the Almanac first include cannabis?

The 2024 Garden Guide print edition featured the story "Yes, You Cannabis!" The online grower's guide followed in November 2024, when cannabis was also added to the planting calendar.

Why does the Almanac's cannabis coverage matter for normalization?

Celebrity endorsements and political campaigns make cannabis into an event or a cause. A planting calendar just makes it a plant. Routine coverage from a publication readers have trusted for generations reaches people who would tune out a headline, because it asks nothing except practical curiosity.

What does differentiated normalization mean for cannabis?

Academic researchers use this term to describe the current reality: acceptance is growing within specific groups and settings while stigma persists in others. Full normalization would mean cannabis receives no special treatment anywhere. That has not happened yet.

What did the 2024 Harris Poll find about home growing?

The poll found 59% of Americans support the right to legally grow cannabis at home. Among cannabis consumers, that number rises to 81%. Separately, 62% of consumers say they would rather grow their own than buy from a store, and 34% of home growers cited safety concerns about purchased cannabis as their primary motivation.

Who pushed cannabis into the Almanac?

Carol Connare became editor in chief in 2023 and pushed the feature through despite internal resistance. She came from Massachusetts, where home growing was already routine, and she was responding to direct reader questions about cultivation.

Key takeaways

The Cannible Newsroom's take

An institution with no stake in the cannabis industry looked at reader demand and treated the plant like any other consumer topic. An editor from Massachusetts made a practical call. Advertisers came after. A planting calendar added one more crop. The whole thing took about two years.

Practical education works differently than advocacy. It finds people where they already are, with a question, standing in a yard. Acceptance that builds that way tends to be quieter and more durable, because it is attached to something concrete rather than a campaign.

What concerns us is the gap between tone and law. A casual, competent gardening guide can make home cultivation feel more resolved than it is where you actually live. This is one publication making one editorial choice. It sits alongside real public support for home growing, persistent stigma in other settings, and a legal landscape that is still inconsistent from state to state and sometimes from town to town.

We think this is a good direction. Cannabis gets easier to navigate when trusted sources talk about it plainly. Learn the horticulture, check your local rules, and treat the plant with the same care you would give anything else you grow and consume. We will update this article as the law, the data and the reporting change.

Sources and further reading

For cultivation rules that apply to you, check your state cannabis regulator's published guidance or speak with a licensed attorney in your state.

Where to go next

If you are not growing yet, start with what is legal and available near you. Browse the Cannible dispensary directory to see licensed retailers in your area, or jump straight to a state page such as New Jersey to see how one market is structured.

If you are new to buying, how to choose a dispensary walks through what to ask about testing, sourcing and staff knowledge. And if you want to understand genetics before you think about seeds, start with our strain guide.

View on Cannible →