Build: • a Home for Less Than $25K • a Dome in the Desert • a Cattle Panel Hoop House • a Successful Goat Herd • a Petting Zoo Business

The magazine of modern homesteading

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UGP Countryside Ad 09,10/13 FRIDGES.indd 1 2013-06-05 7:26 PM 4 Here’s “almost everything you ever wanted to know” about self-reliant Country Living! Our Philosophy The very best in: It’s not a single idea, but many ideas • Gardening • Country Cooking 20 and attitudes, including a reverence • Animal Husbandry • Alternative Energy Past Issues of In this issue for nature and a preference for country • Food Preservation • Self Reliance life; a desire for maximum personal Vol. 97 No. 5, September/October 2013 ...and much, much more! For Only self-reliance and creative leisure; a con- $30! What’s happening this month on your Countryside homestead… cern for family nurture and community cohesion; a belief that the primary • Regular Price: $80 • Save over $50! • FREE Shipping* when you order today! reward of work should be well-being rather than money; a certain nostalgia We’re clearing out the warehouse by offering substantial savings on the issues listed below. All contain an abundance Departments: for the supposed simplicities of the of priceless country wisdom! Order today and we’ll even pay the shipping*! Country conversation...... 8 past and an anxiety about the techno- logical and bureaucratic complexities Over 2,320 pages of timeless info on homesteading, gardening and From the editor: of the present and the future; and a self-reliant country living in one whopping 10-pound package! Homesteaders Lose One of Their Own...... 23 taste for the plain and functional. Nov/Dec 2003 Vol. 87/6 • Choose the right knife • Shear your own sheep • How to Buy & Plan Your Countryside reflects and supports • Build a one-log hauler • Minerals for your horse • Is windpower right for you? Dream Homestead Check or • A non-electric chick brooder Money Order Feature articles: the simple life, and calls its YES! Send me the 20 Countryside Included. • Herbs for the holidays March/April 2007 Vol. 91/2 May/June 2008 Vol. 92/3 May/June 2009 Vol. 93/3 A Dream Home in the Country...... 24 practitioners homesteaders. Back Issues listed above for only $30, • Getting started with bees • The Integrated Homestead Part 1: • Hard economic times? Charge my Building a Desert Dwelling...... 29 March/April 2005 Vol. 89/2 • Stand-alone solar water pumping Soil Fertility Actions speak louder than words shipping included. I understand this credit card: • Solar hot water, options for is a limited time offer and available • Learn to carve a wooden bird • Raising rabbits step-by-step • Swap your lawn for an Visa/MasterCard/Discover • Start reloading your own every climate edible garden only while supplies last! (Circle One) Co u n t r y s i d e & Sm a l l St o c k Jo u r n a l The garden: ammo May/June 2007 Vol. 91/3 • Coping with today’s economy • Standby generator systems: Name Includes Small Stock Magazine Build a Cattle Panel Hoop House...... 38 • Grow grapes in the north • Feeding & care of your new choosing a personal power plant Card #______Founded 1917 by Wallace Blair Ad-______Exp______Honeybees July/August 2008 Vol. 92/4 The Farm Water Supply: Management is Crucial...... 43 and Countryside Magazine Nov/Dec 2005 Vol. 89/6 • Choose the best cow for your • Tools for the integrated homestead Sept/Oct 2009 Vol. 93/5 Make a No-Watering, No-Weeding Garden...... 45 Founded 1969 by Jd Belanger Phone number ______• Solar and wind options for homestead • The time is right for a family • Life on an Off-Grid Alpaca ______garden! Farm It’s Time for the Growing of the Greens...... 46 Send your manuscript to: Co u n t r y s i d e Editorial (or grid-tied homes Desert Gardening Tips...... 48 [email protected]). The editors reserve the right to • Build a fi eldstone smoke- July/August 2007 Vol. 91/4 • Dry your bounty • The Fall Garden: Time to select and edit letters/articles/photos to be printed. house • The importance of biodiversity Plant for Spring The opinions and advice given here are not necessarily Sept/Oct 2008 Vol. 92/5 those of the Publisher. • Start your own business in livestock production • Going Solar? Start Small • Keep your bees healthy • Bountiful harvests from a with a Pint-Sized Inverter The homestead kitchen: Publisher: Bart Smith • Rearrange your chicken yard $2 garden Managing Editor: Sept/Oct 2006 Vol. 90/5 • Get great eggs for little cash Store Salad Greens for Later Use...... 50 for fresh grazing Nov/Dec 2009 Vol. 93/6 Anne-marie Belanger Ida •The wonders of vinegar Mail this form along with $30 to: Co u n t r y - Make Cracklins After Rendering Lard...... 51 • 26 tantalizing tomato recipes • Build Your Own Root Cellar Editorial assistants: • Build a solar food dryer • Anyone Can Weld! s i d e BI, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 Yogurt: Medicinal Food on the Homestead...... 53 Jerri Cook, Samantha Ingersoll • Make apple cider Sept/Oct 2007 Vol. 91/5 Nov/Dec 2008 Vol. 92/6 An •Garden in a Greenhouse History of the Dutch Oven...... 56 Fulfillment:Chris Barkley, Laura Ching, • Earthen Construction • Homestead fi nance, how Or Call 800-551-5691 Today! Ann Tom, Ellen Soper, Kelly Weiler Nov/Dec 2006 Vol. 90/6 Alternative Building Option less can be more • How to sell your crafts • Free & wild winter food • No plug? No problem! Handy March/April 2010 Vol. 94/2 Advertising office: 1-800-551-5691 Homestead politics: • How to choose a grain mill • A tropical greenhouse: Cordless Tools • Going Solar: The Real Cost Classified ads: Gary Christopherson: • Build a solar shower at 9,100 feet • How to Choose & Use The Don’t Blame the Bean...... 57 [email protected] Jan/Feb 2009 Vol. 93/1 Modern Scythe Display advertising: Alicia Komanec: Jan/Feb 2007 Vol. 91/1 Jan/Feb 2008 Vol. 92/1 • Earn Extra Money in the Country • Meet the Neighbors: How 3 [email protected] •Be prepared with a • Build a cold frame or • Winter Care for Your Homesteaders Built Their Dream The goat barn: wilderness survival kit hoop house Livestock Ponds Printed in the U.S.A. Manage Your Goat Herd for Optimum Reproduction...... 59 (We may substitute if an issue sells out) Co u n t r y s i d e & Sm a l l St o c k Jo u r n a l (ISSN 8750-7595; USPS 498-940) is published bi-monthly by Country- side Publications, Ltd., 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451. Periodicals postage paid at Medford, WI 3YES! Send me the 20 Countryside Back Issues listed above for only $30, shipping Check or Money Order included. The horse barn: and additional mailing offices. ©2013 Countryside included on U.S. orders (*Call for foreign and Canada shipping prices). I understand Does Your Horse Suffer from “Farrier Phobia’”?...... 61 Publications, Ltd. this is a limited time offer and available only while supplies last! Charge my Credit Card: Over 2,320 pages of timeless info on homesteading, gardening and self-reliant country living! Editorial office: 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI Pigeon Fever in Horses...... 62 54451. (715) 785-7979, [email protected]. Subscriptions (US funds): $18 per year; two years, Name Visa/MasterCard/Discover/AmEx (Circle One) $30: Countryside Subscriptions, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451. The henhouse: Address______Card #______Exp______POSTMASTER: “POSTMASTER: Send all Feed Your Chickens Right...... 65 UAA to CFS. (See DMM 707.4.12.5); NON- City______State______Zip______Phone number ______POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Countryside Subscrip- Mail this form along with $30 to: Co u n t r y s i d e BI, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 tions, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451. Or Call 800-551-5691 Today! CountrysideHere’s &“almost Small Stock Journal, everything September/October you 2013 ever wanted to know”5 about self-reliant Country Living!

The very best in: • Gardening • Country Cooking 20 • Animal Husbandry • Alternative Energy Past Issues of • Food Preservation • Self Reliance ...and much, much more! For Only $30!

• Regular Price: $80 • Save over $50! • FREE Shipping* when you order today!

We’re clearing out the warehouse by offering substantial savings on the issues listed below. All contain an abundance of priceless country wisdom! Order today and we’ll even pay the shipping*! Over 2,320 pages of timeless info on homesteading, gardening and self-reliant country living in one whopping 10-pound package!

Nov/Dec 2003 Vol. 87/6 • Choose the right knife • Shear your own sheep • How to Buy & Plan Your • Build a one-log hauler • Minerals for your horse • Is windpower right for you? Dream Homestead Check or • A non-electric chick brooder YES! Send me the 20 Countryside Money Order March/April 2007 Vol. 91/2 May/June 2008 Vol. 92/3 Included. • Herbs for the holidays May/June 2009 Vol. 93/3 Back Issues listed above for only $30, • Getting started with bees • The Integrated Homestead Part 1: • Hard economic times? Charge my March/April 2005 Vol. 89/2 • Stand-alone solar water pumping Soil Fertility Actions speak louder than words shipping included. I understand this credit card: • Solar hot water, options for is a limited time offer and available • Learn to carve a wooden bird • Raising rabbits step-by-step • Swap your lawn for an Visa/MasterCard/Discover • Start reloading your own every climate edible garden only while supplies last! (Circle One) ammo May/June 2007 Vol. 91/3 • Coping with today’s economy • Standby generator systems: Name • Feeding & care of your new choosing a personal power plant Card #______• Grow grapes in the north Ad-______Exp______Honeybees July/August 2008 Vol. 92/4 • Tools for the integrated homestead Nov/Dec 2005 Vol. 89/6 • Choose the best cow for your Sept/Oct 2009 Vol. 93/5 Phone number ______• Solar and wind options for homestead • The time is right for a family • Life on an Off-Grid Alpaca ______grid-tied homes garden! Farm • Build a fi eldstone smoke- July/August 2007 Vol. 91/4 • Dry your bounty • The Fall Garden: Time to house • The importance of biodiversity Plant for Spring Sept/Oct 2008 Vol. 92/5 • Start your own business in livestock production • Going Solar? Start Small • Keep your bees healthy • Bountiful harvests from a with a Pint-Sized Inverter • Rearrange your chicken yard $2 garden Sept/Oct 2006 Vol. 90/5 • Get great eggs for little cash for fresh grazing Nov/Dec 2009 Vol. 93/6 •The wonders of vinegar • 26 tantalizing tomato recipes Mail this form along with $30 to: Co u n t r y - • Build a solar food dryer • Build Your Own Root Cellar • Anyone Can Weld! s i d e BI, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 • Make apple cider Sept/Oct 2007 Vol. 91/5 Nov/Dec 2008 Vol. 92/6 An •Garden in a Greenhouse • Earthen Construction • Homestead fi nance, how Or Call 800-551-5691 Today! Nov/Dec 2006 Vol. 90/6 Alternative Building Option less can be more • How to sell your crafts • Free & wild winter food • No plug? No problem! Handy March/April 2010 Vol. 94/2 • How to choose a grain mill • A tropical greenhouse: Cordless Tools • Going Solar: The Real Cost • Build a solar shower at 9,100 feet • How to Choose & Use The Jan/Feb 2009 Vol. 93/1 Modern Scythe Jan/Feb 2007 Vol. 91/1 Jan/Feb 2008 Vol. 92/1 • Earn Extra Money in the Country • Meet the Neighbors: How 3 •Be prepared with a • Build a cold frame or • Winter Care for Your Homesteaders Built Their Dream wilderness survival kit hoop house Livestock Ponds (We may substitute if an issue sells out)

3YES! Send me the 20 Countryside Back Issues listed above for only $30, shipping Check or Money Order included. included on U.S. orders (*Call for foreign and Canada shipping prices). I understand this is a limited time offer and available only while supplies last! Charge my Credit Card: Over 2,320 pages of timeless info on homesteading, gardening and self-reliant country living!

Name Visa/MasterCard/Discover/AmEx (Circle One) Address______Card #______Exp______City______State______Zip______Phone number ______

Mail this form along with $30 to: Co u n t r y s i d e BI, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 Or Call 800-551-5691 Today! 6 Homestead business: How to Start Your Own Petting Zoo Business...... 67

The woodshop: Wood Preservatives on the Homestead...... 70 Reduce Your Cutting Times by 50%...... 73

Homestead prepping: Beyond Gold: Some Items Will Be More Valuable...... 78

New products: Portable Off-Grid Solar Kits and Wind Generators...... 80

Country neighbors: Plan Ahead for Homesteading Success...... 81 The Peace of a Simple, Frugal Life...... 82 Heading for the Hills...... 84 On the cover: An Unwanted Calling...... 86 Another bounitful harvest comes to an end as pumpkins pile up at a farm Photo Contest Winner...... 88 market Poor Will’s Almanack...... 89

In memoriam: The Silence of an Anvil...... 98

Contact us: Phone: 1-800-551-5691 (8:00-4:30 Central) Fax: 1-715-748-7414 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 w w w .countrysidemag .c o m

Cu s t o m e r s e r v i c e / b o o k o r d e r s : [email protected]

Adv e rt i s i n g o f f i c e : [email protected]

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Country conversation & feedback Contact us at: 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451; [email protected]

scription to Netflix for movies and have a place in the ecosystem. Don’t No Television… documentaries. If I can tolerate the waste it, compost it! Once we reach torture, I will someday try to watch our own comfort level, “doing with- More Grey Matter a modern sitcom with the sound off out” makes it that much better. I call it Co u n t r y s i d e : I just loved Jerri Cook’s as she had suggested. Austerity for the Rich and I suggest it article “Tuned Out,” in the July/ By the way, I proudly explain that every time I hear austerity for the poor August 2013 edition of Co u n t r y s i d e . I don’t watch tv in social settings. Try recommended. Wouldn’t you love to What a fantastic article! Thank you! it sometime—I get very interesting see a severe pay cut for congress…. She grabbed my attention in the first responses including people who say — Michele Marlowe, Texas paragraph because I thought I was the that they agree with me, although only American who has never seen a are unable to unplug it, and others Another “Misfit” Dancing With the Stars or a Survivor who say that they wouldn’t know episode. Her article has just served what to do with themselves without Surfaces their tv. — Heidi Cote, Southwick, Mas- as a free counseling session for me— Aren’t there cell phones there is someone else out there who sachusetts believes network television shrinks Body fluids just for talking? neurons and dendrites, and I will personally add that I feel tv suffocates are compostable Co u n t r y s i d e : What a great article by creativity. Co u n t r y s i d e : I enjoyed Lois Resler’s Lynette of California! (March/Apr My husband and I got rid of our “Tossing TV Enhances Life,” July/ 2013) I laughed and laughed… and I local cable tv subscription and oc- August 2013, especially when she would have written her a “good old- casionally will watch the news over got to “going without” or harvesting fashioned letter” if she had included the air (yes, we get 26-plus channels rainwater. I want to remind her that an address. Anyway, Lynnette, you with an antenna) but we rarely watch flushing the toilet not only wastes are not alone! There may not be too tv. However, we do love our sub- water, but our bodies’ byproducts many of us, and (sadly) I am not quite as much of a “misfit” as you say you Ma g a z i n e r e n e w a l a l e r t ! are (only because I’m married to a tech-gadget addict and he insists on Hiding behind several different some “modern conveniences”). made-up names including CBS, United Publishers Services, Publishers Billing Ex- He bought me a cell phone about change and National Magazine Services, 16 years ago, and I had to replace it they mail notices similar to the one left, last month because it was literally trying to sell subscriptions to Co u n t r y s i d e falling apart—I had to squeeze the & Sm a l l St o c k Jo u r n a l —as well as dozens of other magazines—for exhorbitant case together in just the right place prices far above the going rate. In the case of Co u n t r y s i d e they offer a two-year renewal for or I lost my connection. It had 250 $65.95, while the real price is only $30. • The name and address may change—in March it minutes per month and I usually was White City, OR. • This company is not connected with Countryside Publications, Ltd., used less than 50. When I got the in any way, and has an “F” rating with the Better Business Bureau. • If you receive a notice like this one please ignore it or ask them to remove your name from their mailing list. If you replacement I told them I didn’t have renewed through them, call 1-775-345-3664 and ask for a complete refund. (They have need texting or a camera or Internet been charging some people $20 for the “privilege.”) • Genuine renewal notices come from us access—just a phone. They didn’t here at the home office at 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, Wisconsin 54451. If you ever have a have one, but they did say they could question regarding your Co u n t r y s i d e subscription, call us at 1-800-551-5691 or email friend@ countrysidemag.com. de-activate all those gadgets and I could keep my plan with its limit Organic Green Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 9 Costa Rican Monte Crisol 9 of 250 minutes. (The girl behind the that they keep on their person all Coffee Beans counter couldn’t believe I use less day every day, and they text and Stays fresh for than that.) take pictures with it. Even people 20+ years! We also have a home comput- older than I (and I’m 55—no spring er with hi-speed Internet access, chicken) have them, complete with again at his insistence, but I use it all the features. Every once in a way less than he does; many days while, a neighbor will be talking of a it doesn’t get turned on until he tv program or a cute commercial and comes home from work. Until he then they’ll say to me, “Oh, I forgot, and I were married, I didn’t even you don’t watch tv.” have a television—which horrified Someone will be talking of the Learn more at him. That was the first thing he newest 100-calorie snack food or www.campingsurvival.com bought after the wedding. We joke processed pre-made dinner or en- now that if I die first he will go out ergy bar, and then will say, “Oh, you and get a big screen with cable or probably haven’t tried it, have you Dish (so far I have been able to hold Miss Health Food?” out against having either of those), Many of the older people here and if he dies first the tv will go out have gardens, so it’s not like my the door with his corpse. Actually, I garden makes me the misfit. But would probably keep the computer many of them only grow tomatoes if he dies first because our kids are and green beans, and maybe sweet scattered and they like to email or corn and onions. What makes me Skype instead of writing real letters the misfit is that I grow things like or even making phone calls. But the chard, broccoli, kohlrabi, garlic and cell phone, the cordless house phone, spinach, and when they are produc- the tv, the microwave oven, and the ing well my entire meal is often just dishwasher could all go out the door. one or two things from the garden, He bought them all. Same with all with minimal (if any) cooking. My his electric power tools. When we church is small and conservative, were married, I owned a small claw and our history is one of simplicity, hammer, one slotted screwdriver, but even there all but maybe one and a pair of pliers. At that time I person is more modern, more con- could do everything I needed to do nected, more gadget-using than I. with those three tools. (Poor guy— I milk goats, drink the milk raw, that was horrifying to him, too.) make cheese and soap from it, gar- Now I would probably keep the den, can and freeze, raise chickens wheelbarrow, the chainsaw and one and rabbits, have a rain barrel, a handsaw, in addition to those three blueberry patch, a raspberry patch, stand-bys. and hazelnuts, and I mow with a I do not watch network tv and push mower—all on two acres at we don’t have cable, so the only the edge of town. The older folks time I watch tv is if he is playing a say, “That’s what our grandparents movie that I really like—and there did; we don’t have to do all that aren’t too many of those. If he has nowadays.” And the younger ones 1,000 movies (and I’m just guessing), say “You do what? How do you do there are only about 40 or 50 that I that?” They don’t have a clue! will watch. Don’t give in or give up, Lyn- Lynette asked if there was a nette. Whether you find a place to fit place she could move to that might in, or just live your way as a misfit, fit her, but I don’t know if it exists. there are others of us out here and I live in a tiny semi-rural commu- we’re cheering for you. — Lee Arm- nity (less than 2,000 people) which lovich, Jamestown, Ohio many people consider “Hicksville” or “Podunk,” and you might think that would be a great place for a 3 Pet Pygmies…12 simpler life, but even here I’m an Homestead Hens… oddball. Many (or maybe most) people around me have cell phones Co u n t r y s i d e : I have a little 2.5 acre 10 10I have made it a rule never to smoke more than 1 cigar at a time.— Mark Twain homestead in the panhandle of Flor- because of our recent conversation ida with 12 hens, three pet pygmy about the subject. I think he will also wethers (poop machines for my gar- feel validated for his feelings. den) and I garden organically for my Thanks for putting this into own home use, which is a challenge words. I hope lots and lots of in wonderful Florida’s bug-infested people paid attention. — Cynthia and sandy soils. My sister gave me a Hall, Florida box full of past issues of Co u n t r y s i d e which I have been reading ravenous- ly for the past couple weeks. What Alternative Energy: a wonderful resource—I will be More Dependable passing it on to my homesteading 28-year-old son who is of the same Than in the Past frame of mind. I read Jerri Cook’s article entitled Co u n t r y s i d e : I enjoyed Cynthia Van- HOME CIDER PRESSES “Fools for Profit” and was blown noy’s response to my story “12 Years 4 MODELS AVAILABLE away by her ability to articulate Off-The-Grid.” Like Cynthia, I remember the early days of homemade Our secret is the “APPLE EATER” so well what has been brewing in Grinder, and NEW IMPROVED power in the 1970s. The equipment Polymer drum, which will not crack the deep recesses of my mind for or breed bacteria and is designed to awhile now, and something that my was being developed and it wasn’t grind a bushel of apples in five (5) very practical or dependable. Prob- minutes. brother and I discussed at length lems with television and radio inter- GUARANTEED— just a few weeks ago on a kayaking * Sturdy construction trip where we had a chance to talk ference were common. Using gas or * All cast iron grinder about what we fear is happening to diesel-powered generators can still * Immediate delivery. our country. be aggravating. Go online, call or write for FREE Catalog: I have not had a television for One of the reasons I wrote my Happy Valley Ranch the past 10 years just because of the story was to encourage readers that the days of unreliable electricity with 16577 W. 327th St., Dept CS, Paola, KS 66071 mind numbing stuff that is available. all kinds of problems and demands 913-849-3103 CS.happyvalleyranch.com I hung on to it for a while, just to keep up with the news. In the past are behind us. The new equipment few years I even stopped getting is durable and functions beautifully. the newspaper because I finally felt I’ve gone for 12 years with no serious that I might not really be getting problems. The time I spend in main- factual news. My husband does col- tenance is minimum. I want to assure lect newspapers from people at work readers that homemade renewable because I use them in my garden for energy can be a good choice today. I mulch and then composting them write about how to operate and main- in. I knew those people would just tain the homestead electric system, throw them in the trash so I figured including those pesky generators, in this would be a better use of them, my free homesteading manual, Ab u n - so they do have some value. d a c u l t u r e . Just download this free FOX (tv) had been who I trusted, PDF and enjoy your safe, dependable and probably that was only because electricity—no matter how far you I felt that they reflected my values. are from the city sidewalks. — Jack But I don’t think there are any values Dody, Colorado in television anymore, other than to make you think a certain way and to inflame your emotions and make Salt Is Good For you watch. I don’t know what the answer is. Many Things, But But I do know that she hit the nail Not Weeds on the head. At least in my opinion, which I suppose is all we can have Co u n t r y s i d e : This is in response to anymore. It did feel good to find Mr. Jahn of Iowa. He had a question out that someone else who is more about weed control in his aspara- highly placed in the communications gus patch. I didn’t believe it when field feels the same way. I can’t wait an elderly neighbor told me about to let my brother read her article, it, but the answer is salt. Plain old 538GB_538GA 6/20/13 2:18 PM Page 1

Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 11

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The Original World 12 This is a must-have commentary 12Whenpeople suddenly become prosperous, they also become preposterous. — L. J. Peter about money and finances, which sodium chloride. I have used table when understood, will bring true salt and pure water softener pellets freedom from stress and worry. If this was understood and lived by every with equal success. The asparagus human being on earth, the world seems to love it. It kills the other would be a very different place. And vegetation in 24-48 hours and does though that isn’t going to happen, not seem to harm the environment. you can personally free yourself from The grass comes up just as lush the endless frantic striving and fear in a world gone mad. next year, so you need to reapply the salt every year. To apply, cover Order this transcription by Vernon Howard today! Send only $5 (Shipping included) to: the ground surface just before a rain, New Life • PO Box 2230-AJ • Pine AZ 85544 which will dissolve and water it in www.anewlife.org for you. — C. Smith, Georgia

WOOD GASIFICATION by: Ah, yes, “If it seems too good to be true….” Vapor-Fire Salt will definitely kill your weeds. • Up to 99.4% combustion efficient It will also kill earthworms and some • .45 grams/hour of emissions making it beneficial insects if poured directly on #1 in the world for add on and central them. The salt permits the soil to hold furnaces. more water without releasing it to the • Stainless Steel Electric plants’ roots, so the plants (and worms) Sauna Heaters - will dehydrate, even in the rain. Black Squash bugs invade a pumpkin patch. (wall mount & floor models) plastic or mulch would be a better idea • Woodburning Sauna Control them with a mix of Dawn to control weeds around the perimeter Stoves - (3 sizes) dishwashing liquid and water. of the asparagus patch. Unfortunately Lamppa Manufacturing there’s probably no getting away from Box 422 • Tower, MN • 55790 having to pull some weeds by hand To deter squash bugs: Spray 800-358-2049 close to the plants. squash plant leaves with artificial email: [email protected] (Historical note: It was once a war vanilla. Supposedly, squash bugs are www.lamppakuuma.com tactic to salt an enemy’s fields, leaving attracted to the smell of “bitter,” so them unsuitable for planting, which anything that smells “sweet” could forced the enemy to move to another misdirect them. location.) To avoid squash bugs: Do not plant squash outside until the end Avoid Hosting of June. The few squash bugs that arrive in my garden before then sort Your Own “Bug of wander around trying to find a suitable plant for egg laying, but Convention” nothing else really works out for them. And they don’t damage any Co u n t r y s i d e : As the former (unwill- other plant. ing) host of the annual “Squash Bugs Regarding the topic of oven USA Convention,” I have some solu- canning, I bought a solar oven last tions for Justine. year and cannot sing its praises loud To kill squash bugs: spray with enough. The one I got was the very two tablespoons of Dawn dish- roomy Solar Oven Society Sport washing liquid to one gallon of model, and it not only turned apples water. (More Dawn in the mix is not into apple butter, but then canned better. A friend killed some squash the apple butter, right in the solar plants by being too enthusiastic with oven with minimal attention from the Dawn concentration.) This kills me and no fossil fuel needed, thank baby and adolescent squash bugs you very much! (as well as blister beetles) immedi- Enjoy your magazine! I’ve been ately, right before your eyes, and living off the grid for 30 years now, if sprayed on the egg masses lets and it just keeps getting better! you slide them off the leaf without —Debi Larson, Mountain View, Mis- tearing it. Sabadilla dust is the only souri thing I know that for sure kills adult squash bugs, and I don’t know Sabadilla was first used in the 16th where to get it. century, and grew in popularity during Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 13 FINANCE SOLUTIONS TERMS UP TO 7 YEARS RATES AS LOW AS 0% LIMITED TIME OFFER. SUBJECT TO APPROVAL.

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Call 1.800.327.6835 today for your free catalog or shop online at www.FarmTek.com/ADCTS. 14 14God must love the common man, he made so many of them. — Abe Lincoln World War II when pyrethrum and ro- tenone were in short supply. The insec- ticidal dust is made from the seeds of a small perennial bulb in the Lily family. Commercial supplies come from South and Central America. The toxic constitu- ents actually become more powerful after storage; fresh sabadilla extracts have not proven to be a strong insecticide. Sabadilla is a broad spectrum contact poison, and may have some action as a stomach poison also. Sabadilla is toxic to honeybees. It is most effective against leafhoppers and true bugs. It degrades rapidly on exposure to air and sunlight, leaving very little residual toxicity. — Source: www.gardening. cornell.edu/factsheets/ecogardening/ DEPENDABLE WATER... natbotan.html. WHEREVER YOU ARE Reliant Another Vouch for The furry feline is still the favorite Solar/Electric rodent deterrent out there. Water Pump™ Dryer Sheets poisoned. It will become very sick Co u n t r y s i d e : We live in a rural com- and will not be able to hunt, and will Rugged munity surrounded by farmland and slowly starve to death. In turn, it will Simple wooded areas. We have had issues in be eaten, and the poison continues on Affordable the past with mice nesting inside our www.artisanpumpco.com to the next creature. vehicles, the ones we drive and the Won’t you feel miserable if you 1967 Corvair that is parked for most poison your dog or cat? How about of the year. the neighbor’s animals or birds? How We have found that placing inex- about someone’s children? pensive dryer sheets in the vehicles Any time poison bait is put out has solved our problem. I even place to kill something, it ends up killing them in the tack room where we something unintended, too. store the barn cat food. We have not Poison spreads not only through discovered rodent nests or droppings animals and birds, but in the water in any of our vehicles since we started and soil. As a licensed wildlife reha- using dryer sheets and there’s no foul bilitator, I have taken in numerous odor. Just remember to remove them creatures that have been poisoned. I from the engine compartment of any have to handle them with gloves and stored vehicle before you start it up. keep my skin covered. Poison can be — Joan Schafer, Minnesota transmitted through skin, and some people are more sensitive than others. You can become sick, just from inhal- The Unintentional ing the breath of a poisoned creature. Poisoning Victims I have to put down just about every creature that comes in poisoned, Co u n t r y s i d e : I am responding to the because even if I can save them, the story in the March/April 2013 issue treatment and long term care in con- of Countryside, story on on page 9 finement is brutal for them. “Out, Out Damned Mouse.” If you want to kill rodents, the Warfarin is a deadly poison to all most human solution is the old- creatures. When a mouse ingests it, it fashioned snap trap baited with is stored in its cheeks and carried back cheese or peanut butter. Find out if to the nest. While scurrying home, a there is a wildlife rehabber or facil- hawk, eagle, owl, domestic cat, dog, ity nearby—they can always use the fox, coyote, or other predator catches mice for food for numerous creatures it and eats it. This next creature is now in their care—as long as they aren’t Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 15 A Few Solar Generators With Slight Scratches At Astonishing Discounts! here has never been a better time to people who really don’t care about a minor have a “Solar Backup” solution for scratch, but are just interested in having Tsustainable backup power. Here’s reliable backup power... and to offer these the thing: I could go on and on about life units at below wholesale pricing. without electricity and what a nightmare gas generators can be. But here are just a Only 17 Units In The few of the many benefits of owning a “Solar Warehouse!!! Backup” solution... We have currently 17 of these • Generate Free Electricity From The PowerSource1800 Solar Generators to sell Sun at this once-in-a-lifetime price. When they are gone, it’ll be pretty hard to get this • Gas Stations Can’t Pump Gas Without kind of backup power at such a steeply Electricity discounted price. But while the inventory • No Dangerous Fumes of these slightly scratched units lasts, you this amazing deal...go to this website right can pick one up for very little money. now... • Back Up Power When You Need It Most All Scratch And Dents Have Full ScratchAndDentSolar.com • Portable Power “New Unit” Warranties! If you would like to order by phone, you can call toll-free by dialing 800-219-7723. • Runs Quietly In Your Home We also guarantee every Tell whoever answers that you want one of PowerSource1800 Solar Generator to be • Multiple Uses the Scratch and Dent models, $1,000.00 in in like-new condition. As we mentioned free seeds, and the LED bulbs. • Plug And Play Means Instant Power earlier, in some cases, only the box was “dinged up” a little, so the units inside the Please call even if you plan to pay by I’m so convinced every American box are absolutely perfect. In fact, in most check or money order so we can put your household needs a Solar Generator, that cases not even one of our techs could find name on a unit. But act quickly. My guess I’ve aranged for a truly incredible offer anything wrong, except that the box doesn’t is they will be gone in a flash. that won’t last long and I want to take a look new. (But if you think about it, you few minutes to extend this offer to you as a If you want to order by check or money will probably throw the box out anyway.) reader of Countryside. order, after you call, have your check or We know how important solar backup money order made out to “Solutions From Once A Year We Let A Handful power is to our Countryside readers, so Science” and mail it to... Of People Get The Deal Of A we wanted to offer this to you right away. Solutions From Science Lifetime On Solar Backup Power Now, I have to be honest, these special “scratch and dent” units aren’t going to last Dept. Scratch & Dent CS127 Here’s the exciting story: very long. 2200 IL Route 84 In the rush and excitement of selling The price is just $995.00 plus $149.00 P.O. Box 518 several thousand Solar Generators in the shipping and handling. (Total $1,146.00) Thomson, IL 61285 last year, there was no time to pay attention But I’ve decided to sweeten the deal to the units that were slightly scratched or even more. I’m also going to give you Warm Regards, had dented boxes except to put them aside $1,000.00 in Heirloom Seeds, and $150.00 in our warehouse. in LED bulbs... absolutely free. All of Some of the units have only slight this is true. You can see a video we made scratches on the outside shell - so slight about this once in a lifetime offer at: that you would have to make a real close ScratchAndDentSolar.com Bill Heid inspection to discern the damage, but still... The Heirloom Seeds are yours free when President, Solutions From Science you know how it is... they cannot be sold as you order a “Scratch and Dent” unit, but perfect Solar Generators. quantities are definitely limited, so we must P.S. If you have any questions at all, So rather than send them back to our receive your order as soon as possible in don’t hesitate to call the office at800-219- manufacturing plant in Canada and give order to help guarantee a unit. 7723. You should definitely watch the video Canadian workers the job of putting Here’s what you should do right now if before you call. Watch it by going to: new outside shells on the units, we have you are even thinking about this. For the decided to pass a huge discount on to a few absolute fastest way to get your hands on ScratchAndDentSolar.com See page 88 to learn how 16 16 YOU can win a FREE t-shirt in the photo contest! poisoned! Put them in a ziplock-type bag in your freezer. Or, adopt a cat from the shelter. Show your enthusiasm I dry my fruits and vegetables on cookie sheets covered with cheese- for homesteading! cloth. I put the sheets on the roof Wear this comfortable, of my house, where nothing gets to brand new, high-quality, them. I don’t have bird problems. Flying insects don’t travel that high off the ground. — Brenda Miller, Countryside Roubideau Rim Wildlife Rescue, 501c3, POBox 750, Olathe, CO. 81425, 970- 209-5946; Facebook Page: http://bit.ly/ T-shirt RRWR-Facebook ; www.greenplacer- anch.com Now Makes Available In a Great Bees Go to Prison BROWN! Gift! in Georgia

Co u n t r y s i d e : Finally, exciting and good things are happening at Smith State Prison. I am an inmate at Smith. Only ORDER YOURS TODAY! A little over a year ago, I met a fellow inmate who previously raised $14 ! bees. We read an article in Bee Culture Countryside T-Shirt Order Form magazine (www.beeculture.com; All T-shirts are $14.00 each and available in red, navy blue and NEW brown — 800-289-7668), where the Florida and two styles. Please specify size(s) and color(s). Department of Corrections, with Adult size small Color______Quantity _____ $ cooperation from the Florida Dept. Adult size medium Color______Quantity _____ $ of Agriculture, University of Florida Adult size large Color______Quantity _____ $ and several other entities introduced Adult size extra large Color______Quantity _____ $ a bee keeping program in the prison Adult size 2 XL Color______Quantity _____ $ system. We discussed the article and Adult size 3 XL Color______Quantity _____ $ thought it was a good idea, so we ap- Women’s cut size medium Color______Quantity _____ $ proached the warden to start a similar Women’s cut size large Color______Quantity _____ $ Women’s cut size extra large Color______Quantity _____ $ program It would be an On-the-Job Women’s cut size 2 XL Color______Quantity _____ $ Training or reentry program to benefit the bee industry with experienced Order total $______help, creating a new marketable job $______4.00 Shipping & handling skill for released inmates looking for Subtotal $______employment, as well as promoting WI res. add 5.5% tax $______bee keeping. But, unlike the State Total enclosed $______of Florida’s program, we currently do not have the cooperation from Name: ______Georgia Dept. of Agriculture. We also Address: ______approached several universities as City:______State:______Zip:______well as local apiaries for assistance, E-mail:______Phone:______to no avail. Although we are hoping they will eventually come onboard to Check Enclosed Charge my credit card make this program a bigger success. Visa/MC/AmEx/Disc No.:______Exp.:______With months of planning and putting a course curriculum together, we re- Mail to: Countryside ceived an okay to start a class. 145 Industrial Drive, Medford, WI 54451 In August we started with a package of bees. Things were going well or call Toll-Free: 800-551-5691 or Fax: 715-785-7414 and the hive grew fairly quickly. By www.countrysidemag.com Countryside Magazine Ad 2007 0710-1452 Oct 2007

Countryside & Small Stock Journal,17 September/October 2013 17 December we had a story and a half at home hive and were looking forward to an ™ early spring split. January came and in nature our facility was under lockdown for the entire month, with very limited rom seaside getaways movement and we were unable to Fto mountain retreats, attend to our bees. Mid-January came the Pacific Yurt goes and we had a warm spell and the hive where you want to be. swarmed. A week later we experienced a hard freeze, and that was the Call today for a brochure: end of our bees. A call was made to 1.800.944.0240 a local package seller and they told email: [email protected] us that they had experienced similar www.yurts.com swarming in their hives, and it would be early March before any packages would be available. Mid-March came and the prison purchased another package, using the old comb from the hive. By the first week in May we made our first split and installed a new super. We have graduated one class so far, and our current class will be done soon. We have room for 12-15 students and enough people have No One Knows Yurts Like Pacific Yurts™ signed up for the next four classes. Cottage Grove, Oregon With one hive and a nuc we can’t World’s Leading Manufacturer offer very much hands-on training as we would like, but as we grow things should get better. I am the co- instructor and have really enjoyed all of the excitement and positive attitudes this program has made from both staff and inmates. There was a follow-up article in the March issue of the American Bee Journal about how well the program in Florida is going after a year. I am glad to see their program is doing so well. We have made a lot of progress in our program here at Smith State, though there has been some growing pains and setbacks. If we had a little outside influence we would expect similar results as Florida’s program has achieved and would be able to spread this program to other facilities. In fact, many of the staff have talked about attending the class. As I have become more knowl- edgeable about bee keeping, I have been able to help my sister to raise bees in southwest Virginia. She has four hives and is still a little nervous about going through them. She still lacks some confidence, but is doing a great job. The articles in Co u n t r y s i d e pro- 18 18 When Disaster Strikes vide a lot of classroom discussion, A Comprehensive Guide for Emergency Planning and Crisis Survival as well as keeping us updated in the By Ma t t h e w St e i n industry. — Stan Austin, Smith State Disasters often strike without warning and leave a Prison, Georgia trail of destruction in their wake. Yet armed with the right tools and information, survivors can fend for Don’t Jump Into themselves and get through even the toughest circumstances. Matthew Stein’s When Disaster Strikes Homesteading provides a thorough, practical guide for how to prepare for and react in many of life's most unpredictable With Blinders On scenarios. The neighbors won’t In this disaster-preparedness manual, he outlines the materials you'll need-from food and water, to shelter appreciate it and energy, to first-aid and survival skills-to help you safely live through the worst. When Disaster Strikes Co u n t r y s i d e : This is an open, frank covers how to find and store food, water, and cloth- letter to those who want to be home- ing, as well as the basics of installing back-up power and lights. You'll learn steaders. It’s meant to be honest and how to gather and sterilize water, build a fire, treat injuries in an emergency, to the point. I have thought long and and use alternative medical sources when conventional ones are unavailable. hard about this letter before I wrote Stein instructs you on the smartest responses to natural disasters—such as it. I’m speaking from the experience fires, earthquakes, hurricanes and floods—how to keep warm during winter of watching two examples of people storms, even how to protect yourself from attack or other dangerous situations. wanting to live a homestead life. One With this comprehensive guide in hand, you can be sure to respond quickly, failed miserably, the second is still a correctly, and confidently when a crisis threatens.375 pages, $24.95 + $4/s&h. train wreck happening. WI res. add 5.5%. The first story is short and sweet, about a couple who were given the Countryside Bookstore: 1-800-551-5691 chance to homestead in a south cen- or visit www.countrysidemag.com tral state. They showed up with an RV to live in and very little of anything else. They counted on finding work locally, but lacked the energy to go Storey’s Guide to about finding the job. They had help from the locals, including water Raising Sheep from the neighbors and the use of 4th Edition the phone. Although the homesteaders had a drilled well, they had no Breeding—Care—Facilities money to pay for the electricity to run it. They did have phone service By Pa u l a Si mm o n s & Ca r o l Ek a r i u s and Internet, and always money for smokes and drinks. They received A must-have for any sheep farmer. This extensively revised and updated version of the classic Raising Sheep the Modern Way includes information on: several chickens and plants from • selection some other neighbors, but were • housing forced to give up their dream in about • space requirements New Edition four months. The locals just got tired • breeding and birthing techniques of the Best-selling of supporting them, especially after • feeding Classic they couldn’t pay the $100 a month • behavior rent, much less a land payment. They • health concerns and remedies for illnesses had to leave. Also, information on spinning, weaving, the equipment needed and where Now the second family was col- to find it. Sheep products, marketing and showing are touched on as well. lege educated and talked “smart.” 438 pages, $19.95 + $4/s&h. WI res. add 5.5%. They were in their early 30s with a handful of kids (seven). The oldest was about 13 and the youngest, about To place your order call a year. They had read Co u n t r y s i d e and thought that it would be a great 1-800-551-5691 lifestyle to raise a family in. They moved to this south-central state and www.countrysidemag.com proceeded to buy land and build their Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 19 dream house—partly by themselves for that help, they had other things At the time they did not even have a and with the help of others. They had that they had to do, although neither fence, or a barn. Many a time the cow money to invest and they were able worked off (nor on) the homestead. would be walking down the road or to get a building loan from the local They had a widow and her fam- across the neighbor’s grass. That was bank. This was all fine and good, but ily move onto their property with okay with them, as if chickens can they had no knowledge of gardening, her trailer. After two years, they told free range then the cow should be animals, fencing, nor did they own the family to leave, get out, bye. This able to also. One time the cow was only the slimmest of tools. was after the lady and her daugh- out walking and the neighbor tied They proceeded to spend their ters cleaned a perimeter and fenced her to a barbwire fence so she would money on whatever they thought around 12 acres, all by hand. The not get hit. The wannabes swore up they needed—a new refrigerator widow also paid her share of the utili- and down that mischievous kids and other appliances, electronics and ties and had invested in some of the had moved the cow and that it was computer games for the kids—no fencing and the gates, but she had to not wandering about. As of June, tools or other homesteading items. leave them, and not by choice. there is no grass in their pasture for Same story as the first group, The wannabes bought a milk cow. the skinny cow and her calf. There is the locals tried to help, but almost every time they were informed that the “gardening bible” was the final word when it came to gardening and the locals didn’t understand how to This is Henry. garden. Or raise chickens, or cows. After all, they’d read they should free range chickens. So they did. They “free ranged” on the neighbors’ property, eating the neighbors’ chicken and dog feed. They locked about 100 chickens in their chicken coop, but left them there until mid-morning on a 100-degree day, killing about 70 of the birds. They just hauled them down to the creek and threw them in until the neighbor told them to bury the birds. For three years the chickens have been running wild and for three years the 4-H club has been giving He likes to get around. these people 100 free chicks. Now the Luckily, his owner just built a new Red Brand fence. neighbor just shoots the stray birds or lets the dog get them, because these people do not care one way or the • Industry leading quality with heavy zinc other. They don’t even buy chicken coating and tight, uniform weave pattern feed. POULTRY NETTING • Provides predator-proof protection They have been given free healthy for poultry, pet pens and gardens strawberry plants, thornless blackber- • Hexagon mesh design is reinforced with supplemental horizontal wires ries, Jerusalem artichokes, produce of to keep netting straight and upright all kinds, and help with their garden • 20-gauge wire is galvanized before weaving and taking care of their kids those to last longer, resisting rust and corrosion first couple of years. They still can- • Reverse twist weave unrolls flat, not tell when the broccoli or lettuce ensuring easier handling is ready, or that hilling the potatoes • The only poultry netting made in the U.S.A. means not to put two feet of compost over the top of them. They would borrow tools and were shown how to fix small engines, but the lenders always had to go get their tools back. The wannabes would say “just call when you would like help” in the Find dealers and installation videos at redbrand.com. 800.477.6444 garden or something, but when asked Snorkel_SD139A:Countryside 10/24/12 9:39 AM Page 1

20 20 lots of cactus, weeds, and a big pile or two of logs. The Missus claimed she will not kill herself working three hours a day in her 20 x 30 garden that looks like a briar patch. (It was lucky if there were three hours of work a week done Beautiful hand selected Western Red Cedar, in it.) But she would gladly help the still water and crackling fire...all you need neighbor’s wife can for half of all the to enjoy a relaxing soak, under the stars. produce. (This is the same individual Choose wood-fired simplicity at half the who has asked the neighbor’s wife price of plastic spas or digital fingertip to raise extra produce to give to her; control gas or electric heat.The moonlit keeps asking to borrow tools and sky and peaceful relaxation are free. mixers—for a week; and donates their • No Plumbing, No Power Bills! • Jets available for wood heat tubs produce to those in need through the • Digital control gas/electric 30 Years local church and food bank.) These heated systems available too. Made in wannabes have just about alienated USA! themselves from everyone in the local On Sale Now! community because of their acting like Ask about Special Freight Offer. Wood Fire Heating Cost $0 Under Water! the local folks are a bunch of hicks. My with wood fire! neighbor moved here to meet and help Call Toll Free UNDERWATER other like-minded homesteaders, but Woodstove good neighbors are hard to come by 1- 800-962-6208 heats water www.snorkel.com AMAZINGLY and the wannabes ain’t one of them. fast! Please, if you want to be a home- Dept. SD139A steader do not take advantage of your fellow neighbors. Learn skills and save your money, as it’s expensive to make mistakes—now more than ever. Dead Snails Leave No Trails Please do not tell your neighbor that By Lo r e n Na n c a r r o w & Ja n e t Ho g a n Ta y l o r they are your best friend and then stab them with slander—word does get Natural Pest Control for Home and Garden around in small communities. And last of all, don’t be like the wannabes! If you’ve ever had a swarm of fruit flies in — Anonymous your kitchen or a gopher wreaking havoc in your yard, you may have wondered what a consci- entious gardener or homeowner can do short Give Thanks of heavy-duty chemical warfare. Dead Snails Leave No Trails is a comprehensive guide to For the Trees repelling both indoor and outdoor pests using organic methods—it’s the perfect DIY solution There’s good reason to eliminate unwelcome visitors in your home they’ve been worshipped and garden while keeping yourself, your family, for centuries and the environment safe from harmful chemicals.With a few easy-to-find items, you’ll learn Co u n t r y s i d e : Our weather has reached how to: Make your own all-purpose pest repel- “Biblical”-type storm effects. The cur- lents with simple ingredients like chile peppers rent system (written in mid-June) is and vinegar; Use companion planting to attract said to affect 75-million Americans, beneficial insects and animals or repel harmful ones; Keep four-legged and two-thirds of the nation is rather intruders—including squirrels, deer, rabbits, and skunks—away from your prized warm. People say there’s nothing we vegetables and flowers; Safely eliminate ants, roaches, and rodents from your can do about it. Wrong. Actually, you house or apartment; Protect your pets from critters like ticks and fleas. Full of can do a great deal. tips, tricks, and straightforward instructions, Dead Snails Leave No Trails is the As I planted my hardwood forest, most user-friendly guide to indoor and outdoor natural pest solutions. 192 pages, I delved into such works as The Forest $12.99 + $4 S&H + WI Residents add 5.5% tax. in Folklore and Mythology, by Alexan- der Porteous. Trees were worshiped 1-800-551-5691 • www.countrysidemag.com by many societies through history Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 21 Collect Acres Of Leaves While You Ride! The DR® LEAF and LAWN VACUUM turns your riding mower into a yard clean-up powerhouse!

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trees! stump ﬂ ush to the ground. 80281X ©2013 80280X ©2013 Call for a FREE DVD and Catalog! Call for a FREE DVD and Catalog! TOLL TOLL FREE 877-201-9944 FREE 877-201-9944 DRTreeChopper.com DRpowertrailer.com 22 22 The bird of paradise alights only upon the hand that does not grasp. — John Berry ture other forms of life. I found that there’s about as many kinds below ground (while hoeing the trees) as there is above ground. Plus we receive the cottage industries such as mushrooming, herbs, bees, basket weaving, and they cool the planet. Additionally, the hardwoods are extremely valuable. Use a timber marketing firm, not a local saw mill— (dendrolatry). A number of genes the return far exceeds any stock or that we carry are identical to those money market account and is ideal in trees. for retirement. Tree foods also tend The modern religions, from Mith- to be easy to digest. Many civiliza- raism to Christianity set man above tions in history were founded on Nature. Although the Koran extols balanophagy (acorn eating). Fire can the planting of trees in several por- be avoided if you plant fire-resistant tions but by and large, the religions trees: cork, oak, redwood, etc. Nuts teach civilization over forests. It is become more valuable each season; recorded that these passages were and the demand for hardwoods can enacted to permit the cutting of virgin never be met. Two thirds of the world forests to supply Rome with charcoal. has no trees. Their industries ran on charcoal for I feel that it is time we examined smelting metals. Thus it was actu- replanting the trees. Who knows, we ally “corporate greed” that denuded might even save humans from extinc- Europe. The first records of climate tion. — Ken Bynum, Florida change caused by the cutting of forests is found in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Vol. 1, pp:203-204. Looking for New After this it became public policy to cut the forests and drain the swamps. Digs Near the As Constantine was the first Pope, the Ozarks first King of England and Caesar, this policy was incorporated in the faith. Head’s-up appreciated When the Pilgrims landed, 95% of America was forested. Each colonist, Co u n t r y s i d e : We are a couple looking it is recorded, was required to clear to relocate to Southeastern Oklahoma, and plant into exportable foodstuffs, in or near the Ozark or Oauchita three acres every five years to main- Mountains. We are looking at the areas tain their property. They girdled from McAlester, east to the Arkansas millions of hardwoods, often burning border. them into ashes for fertilizer and as We have both experienced some mortar. trying times and we are working to- Today we see the folly of these ward having a homestead of 20 acres policies, for only one in five water- or more. We have six horses between ways are now clean enough to sup- the two of us. port edible fish. Our storms affect I have a background as a Medi- two-thirds of the nation, good people cal Assistant and Licensed Massage die from fire, flood and wind. It was Therapist and several years in office/ not like this 50-odd years ago when administrative work. My partner is I started planting my forest. No one a contractor and has skills in many may allege that anything is “normal,“ trades. We both have a lot of experi- only extreme. ence with horses, both raising them But man has the capacity to learn, and training them. I also do holistic to correct errors. If we choose, we treatments on horses. can replant the forests. Each acre We are looking for work and of forest sequesters eight tons of possibly a lease-to-own situation or carbon per year, plus the trees nur- reasonably priced land for the home- Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 23 23

From the editor: Homesteaders Lose One of Their Own

While researching Ken Scharabok’s ebook (mentioned below) to check on its availability, I was saddend (shocked is more accurate) to FAST�FENCE learn of the death of Ken Scharabok on December 31, 2012. (Guess that Info�and�buy�now�at explains why I hadn’t heard from him in quite a while—it’s now the www.electricnets.com middle of July.) Ken was a regular contributor to Co u n t r y s i d e for many 800-356-5458 years, passing on his homestead and blacksmith knowledge. His ebook How to Make Extra Money in the Country was a favorite of many homesteaders, and he never charged a penny for it, which I always thought was somewhat ironic. For many years Ken lived alone on his homestead, raising cattle and blacksmithing in Waverly, Tennessee. We weren’t regular emailers, but we’d keep in touch a few times a year (usually when I was going stir-crazy in the dark of winter and had my brand-new laptop to con- nect with the world outside of Taylor County, Wisconsin). I remember talking to him after one particularly close tornado a few years ago and asked how he’d fared. He replied he figured his mobile home was a “death trap,” so he ran to his beat-up pickup truck in the pouring rain and wind, strapped himself in, and “held on for the ride.” (He escaped unscathed, but some of his cattle weren’t so lucky.) He made some beautiful items in his blacksmith shop, like an ornate firewood poker he sent me, along with a note joking to use it on brother Dave (since retired) if he got out of hand. I thought it was too nice to actually use and get dirty! He also sent a small ball-and-chain CS 2013_Layout 1 7/9/2013 4:06 PM Page 1 he had forged for my husband before we were married—a sign of things to come, perhaps? TM His ingenuity and wit will be missed by homesteaders, and all of us Solexx puts greenhouses at Co u n t r y s i d e .. R.I.P. Ken. — Anne-marie Belanger Ida in a whole new light stead. I would like to know if there to make some extra money on their are some kind country folks out there farm? — Jean E. Webber, Iowa that could share some insight on the area and any contacts that we should Your sister might be able to “bor- make. Any and all helpful sugges- row” some sheep/goats for the sum- tions would be greatly appreciated. mer to keep pastures under control. Of course there are going to be legal issues We would be so thankful. Thank you! involved (in case of injury or illness of — Christina, Pennsylvania; TLCinPA@ an animal for example), so make sure aol.com she has any exchange in writing. Eliminate shadows and boost plant growth Flip through back issues of Co u n - • Solexx creates diffuse light – the optimal Think Outside the t r y s i d e and we’re sure something will light for healthy plants catch your attention. In this issue alone • Enjoy fresh, pesticide-free food from your you’ll read how people have started own backyard farmers market Box to Supplement their own petting zoo, cut raw timber, • Engineered to withstand mother nature Your Income built raised beds or hoop houses (your • FREE greenhouse shipping (contiguous 48 states) sister could build them for others), raise • Huge selection of greenhouses and accessories Co u n t r y s i d e : My sister has about 30 vegetables to sell or trade…. (Check to see what types of permits, insurance, acres in north-central Pennsylvania Call 1-800-825-1925 etc. may be needed in your area.) with a farm pond (and fish), which for a FREE Solexx If you ask around, you may be able booklet and sample. cattails have taken over. to find a copy of Ken Scharabok’sHow Could she fence in the land, bor- to Earn Extra Money in the Country. Advanced twin-wall row some sheep in the spring, and When it comes to earning extra greenhouse covering then send them back in the fall? money on the homestead, don’t be What could she and her boyfriend do afraid to think outside of the box. www.GreenhouseCatalog.com 3740 CS Brooklake Rd NE • Salem, OR 97303 24 There's a mighty big difference between good, sound reasons and reasons that sound good. — Burton Hillis

A Dream Home in the Country Built for Less Than $25,000

By An n e Ha r t Li e b Ohio to rid that same farm of invasive about 50 miles away. Oh i o and damaging species of vines, trees, We decided on a location for our and thorn bushes, which turned out cabin just across the road from my fter we retired, my husband to be a Herculean effort for just the parents’ home. My dream home and I decided to build a four- two of us. Even though we success- would reside in a hayfield, which Aseason cabin so that we would fully completed this forestry project happened to be one of the highest have a place to stay while maintain- in November 2012, we still spend at points in Holmes County, known ing the 160-acre farm in Millersburg, least half (or more) of each week at the for its hilly terrain. This spot was Ohio, where I grew up (and where cabin working on the farm, gardening, ideal, because it was close to the road, my parents still live in their mid- helping Mom and Dad, and visiting sources of electricity and water, an 80s). Additionally, we had signed a other local relatives. The remaining abandoned garden, and a two-story multi-year contract with the state of days are spent at our primary home garage. Building 65 feet from the road Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 25

meant that building a gravel driveway would be inexpensive. One day, while driving by Weaver Storage Barns near Sugarcreek, Ohio, a cute prairie-style cabin on display caught our attention. After stopping to tour this 16' x 24' model cabin with its railed loft, we visited the sales office and were delighted to learn that the cabin started at $10,500 (Decem- ber, 2009). The sales manager created instant blueprints on his computer as we added a post foundation, extra windows, four skylights, additional second-floor height, increased loft length, and loft-floor reinforcement for a heavy upstairs water-holding tank (explained below) that would supply water to an upstairs bathroom sink and shower, and also the The Leib’s built downstairs kitchen area. We chose their house for a gambrel roof, which yielded more less than $24K—a upstairs living space than a steeply- price lower than pitched roof. that of a car these We decided to cut our expenses by days. Doing most of the work completely finishing the interior of themselves (and the cabin ourselves (flooring, walls, with the help of electricity, plumbing, insulation, friends) cut their etc.). costs considerably. Within days, Weaver Storage Barns sent out a work crew to the cabin site. In only a few hours, they built the post foundation and a 12-inch-thick base floor, filled with insulation. This box-style wooden 26 The rich man and his daughter are soon parted. — Frank McKinney Hubbard base has kept our cabin floor warm on the coldest winter days. Two days later, the same crew returned with our pre-built walls and numerous other supplies on flatbed trucks. Amazingly, within seven hours this four-person crew had completed building our shingle- roofed, lofted cabin with porch. They even handled the installation of the chimney for our wood stove during the construction of the roof. The first thing we did was build a stairway, which was not included since we had opted to finish the interior ourselves. Next, we put in an outside stairway leading to the porch. We placed a waterless composting toilet upstairs, and installed the above-roof wind turbine, which sat on top of the toilet exhaust pipe. This facilitated the composting process. Our composting toilet eliminated the need for building an expensive septic system, saving us thousands of dollars. As advertised, it had absolutely no detectible odor. With a seemingly endless supply of firewood on the farm, it made sense to heat the cabin with a wood-burning stove. Additionally, it would have been impossible to work in the cabin that winter without the wood-burning stove that we bought online. We were lucky enough to find a new Drolet (French manufacturer) wood stove with a large window at an unbelievable sale price of $595 (with shipping). This small wood stove was built to heat an area 500 to 1,000 square-feet, perfect for our cabin. We temporarily placed the stove over ceramic tiles and cement board for safety. Later, we would permanently attach the tiles to the cement board, grout the tiles, and finish the edges. But for now, we did what would work quickly so that we could work indoors throughout the winter. The next task toward completion of the interior was installing a circuit box and electrical wiring throughout. Having built and wired three homes Photos of the house building in progress. Small spaces make any extra storage in the past, my husband had the space especially valuable, like storage by the steps above the beanbag chair (bot- expertise to hook up our electricity tom photo) to a meter near the road via under- Bottom aeration is the first and most important thing to do with pond water. Bottom aeration helps to get rid of bottom gasses and de-stratifies water.

Countryside & Small Stock Journal,27 September/OctoberWindmill Aeration 2013 for Your Pond27 Also ground conduit. Thus, no unsightly selling Electric aerators, Water Fountains and Pond wires were strung from the top of Filters. Uses No Electricity the cabin. Next on our list was to carefully Great way to improve your pond!! insulate the entire cabin from floor to • Your pond will take on J.L. Becker Co. ceiling. We unrolled several loads of a whole new look 15286 St. Rt. 67 pink fiberglass insulation and stapled • Clearer water for Wapakoneta, OH 45895 it onto all the interior vertical stud swimming, boating, and 888-905-3595 or 419-738-3450 boards. We have been very thank- fishing www.aerationwindmills.com ful that we went the extra mile and • Reduces algae and [email protected] stuffed insulation into every crack, cleanses the water hole, and corner we could possibly • Helps prevent fish kills We accept find. As a result of this thorough insulation, we learned that we could build a fire on the coldest January evening A Beginner’s Guide to Raising Chickens, before going to bed, let it burn out Ducks, Geese, Rabbits, Goats, Sheep, and Cattle during the night, and wake up to a warm cabin in the morning (63°F+). Barnyard In Your Backyard This has been great for getting a good By Gail Damerow night’s sleep without the interruption Barnyard In Your Backyard is the essential primer for first-time farmers. Each of having to get up to feed a fire. chapter spotlights a single animal and provides simple, clear instructions on Insulating the ceiling was a daunt- what it takes to keep your livestock healthy and happy. You’ll learn what type ing task because of the ceiling height, of housing and how much land your animals need, what to feed them, how especially over the area that was not to breed them and how to handle routine health care. There’s even a calendar covered with a loft. We built safe scaf- with reminders for daily, weekly and monthly routine care.This easy-to-use handbook teaches you how to operate a mini-farm for fun, profit or both. 408 pages, $24.95 + $4 s&h. WI res. folding to work on the unlofted part add 5.5%. of the ceiling. Between the wooden studs of the gambrel ceiling, we ap- Call 1-800-551-5691 or visit www.countrysidemag.com plied foil-covered foam boards to allow an air gap for hot summer air to escape up to the roof ridge vent. We then covered the foam boarding with the standard pink fiberglass insulation. In order to cover the newly-insulated walls with something pretty, we purchased a truckload of knotty- pine tongue-and-groove interior wall boarding from a local Amish wood shop for an incredibly low price. We positioned boards onto the walls horizontally up to a four-foot height. Above that, we installed boards at a 45-degree slant up to a 10-foot height (the beginning of the roof line), then horizontally again throughout the gambrel-shaped ceiling. This created a beautiful herringbone pattern in all corners of the cabin and gave the cabin more style. Next, we installed “tile look” Congoleum flooring upstairs, put in a shower, sink, and a 60-gallon water-holding tank that would feed the upstairs sink and shower and also the downstairs kitchen sink. Running a “hidden” hose from the water-holding tank to an outside 28 Most of us hate to see a poor loser—or a rich winner. — Harold Coffin “granite-look” Formica. Wall shelves located above the counter held our small convection/rotisserie oven, microwave, and other miscellaneous kitchen items. For cooking with pots or skillets, we kept a portable range- top in a kitchen cabinet. In small dwellings such as our cabin, storage space is extremely valuable. So we built a closet under the stairway, which was otherwise unusable space (behind the brown beanbag chair in bottom photo on page 26). We finished the downstairs floor by using a rented floor sander then applying three coats of clear floor finish to the thick pine floor. It ended up looking shiny and gorgeous! Since being here, we have brought the garden back to life, enlarging it and protecting it against rabbits, Anne’s husband takes a well-deserved rest on the front porch. groundhogs, and deer with a fence Note wooden pallets (far left) make fine steps for now. made from huge, used power-company posts left on our property (by request) after workers installed newer, spigot made it possible to fill the diameter, on-demand water pump. I higher posts along our road. holding tank by extending a short was afraid that an on-demand water One advantage to building in a hose from the yard hydrant to the pump would cause a time-lag be- hayfield is that it is never necessary cabin’s spigot. The water source for tween turning on a faucet or shower to build a lawn. Hay is a tall grass, our yard hydrant was my parents’ and actually seeing the water flow, and the wind on our hill spreads the 550-foot-deep water well across the but to my surprise, the on-demand seeds everywhere. Our lawn was street. If we were to have dug a water water pump works fine. made by Mother Nature. We only well, it would have most likely been A 20-inch, low-energy-consump- mow a small amount of grass close to over 500-feet-deep, also costing a tion, super-efficient, window air the cabin to minimize the disruption fortune. Luckily, my parents had conditioner comfortably cooled the of hay making by a farmer who rents installed an underground water pipe cabin on the hottest summer days. the fields from us. many years ago from their farmhouse We installed it in an upstairs window One day, we will replace the sec- to the garden across the street, next at the top of the stairs. A large ceil- ondary set of porch steps (stacked to our cabin. ing fan evened out the temperature crates) with something more per- To get water to our hydrant, we wonderfully throughout the cabin, an manent like what we have on the simply connected an underground advantage to a one-room dwelling. other side of the porch. But because water pipe from the garden to the To help keep the inside temperature the driveway is on the opposite side, cabin and attached it to a yard hy- down on the very hottest summer and we are the only ones who use drant next to the cabin. The only days, we cut rectangular pieces of the “crate” steps, it has not been a thing we needed to be careful about foil-covered foam, which popped in priority. was to not fill our water tank at a time and out of the skylights in about 10 And finally, the finishing touches when my parents were using water seconds. All four skylights were eas- were carried out in the spring when in the farmhouse, because it caused a ily reachable from the loft without the we stained the cabin exterior to pro- serious drop in their water pressure. use of ladders. tect the wood, and had a gravel truck This was exactly why we installed the Next, we built the kitchen area in a come out and “pour” the driveway. water-holding tank, so that we could corner on the first floor. We obtained My dream home was finished, avoid causing their water pressure to a 15-year-old refrigerator/freezer in and I loved being there. drop if both households used water good working condition, free for the Before starting on this endeavor, at the same time. hauling. I truly would not have believed it Next, we installed a small 220- We built kitchen cabinets from possible to build a permanent and volt, wall-mounted, on-demand hot cherry wood harvested from trees on comfortable dwelling like ours for water heater and a tiny, four-inch our farm and built a counter top using under $25,000. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 29

Building a Desert Dwelling

By Ta m i St a n d r i d g e well to have a good drop for gravity Ne v a d a , Zo n e 7 flow for water to the house. No expertise involved, just a wild guess. It ur adventure started in July was such a relief when we heard and of 2001. My daughter Tess saw the water shoot out of the well! Owas only nine years old; my The well was dug to 120 feet, and my son Chad was 12 years old; I was 39 static water level is at 60 feet. We hit a years young. good, clean, cold vein of water. We packed all we could in my old The kids and I installed and 1970s van and 16-foot trailer, which dropped the pump in the well our- included basic tools and used build- selves. Of course I was trying to save ing materials I had collected. Above: Wide open spaces ready to call as much money as possible, so I de- About three hours into the drive, home. Below: Clear, cold water flows cided to wrap the cable holding the the van broke down in San Bernadino, from the newly drilled well. pump around an old car wheel and California, on the side of the highway. thought I would be able to unwind it I had to unhitch the trailer and leave as we put the PVC pipe together and it on the side of a very busy highway dropped it into the well. and have my van towed to a shop for Needless to say, it wasn’t such a repairs. The repair costs were high, hot idea because about halfway down so I went to a nearby wrecking yard we were stuck. It became too heavy to get the part they needed to fix my for both my son and I to hold. We van, which saved me a few hundred were shaking, sweating, frustrated, dollars. At the end of the day my van and I started to laugh uncontrollably was fixed and we drove back to our (which I do when I get exhausted or trailer to load up and continue on. nervous). We couldn’t drop it, so I Low and behold, someone had had my daughter get in the van and the nerve to steal my generator off try to back it up to us so we could the trailer, in plain sight, on this busy begin building. I set up a black trash- attach it to the hitch and pull it back highway! Even though I was devas- can on top of the trailer to heat water up. My daughter didn’t know how tated and very angry, I purchased for bathing. to drive yet, but did it with flying another generator in a town on our The first task was to put in a well. colors! way. I decided no one was going to We busied ourselves putting up a “Never give up” is my motto, so put a kibosh on my dream! shed while the well was being dug. we went to town and found a great We made it safely to our little spot I was much too nervous to watch. If gadget at the hardware store, called of paradise and were ready for our they didn’t hit water, payment was a winch, and voîla! I have to admit adventure. due anyhow! Gulp! At the time, the that I did not know the name of what We lived in a trailer that first sum- cost in this area was $24 per foot. I needed, and had to describe it by mer, while we worked very hard to I chose that particular spot for the hand motions and a “clickity click” 30 One of the greatest necessities in America is to discover creative solitude. — Carl Sandburg We had to shovel over 15 yards and of course I got “the lady’s crazy” of dirt (not exaggerating!) by hand, look. It didn’t bother me at all. I knew out of the holes to make the sides I was building something very differ- vertical and the floors flat. We shov- ent and was proud and very excited eled the dirt into a container, tied a about it. heavy chain to it and dragged it out We accomplished a lot that first with my truck. I would have thought summer. Of course, I had the naive I’d never want to see dirt again, but and over-confident idea that we I still love the smell of it and love to would have built enough to be able create with it. to move in by the end of the summer. Tess and Tami putting the PVC to- The earth-rammed design re- Not! It always takes more time than a gether. noise. Thankfully the workers at the hardware store had a good sense of humor and were very helpful. We were able to go back and install our pump in no time at all. I can’t tell you what a difference it makes to have the right tool! We rammed used tires and stacked a four-foot tall stand as a base for the 550-gallon water tank, so we would have gravity flow to our future house, about 200 feet away. We installed two-inch PVC pipe to carry water to the house, buried in a ditch four-feet deep so it would be below the frost line. This set-up has worked great. We have enough pressure from the gravity flow for the sinks, bath, and toilet. Later I installed an on-demand Dirt is cleaned out from the bedroom hole—a lot of it by hand. pump to pressure a showerhead I put in a couple years later. quired ramming tires. I went to town person thinks, especially when they My next step was to have the to the tire companies and asked if I don’t have the budget to hire help to “holes” dug for the underground part could have their throw-away tires. get it done faster. I ended up having of the house. The person I hired to dig They were more than happy to give to rent a place in town, about an hour the three 10-feet deep holes told me them away because they have to away, while we continued to work on he had only dug square holes before, pay someone to pick them up. After the house on weekends throughout so I asked him to just do his best a few trips and collecting more than each summer. (which he did), and we would dig the 200 tires, they asked me what I was rest by hand (which we did). doing with them. I told them briefly The Framework Goes Up The rammed tire home took lots and lots and lots of labor. After com- pleting a few layers (over 200 tires later), I realized it was going to be too much for myself and my two children to do and complete before I turned 100 years old! Soooo, I changed my design from cob. Yep, after building up three feet and about 20 feet around, it was going to be too much labor. Cob is a wonderful medium to work with, and it is still there at the base of my bathroom dome and around the 30- foot dome, but it takes a lot of time Chad and Tess working hard ramming tires over the holes. and labor. So once again I changed Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 31 31

Tami stands with a 14-foot ladder in one of the bedroom domes. It is 20 feet from ground to top of dome. the plan. Earth bags! Another great line” on the tape measure when I did idea, but again a lot of labor. On the use it. So needless to say I measured Internet I found a place to buy sand every cut (more than 1,000 of them) bags in bulk. We filled about 500 sand several times before I actually cut bags and stacked them on top of the into the conduit. I was able to buy the rammed tires to continue the wall material in bulk, and throughout the up approximately six feet to have a winter after work and on weekends, thermal mass on the areas that were the kids and I built the framework above ground, before going on to my for six domes. next and last choice—domes! The first dome I built was 13 Thank goodness my children feet high. I used a sledge hammer could bounce back and forth with to smash the ends, then I found a the constant changes, and that I was two-ton shop press through Harbor made of steel (or so I thought) and a Freight. I made a “jig” out of metal whole lot of stubborn determination to attach to the press so it smashed to endure the mental and physical each end of the PVC the same size pressure. Yes there were a few times every time, and I was able to press all I felt overwhelmed and inadequate. the ends (thousands) with that unit I thought “What have I done?” But I quickly and easily. needed to release it, and the next day The house consists of one 30-foot I felt better and “got right back up on dome front room, one 24-foot dome the horse,” as the saying goes. first bedroom, two 22-foot dome sec- So why domes? Because they’re ond and third bedrooms, two 13-foot round! I’m not much for straight domes for the kitchen and the bath- lines. And, the geodesic dome is one room, and the walkway/greenhouse of the strongest building structures (that connects all the domes) is 14' w available. Luckily I was able to find x 12' h x 52' l. a free dome calculator and instruc- I call the walkway the “green- tions on how to build them on the house” because we built a planter Internet. box 3' w x 2' d in front of the windows This part required correct mea- and the length of the walkway, 52-feet surements, which was very scary for long, so I can grow our own food year me because I did not know how to around. I used four old sliding glass read a tape measure. No kidding! My doors turned sideways for the south way of measuring was with my arms facing windows. The sun shining or legs, or saying “two inches and a through in the wintertime heats up 32 Girls who wear zippers shouldn’t live alone. — John W. Van Druten down the steps into the walkway/ better the insulation works. Sort of greenhouse. The bedrooms drop an- like an ice chest. I had to special order other four feet, and are 10 feet below the foam in 4 x 8 sheets because this the surface. The bedroom domes are thickness isn’t available at a local sitting on the surface, over the holes hardware store. that were dug. This house (other than the dome From the floor in the bedrooms to frames) did not come with blueprints the top of the domes is 20 feet. There or instructions of any kind, since I is a good-size open loft above every made it up as I went along. I had to bedroom (approximately 12' x 22') figure it out step by step. There are that is built on beams placed on the pre-made coverings for domes and Above: Chad and Tami cut triangle rammed tires on the surface, which other options, for example concrete panels out of the 4 x 8 sheets of five- makes for wonderful extra space. or spray foam, but were way out of inch foam. The bathroom dome is As the walls went up, I inserted my budget. Also we have high winds behind them showing the filled seams four-inch PVC pipes about two-feet in this area, so any kind of “fabric” and the cob and rammed tire founda- long (width of the earth bag wall) covering would not last. tion. into the walls for cooling/ventilation I couldn’t afford to make any throughout the house. I did this be- mistakes with the foam I bought, Below: Chad on the ladder handing cause all of the windows in the house so I sweated out this problem for panels to Tami, who is holding on to awhile. A friend was visiting just in the frame with her knees (a big safety are stationary. There are four vents in no-no!) so she can use her arms to ram the largest dome spaced out around the nick of time, and he helped me in the panel. This is at the top of the the diameter, two vents in each 13- find a solution by making templates 30-foot front room dome. foot dome, and three vents in the for each triangle. I was able to get bedroom domes. The greenhouse/ two to three triangular panels out of walkway has larger eight-inch vents, each 4' x 8' sheet. After making my five in all. They work great. I attached templates with cardboard or thin a window screen on the outside foam board, I would arrange them on (permanently) and the inside have the 4' x 8' sheet to get the most panels caps that I can remove easily when out of each one. I cut the foam with I want air flow. In the summertime a Sawzall—it cut like butter. It does it almost feels like air conditioning slough off some of the polystyrene flowing through because the air beads, but not too bad. “cools” traveling through the earth Each of the triangles were cut just walls before it comes into the house. a hair larger than the spaces they In the wintertime I roll up foam were to fill. Then I rammed each padding for insulation in the vents panel in about two inches with my and cap then off until spring. I also arm/hand. Even though it appears installed a solar fan in the highest easy, it took a lot of strength to get the peak of the greenhouse that works panels into the triangles. As I worked great in the summertime. It pulls all my way around, the panels became the rock and earth floors and walls, the hot air out and the vents bring in tighter and tighter because each panel and stores it throughout the day to ra- the cool air. is pushing on the last. The panels diate the heat at night. That I learned What a great feeling to get to that had to fit tightly or they would not in the Earthship book. point of seeing the framework go be strong enough to walk on, carry a The walkway, proved to be ex- up! It wasn’t just holes in the ground load of snow, etc.. tremely challenging to build because anymore. Wind was a danger when install- there were no instructions on how ing the panels—even a little bit of to build it and join it to the domes. I wind would catch the panel and try had to figure it out as I went. It took Enclosing the Domes to pull me off the dome. I had bruises me three tries/designs until I was My next step was to figure out a all over my legs because I used them able to get it right. Lots and lots of way to enclose the dome framework to grab and hold on to the frame- “sleeping on it!” in a way that I could afford, that was work, as I needed my hands to put The two 13-foot domes are above strong and would be well-insulated. in the panels. I do not recommend ground due to the septic system (I After a lot of research I chose five- anyone attempting my unsafe work didn’t want to have to pump up to inch thick, rigid polystyrene foam habits! I can see now looking back the septic system). The 30-foot dome (R-value approximately 35). It seems that I should have been strapped on sits two to four feet below those, then to me with this type of foam and its somehow, so think safety first! drops about six feet when walking density, the colder it gets outside the Never one to waste anything, I Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 33 33 saved all scraps of foam and have used them in many different ways. As the panels went in, depending on the size of the dome, they left a two to three inch gap (¾" conduit and the angle of the dome creates this space). The space that was left in between each triangle was filled and sealed after all panels were put up. This also took several tries of different products before I found the one Front room fireplace hearth going up. that worked best. Even though I told together. I cut the Plexiglas with a companies what I was trying to cover skill saw with a fine blade. I would (polystyrene foam), I would find out practice on scraps before cutting into after buying their product that it did a large sheet. All of the windows ex- not work. Luckily I only purchased cept the bedroom windows (in which samples or small amounts for my the angle iron is attached directly to ”experiments” so I didn’t waste too the conduit framework with self- much money. With polystyrene foam tapping screws) are attached to lodge there are products that could just wood poles that I attached to the dissolve it up as soon as the product metal framework of the dome with touched it, would not stick, or would plumbers tape (love plumbers tape!). not cure at all. I would test each It gave it that rustic look. product on my scraps first. So the All of the windows are double “recipes” and products I used were paned with a five- to six-inch gap found after much trial and error. between them. This gives good in- The windows along the walkway/ sulation between the windows and greenhouse are recycled sliding glass eliminates condensation on the inside door windows turned sideways. The window. In the winter the cold is rest of the windows are Plexiglas barely felt from the outside when the 1/4" thick. The window in the main window is touched. 30-foot dome is 10 feet in diameter. Only the single pane windows What a beautiful view! None of the were installed during the first few windows open and close; they are winters, so to help control the con- permanent and only the vents open. densation I discovered a handy trick: The frames for the Plexiglas windows get bubble wrap and cut to fit the are made out of angle iron welded window, mist the window with wa-

Fifty-five gallon drum installed with exhaust pipe being attached. The pipe exits the house just above ground level by the window. 34 34 Success is a journey, not a destination. — Ben Sweetland

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Heating the House I had two wood burning stoves in the house. One in the front room (30- foot dome) and the other downstairs at the very back west end wall of the walkway/greenhouse. I installed the stove in the front room first, which is what we used until the rest of the house was enclosed. Once it was Garden tub put in. I put up stained enclosed we put a stove at the end of glass on the bottom window so I didn’t have to hang a curtain. The top window that is like a skylight is still clear.

the walkway/greenhouse. This stove did most of the heating in the house from then on. Since heat rises it did Rock wall going up around base of a wonderful job of heating the whole dome with cob concrete mixture cover- house. We only fire up the front room ing earth bags. stove now when we want the cozi- Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 35 WORLD’S FASTEST ONE LOG, SPLITTER! ONE SECOND. 6X FASTER THAN ORDINARY LOG SPLITTERS! DR® RapidFire™ Log Splitter SPLIT UP TO ONE CORD IN PATENT ONE HOUR… PENDING CORD AFTER CORD, SEASON AFTER SEASON.

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Break-down of Costs

Well 120 ft. deep $2,880 Well pump $550 Water tank, 525 gal $560 Septic tank, 1,500 gal $700 Holes dug with backhoe $350 Frame work 3/4" conduit (all domes plus greenhouse) $1,750 Foam 5" thick polystyrene $4,500 Sand bags $280 Tires, used FREE Sealer $1,500 Misc. seam tape, pine shavings,wood for shelves/cabinets, screws. etc. $350 Concrete mix $450 Lava rock $750 Above: View of the seven-foot tall Toilet & bathroom sink $80 front room door. The plants are Bathtub claw foot, used $10 hanging on the beams (left) poking Garden bath tub, used $100 through the wall from the patio. Kitchen sink, used $5 Stove/oven, used $100 Windows, Plexiglas $250 wall, then wraps back around itself, Windows, sliding glass and then out the side of the wall doors, used $75 (which is just above ground level). Cement board (wonder The rocket stove is on the floor of board) $950 the walkway/greenhouse, six feet Plaster for walls $300 Log poles & beams, used $275 underground. Plumbing (from water With this unique setup we had to tank 200’ and inside make sure that it didn’t back-draft, of house) $300 so we installed a wind turbine, like Wood burning stoves, those seen on the top of sheds. This used $200 kept the wind from coming back Rocket stove $180 down the pipe. Inexpensive and Solar panels 450 watts, works great! used $375 The 40 feet of exhaust pipe heats Batteries, 6 $325 Inverter, 2000 watt $200 up the rock and earth that surround it and then releases it throughout Controller, 40 amps $178 so there are no corners for the heat the night. A conventional stove is Cables, used $20 to get trapped with the air moving Mistakes (products & usually burned for hours each day continuously, and all the windows ideas that didn’t work) $500 and throughout the night. The rocket are south-facing, which heat up and Things I might have stove is only burned when someone is store the heat in the rock/earth walls forgotten $500 at home and only for approximately which then slowly release the heat Lots of hard work Priceless three to four hours, and then it gets throughout the night. In fact, even Total: $19,643 shut off for the rest of the night! If the in the coldest of winter when the sun is shining most of the day, even if temperature drops to single digits or it is bitter cold outside, we burn even ness of watching a fire. below, the house maintains a temp of less or not at all. At that time we were burning no less than 50°F. approximately three cords of wood We installed this rocket stove in a winter. Not bad for a 3,500 square place of the wood burning stove that Move-in Time foot house. The house is mostly we had downstairs. We put in 40 We moved into our house full- underground, the domes are very feet of eight-inch exhaust pipe that time in July of 2006. Yes it took longer, well insulated, the house is round travels 20 feet along the planter box much longer, than my original goal of Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 37

Tami’s tomatoes are on the left by the window and the “coral reef” wall is on the right (close-up above). At the very end of the walkway to the right, is the entrance to the third bedroom. This walkway/greenhouse is six feet under ground. The exhaust pipe going out the back wall is visible which is just above ground level. All windows you see are about one foot above ground level. finishing in the first summer. Ha! How •Read about homesteading and It is deep breathing exercises with naïve. But it is ours and paid for. other people’s stories on how they positive reinforcement phrases in I could never have done this with- did it. It’s encouraging and also helps between, with gentle music in the out the hard work, love and support of to see the realistic side of it. background. It’s amazing how such Chad and Tess. Both had worked right When I moved to Nevada the mon- a simple thing can bring so much beside me with physical strength, de- ey I brought with me went quickly. health and well being to our lives! termination and mental support. At my first job I made $7 an hour; I would like to spread inspira- I sit sometimes in the mornings, my second job a year later I made $8 tion, happiness and health with sipping my tea looking out my big an hour; a few years later I started a this CD, which also includes lots beautiful window or sitting on my job that was a whopping $10 an hour. of helpful hints and information. If patio listening to the birds sing, and Each year I would save what I could, you are interested, the CD, including get all choked up with emotion. I which was very little. I would use the booklet, is only $5 which can be look around and think, did I do this? that along with my tax return to buy paid through Pay Pal. Just email me Wow! supplies I needed to build the house. at [email protected] for infor- Note: I do buy propane for my The house had to be built when I had mation. r refrigerator, hot water-on-demand the money, time (a full-time job meant and stove but that runs less than $500 weekend work) and decent weather Recommended reading a year. I have a cell phone because (we have short summers here). • Earthship, Vol. 1, by Michael there are no land lines out here, and Reynolds of course I still have to pay car insur- Updates • Building with Earth by Pau- ance and gas. lina Wojciechowska I just accomplished another goal • The Natural House by Daniel of mine by retiring before I turned Hints on Managing Money Chiras 50! I also met a wonderful man who • The Cob Builders Handbook for Your Dreams enjoys living the simple life with me by Becky Bee • Pay cash for everything. Don’t and we are now happily married. I • Ceramic Houses & Earth Ar- buy on credit! now enjoy building my metal yard chitecture by Nadir Khalili •Recycle, shop at garage sales artwork and selling it at art shows • Rocket Mass Heaters by Ianto and thrift shops. I very rarely buy throughout the year. Evans & Leslie Jackson anything new. I made a CD for myself that I • www.rocketstoves.com • Have a garden if you can and/ listened to daily to help reduce my Any “how-to” electrical, or raise chickens for eggs. Right now stress and build confidence. It takes plumbing, concrete/masonry I’m learning to can the extra food we less than nine minutes and I still use books grow. it to this day. 38 Art is like a border of flowers along the course of civilization. — Lincoln Steffens

Don’t Wait ’Til The Cows Come Home… Build a Cattle Panel Hoop House Now

y sweet neighbor of almost By Ju l i e Ha r r e l l , Ne w Yo r k , Zo n e 5b 20 years and soul sister Laura French came down We are homesteaders on 18 acres in upstate New York, with five M the hill to give me more tomato plants, llamas, 20,000 bees, five cats, three dogs and three adults. We have while I gave her more shallots from w o o f e r s come help and learn about the medicinal plants we grow a fellow gardener Joanne, who had here, including goldenseal. Our soil is all “hand made” as we live on many to share. We discussed the huge a mountain with slate underneath. I write a monthly article titled the black bear near her place and the Gardeners Diary for the Honest Weight Food Coop. monster “foxasauraus” who’s been We helped build an 8' x 12' cattle panel greenhouse for the owner haunting our land. Laura thanked of WiseWays Herbals in Worthington, Massachusetts (zone 5b). I am me again for sharing honey with her family while I grabbed an empty sugar a longtime subscriber to Co u n t r y s i d e , and believe readers will appreci- container from our newest buzzing ate this “how to,” community building article. beehive. We took a look at the fresh Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 39 TRY A DR® FIELD and BRUSH MOWER WITH OUR 1-YEAR TRIAL! CLEAR & MAINTAIN meadows, pastures, roadsides, fencelines, walking paths, and underbrush from woodlots with ease! CUT tall grass, weeds, brush, brambles, sumac – including tough saplings up to 3" thick! CHOP/MULCH most of what you cut, leaving NO TANGLE of material to trip over or pick up like you get with hand-held brush cutters. SELF-PROPELLED AND TOW-BEHIND MODELS AVAILABLE 80274X © 2013

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Equipment List  4—16' x 5' cattle panels (Tractor Supply, $92)  2—2 x 12 x 10 rough cut planks (local lumber mill, $30)  2—2 x 12 x 8 rough cut planks (local lumber mill, $30)  6 x 6' metal stakes (Tractor Supply, $30)  4—2 x 4s (lumber mill $15)  20 foam pipe insulators (hardware store $20)  3 rolls of duct tape (hardware store $12)  Greenhouse plastic roll (Grif- fins Greenhouse Supplies, $200)  Greenhouse plastic stripping roll (Griffins $40)  Greenhouse plastic repair tape (Griffins $25)  12 x 99¢ clamps (hardware store $12)  Hay baling twine (local farm- Top: Mariam plants the first stake in ing many community gatherings… ers) the bed while Tim (second from left) and the list goes on.  1/2-inch staples (hardware explains the upcoming steps, above. store $5) The way we build our civilization  Long screws for base and for is through working together, just bracing corners ($5) goldenseal in our wild beds; then I like folks used to do back in the “old  Hinges for wooden base (if you showed her the cut oak logs for our days.” True, we have new technology, prefer this style for corners $10) soon-to-be inoculated new shitake and most of us carry cell phones, but mushroom garden. I offered to share we build our community through Tools: shitake inoculant and process if Laura the judicious use of our collective Good staple gun could send her oldest son to help us muscle power. Then, we sit down to Saw with more cut oak logs. Laura, thrilled a wonderful meal together, pray over Electric drill to know she’d have shitakes for their Sharp box cutters for plastic our food, and give thanks for our day Stake pounder eight member household this fall, together. It’s a beautiful thing. Scissors agreed happily, then looked at me One of my favorite projects is to and said, “We are growing our own see a new greenhouse pop up, just Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 41 like a mushroom in the forest, where once there was none. Mariam Mas- saro, owner of WiseWays Herbals and fellow llama lover, always wanted her own greenhouse. She grows everything from kiwis to goldenseal, and her climate is even colder at times than ours here in Cherry Plain, New York. I was visiting Mariam recently, when she turned to me and said, “Jules, I really want a greenhouse. Will you build it for me?” I thought briefly about my own farm garden, busy paramedic school and yoga teacher training schedule, and said “Of course!” Here’s how Mariam’s greenhouse grew, and along the way, these are directions so you can create your own homegrown greenhouse. First, take a look at the required equipment list (box far left). Every- thing on here (except the repair tape Miriam is thrilled with the new greenhouse. that you may need later) is absolutely necessary before you begin building Take the panels back out, and pound pack it on there until you have fat anything: six metal stakes into the wooden stake heads. Remember, anything Now that you’ve purchased a roll base, two in the middle, and one for metal that touches the plastic will of 6mm guaranteed UV protected each corner. Everything inside the rip it. These stakes will be inside the greenhouse plastic, enough for three greenhouse should fit flush against flexible greenhouse, bracing it against to four greenhouses, and you’ve driv- the wooden base, including stakes the wind, storms and snow that are en, with a pick-up truck, to purchase and cattle panels. Cover the heads of to come with winter. four cattle panels ($21.99 apiece) and each stake with copious amounts of Next, fit all four cattle panels in- six stakes ($4.75 apiece), and you’ve duct tape wrapped around a couple side the greenhouse, one within the collected your lumber, screws, tools, of pieces of foam insulation. Really other. This requires several people and friends, you are ready to begin the day. First, lay out your site, and hope- Build Your Own Greenhouse fully you have good soil because the By Ro g e r Ma r s h a l l best way to create this greenhouse is on a site that will allow you to build Indulge your passion for gardening! one bed on either side with a walk- Imagine extended growing seasons, homegrown tropical fruits, abundant vegetables way down the middle. Some people ready to pick year-round, exotic orchids prefer to just use the space for their and colorful flowers galore. They’re all potted plants, so a site with good possible with this comprehensive guide soil is not always necessary. I built to turning the dream of year-round gar- two raised beds in my greenhouse dening into reality. Whether your interest because we don’t really have “soil” is in rare orchids or in healthful, organic here on my farm, just lots of raised vegetables for your family, a greenhouse beds filled with old poop I’ve hauled provides the environment to protect and in over the years. nurture the plants you love. And when it’s Build your sturdy wooden frame cold and gray outside, the greenhouse is a around the site, using screws and ei- welcoming and warm place to feed your gardening hobby. Nine complete plans: ther hinges or small pieces of wood to basic freestanding, slant-front insulated, brace each corner. Next, fit each panel, slope-sided, gothic-arch, window inset, one within the other, to form a type deck extension, hoop house or high-tunnel, lean-to, and garden shed combination. 255 of high tunnel, which you can walk pages, $24.95 + $4/s&h. WI res. add 5.5%. under comfortably. See how they fit together so that you understand what Countryside Bookstore • 1-800-551-5691 • will be needed to create the hoop. www.countrysidemag.com 42 Make your own 42 Art is not a thing; it is a way. — Elbert Hubbard even though I created my own green- Best to leave the top cracked open homestead tools! house alone. It’s so much easier with from early March throughout late De- teamwork. As you fit one, tie it down cember (depending on your climate), Handy Farm Devices to the stake, and to the next cattle because your greenhouse will get By Ro l f e Co b l e i g h panel using hay bale ties, preferably very hot. I highly recommend placing the blue plastic type but any hay bale a large container of fresh barnyard Dating from the Golden Age of ties or string will do. Now you have animal poop, covered with straw, at American Farming, everything nice and flush inside the one end of the greenhouse to heat it this volume is both a base, you can see a skeleton of how during the cooler months. This natu- tribute to days gone your greenhouse will appear. ral heating strategy will keep your by and a resource Here comes some tedium. You seedlings warm at night, provided for present day ho- must wrap the end of each cattle panel they are off the ground. meowners, farmers, with foam insulators, and double Total cost of this greenhouse, and ranchers striving duct tape them in place. With six factoring in the small amount of toward greater self-sufficiency. Here you people at Mariam’s this took us over greenhouse plastic and plastic strip- will find hundreds of clever ways to trans- an hour. Look carefully, each cattle ping used, is approximately $300, form those odds and ends that might seem panel has burrs on the ends, and must with enough plastic left over to build like junk into very useful gadgets and tools, from a treadmill that can power a dairy be wrapped for 5-1/2 feet on every three more greenhouses. I’ve used my separator and churn, to a drinking foun- end that will touch plastic. After you same plastic stripping roll to build tain for chickens. Other devices include a have exhausted all of your foam insu- four greenhouses, and the same roll rig for moving large trees; a self-feeder for lators and double-checked to ensure of greenhouse plastic to build three. bees; a hand garden cultivator; and gates that every single possible cattle panel Sure, you can buy a greenhouse on the that lift over snowdrifts. It’s full of useful burr spot has been wrapped with Internet for $300, not including ship- illustrations and includes a whole section foam insulators, it is time to measure ping, but why? With these cattle panel of tried-and-true tips. 304 pages, $9.95* and cut your plastic. greenhouses, you also have a built-in Roll out the plastic next to the raised bed should you decide to use greenhouse, and cut it to fit the length it. I’ve had my cattle panel greenhouse Homemade and breadth of your greenhouse. Cut for over five years now, and only Contrivances two more pieces for the doors, which replaced the plastic last year for the are simply plastic that is clamped on first time because the cats jumped on 1001 Labor-Saving Devices for the two open ends of the greenhouse. it. It has survived feet of snow, pounds Farm, Garden, Dairy and Workshop First, stretch the longer piece of plas- of ice, and very harsh winds. You do By Sk y h o r s e Pu b l i s h i n g tic (the smallest roll from Griffins is need to occasionally scrape the snow The traditional 16 feet wide by 100 feet long) over the off the top but that is all. Building American devices greenhouse width wise, and clamp something homegrown with friends contained in this one end neatly to the base. Cut two from locally sourced materials is just, intriguing compila- pieces of greenhouse plastic stripping well, so much more fun! tion date from an era approximately 12-feet long, and then After we built Mariam’s green- long before milking carefully staple stripping over the house in under three hours, we all machines, pesticide plastic, as you continuously adjust sat outside and shared our food. sprayers, and indus- the plastic to wrap tightly around Mariam made a vegan key lime pie trial hay balers. Yet the cattle panel frame. See why we with avocados and dates, which was the simple inven- tions described for doing everything from foamed up all the ends? Once fin- unbelievably good. A guest showed managing young bulls to protecting drain ished stapling both ends to the sides up with vegan pizza, while Robin outlets can be just as useful for today’s of the greenhouse, wrap the plastic created a huge and wonderful fresh farmer as they were for the homesteaders snugly around both open ends, and salad. I passed around my favorite over a century ago. Discover how to make clamp them. Next, take your two fake cheese from the co-op made such items as a movable nest for hens, smaller pieces of plastic, the doors, with tapioca (mmmm) and we hap- a ribless boat, a farm cart with adjust- and clamp them each, starting at the pily stuffed ourselves silly while able racks for larger loads, a wire fence top or bottom, to completely enclose gazing at our new creation, Mariam’s tightener, a fruit picker, a grindstone set your new greenhouse for the coldest greenhouse. and frame, and much more. 621 pages, weather. I wish you all great success on $14.95* During the spring, summer and your collective journeys as we co- *Plus tax & shipping fall, you’ll open the top of the green- create our own new civilizations, house doors by unclamping them one greenhouse at a time, one shitake Call Countryside Bookstore part way down, allowing an air-flow. mushroom at a time. It all starts with 1-800-551-5691 Otherwise you’ll cook your plants, a request, from one friend to another, which I discovered several times. and the answer is “Yes!”r w w w .c o u n t r y s i d e m a g .c o m Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 43

The Farm Water Supply Management is critical

By An i t a B. St o n e remains on leaves, but also wastes retention capacity through practices No r t h Ca r o l i n a , Zo n e 7b gallons of water because these sys- such as a multi-annual crop rota- tems are not geared toward conservation, appropriate plant selection and he U.S. Geological Survey re- tion. An area of soil, needless of water organic manure use are determined ports that farmers use 138.92 requirements, sometimes receives a by each homesteader. Where salin- billion gallons of water per wasteful abundance of H O. ity is an issue, the retention of more T 2 day for irrigation, livestock care and Soil management is a major key trees and natural vegetation with aquaculture. This does not include to water conservation. Depending deep roots maintains a lower water the thousands of homesteaders who on the soil type across the farm land- table and avoids salt being brought rely on water for crops, livestock and scape, the mass absorbs, holds the to the surface Mostly, organic farm- daily requirements. The goal of farm- water and transmits it to the crops. ing restricts synthetic fertilizers and ing water is to plan as responsibly as There are numerous possibilities, chemical synthetic pesticides, as well possible, especially being proactive tests, amendments, and land styles as growth enhancers and antibiotics during periods of drought, which to conserve water within the soil for animals, thereby reducing the risk come upon everyone each year. As content. Farmers may consider us- of these chemicals finding their way the population grows and more food ing compost, conservation tillage into lakes, streams and rivers. is required, better water management and cover for crops. Management During periods of low rainfall will become as critical as the water depends on the type of soil being or in low rainfall areas, water short- itself; hence farming water as effec- used. ages can be a significant limitation tively for the homestead is to have to farming productivity. A lack of water when you need it and where Millions of gallons of water water can mean devastation to some you need it. are being wasted because of runoff. properties while poor water quality Machinery and irrigation equip- Runoff occurs within poor soil man- can restrict the type or inhibit farm ment overshadows an ever-shrinking agement and over-watering. A posi- productivity. water supply and will become more tive solution may be to recycle runoff To avoid a lack of water and dev- evident as time passes. An efficient because it saves water and enhances astation to crops, consider the options irrigation system depends on the ecosystems. Agricultural runoff con- available to increase efficiency, use type of crops, the soil, and climate. tains chemicals that infiltrate ground- timing, and storage options. To save significant amounts of water water and pollute rivers, streams and Today billions of gallons of wait is preferable to adjust irrigation larger bodies of water. ter in certain land areas, including systems to work in harmony with When farmers do not have to treat sections of what were once flowing natural rainfall, rather than set an au- the water prior to reusing it, the re- liquid, have turned to dust. Many tomated schedule, allowing the water cycling process is less expensive. Or- third-world countries have devised to flow regardless of the weather. ganic farming methods that reduce or methods to draw water from reser- Using water flow meters helps mea- get rid of chemicals are a major way voirs, lakes and streams. We can do sure and control the amount of water for farmers to conserve water by tak- the same. being used in irrigation. Being savvy ing out a costly step in the recycling with technology can make a major method. Organic farmers also lower Farm water supply can be ex- difference in water usage. Numerous the water-use footprint by preserving tremely variable. Planning is impor- weather apps provide up-to-the- the quality of water. Not all organic tant to consider all available sources second precipitation reports. Coordi- farming methods reduce the amount and how much of it can be stored. nating the reports with any irrigation of water used, but conservation- Knowing the volume of a farm dam system saves water, which will save minded farmers should consider the is useful for estimating how long money as well as reducing wear and options. Organic farmers find that the dam will last during prolonged tear on systems. The swishing and reducing runoff helps to reduce the dry periods. Farmers can change rotating of sprinkler systems not need for crop irrigation in drier areas. drought situations by farming water only creates excessive water which Improving soil structure and water as though it were a storage bin from 44 Discussion is an exchange of knowledge; argument an exchange of ignorance. — Robert Quillen On average, 70 improved irrigation techniques are percent of fresh essential to increasing the efficiency of water is used to water use. Agriculture needs to be part produce food of watershed management. Therefore, and other ag farmers must be involved in making products. crops more resistant to stress and cropping techniques more water efficient. Farming water requires becoming proactive and protecting water quality across the landscape in a wise design. Rain water harvesting can create a sustainable system that provides water needs from rainfall alone. In some places fertilized soil does not hold water well. You apply fertilizer one year, but not the next and the plants which to withdraw its contents when and agricultural uses. Reportedly may die. But if you apply manure and needed. It is also important to note more than two-and-one-half billion nitrogen fixing plants once, the plants that the amount of runoff might not people live in water-scarce areas. This do well year after year. Farming water match the amount of water that can be does not include drought areas or wisely increases and ensures a healthy stored. For example once a water tank seasonal dry spells. farm, including environmental and or dam fills, the water overflows and On the average, 70 percent of fresh physical characteristics and a variety goes back into the environment. water withdrawn from rivers and of uses. Resourceful homesteaders and are groundwater is used to produce food Farm water needs vary. For their dependent on having sufficient access and other agricultural products. Farm production systems, dairy requires to water and knowing how to use the water may include water used in the approximately 50%, while cropping options. Water quality affects plant irrigation of crops, water used to leach needs are a high 96%. Potatoes scale growth, livestock health, soil quality, harmful salts from agricultural fields to 70% and 40% of vegetables are farm equipment and domestic use. and water used for environmental required. Meat and wool production The quality is variable, depending management. average approximately 96% usage. upon weather conditions. Evapora- Competition for water resources Grapes and fruit crops require consid- tion increases the concentrations of is much more intense because there erable planning and designing of pro- salts while a flush of water dilutes are nearly seven billion people on the duction systems. The basic planning salts, but may increase sediment planet. Reportedly more than two steps to farm water are to determine and fertilizers or nutrient runoff. billion people currently live in water- the use for which the water is being Monitoring should be done regularly scarce areas. Their consumption of used, calculating how much water and more frequently in summer or water-thirsty meat and vegetables is is needed for each use and in which in periods of moisture stress. Water rising, and there is increasing compe- capacity it can be readied. scarcity is already a critical situation tition for water from industry, urban- Growing less thirsty crops and in farming in many parts of the globe. ization and biofuel crops. By the year investing in more efficient irrigation Physical water scarcity is where there 2050, the proportion of the population technology, states such as California is not enough water to meet demands, facing stressed water supplies is ex- are saving billions of gallons of water including requirements for ecosystems pected to increase. To avoid a global each year, the equivalent of three dams to function effectively. Dry regions of- water crisis, farmers will have to strive to 20 dams, according to a new report. ten suffer from physical water scarcity. to increase productivity to meet grow- Farmers, who shift away from water It also takes place where water seems ing demands for food, while industry intensive crops, invest in high tech abundant but where resources are and cities find ways to use water more watering systems and irrigate only over-committed. effectively. Farm water may include at specific times in the growing cycle. This can happen where there is an water used in the irrigation of crops, They save between 600,000 and three- overdevelopment of infrastructure, water used to leach harmful salts from to-four million acre-feet of water each usually for irrigation. Symptoms of agricultural fields and water used for year. One acre-foot is roughly 326,000 physical water scarcity include envi- environmental management. gallons, and represents the amount ronmental degradation and declining Farming First coalition believes of water needed to cover one acre of groundwater. Symptoms of economic that adopting sustainable agricultural land to a depth of one foot. The bottom water scarcity include a lack of infra- practices reduces water use per bush- line is that if we continue to be water structure with people often having to el. Research, innovation and access smart, then being water short will not fetch water from rivers for domestic to improved technologies, seeds and be one more concern. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 45 The garden: between the rows of plants. The reason for this is that it is important to keep the dirt which is immediately close to the plants as flat as possible, and not cause divots or hills in the dirt near the plants or seeds. This will ensure Grow a No-Watering, uniform soil moisture throughout the “bathtub.” Once this step is done, the garden is already 50% more drought-resistant, because the bathtub-shaped No-Weeding Garden rows hold water in, close to the plants, rather than allowing it to run off into parts of the garden where it is not needed or wanted. If seeds were used instead of starter plants, wait to By An n e Ha r t Li e b 3 perform the rest of these steps until the plants have Oh i o , Zo n e 5a all sprouted and are visible. elieve it or not, there is an inexpensive, organic Did you know that newspapers (and the ink) actu- Bmethod of making your garden free of weeds and ally compost and can be tilled right into the garden require no watering (or very little during drought or in next year? The newspapers help to aerate and enrich an arid climate). the garden soil for next year. The upfront work investment in creating a no- Once the plants are visible, lay newspaper around watering, no-weeding garden far outweighs the small the plants, and completely cover the entire bathtub amount of work required for the remainder of the shape, allowing newspaper to hang over the edge of growing season. the bathtub a few With this gardening method in place during the inches, as shown in the summer drought of 2012, I only watered the garden photo above. Get the once every eight or 10 days (even the tomatoes!), newspaper as close to never lost a plant, and had vegetable quality of normal the stems of the plants yields. With normal weekly, even twice-monthly rains, as possible, keeping in a low-water-consumption garden like this does not mind that any uncov- require extra watering, because it does not allow fast ered areas will provide evaporation of soil moisture. enough light for weeds to grow. Cover thoroughly with Additionally, the newspaper/grass-clippings layers two-to-six layers of newspaper (or more if you have described below create a thick, dark mulch barrier that loads of newspapers). The thicker the better. prevents any weeds from growing. While placing the newspapers, immediately spray- If enough space is left between the planted rows, ing them with water keeps them from blowing away in a mower or weed whacker will handle any weeds or the wind until they can be secured. grass sprouting up in the paths between the rows of Cover the newspaper with grass clippings. Grass vegetables, creating a garden where no weeding will 4 clippings contain no seeds, and thus will not promote ever be necessary. In fact, allowing grassy paths in grass or weed growth. The grass clippings perform three the garden is great for being able to walk through the vital functions: 1) Acting as a paper weight to hold down garden after a rain, because there is no mud. the newspaper against wind; 2) Preventing sunlight from Here are the simple steps needed to build this getting through to the ground, thus preventing weeds amazing garden: from growing; 3) Providing an essential layer of mulch Plant a row of seeds (according to packet directions) to trap moisture into the ground, allowing very little soil 1or small starter plants. Leave the ground as flat as evaporation. This eliminates the need for frequent rain possible around the plants or seeds. Never plant on a or watering and keeps the soil moist 5-to-10 times longer small “hill,” because that causes water to run off the hill than unprotected soil. instead of keeping the dirt immediately around the plant If the garden resides in an area that can get windy, as moist as possible. Essentially, planting on a small hill 5 use rocks, planks, or logs to weight down the outer dehydrates a plant and can kill it. perimeter of newspaper, as shown in the photo above. Using a shovel or hoe, make a continuous “curb” The grass clippings will hold down the newspapers in 2of dirt (three to six inches high) around the newly- a 15 mph wind, but not much above that. A good wind planted row, as seen in the photo above. I call this the gust can pick up the edges of the newspaper, lift it up, “bathtub,” because it places the vegetables inside a allow unwanted evaporation of soil moisture, and also bathtub-shaped area which holds water next to the plants cause the grass clippings to blow away or get messed up. or seeds where it is needed instead of allowing the water If the wind does not have a chance to lift up the edges of to escape, which only encourages weed growth. When the newspapers, they will stay neatly in place with grass building this dirt curb, do not use the dirt directly next clippings intact. to the plant. Instead, get the dirt from outside the row, Congratulations. You now have a garden that re- such as the area that would be used as a walking path quires very little water and no weeding. r 46 Wit is the salt of conversation, not the food. — William Hazlitt The garden: may deceive cabbage butterflies looking for cole crops. Since most seeds will not germinate at temperatures below It’s Time for the forty degrees, the fall garden should be planted a few weeks before the night temperatures drop to freezing. Though I have gardened in the Growing of the same location for a half-century, long-range weather forecasts tend to inaccuracy; as a rule, I can plant Greens fall crops about eight weeks before Halloween, which corresponds with my first expected frost date. After cultivating the soil with By Na n c y Pi e r s o n Fa r r i s a rotary tiller, I make furrows, and So u t h Ca r o l i n a , Zo n e 8a sprinkle in a layer of compost, covering it with an inch or two of hen summer wanes and soil. The USDA recommends a 10-10- the garden harvest ebbs, 10 fertilizer for greens—at planting Wit’s time for the growing time and for side dressing. I use fish of the greens. Unless you’ve been on emulsion, which is a 5-2-2 formula, another planet for the past decade, to side dress plants after they have you have heard about the importance second leaves. of having fresh, green food in your For a 50-foot row, I use about daily diet. Mustard greens supply 1/8 ounce of seed, and expect to significant amounts of vitamin A and harvest 30-50 pounds of greens. C, and calcium. A half-cup of collard When I have an over-abundance greens provides vitamins A, B, C and of any of these crops, I cook them 207 mg of calcium, along with 3.4 without salt, and pack into containers mg of iron. Dark green lettuce leaves for the freezer. They taste fine when contain vitamins A, B, C and 17 mg I have gaps in garden production at of calcium. a later time. I have canned greens The cartoon character Popeye in jars; but I always use a pressure demonstrated the effects of spinach, canner for this, since they are a low which contains a day’s supply This kale is growing tall, signaling acid food and water-bath treatment of vitamin A, as well as several that it’s about ready to bolt. Photos by may not be safe. minerals. At least one well-known Don Farris Since I start fall crops in late tv doctor recommends kale as a August, when weather may remain super-food. A study done in 2002 when snow blankets your garden hot and dry for several weeks, I lay found that crude vegetable extracts and real icicles drop from your eaves. a soaker hose between the rows triggered increases in protective My grandfather in New York State and turn it on at least once a day. proteins, which help to detoxify harvested salad greens all winter During the week to 10 days before cancer-causing agents in the body. from a cold frame built against the germination, I may water the rows Kale brought an eight-fold increase south side of his house. lightly two or three times a day to in those protective proteins! I plan my fall-winter plantings keep soil cool and moist. During the winter, fresh produce at the same time I draw my spring For chard, lettuce, and spinach, I comes with a high price tag, unless garden layout. Since legumes fix sow seeds in four-inch deep wooden you grow it yourself. nitrogen in the soil, and green peas flats which I place on my screened I am fortunate to garden in an and snap beans will vacate their back porch. I can keep these flats in area where snow comes maybe rows before mid-summer, I pencil a shady area while weather is hot, once a year and night temperatures in mustard, turnips, collards, and and the insects can’t get to them. seldom drop below 10 degrees. kale for the same rows. To divert My dad loved cooked Swiss chard If your winters are too harsh for insects looking for a summer picnic, with a bit of vinegar, but it takes a gardening outdoors, you may find it I always alternate rows of legumes potful to make a few spoonsful. I worthwhile to invest in a cold frame, with squash or tomatoes. When prefer to use these tender greens in hoop house, or a small greenhouse I make my fall plantings in the salads. I enjoy growing the Bright where you can grow fresh greens vacated bean rows, the tomatoes Lights mix chard, which is colorful Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 47 enough for a border in a flowerbed. The yellow and red stems provide healthy phyto-nutrients as well as antioxidant vitamins. Pests usually bother fall crops less than spring crops, though cabbage butterflies remain active except during the coldest weather. Weekly applications of Bacillus thurengiensis (Bt), which is available in dust or liquid form, gives cabbage worms fatal indigestion. Flea beetles are a real bother, since I plan to eat these leaves. Because flea beetles love eggplant leaves, I don’t plant fall greens near eggplants. Tomatoes deter flea beetles, as do wormwood or elderberry. A few branches of either strewn alongside the greens may prevent flea beetle Red mustard provides a lot of nutrition. infestations. Lime or fine wood ashes dusted on the leaves may stop that the roots contain no vitamin A, flea beetles. and only 50 mg of calcium per half- Last year, weather remained cup. The greens provide 11,000 units warm through December. We sowed of vitamin A and 347 mg of calcium. short rows of mustard and turnips I’m not discarding all that nutrition! every two weeks. As anticipated, Since we harvest the entire turnip the early crops stood well through a plant, we make successive plantings cold January, but with the first warm from August through December, or days of March, they bolted to seed. until night temperatures drop below Whereas kale and collards will 30 degrees. My earliest planting will usually withstand temperature include Tokyo Cross, which forms a extremes from zero to 100, turnips small root within five weeks. At the and mustard, especially after a Collards can produce about a pound of same time, I plant Purple Top (eight warm start, then a period of cold greens per foot of row. weeks) and Just Right (nine weeks). weather, cannot readjust to the heat. By the time I have used the earlier Collards, kale, and mustard a loose head, which is usually Tokyo Cross, the later varieties have are cut-and-come-again crops. harvested in its entirety. When begun to mature. We pull every Collards grow about three feet collards are grown for marketing, other plant, leaving space for the tall, with leaves sprouting from a the heading type is usually planted remaining turnip roots to expand. strong central stalk. In early spring with succession crops, sown every Just Right can grow to an impressive it is common to see in a Southern couple of weeks to ensure a steady size. garden, tall stalks with leaves only supply. Not all greens grow green! I’ve at the top. That’s because the lower Kale and mustard form a shorter already mentioned colorful chard; leaves are harvested by breaking stalk and we crop them throughout I also grow red mustard and red them off from the stalk, leaving the the winter. When a tall stalk forms, lettuce. You’ve probably heard plant to continue producing. This we know they are ready to bolt to about the cancer-preventing benefits practice is commonly referred to as seed. They soon become fodder for of lycopene, which is available from “cropping” and it allows the plant to goats and chickens as the garden all those red leaves. produce continuously through the area is cleared for planting a spring Since home-grown vegetables go winter. Although it doesn’t always crop. from garden to table within hours, happen, I have on occasion had a As a child living in New York they retain most of their nutritional collard plant or two stand through State, I watched my mother discard value. Considering that low-light a winter and a summer and another turnip greens and cook only the roots. winter days increase our need for winter before finally bolting to seed. As a wife living in South Carolina, I certain vitamins, I believe growing Summer collards don’t have as much watched my mother-in-law carefully nutrition-packed greens through flavor, but they are nutritious. wash the greens and cook them those months is worth a little extra Heading-type collards form along with the roots. I now know effort. r 48 What I want to do is to make people laugh so that they’ll see things seriously. — Wm. K. Zinsser The garden:

Jack Dody grows tomatoes in 55-gallon drums to conserve Desert water Gardening Tips

e garden on the high plains of Colorado. The temperatures Wvary from 100+ to -30°F. The wind blows constantly and the Hoop house construction has begun soil is sandy and alkaline. It rains from 9-13 inches per year. In as part of the University of Nevada, Reno’s High Desert Farming Initiative short, it’s a gardener’s nightmare. at the Valley Road Field Lab. Photo I had to develop radical solutions for such radical problems. A by Mike Wolterbeek, University of friend told me about Sub Irrigated Planters—SIPs. For the past four Nevada, Reno. years I’ve fine-tuned the SIPs for my application and I’m finally able to have fresh produce on our homestead. You can learn the principles of building SIPs on the Internet. I Hoop House use 55-gallon plastic barrels that are translucent/white, but you can build SIPs from any container that will hold water. I fill my barrels on the about half way with pure compost. You can’t use soil in the SIPs—it becomes very hard. I plant one tomato plant or pepper plant in each Horizon in barrel. I put the lid on in the early spring to protect the plants from frost. I place one-liter pop bottles filled with water inside the barrel, around the outside perimeter to moderate temperatures. The barrel Reno protects the young plants from the winds of early spring. Later, the plants grow over the top edge of the barrel and flow downward. onstruction is underway on six Each plant gets the fertilizers and soil amendments that work best Choop houses for the High Desert for that plant. The planters use 50–75% less water. I use 25-gallon Farming Initiative, a University of Nevada, Reno farming demonstra- tubs (SIPs) filled to the top for peas, carrots, onions, salad greens, tion project. melons, etc. The business-oriented collab- For more information, go to my free training manual, Ab u n - orative will provide applied research d a c u l t u r e . Just type the title4 into5/8” yourX 2 1/2”search engine and download and demonstration in hoop-house, a PDF file. — Jack Dody, Colorado greenhouse and organic farming in high desert climates for local grow- Don’t take it so hard ! ers and the agriculture industry, as Control hard water scale without electricity, salt or chemicals. well as assessment of various options A SoPhTec system makes hard water act like soft water to support economic development • Controls hardness, calcium scale and corrosion – primarily to support agriculture. • Removes existing scale • Prevents lime scale buildup Educational opportunities are also • Use less soaps & detergents • Maintenance & service free available to students interested in • Safe for soil, plant life & animals • Well or city water agriculture and business. SoPhTec is a cost- effective, environmentally- friendly alternative to a salt type softener. “It’s exciting to get started and 90 day money back guarantee & ten year warranty. begin to realize the potential for this Total system cost for the home is $389 - shipping included (continental US) initiative,” said Sam Males, director To order or receive additional information: of the University of Nevada, Reno’s Call Toll Free: 1-877-854-7638 Nevada Small Business Development Or Write: MagneTec • 711 W.17th St Bldg. F-3, Costa Mesa, CA 92627 Center. Males was instrumental in the For more information or to order on line visit www.sophtecwatercond.com design and funding of the initiative,

MagneTec ad for Countryside

The font for MagneTec should be Challenge Extra Bold or Blarney Scaps SSK Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 49 Try the newest 49 who received a $500,000 grant in col- a federal AmeriCorps grant. We’ll old-fashioned way to laboration with Sen. Harry Reid and bring in young adults who want to be preserve food! the U.S. Department of Housing and part of the ag community to do day- Urban Development. to-day, hands in the dirt work.” Making & Using Dried Foods The project, under the direction of The University is also offering a By Ph y l l i s Ho bs o n Jennifer Ott, also based in the Small course in the fall through the College Business Development Center, is on of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Discover the one acre at the Valley Road Field Natural Resources that will be a part benefits of mak- Lab, one of the University’s Nevada of the Initiative. The course will cover ing dried foods! Agricultural Experiment Stations, growing crops, but also the business Easy, economi- which is operated as part of the Col- of growing crops for small to medium cal and nutritious, lege of Agriculture, Biotechnology growers. drying is a natural, great tasting and Natural Resources. “This initiative is for research, alternative to can- Rick Lattin of Lattin Farms is the outreach and education,” Ott said. ning or freezing. liaison and agriculture consultant “One way to accomplish this is to Includes instruc- working with the high desert farming test and research different varieties tions for drying initiative, and is a part of its working of produce and growing methods so almost everything with or without a group. farmers won’t have to go through commercial dehydrator, and more than Urban Roots, a community part- the expense and time of seeing what 200 delicious recipes using dried foods. ner to the project, is working closely will grow and be profitable. We’ve 182 pages, $14.95 + $4 s&h. WI res. with the Initiative to help realize already received a federal block grant add 5.5%. the goals of education, research and to test a new variety of lettuce for Call outreach. this area.” “We’re happy to be a part of the The hoop houses are scheduled 1-800-551-5691 University’s project,” Jeff Bryant of to be completed this summer and the to place your order Urban Roots said. “We’re bringing a first plantings will begin in Septem- service learning component through ber when students are back in class. www.countrysidemag.com

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Store Salad Greens for Later Use

By An n e Ha r t Li e b thaw! This is very, very important, for 1 or 2 minutes Oh i o because allowing them to thaw will 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms cause the greens to stick together 1 to 3 cups of salad flakes toring salad greens has been into a solid block, and possibly even Salt and pepper to taste an issue for many gardeners, become slimy. For this reason, you Sbecause green leafy vegetables will need to handle only one bag at a Optional: normally do not respond well to can- time for this step. Thus, remove one Sprinkle with nutritional yeast ning, drying, or freezing. bag of frozen salad greens from the flakes for a cheesy flavor. Follow these easy, inexpensive Add any other diced vegetables that freezer and quickly massage the bag might taste good sautéed. instructions to turn your salad greens to crumble the greens into thousands into “green flakes” and enjoy them of small flakes. When finished, let all fall and spring. In the freezer they Stir and flip for 2 to 4 minutes, some air out of the bag (to reduce until desired doneness is achieved. will keep for a year or more. If using volume), and quickly place back into the dehydration method (at bottom Serve immediately. Makes 2 large the freezer. Do this with each bag, or 4 small servings. of this article), these green flakes separately and individually, to pre- will keep for seven months, possibly vent any thawing of the greens. Pizza (regular, gluten-free, or longer. Congratulations, you have just Green flakes can be added to any vegan): created long-term storage for your Pizza can be made from scratch, recipes such as soups, stews, pizzas, garden salad greens! sautee-recipes, meat loaves, spreads, started with a “brown-n-serve” crust, And now for the best part, using or added to a completely-made fro- or dips. Below are just a couple of the your green flakes. Follow these sim- many recipes that use green flakes. zen pizza. Sprinkle the salad flakes on ple, delicious, and super-nutritious top of the pizza as one of the added recipes below. Step #1: toppings. Then bake as directed in recipe or on package. Pick any combination of salad Sautéed Greens, Onions, greens (lettuce, spinach, kale, parsley, Mushrooms Following are instructions for cilantro, basil, etc.). Wash garden Heat 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive or greens in clean water, then drain long-term storage of salad greens if coconut oil in a skillet on medium- no freezer is available. thoroughly. A salad spinner, avail- high. able for under $5 at many discount stores, is an effective way to drain the Drying Method #1 Add: After washing, dry the salad maximum amount of water from the 1/2 cup diced onion, stir and sauté washed salad greens. greens either with an electric food dryer or using a shallow wooden box covered with a screen (bug protec- Step #2: Don’t Toss Vegetable If you have a freezer, continue fol- tion) outdoors, preferably in a sunny lowing these steps. Otherwise, follow Leftovers! area. Lay the greens one layer thick, the instructions at the end for using being careful not to overlap, which the drying method. Place the salad If you have small portions could cause non-uniform dehydra- greens into large plastic bags, and of leftover raw veggies and/ tion. Dry thoroughly, until greens are very crispy. If using an electric dryer, put them into the freezer for a day or fruit that aren’t quite be very careful not to burn them. or until very frozen and “crispy.” At enough to feed the family, first, they will take up lots of space. shred them into a bowl and But don’t worry, most of this space Drying Method #2: will be returned to your freezer in add a little mayonnaise and Place the dried greens in a large the next step. vinegar to make a quick and plastic bag and massage the bag until inexpensive coleslaw-type the greens are broken up into flakes. Step #3: salad side dish. Store on pantry shelf or in refrigerator Do not allow any of the greens to for up to seven months. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 51 51 The homestead kitchen: Make Cracklins After Rendering Lard

takes that long for the lard to solidify. By Sh i r l e y Be n s o n Wi s c o n s i n It will keep for years. If you pour it in jars while it is boil- ecently, when discussing rendering (we called it open kettle canning), Ring lard with a friend (one I met the jars will seal and keep for some through Co u n t r y s i d e , by the way), time, but I want it to be safe for a long she suggested readers might appreci- time. Processing is a simple way to in- ate some information on rendering sure that and you do not have to work their own lard. There are many places with the dangerously hot lard. where you can get the free fat to render, such as people who raise their A word of caution own hogs as well as some butcher Many years ago when render- shops. Home rendered lard gives a ing lard I had a very narrow escape whole new meaning to pie crust or that might help you just by hearing fried chicken. about it. Lard is made from the fat of the I had used a large enamel turkey pig, the leaf lard from the belly fat roaster to render the lard. I filled the or the trimmings from the chops and roaster and put it into the gas oven. It roasts. There might be small strips of had been cooking for some time when lean included, but that is what makes I saw flames in the oven. Opening the the cracklins I will tell you about door, I found I had overfilled the pan later. and the lard was boiling over and It is easier to render lard if the had caught fire. So far, only the boil fat is ground, coarse ground makes over was burning. I was home alone better cracklins, but the finer ground and scared to death, but I had to do renders faster. If you do not have a something or our house would burn grinder, cut the fat into small cubes, down. I knew I would get burned, about one inch, working with the but I would have to live with it. I got fat while it is partially frozen or very a large kettle and set it on the oven cold. I recently learned using smaller door. Then I took a dipper and dipped batches and working with the lard some of the lard out of the roaster so when it has cooled a little is not only I could lift it without spilling more. easier, but much safer. Using heavy pot holders, I lifted the Use a small electric roaster or a roaster out and set it on top of the crockpot. Turn the crockpot to high stove. Then I threw hands full of bak- and the roaster, no higher than 225°F. ing soda into the oven, shut the door, Do not over fill as you can add more to and the fire went out. Next I sat down the melting lard as it settles. Cook for and shook, and finally I began to clean two to three hours, stirring a couple up the mess, but I never once com- of times, until lard has melted and plained about the extra work because cracklins settle to the bottom. At this my home was still safe and I did not point I let the lard cool for a while then get even the slightest burn. Someone strain and pour into jars, but save the was taking good care of me. cracklins that strain out. Wipe the top This year, because I can no longer of jars with a hot soapy cloth and put lift the heavy roaster out of the oven, on lids. Process in pressure canner for I used my small electric one and the 10 minutes at 10 pounds pressure. A crockpot, and it worked beautifully. I water bath canner should also work do not know why I thought I should fine for this. Allow jars to set for a use the huge pan and do it all at once. couple of days without moving, as it You are never too old to learn. 52 52 When the candles are out all women are fair. — Plutarch Cracklins 1/2 cup bread crumbs After you have drained all the 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated lard from the cracklins, working with small batches fry them in a large Peel eggplant and cut into slices frying pan on medium heat, stirring about 1/4" thick. Sauté in six tablespoons butter, adding the butter only Proclaimed by qualified design engineers to be the often. Drain off the extra lard and simplest, quietest, and the most practical grain mills put in jars to can, or, if there is only a as needed. Set aside. Sauté peppers in the world. Send $2 for flour sample and a color and onions in the remaining butter. catalog of grain mills and other related items to: small amount, store in the refrigerator. It will keep for a very long time. Place in a 2-qt. casserole alternating Since RETSEL Corporation with layers of eggplant, beginning 1963 This is #2, or cooking lard. It makes 1567 E. Hwy 30, McCammon, Idaho 83250 and ending with eggplant, sprinkling Tel:208-254-3737 www.RETSEL.com the very best fried potatoes or eggs. each layer with a mixture of season- Grains at wholesale prices Package the cooled cracklins in bags with about one cup each and store ings. Slice tomatoes and arrange on in the freezer. Use these as sausage top. Combine bread crumbs with or hamburger in hot dishes, omelets, cheese and sprinkle over tomatoes. stuffing, etc. Season with onion and Bake in a 350°F oven for about 45 sage, or seasonings of your choice. Fry minutes until browned on top. Left- the larger (cubed) cracklins good and over pork or chicken slices may be done, and use in cookies, spice cake, added in between layers for a heartier or cornbread. When using cracklins, casserole. use a tablespoon less of the required Serves 6. oil or shortening and do not add extra butter or oils to the recipe. Gluten-Free You could easily get 20 pounds of lard from one not overly fat pig. When you have finshed, stand Casserole back and look at the jars of snowy white lard and the freezer packages By Me l o d y C. Yo d e r Pennsylvania of cracklins and admire what you have salvaged from someone’s My family has made this recipe a throwaways, with a few hours of yearly tradition. My husband and I time and some jar lids. A job well make it together on Christmas Eve, done. We still r then serve it for brunch on Christmas make things. Day. Reader recipes: Gluten Free Egg and Sausage Breakfast Casserole Use Those Garden 1.5 lbs. maple sausage 3 cups milk (or milk-substitute) 12 large eggs Goodiesin a Casserole 1-1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard 3 slices Rudis Gluten Free bread By Ca r o l e S. Br a u n 1-1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese Wi s c o n s i n 1 teaspoon salt (optional)

This is a favorite casserole that Brown sausage and drain, then we have enjoyed over the years, es- Since 1925 we have helped pulse in food processor to make small pecially since most of the ingredients to preserve the traditions pieces. are from our garden. and techniques of Southern In separate bowl, mix eggs, milk, appalachia, and have shared mustard and salt (optional). Cut Tomato and Eggplant Casserole them with the world. Come bread into cubes and stir into egg 1 eggplant (over 1 lb.) mixture. Add sausage and cheese. enjoy making crafts and 1/2 cup butter Pour all ingredients into 9 x 13 x 2 good friends on 300 natural, 1 large green pepper, sliced scenic acres in western 1 large sweet onion, sliced buttered pan. Refrigerate overnight. north Carolina. 1 teaspoon salt Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake un- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper covered 50-60 minutes or until knife John C. Campbell Folk SChool 1/2 teaspoon ground basil comes out clean. folkschool.org 1-800-FOLK-SCH 4 large fresh tomatoes Serves 8-10 BraSStOwn nOrtH CarOLina Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 53 The homestead kitchen: Yo g u r t : Medicinal Food on the Homestead

By Ha b e e b Sa l l o u m pregnant women, children and the On t a r i o , Ca n a d a sick. In addition, it is believed that regular eaters of this fermented he ancient Assyrians appreci- milk tend to have clear skin and ated yogurt so much that they find no problem enjoying a good Tcalled it lebeny meaning “life.” night’s sleep. Also, in a recent study, The venerable yogis of India mixed Japanese researchers have found that yogurt with honey and called it the eating traditional yogurt reduces the “food of the gods.” Cleopatra bathed malodorous compounds that cause in this milk product to give herself bad breath. a clear and tender complexion, and All types of milk, ranging from Cucumber in Yogurt Salad Genghis Khan fed it to his soldiers reindeer to cow, can be utilized in to give them courage. One of man’s making yogurt. However, the fat and earliest prepared foods, yogurt can table and nutritious dairy product, nutrient values vary depending on claim few equals in the folklore of the consumed in the Middle East since whether it is prepared from cream; medical and culinary arts. the dawn of civilization. Perhaps they whole or partly skimmed or skimmed Early in life I had become familiar did not know its many benefits, but milk; and if it includes additives like with yogurt dishes on our homestead they, as I do now, relished its taste. We fruits or syrups. On the average 100 on the western prairies of Canada. ate it almost every day for breakfast grams of regular plain yogurt con- From meals and snacks to lunches and for snacks, and I am now sure tain 77 calories; and 7.1 g carbohy- and all types of dishes containing that this healthy food with a cultural drates, 5.3 g protein, 3 g fat, 229 mg yogurt, our family’s culinary life and medical past was one of the rea- potassium, 181 mg calcium, 142 mg seemed to revolve around that milk sons we children were rarely sick phosphorus, 75.5 mg sodium, and product. However, during that era of during our childhood years. vitamins B1, B2 and B12. my life it was not my favorite food. Modern nutritionists have estab- For those wishing to cut down That was to come later, when I gained lished that yogurt’s reputation as an on the amount of fat, cholesterol and wisdom. almost medicinal food is justified. calories in their diets, yogurt made “Not again!” I thought to myself It has been found that it contains a from skimmed milk is a godsend. as I angrily opened my lunch bag. digestive enzyme which prolongs In preparing meals, brands labelled Mother had this day, as she had for a life. Humans naturally produce low-fat and low-cholesterol can be whole week, made us children arous this enzyme in their childhood but substituted for mayonnaise, sour bi labana (a type of sandwich made up it becomes deficient as they reach cream or similar products. This will of a yogurt paste spread generously adulthood. constitute a tremendous improve- on paper thin Arab bread, then rolled It has also been proven that be- ment in their diets—at times working into a long cylinder shape). How I sides all the healthful elements found wonders. envied my schoolmates munching in milk, yogurt contains a teeming Besides its nutritious value, yo- on neat white bread sandwiches. load of bacteria—about 100 million gurt is a marvellously versatile and As I moved away to eat my lunch per gram. These multiply in the adaptable food. It adds richness, in a semi-hidden corner, I childishly intestines and, by getting rid of the flavor and an appetizing aroma to resolved that when I grew up there accumulated germs, relieve stomach a myriad of dishes. The possibilities would be no more arous bi labana for ulcers, dysentery, and promote excel- of cooking with this tangy, cultured me. lent digestion. When we children had milk are infinite. It blends well with Little did I know in those home- stomach ailments on the farm our cheese, eggs, grains, most types of steading days, and in fact long there- mother’s remedy was always yogurt. meats, fruits, vegetables, and makes after, that the yogurt I once detested, As far as I can remember, it usually an excellent marinade. Delicious is one of the healthiest foods known worked! when flavored with syrups, nuts, to mankind. My parents brought with Much more easily digestible than herbs and spices, it enhances and is them from Syria a love for this delec- milk, yogurt is ideal for the aged, enhanced by other foods. The gas- 54A gourmet can tell from the flavor whether a woodcock’s leg is the one on which the bird is accustomed to roost. — Lucius Beebe tronomic repertoire of this so-called 1 medium eggplant, about 1 pound “milk of eternal life” is endless. 1 cup plain yogurt 2 cloves garlic, crushed Yogurt 1/2 teaspoon dried crushed mint 1/2 teaspoon salt The rudimentary process of pre- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper paring yogurt followed today is 2 tablespoons chopped fresh corian- centuries old. der or parsley leaves 2 tablespoons olive oil 2 quarts milk 4 tablespoons plain yogurt Place eggplant in an oven, then Burghul and Yogurt Appetizer bake for about an hour or until Place milk in a pot and bring to thoroughly baked. Remove from boil, then lower heat and simmer un- oven and allow to cool. covered for 3 minutes. Remove from 2 cups plain yogurt Peel and place in a food proces- heat and transfer to a bowl. Allow to 1 medium cucumber (6 to 8 inches), sor, then add remaining ingredients, cool to lukewarm temperature. (You peeled and diced in very small pieces except coriander or parsley and olive 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh will know that milk is cool enough if oil. Blend into paste, then place on a mint your finger in the milk can stand the platter. Decorate with coriander or count of 10.) 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 teaspoon salt parsley then sprinkle with the olive Thoroughly stir in yogurt and just before serving. cover, then wrap with a heavy towel Place all ingredients in a serving and allow to stand at room tempera- bowl then thoroughly combine. Chill Yogurt-Potato Salad ture for 8 hours. then serve. Serves about 6 Refrigerate overnight before serv- In my view, the use of yogurt in ing or use in preparation of food. Burghul and Yogurt Appetizer this somewhat different than usual Note: Always set aside part of the (Kishkeh) salad gives it its uniqueness. yogurt for the next batch. Serves about 6 3 tablespoons olive oi Yogurt Dip A simple dish favored by both rich and poor, especially in Damascus, 1 large onion, finely chopped Great when served as a snack food 4 cloves garlic, crushed kishkeh is delicious and healthy. with crackers or pita bread. 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh coriander leaves 1/2 cup medium burghul, soaked 4 cups plain yogurt 1/2 small hot pepper, seeded and for 10 minutes in warm water; then 1 teaspoon sumac (can be purchased finely chopped drained by squeezing out water through from Middle Eastern stores) 1 teaspoon salt a strainer 1/2 teaspoon dry mint 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 1 cup plain yogurt 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large potatoes, about 1 pound, 2 cloves garlic, crushed l/8 teaspoon black pepper peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes 1 teaspoon finely crushed dried 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 cup plain yogurt mint 4 tablespoons finely chopped peeled Heat oil in a saucepan, then Place yogurt in a cheese cloth cucumber bag then tie with a string. Suspend Salt and pepper to taste sauté onion over medium heat for over a receptacle and allow to stand 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh 8 minutes. Stir in garlic, corian- overnight. coriander leaves der leaves and hot pepper, then Combine remaining ingredients, 2 tablespoons olive oil sauté for a few more minutes. Add except oil, in a bowl, set aside. remaining ingredients except yo- Place yogurt on a platter, then Combine all ingredients, except gurt, then barely cover with water. spread spice mixture evenly over coriander and olive oil then spread Bring to boil, then cover. Cook over yogurt. Sprinkle with oil just before on a platter. Chill, then decorate with medium/low heat for 30 minutes or serving. coriander and sprinkle with olive oil until potatoes are done, then stir in just before serving. yogurt and serve. Cucumber in Yogurt (Khiyar bi Laban ) Yogurt and Eggplant Appetizer Yogurt Soup Serves 4 to 6 (Badhanjan Matabal bil Laban) (Labaniyya ) We often had this dish on a hot Serves about 6 Serves 6 summer day for lunch, chilled in a Yogurt enhances most dip/ap- When cooking this Syrian/Leba- pail hung above the water line in petizers and sauces to which it is nese soup, precautions must be our well—our Depression years’ added. It gives them smooth and taken in order that it does not curdle refrigerator. special tang. or separate. This is done by gently Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 55 stirring in one direction until it by stir-frying meat in butter until inserted into center of cake comes comes to a gentle boil. light brown, then add the remaining out clean. dumpling ingredients and stir-fry for In the meantime, place honey and 2 eggs, beaten 3 minutes. water in a pot; then bring to boil. Boil 3 cups plain yogurt Roll out dough balls to make for about 5 minutes over medium 3 cups cold water circles 1/8-inch thick. Place 1 level heat, stirring occasionally. Stir in 2 tablespoons butter teaspoon filling on each circle, then lemon juice to make syrup. Remove 6 cloves garlic, crushed from heat and set aside. 1 1/2 teaspoons salt fold dough over filling and pinch 2 tablespoons dried crushed mint edges to seal. Fold in half again to Remove cake from oven and al- shape dumpling like a thimble and low to cool. Turn over on to a serving Place eggs, yogurt and water in a pinch to close. Place dumplings on a platter. Spoon the syrup evenly over saucepan then stir until well blended. greased tray and lightly brown in a cake and serve warm. Place over medium heat then stir 350°F preheated oven, turning them gently until mixture comes to boil. over once, then set aside. Yogurt Drink Reduce heat to very low. To make sauce, place eggs and In the hot lands of North Africa, Melt butter in a frying pan then yogurt in a saucepan, then stir until the preferred beverage to quench one’s add garlic, salt, and mint. Sauté well blended. Add cold water; then thirst is similar to this yogurt drink. over medium heat until garlic turns stir well. Cook over medium heat 4 cups plain yogurt golden then stir garlic mixture into and gently stir in one direction until 2 cups water yogurt sauce. Remove from heat, mixture comes to boil, then reduce heat to low. 4 tablespoons melted honey then serve hot. 1/2 teaspoon almond extract Place butter in a small saucepan Freshly chopped mint leaves Dumplings in Yogurt and melt then add the garlic, salt, and mint. Stir-fry over medium heat until (Sheesh Barak) Place all ingredients, except mint garlic turns golden, then stir garlic Serves about 8 leaves, in a blender, blend for 1 min- mixture into yogurt sauce. Place During my youth when the cold ute. Chill, and decorate with mint dumplings in sauce, then cover and winter months rolled around, a leaves before serving. r steaming hot bowl of Sheesh Barak cook for 25 minutes over medium/ diffusing its mouth-watering aroma low heat. Serve piping hot. through our kitchen, has left a lasting impression in my culinary world. Yogurt Cake Eaten alone or utilized as an in- Dumplings: gredient in the preparation of other 1 pound fresh or frozen dough, foods, yogurt is enjoyed worldwide thawed by more people than any other dairy 1 pound ground beef or lamb product. 2 tablespoons butter 4 tablespoons pine nuts or slivered 1 1/2 cups plain yogurt almonds 1/2 cup butter, melted 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup whipping cream 1/2 teaspoon black pepper 4 eggs, beaten 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander 1 cup sugar seeds 2 cups flour 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder 2 medium onions, finely chopped 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cloves garlic, crushed 1/2 cup honey 1/2 cup water Yogurt sauce: 3 tablespoons lemon juice 2 eggs, beaten 3 cups plain yogurt Thoroughly combine yogurt, 3 cups cold water 2 tablespoons butter butter, cream, eggs and sugar then 2 cloves garlic, crushed set aside. 1 teaspoon salt Sift flour, baking powder, and salt 2 tablespoons dried crushed mint into the yogurt mixture then stir to make batter. Place in a well-greased Form dough into 3/4 inch balls, 8 x 11 inch baking pan and let stand then cover with a tea towel and allow for an hour. to rest for 1 hour. Bake in a 300°F preheated oven In the meantime, make a filling for about 1 hour or until toothpick 56 Gentility is what is left over from rich ancestors after the money is gone. — John Ciardi History of the Dutch Oven

By Sh i r l e y Ke l l y Co l o r a d o

any articles have been written Mabout the origin, development, and use of the Dutch oven in past years, and these provide many interesting moments of reading. The Dutch oven came to this country in Shirley covers the top of a its early years of development, and Dutch oven in the coals. it was an item of great use in preparing pleasant, nourishing meals for thousands of pioneers and cowboys. Baking 2 crushed cloves of garlic Usually done with more heat from 2 bay leaves As settlers moved across our land, 1 teaspoon thyme this cooking utensil was probably the the top than from the bottom. Coals should be placed under the oven and 4 juniper berries most important one on the wagons or 2 teaspoons parsley pack animals. on the lid at a 1-to-3 ratio, having 1/2 cup oil Through the years many hunters, more on the lid. 2 quarts beef stock fishermen, ranchers and trappers, 2 cups of red wine (optional) scouts and campers of all styles have Stewing & Simmering Salt and pepper to taste found the Dutch oven to be a most Almost all heat will be from the useful utensil. Probably your most bottom. Place the coals under and on In a Dutch oven, sauté onion and versatile cooking tool, it can be used the oven at a 4-to-1 ratio with more garlic until translucent. Remove and for frying, browning, steaming, stew- underneath than on the lid. reserve in a bowl. Add floured meat ing and baking. Most anything that to oil (add more if necessary). Brown meat on both sides. Add all other can be cooked in or on your kitchen The Lid stove can be cooked in the Dutch ingredients and simmer until meat The lid can be placed on the fire oven in your camp. is tender, about 2 hours. To thicken, or stove upside down and used as a The size of ovens range from make a roux with flour until desired skillet or griddle. Using the lid in this 8-to-16 inches in diameter, the most consistency is reached. The meat may fashion, you can make virtually error common size being 12 inches, which be taken off the bones, but it’s finger free pancakes and eggs that don’t is a good starter size and feeds six to licking good when left on! run over. This is because most lids eight people. This recipe is made for a small are shaped like a very shallow bowl, The following will give you an chuck wagon family! r so things naturally stay in the center, idea of how to cook with either char- even if the lid is not level. coal briquettes or hot coals. Shirley’s book Times, They Are A Changin’, But Good Memories & Food Roasting Chuck Wagon Oxtail Stew Never Do!, is full of “memories from a 3 pounds ox tails, disjointed and British immigrant moving to the Ameri- The heat source should come from floured can West.” ($17.95 ppd.) It contains many the top and bottom equally. Coals 1 large potato diced recipes and history. Email: gladewom- should be placed under the oven and 1 cup chopped carrots [email protected] or write: Shirley Kelly, on the lid at a 1-to-1 ratio. 1 cup diced onions PO Box 23231, Glade Park, CO 81523. Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 57 e all know the story of Jack Homestead politics: his area were also using Monsanto’s and the magic beanstalk. Roundup Ready soybeans. He was WJack and his widowed right. When the beans emerged, he mother are forced to sell the family sprayed with Roundup as usual, cow because they are too poor to feed and only a few of the plants died. Do n ’t He harvested the rest, saved them, themselves, let alone feed an animal that won’t give any milk. Thin and and replanted them again the next hungry, Jack sets out with the half- season. starved animal, intending to sell her Bl a m e But Vernon Bowman was too clev- to a butcher in town. er by half. He was so proud of his idea As luck would have it, Jack meets that he shared it with anyone who a traveling butcher along the way. would listen. It didn’t take long for The butcher offers the boy a handful t h e the rumor mill to find the feed mill. of enchanted beans for the worn-out After a couple of years, Monsanto cow, claiming they will bring riches found out, and the gig was up. beyond description when they are Bowman lost on all of his defense Be a n theories, but the one the Court found planted. Not surprisingly, the boy’s stomach and imagination got the most ludicrous was his blame-the- best of him, and he handed over the By Je r r i L. Co o k bean defense. Essentially, Bowman Co u n t r y s i d e St a ff family cow. Jack, sure that these beans and his attorneys tried to claim that Bowman didn’t do anything to in- were the answer to all of their prob- Monsanto as with all the others, we fringe on Monsanto’s patent. After lems, ran home to tell his mother. are not dealing with a naive farmer all, it’s not his fault the beans he His mother was frustrated that who was duped. Rather, we are deal- planted grew. Surely, they argued, Jack had not come home with money ing with opportunists who tried to Bowman is not responsible for a or food. She threw the beans out the beat the system and lost. process of nature. If you put beans window and sent Jack to bed hun- Vernon Bowman is an Indiana in the ground, there’s a good chance gry, as usual. Upon rising the next crop grower. Not a small family they’ll grow. That’s what beans do, morning, Jack noticed that the beans farmer, but a large corporate farmer even Monsanto’s magic beans. had grown into an unruly mass that who depends on genetically modified Writing an opinion for the entire stretched into the clouds. And, in- seed in order to make a profit. He Court, Justice Kagan expressed their stead of stopping to wonder why the simply owns too much land to farm disbelief when she admonished beans grew so big, Jack raced outside sustainably. Mr. Bowman bought Bowman that he could not blame his to see where the giant intertwined the first round of Roundup Ready actions on the bean. “But we think stalks led. soybeans from a seed dealer associ- that blame-the-bean defense tough As the rest of the story goes, Jack ated with Monsanto, and willingly to credit. Bowman was not a passive finds the giant’s castle in the clouds. signed the licensing agreement which observer of his soybeans’ multiplica- He returns three times, via the enor- gave him a license to plant the seed tion; or put another way, the seeds he mous beanstalk, each time stealing one time. purchased (miraculous though they food and riches. In the end, Jack and Patented seed is expensive, and might be in other respects) did not his mother live happily ever after Vernon Bowman didn’t want to spontaneously create eight successive because of the bounty Jack was able pay to plant a second crop after soybean crops.” to steal from the giant. But in the real he harvested the first. The second Bowman signed the agreement, world, stealing from a giant will not planting is much riskier, because then broke it. He owes Monsanto for make you rich. It will, in all likeli- late-season planting often results in the seed he in essence stole—nearly hood, destroy you, not them. much lower yields than earlier plant- $85,000. And no one in their right ing. So Mr. Bowman came up with a mind feels sorry for him. When you Stealing from the giant way around purchasing Monsanto’s steal from the giant, you’re bound On May 13, 2013, the United expensive, patented seed. He bought to get stomped. But will that same States Supreme Court once again Monsanto’s less expensive, but still standard apply when the giant itself, ruled in favor of biotech giant Mon- patented, feed. Monsanto, is the defendant? santo in a dispute involving the Bowman went to a grain elevator company’s patented Roundup Ready that sold feed and bought soy beans seed. (Bowman v. Monsanto) Immedi- meant as animal feed to plant in his Hiding in the oven ately, the headlines screamed that yet field, believing that most, if not all of In the fairy tale, Jack gets away another farmer had been victimized the soybeans sold for feed were also from the giant for the third and final by Monsanto. However, on a closer Roundup Ready, because the vast time by hiding in the oven—the last look, we find that in this case against majority of other soybean growers in place you would expect to find a hu- 58 Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote. — George Jean Nathan man. Jack was able to slay the giant to sustain, and the ruling would by destroying the magic bean stalk, Fee, Fie, Foe, Fum most likely be the result of CFS’s causing the giant to slam into the Right out of the door, the Bowman lack of proof. As the plaintiffs, they ground below. In the real world ver- case and this case are on unequal bear the burden of proof here. If they sion, there is something non-human footing. The giant giving chase to lose, and professional court watchers hiding in the oven—a freshly baked Bowman was rightfully trying to don’t like their chances, in order to loaf of genetically modified wheat, claim money owed on a contract and bring a claim in the future, an injured wholly owned and controlled by the enforce its patent rights. This time, grower will have to prove negligence giant Monsanto. the townsfolk are attempting to chase or nuisance—which requires the as- The giant didn’t have to come the giant. The giant is amused and en- sistance of an attorney, guaranteeing down Bowman’s soybean stalk. He couraged. Monsanto knows it will be that only those growers and organiza- had any number of genetically modi- able to assert a blame-it-on-the-bean tions with deep pockets could even fied wheat stalks in 16 states where defense and succeed. One cannot be hope to recover. Monsanto conducted experiments liable for negligence for something That’s why Monsanto is thrilled with GMO wheat to choose from. they have no control over. that this suit has been filed so quickly. And that’s just what he did. While But it’s the claim of strict liability It’s premature, and if the court rules all eyes were on Vernon Bowman’s that is the giant’s biggest prize. Strict that strict liability is inappropriate patent-infringement and contract liability laws are laws that don’t re- here, there’s almost no chance of a fu- woes, the giant climbed down one quire the element of intent in order ture codified law making Monsanto of Monsanto’s magic wheat stalks to hold someone responsible for their liable for contamination of non-GMO in Oregon. behavior. It doesn’t matter if you crops. In May 2013, a commercial wheat meant to do it. If you did it, you’re Monsanto would also benefit grower in Oregon discovered Round- guilty. End of story. (See “Can raw from the court’s recognition of the up Ready wheat in his field after milk get you in hot water?” in the No- class action. Once the class is certified spraying with glyphosate, the chemi- vember/December issue of 2010). by the court, CFS would represent ev- cal in Roundup. A few wheat plants There are thousands of strict li- ery wheat producer in the U.S. Which survived. There can be no doubt that ability laws in the U.S. If your pet would result in thousands of growers they are Roundup resistant. These are tiger claws off your neighbor’s face, sharing in whatever settlement CFS’s Monsanto’s creations. you’re strictly liable. If you’re using attorneys agree on, should it come According to the USDA and dynamite to facilitate the digging of to that. (The attorneys get paid first Monsanto, testing of GMO wheat your pond and it blows your friend’s from any settlement.) was completely abandoned in 2005. arm off, you’re strictly liable. If A class-action suit serves only If their patented wheat seed is in a you’re driving impaired and fail a to limit Monsanto’s liability on past field in Oregon, it’s not their fault. sobriety test, you’re strictly liable. activity. It doesn’t foreclose future They didn’t put it there. The seed The rationale behind all strict li- experiments with GMO crops. For could have arrived in the bowels of ability statutes is that the controlled that to happen, there will have to be a bird or on a steady breeze. Perhaps activity is such a threat to life and state or federal legislation specifically the GMO wheat seed traveled by rail limb that no matter what precau- addressing the issue. from one of the other 15 testing sites. tions are taken the threat remains While this defense failed miserably substantial. That’s the problem with Thanks for nothing, Jack for Bowman, it will likely be success- CFS’s complaint. There simply isn’t It’s highly unlikely that CFS’s suit ful for Monsanto. enough proof that GMO wheat is will change anything for the better, Instead of waiting for a full inves- so dangerous to human safety that except the organization’s own coffers. tigation of what occurred, the Center even with precautions horrible pain Historically, nothing brings in dona- for Food Safety (CFS) and two com- and suffering will occur. Yet. There tions to tax-exempt organizations mercial wheat growers filed a class- haven’t been any clinical trials, and better than a well-publicized lawsuit. action lawsuit in the United States while some significant research However, the unintended conse- District Court for the Eastern District has emerged that GMO food may quences of action without thought of Washington a few weeks after the be toxic to human health, no gov- only works out well in fairy tales. discovery. This knee-jerk reaction will ernment agency has issued such a Sure, Jack didn’t have to make the most assuredly lead not to giant’s health warning—but that doesn’t effort to walk all the way to town. He demise, but to even greater protection mean they won’t. Research takes got a sweet deal on some magic beans for the holders of GMO seed patents. time, assembling and integrating and enjoyed huge rewards with scant The reason is simple. CFS has filed that research takes even more time. exertion. But don’t look for that result suit claiming negligence, strict liabil- It’s possible that a decision in here. There’s still a long way to go ity, and public nuisance—all of which this case could set precedent, mak- over some pretty tough terrain until are tort theories. Contract and patent ing future claims for strict liability anyone is prepared to defeat the giant law don’t apply here. against Monsanto nearly impossible Monsanto. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 59 The goat barn: Once the buck passes the breeding soundness exam, then producers should look at the overall health and It’s Breeding Season… body condition of the animal. Body condition scoring is a great way to evaluate an animal’s fat. The Manage Your Goat Herd scores range from 1-5, using .5 incre- ments. A goat with a BCS of 1 is ex- for Optimum Reproduction tremely thin with little to no fat, and a 5 is an extremely fat or obese goat. By Ro b y n Sch e r e r , M.Ag r . Ideally, most goats should fall in the three range to be healthy. Howev- reeding and kidding does er, it may be necessary to move bucks can be one of the best parts up to a four before breeding, because Babout having goats. Different they will lose a considerable amount combinations are tested, and each of weight during breeding season. season brings the joy of new kids. In “It is very important that bucks order to produce the best offspring, be in good physical condition prior goat producers should take the time to the breeding season, but not too to prepare their animals in order to fat. An active buck with a high libido achieve success. (sex drive) can literally forget to eat during the breeding season. An adult Seasonality buck can be left thin but a yearling Goats are seasonally polyestrous, buck can actually be stunted perma- which means they are considered Shortening days will bring does into nently. A young buck needs nutrients seasonal breeders, with the optimum heat, just like sheep. not only for semen production and breeding time being during the fall. mating but also for his own body The change in day length is what exam, the buck’s penis and prepuce growth,” according to Jackie Nix, a brings on estrus, and goats, like (sheath) should be evaluated. The nutritionist with Sweetlix Livestock sheep, are short day breeders. penis should be clean and free from Supplement Systems. Does should naturally come any cuts, scrapes or other sores. The It is best to evaluate the body con- into heat from September through prepuce should also be clean. dition score one to two months in ad- November. Keeping does separated The tip of penis, called the pizzle, vance of the breeding season to give from bucks during the summer, and should also be checked for any bucks enough time to put on weight. then introducing a buck through lodged urinary stones. If you notice Bucks should be given free access fence line contact can help bring a a buck is having problems urinating, to high quality hay or pasture, and doe into heat. this could be the cause. high protein grain. Grain should be The testicles should also be limited, to prevent enterotoxemia. Prebreeding checked. They should be cool to the Bucks should be up-to-date on all Prior to the breeding season, a touch, close to equal in size and firm. vaccinations before breeding as well. producer should decide what buck They should also be free of lumps and It is best to give these vaccinations he or she wants to use on his does. any sores or bruising. prior to the 60 days before breeding, Bucks are an important part of any A semen sample should then be just in case the animal has a reaction goat operation, and it is important to taken, and looked at under a micro- to the vaccine and has a fever. This make sure they are in top condition scope. Motility, concentration, and will also ensure that the buck has before breeding. Since a single buck morphology of spermatozoa should enough time to receive the immunity will be passing on his genetics to a be evaluated. The sperm cells should from the vaccine. large number of does, he needs to be be healthy and moving. A large num- Two weeks before breeding bucks of high quality and in outstanding ber of dead or malformed sperm cells should be deloused and given an health. indicate a problem. internal wormer. Parasites are shed When choosing a buck, you want It should be noted that spermato- through fecal matter and skin shed- to use a quality buck with great genesis, or the process of producing ding, and parasites can cause sickness confirmation and good bloodlines. sperm cells, takes about 60 days. If and weight loss. It may be beneficial to have a breed- during the 60 days prior to breed- The goat’s feet also need to be ing soundness exam performed ing the buck experiences fever or checked and trimmed. Foot care is on your buck prior to the breeding trauma to the testicles, his ability to vitally important because if a buck season to make sure he will be ca- breed during the season could be has sore feet or legs, walking and pable of breeding your does. In this compromised. mounting a doe can be painful. This 60 Heaven goes by favour. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in. — Mark Twain will likely cause the buck to stop into heat, it is important for produc- be to decide when it is time to pull out mounting or if he does mount, he ers to monitor when they see a doe the bucks and ship the open does. If may not ejaculate. in heat, so that a kidding date can you note that a doe has been bred, The eyes of the buck should also be calculated. Does tend to come in watch for signs of heat in 17-24 days be checked to make sure there are heat every 17-24 days, and can stay in and if heat is not observed, your doe no obstructions or disease. Teeth heat for 16-50 hours, with ovulation may be bred. should be checked regularly, because occurring 30-36 hours from the onset problems in the mouth may make it of heat, according to Dr. Wildeus. Post breeding hard for a buck to eat and put on or Signs of heat will include in- After you pull out your bucks, maintain weight. creased vocalization, slight swelling you can figure out which does are In addition to checking your buck, and reddening of the vulva and vagi- bred using a couple of different you also need to make sure that your nal discharge. The most commonly methods. The first is the “wait and does are in good condition. Does recognizable sign is “flagging,” which see” method, which is when you should be wormed, vaccinated and in is when the does waves her tail back wait for five months after breeding ample body condition before breed- and forth. Does in heat will also pace (the gestation period), and see if she ing. This will help increase concep- or stand near a fence where a buck is kids. The second method is to do an tion rates and ensure that your herd penned. It is important to note when ultrasound, which your veterinarian stays healthy. does are recognized to be in heat, and can do. It has been shown that “flushing” if a breeding is witnessed. If you are pen breeding and helps increase ovulation in does. It is best to allow one buck to watched when the does were bred, According to Dr. Stephan Wildeus, a service no more than 20-30 does. If a you should have a good idea whether reproductive physiologist at Virginia buck has too many does, he may not a doe is bred or not by checking to see State University, “Prior to breeding be able to service them all. If you are if she comes back into heat. However, (two-to-three weeks) does should be registering your offspring, one buck ultrasound is a much more reliable placed on a gaining plane of nutri- should be penned with his does, method. tion to stimulate higher ovulation and other does and bucks should be Bucks should be evaluated once rates.” penned in individual groups. This again for health and body condition. The price you pay for a buck will will allow a producer to know which Bucks that have lost a considerable be dependent on his quality. If you buck serviced which doe. amount of weight should be put on are leasing a buck, make sure he Keeping a small herd of does to a high plain of nutrition and weight comes from a CAE/TB/Brucellosis a single buck will also help decrease should be added. Bucks that are thin free herd, and should be in good fighting. Older, more mature bucks and in poor condition are more sus- condition and healthy. will generally breed more does than ceptible to disease and cold stress. If you are going to artificially in- younger bucks. Also, when fight- They should also be checked for seminate your does, make sure you ing, bucks can become injured and any signs of injury or lameness, and are familiar with the procedures and break or chip their horns. Although treated as necessary. Once the bucks you have the semen, or at least have unlikely, horns can chip deep enough are pulled from the does, they should it booked. Goats can be challenging that parasites or other bacteria can get be put in sturdy pens so that they do to AI, and should be done so with into the horn and cause infection. not get out and breed any other does great care. Using a harness on a buck will later than what is wanted. You also need to decide which allow you to see which does have does you want to breed, and if the been bred, and which does have yet doelings are ready. Doelings should to come into heat. Using a washable Conclusion be at least 60-75 percent of their ma- paint on the harness will make it Proper management of the goat ture weight at breeding. If they are easier to clean the does after breed- herd is crucial to the profitability not, their growth will most likely be ing. However, if it rains, the paint of any operation. If does and bucks stunted permanently, and they can be may wash off. It is best to check does are taken care of nutritionally, are poor dams for their first kidding. and bucks daily to see which does healthy, and are of proper age to It is important to make sure both have been bred, so that a due date breed, conception rates should be your does and your bucks are up to can be calculated. The harness should high. It is important to keep me- date on vaccinations, wormed, and in also be checked so that it does not ticulous records, and pay attention to good health, because this will help to run out of paint and is still attached details in your operation. r increase conception rate on your does. properly. It is also a good management practice It is advisable to leave bucks in Robyn Scherer owns Champion to keep your herd free of disease. with does for at least two heat cycles, Livestock, where she raises Boer, Alpine, which will range from 34 to 48 days. LaMancha, Nigerian Dwarf and Nubian Breeding the does A producer needs to decide how long goats, Hampshire and crossbred hogs and When the does do finally come he or she wants the kidding season to chickens. Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 61 The horse barn: be addressed. A feeling of entrap- ment can result if a horse looses balance in stance and/or inability to move. A horse must feel he has an Does Your Horse Suffer “opening,” “release,” or “hole” in at least one of these four possible directions (forward, back, nearside, or far From “Farrier Phobia”? side). Restraint devices will trap him and fear takes over. This concept is not easily remembered in the heat It’s not personal, just natural of a frustrating moment, especially when both the handler and farrier feel pressure for immediate results. By Br y a n Fa r c u s Ma,Cjf When horses need to be re-directed ©1998-2012 “Fa r r i e r - Fr i e n d l y ”Tm to stand up or stand still, try using the shoulder-by-shoulder-boundary; magine yourself trapped in an blocking with light resistance in front elevator with your hands tied, and of shoulders to gain a stand-still, or Ionly being able to stand on one leg light encouragement or tapping in at a time. Let’s also add an annoying rear of shoulders for stepping forward fly, which insists on your nose for a standing up. Side-to-side movement landing site. Sounds pretty uncomfort- should be tolerated in the early stages able and maybe even scary, if you’re to prevent a “trapped” fear. the claustrophobic type. Keep this in Once the horse is relaxed and ac- mind the next time you see a young Horses don’t like to feel “trapped,” so cepting his boundaries, it is then time horse in cross-ties, fighting flies in a give them some space when having to ask for his feet. The single most narrow barn aisle, anxiously awaiting their hooves trimmed or cleaned. important thing to remember here is a farrier visit. One thing the owner and to avoid a “tug-of-war” match. The the farrier should realize is that the this situation can be truly helped for goal is not how long can you hold “skittish,” “jumpy,” “kicky,” reactions lasting results. This “body-boundary” up the horse’s foot, but to teach him are not personal attacks directed at approach I refer to is my attempt to that you will be the one in charge of them, rather natural responses to the simplify the logical approaches, which the set-down phase. This means set- given situation. are currently being used by many ting the foot down before the horse successful trainer/educators. Terms expects you to. He will eventually Holding Isn’t Really Helping such as “connected,” “joining-up,” or learn to trust and wait for you each How should we deal with this “heeding,” have been associated with time; whether it be two seconds or situation? An automatic response is the basic idea of creating corridors, two minutes. to hold the horse in place physically. tunnels, and/or counter-moves. They To summarize, keep in mind the Such approaches can include cross- develop a horse’s understanding of following: ties, leg hobbles, “Honda-Knots,” and where to be in relation to the handler. 1. Be patient. With consistency, the the like, most of which prove danger- The position for the handler to main- horse will realize there is no attack. ous to both horse and handler. Some tain on the ground is a “shoulder-by- 2. Always maintain a shoulder-by- may argue in support of the tactics shoulder” alignment with the horse. shoulder alignment. This will become and say they have gotten the job From this safer spot, you can “direct” a boundary for the horse. accomplished. However, it’s a long, or “steer” your horse. 3. When redirecting or “steering,” physical process which never leads So, now you know where you ask for only one direction at a time. to a lasting “fix.” (the handler) should be. How can we Leave an open spot. Closing all doors show the horse his boundaries? The will create a “trapped” fear. Facing Fears Through first step is to deal with the “phobias.” 4. No amount of holding will stop a “Body Boundaries” Being patient and standing by him (at trapped horse from breaking away. There are two primal fears (pho- the shoulder, of course) will help show 5. The choice of logical techniques bias) all horses face: being attacked, him there is no attack by you. Also, be- over quick tactics can be a lasting fix and becoming trapped. ing in a place that is familiar, such as a instead of a temporary result. Unfortunately, the farrier as a “new groom stall, barn aisle, round pen, or experience” for a horse, can represent arena, will show him there is no attack Conclusion both. It is only through a process of from his surroundings. “Farrier phobia” in horses is natu- setting boundaries for the horse’s After success in stage one, the ral. The above approach has been body compared to the handler’s, that second portion of this phobia must successful, based on my experience as 62 That’s my private ant. You’re liable to break its legs. — Albert Schweitzer, to a 10-yr.-old boy a professional farrier. I have learned through the years that it takes an The horse barn: investment of time by the owner/ handler working with the farrier. And like most investments, a greater com- mitment will yield the finest reward. Pigeon Fever A humane approach to horseshoeing is a method that can be practiced on every horse; for big or tall, young and all. I am committed to the practice of in Horses humane horseshoeing with a farrier- friendly approach for a “kinder, gen- tler” industry. This is the “wave” of the future, so I say, “Ride it.” r By He a t h e r Sm i t h Th o m a s exist in the soil or on objects. Many Id a h o of the horses in these areas do not References intermingle, and most of the clients John Lyons & Josh Lyons, www.lyonsle- igeon fever in horses (also called don’t know one another. Insects may gacy.com pigeon breast, dryland distem- play a role, but I feel the microenvi- Ron Meredith, Meredith Manor Inter- national Equestrian Centre, www.meredith- Pper and Colorado strangles) is ronment is a bigger factor—changes manor.com caused by bacterial infection with that may be specific to the region Pat Parelli, www.parelli.com Corynebacterium pseudotuberculosis. just outside of Pendleton, and Helix Clinton Anderson, www.downunder- The main characteristic is chronic 15 miles away, and other small com- horsemanship.com abscesses in the breast/chest region, munities. When conditions are right, making the horse’s breast look like pigeon fever pops up. For us, it seems Bryan’s new Farrier-Friendly™ that of a puffed out pigeon. In some fairly predictable that when we get Horse Owner Guides will give you a great horses the abscesses extend along into our dry season (which tends to start to learning more about your horse, the midline of the belly, as far back start in July and runs through the available at www.amazon.com. as the udder or sheath. On occasion end of September—and depending abscesses form in the armpits or legs, on the year can extend into October SUCCEssFUL CATTLE FARMING... or even internally—which can be life or November, as it did last year) we Start Small, Start Right threatening. The disease occurs spo- see it,” says Robinson. radically in certain areas of the West Regarding how he handles this By Heather Smith Thomas (though in recent years it has showed disease, it’s mainly identifying the With the help of Getting up in Kentucky) and it’s still a mystery abscess (using ultrasound to find it, Started with Beef & Dairy why it crops out some years and not 90 percent of the time) and determin- Cattle you can get your ani- others. This year it was a problem in ing its maturity, to see if it is ready to mals off to the best possible eastern Oregon, and some cases in be drained. “Then we lance it or pass start with advice on all the Washington and Idaho. a large needle into the abscess to get it basics of cattle farming. Fred Robinson, DVM (River- to drain. It usually heals faster if you You’ll learn how to: side Veterinary Clinic, Pendleton, can drain the abscess,” he says. Select the breed that best suits your goals; Raise Oregon), says his area had a fairly “Some patients have an initial a thriving, contented calf; Groom your extensive outbreak in 2005, with abscess that we drain and start the animals and provide basic health care; cases showing up over a large area— horse on antibiotics to try to prevent Choose the best grain supplement extending as far as Hermiston and secondary infection in the tissues we to complement grass-feeding; Comply with LaGrande. Most of northeastern open up. Some continue to develop grass-fed and organic guidelines; Maximize Oregon had cases. “We treated more new abscesses after we drain the your cows’ milk production; Market and sell than 80 horses at our clinic that year first one. They often need to come your naturally-raised products; Recognize situations where you need a vet’s help. Rais- during a two month period. We had back and have those drained. This ing a cow for milk or beef is easier than you a few cases last year, probably about tells me that antibiotics alone are not might think. If you’ve been dreaming about a dozen. This year we’ve had more stopping it. They may curtail it to raising a family cow, or even a small herd, than 90, but other practices in sur- some degree but won’t halt it.” The here’s the book for you. Whether your inter- rounding areas are not seeing it as disease has to run its course. est is in beef or dairy farming, veteran cattle often as we are. For some reason we “We often let the abscess ‘cook’ farmer Heather Smith Thomas helps you seem to be the hot spot,” he says. and mature and come to a head be- make the experience satisfying, rewarding, and even entertaining. 281 pages, $16.95 + “In my client base, it started in fore we drain it. As long as the horse $4 S&H + WI Residents add 5.5% tax. one area of the county and moved is healthy otherwise, I don’t advocate to other areas. I think environment any other medication; we let Mother 1-800-551-5691 plays a key role, since the bacteria can Nature do her thing,” he says. Most Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 63 sure to clean it up. Infected horses es, they won’t get this disease, but The main characteristic should always be handled last, so you this is not true. “A horse is at risk just (of pigeon fever) is chronic don’t spread the bacteria to others. We by living in Umatilla County, because also recommend you do the best you the disease is here—irregardless of abscesses in the breast/ can with your environment. If it’s a horse movement. Some of the horses chest region, making the stall situation, you can clean the stall. we see don’t leave their place, yet horse’s breast look like If it’s an outdoor pen, do your best they develop pigeon fever,” he says. to clean up the ground where you Ultrasound is useful for detect- that of a puffed out pigeon. treated the horse,” he says. ing location of abscesses. “About the Some people think that if they’ve only ones I don’t use it on are horses cases are merely a cosmetic issue and never had a case on their place, and where abscesses are right at the skin inconvenient for the horse owner. their horses don’t ever go anywhere surface and can be easily seen and “There’s a small percent (about or come into contact with other hors- felt. But about 90 percent of horses three percent) that have internal abscesses, and these we might consider a life threatening condition because Storey’s Guides will help you they are difficult to diagnose and also hard to get at for drainage. We raise healthy, happy, livestock! put these horses on high levels of antibiotics. Those are like a needle in a haystack, and difficult to find,” says Robinson. Often you can’t diagnose it definitively except at necropsy. “I euthanized one horse that may have had internal abscesses, but due to current circumstances we didn’t necropsy him. This horse had lab work that made us suspicious. He had a couple exterior abscesses that were mature (just under the skin and easy to locate) yet was losing weight over a short period of time and very sick. Compared to other horses that had external abscesses, he was much worse off, so we thought he may have internal ones as well. We’re treating another horse we’re suspicious about, on the same place. Based on small changes in the lab work, the history of another horse on the same Raise productive rabbits Raise healthy horses property theoretically having this, Newly revised and updated, Sto- A comprehensive guide to rais- and also losing weight, we feel that rey's Guide to Raising Rabbits tells ing horses! This complete guide to the abscesses on the outside don’t you everything you need to know to intelligent horsekeeping covers it explain his condition. We tried to raise rabbits successfully. Packed all: Facilities, feeding and nutrition, rule out all the other possibilities of with practical information, this book daily health care, disease preven- why he might be losing weight, so covers every aspect of rabbit rais- tion, horse handling, selecting we’re guessing at internal abscesses,” ing, including: breeding stock, breeding the mare, explains Robinson. Internal abscesses • Best breeds foaling and weaning, and much are not very common, however. • Feeding and management more! By Heather Smith Thomas, When external abscesses break • Showing and selling 499 pages, $19.95 open or are surgically drained, there • Housing facilities and sanitation is some risk of the pus spreading the • Marketing Add $4/s&h. WI res. add 5.5% • Disease, parasite, and predator disease to other horses. “It’s not as Call: contagious as strangles or the flu, but control 1-800-551-5691 the risk is there. A person might have Perfect for both novice and veteran or visit only one or two horses affected and rabbit producers. By Bob Bennett, www.countrysidemag.com the rest of the herd is fine. If you are 4th Edition, 256 pages, $19.95 Countryside Bookstore draining an abscess, you want to make 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 64 Pigs and cows and chickens and people are all competing for grain. — M. Mead lancing and treatment, within a couple weeks they’re healed and the horse is ready to be back to work. Without treatment, allowed to run its course, the time frame is variable; it may be a few weeks or several months. I had one client who just watched her horse. It started in July and by mid-September it finally ruptured. That’s a long course. Knowing that many owners want to do it faster, we’ll look at the horse when it comes in, and ultrasound it. In some cases I may tell them to come back in a week Horses with abscesses. One is an when it’s ready to drain. It may not be old abscess that’s been open and ready yet. We try to ensure adequate draining awhile (above); the other drainage so we can resolve it faster, hasn’t broken yet and just shows as opposed to a premature attempt the swelling and fluid buildup be- to get it to drain and causing more that come in we use ultrasound as a tween the horse’s front legs (left). damage to the tissue and making it guide to get at the abscess and do as take longer to heal.” Proper timing little damage as possible when trying swelling and pressure because they is important. Various veterinarians to drain them,” he says. take up space,” he explains. may treat abscesses a bit differently, An occasional case will have fever. At the start of the season, when but there are similarities in recom- This can sometimes compromise the first cases come in, he cultures mendations and treatment. fertility in a stallion or pregnancy in quite a few of them to get a sensitiv- “One thing I stress is that horse mares. “I’ve only had one pregnant ity profile. “This helps us know if owners realize they didn’t get it mare in the last three years that de- these bacteria are fairly similar in from their neighbors. This is often the veloped pigeon fever, but she and the their characteristics regarding any first thing they think. With strangles, foal were both fine. Fever can defi- resistance patterns. We base some of they’ll say their horse got it from so- nitely affect fertility in a stallion, but our choice of antibiotics on this, but and-so. In this disease, however, I try pigeon fever usually doesn’t occur the most common drugs we use are to tell them that the biggest factor is here until after the breeding season, penicillin and sulfa drugs. Another the environment. Just by living here, in our area,” says Robinson. factor is whether the medication can your horse is at risk. You didn’t nec- “Regarding whether or not the actually get into the site. Penicillin essarily get it from a neighbor. The animal will become ill, it depends on has a good ability to do that, as do horses may have been exposed at the where the abscess is located. We’ve the sulfas,” he says. same time, but based on their indi- seen enough cases now, that there “But we’re mainly making sure vidual differences they did or did not are very few places on the body we we get adequate drainage and are develop clinical disease. Many horses haven’t seen it,” he says. An abscess just using the antibiotics to cover our get it but don’t become clinical, and it in the udder can cause mastitis, and bases in hopes of preventing spread. may not even be recognized as pigeon abscesses on the legs can cause lame- There are many horses that develop fever,” says Robinson. ness, chronic scarring and potential an abscess that ruptures on its own, Some horses seem to have more joint problems. and it heals, and no one ever treated immunity. One may develop a prob- “Some of the more unusual cases them. We prefer to be a little more lem and another doesn’t. “Some of we’ve seen this year were horses that aggressive; we’d like to see the horse our clients have many horses. There had it in their ears. The abscesses and facilitate drainage as quickly as might be three horses on the place ruptured on the back of the ears, possible and reduce the potential that have pigeon fever, and 67 others which is a challenge for medicating contamination of the environment. We that don’t, yet they are all commin- them. We had several at the base of like to have them come to the clinic, so gling. There must be some reason for the ear, where the jaw ties in. This is we can drain the abscess and flush it three of them getting it; perhaps they a tough area to drain safely, because down the drain,” says Robinson. And were at a higher stress level or dif- there are some large veins and nerves if the owner wants to be able to use the ferent stage of training, or other fac- in that area. Swelling in this area can horse, having it treated and cleared up tors. It’s like in people—if you work also make it hard for the horse to as quickly as possible is preferable to hard enough, long enough, and are eat and chew. Abscesses can appear letting it run its course. stressed enough, you’ll get a cold,” nearly anywhere, and may cause “What we’ve been experiencing he says. There are many complicating a functional problem just from the with routine abscesses is that with factors. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 65 The henhouse:

Feed Your Chickens Right Different stages of growth require different rations

proteins and amino acids, carbohy- specifically made for poultry should By Ro b y n Sch e r e r , M.Ag r . drates, fats, minerals, and vitamins. be used. The energy necessary for maintaining In addition to a complete feed, hen raising chickens, pay- the bird’s general metabolism and for poultry should also be supplied with ing attention to nutrition producing meat and eggs is provided scratch. The name of this feed comes is one of the most impor- W by the energy-yielding dietary com- from the natural tendency of chickens tant aspects of poultry production. ponents, primarily carbohydrates to scratch the ground for food. In Chickens that are fed properly pro- and fats, but also protein,” according general, it is a mix of several different duce higher quality eggs and meat to the NRC. grains and seeds, and should be fed in greater quantities, and live longer, This complete feed, whether made spread out on the ground. healthier lives. at home or bought in a store, contains This scratch is especially impor- a couple of key ingredients. “Dietary tant in the winter, when chickens will General nutrition carbohydrates are important sources have higher energy requirements in “Chickens vary greatly according of energy for poultry. Cereal grains order to stay warm. The extra carbo- to the purpose for which they have such as corn, grain sorghum, wheat, hydrates and fats in the scratch will been developed. Those intended for and barley contribute most of the help meet the requirements and pre- the production of eggs for human carbohydrates to poultry diets. The vent a decrease in egg production. consumption (Leghorn-type) have a majority of the carbohydrates of ce- One important aspect for laying small body size and are prolific lay- real grains occurs as starch, which is hens is calcium. Chickens that con- ers, whereas those used as broilers readily digested by poultry,” accord- sume diets that are higher in calcium or broiler breeders (meat-type) have ing to the NRC. will have thicker shells on their eggs. rapid growth rates and a large body Fat is also important, especially in Chickens that are calcium deficient size. They are less efficient egg layers. meat bird diets. “Fat is usually added may break open their own eggs to eat Methods of feeding differ for these to the feed for meat-type poultry to the shell, in order to fill that void. two kinds of chickens,” according increase overall energy concentration In order to prevent this, laying to the National Research Council’s and, in turn, improve productivity chickens should be fed a calcium (NRC) Nutrient Requirements of and feed efficiency,” said the NRC. supplement. This can be provided Poultry (1994). Protein is important because it in the form of crushed oyster shell No matter what else a chicken is helps birds to grow, as well as main- that is mixed in the feed, mixed in fed, chicken owners should always tain basic body functions. Protein the scratch or offered free choice in a make sure to provide chickens with a requirements ranges from 12.5 per- separate container. complete ration in the form of pellets cent to 18.8 percent for adult laying Another alternative for calcium or a meal. This diet can be purchased hens, and for growing meat birds this supplementation is to feed egg shells at feed stores across the country, and ranges from 12 to 15 percent protein. back to chickens. These shells do not brand isn’t as important as quality. Younger birds will need higher pro- necessarily need to be crushed, and “Poultry diets are composed pri- tein levels. can be tossed in the poultry pen as marily of a mixture of several feed- “Protein and amino acid require- soon as the contents are harvested. stuffs such as cereal grains, soybean ments vary considerably according to Water is one of the most important meal, animal by-product meals, fats, the productive state of the bird, that aspects to proper poultry nutrition. and vitamin and mineral premixes. is, the rate of growth or egg produc- Chickens are composed of 55-75 per- These feedstuffs, together with water, tion,” the NRC states. cent water, and their eggs are made provide the energy and nutrients that Vitamins and minerals are also up of more than 50 percent water. are essential for the bird’s growth, important, and if feed is made at Water is important to help chick- reproduction, and health, namely home, a vitamin and mineral pack ens function, including metabolic, 66 Love thy neighbor as thyself, but choose your neighborhood. — Louise Beal respiratory and digestive functions. taken to give this food to chickens From the Garden It is vitally important that chickens before it is completely spoiled or Many people like to feed their have access to water, especially molding. This can make chickens chickens from the garden, and this is during the hot, summer months. It sick, which will decrease egg pro- a great way to utilize leftover produce doesn’t take long for a chicken to duction. and fruits. Chickens love most greens, dehydrate and die. Dairy products should be fed in and nearly everything that is grown in Poultry should be provided with moderation. Chickens will consume a garden can be fed to chickens. clean, fresh water at all times. Large, a variety of products including milk, Food that has gone bad on the vine shallow containers work best, espe- cheese, sour cream and cottage can be picked and fed to chickens, in- cially for young birds. Containers cheese. cluding but not limited to lettuce, car- that are too deep can trap and drown Chickens should also be fed small rots, peas, tomatoes, berries, squash, young birds. In the winter months, amounts each day instead of a lot zucchini, pumpkins, melons and corn, heated water sources should be used at once, so that they can maintain a and many more. to prevent freezing. balanced diet. If chickens are allowed to roam on a property free range, the garden area Foraging should be fenced out, as chickens can Chickens are natural foragers, and destroy a garden. They will scratch at if given the opportunity, will supple- the roots of plants, and will scratch ment their diets on their own. Many up and consume seeds that have not chicken owners provide this opportu- yet sprouted. nity through the use of a chicken trac- After a garden is harvested, chick- tor, which is a small, portable large ens make great garden janitors. They area cage that can be moved around will consume many of the plants in to allow chickens to forage. the garden, and leave behind ma- When foraging, chickens will eat nure, which is a great fertilizer for grasses, weeds, bugs, small pebbles, the garden. seeds and occasionally small mam- After the chickens are removed, mals, such as mice. This is healthy the garden can be tilled for the next for chickens and gives them exer- year and the area will be fertilized and cise, as well as helps to keep their ready to go. In this aspect, chickens act nails trimmed because they will be as a natural fertilizer for a garden, and scratching. can help a gardener to cut his costs. It also allows chickens to eat tiny rocks or sand, which helps them to Conclusion grind grains in their gizzard. If chick- A chicken’s diet can affect the taste of Proper nutrition is very important ens are not allowed an area to forage the eggs. to poultry, as it can affect not only their in, they should be offered granite grit production, but also their quality of free-choice. Chickens should not be fed on- life. Chickens should be fed in a way ions, garlic or foods high in salt, as it that meets their nutritional needs Treats can change the flavor of the egg. Also, each and every day. They should Chickens love treats, and provid- spicy food such as peppers should be allowed to eat as needed, forage ing them treats such as meal worms not be fed to chickens. and have access to water. Many dif- (dried or alive) or red worms from Chickens enjoy grasses and weeds, ferent treats can be fed to chickens, a compost bin are a great source of so if a chicken owner mows the lawn and provide a great outlet for scraps. fresh protein. These worms can also or pulls weeds, these can also be fed Items from the garden and access to be used to deliver wormer or medica- to chickens, as long as there is not the garden after harvest provide the tion to chickens if necessary. fertilizer or herbicide residue on the chickens with additional nutrition, Poultry also enjoy treats such as plant. If there is doubt, it should not and chicken owners with free clean grains or scraps from the dinner table. be given to chickens. up and fertilizer, creating a win-win Chickens should not be fed leftover This can be given to chickens as it situation for both. r meat, but can be fed grains, fruits, is collected without harmful effects, vegetables and dairy products. and many chickens will consume Scherer is a livestock producer out This leftover food should be left these greens in a matter of days. of Colorado. She owns Champion Live- on the ground, and chickens will Anything that the chickens do not stock, where she raises Boer, Alpine, scratch and eat the foods that they eat can be scooped and composted, LaMancha, Nigerian Dwarf and Nubian like. Chickens love most leftover which provides an area to grow the goats, Hampshire and crossbred hogs and household food, but care should be red worms they love as treats. chickens. Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 67

Homestead business: How to Start Your Own Petting Zoo Business

By An g e l a v o n We b e r -Ha h n s b e r g

ave you ever smiled at the sight of a teen’s cool facade Hvanishing, as they tentatively cup their hands to hold a fuzzy little duckling for the very first time? Or chuckled to see a toddler following a goat on unsteady legs, giggling delightedly, pudgy little arms outstretched? And in addition to all these warm fuzzies, do you need to bring in some extra money to pay the bills each month, or maybe even replace a lost income? Then Above left: Dianne Condarco holds one of her petting-zoo rabbits, and poses why not make use of the resources with her equines, above. you already have on hand—farm animals, land, and a love of sharing All you’ll need to add to the mix are portable pens to set up on location. them with others—and start your Dianne Condarco, owner of Rancho Condarco, a mobile petting zoo based own petting zoo business? in Bailey, Texas, has this advice: “All of your animal transportation equip- As a way to generate income ment needs to stay in good repair at all times. You also need to carry full from a small family farm, starting a coverage (insurance) on your vehicle. My husband has designed fencing petting zoo can make a lot of sense. for us that is sturdy and easy to carry and set up. We bought cages that If you already have an assortment open from the top to carry our small animals in, to make it easier to take of animals, then you’ve most likely them in and out. If you buy your cages and supplies in bulk, it will help already got the pens to keep them keep your costs down.” in. You’re already feeding and car- If you’d like to open your farm to the public, first double-check your ing for them. Why not take the few zoning. Are there any deed restrictions on your land? Then take some time extra steps needed to start making to consider the following: do you have an area that can be used for park- money from the things you already ing? What will be the ramifications of the increased traffic to your area? do every day? Is your current farm set-up conducive to a great guest experience, or does Putting together a detailed it need to be changed? Dave Erickson, owner of Erickson’s Petting Zoo business plan is the best way to in Osakis, Minnesota, has experience in this area: “Location is very im- begin. The first thing you’ll need portant, also. Those who are close to major population centers have it the to decide is whether your petting easiest for drawing large numbers of people.” zoo will be mobile or located on Your next consideration should be which services you’ll offer your your property—or both! If you customers. For an onsite petting zoo: Will your farm have certain hours already have a trailer, and cages to when it’s open for business every day, or will you open by appointment transport smaller animals in, then a only? Will you offer birthday or school field trip packages? What about mobile petting zoo is a no-brainer. holiday events, like pumpkin patches for Halloween, or bunnies and 68 Nine-tenths of the people were created so you would want to be with the other 10th. — Horace Walpole of farm animals might sound like a good idea—until you realize that the exhibition of cats and dogs is governed by a completely different (and much more complicated) set of rules than that of livestock. Guinea pigs and hamsters have their own set of rules, as do rabbits. So before you add Thumper or Hammy to the menagerie, you’ll want to read through the law, and see if the additional effort and expense is worth the benefit of including these animals. Speaking of the USDA regulations, the next step you take should be to order the Animal Welfare Act and Animal Welfare Regulations booklet from the USDA, or access it online at www.aphis.usda.gov. Petting zoos are popular stops for Before you begin building new school kids. You could also take calm pens or buying crates to transport animals to nursing homes—where the animals in, you’ll need a thorough animals are sure to be loved. understanding of the rules govern- ing animal enclosures. Ensuring that your petting zoo facilities are up to snuff is vital to the success of your business, because you will have to be inspected and licensed as an exhibitor by the USDA before you can open to the public. Cond- arco tells us, “I was scared of the USDA licensing process—it looked chicks at Easter? And for so complicated. But my daughter a mobile operation: Will just kept telling me to do it. She got you work large festivals? the paperwork for me, and it really Birthday parties at private wasn’t as hard to do as I thought.” residences? Educational Getting your “Class C” license presentations at schools isn’t difficult, as long as you follow and libraries? How many hours families really enjoy coming out to the rules. Those rules specify not will you stay at each event? Re- a real farm to get their pumpkin. only how your enclosures should member to take set-up, breakdown, We offer a full range of fun activi- be built, but also how your animals and cleaning into consideration! ties for the whole family to make a should be cared for. They dictate Erickson gives us his own set-up day out of their trip.” minimum cleaning and feeding as an example: “Our petting zoo The next decision you’ll need schedules, as well as requiring that is open daily from 10:00 a.m.–5:00 to make is which animals you’ll in- a veterinarian be formally retained p.m. Our daily traffic varies from clude in your petting zoo. Condarco by your petting zoo in order to just a few families to more. We also cautions, “Start small and grow as monitor the animals’ health. You host school trips in the spring and your business grows. Stay lean, and will also be responsible for keep- fall, travel to nursing homes and work smarter, not harder, by not ing records outlining your animals’ assisted living homes, and operate having more animals than you need program of veterinary care, as well a mobile petting zoo and pony rides to provide your service.” You may as the details of all animal pur- for festivals and fairs. From mid- be surprised to learn that there are chases. September to Halloween, it’s the different USDA laws regulating the Once you have everything in busy season on the farm, with our care and exhibition of different ani- place, you can pay the application pick-your-own pumpkin patch and mals. For example, throwing a few fee of $10, and invite the USDA corn maze. As we have found out, cuddly puppies in with your mix inspector for a visit. If you pass the Countryside & Small Stock Journal,69 September/October 2013 69 inspection, you’ll be required to pay an annual licensing fee based on the number of animals in your petting zoo. For example, for 6-25 animals, you’ll pay $85, while a license for 26-50 animals will cost you $185. But be careful not to let your level of compliance slip—inspectors will make surprise visits every once in a while to make sure that everything is still hunky-dory. At this point, you’ll want to get a solid insurance policy to cover your fledgling business. No matter how many safety precautions Home Made you take, mixing kids and animals 101 Easy-To-Make Things for Your Garden, is always unpredictable. And as Home or Farm Condarco reminds us, “Liability By Ke n Br a r e n & Ro g e r Gr i f f i t h insurance is important to protect yourself and your family. Many If you want to save time and money, or make your churches and cities will not even do life easier and more productive, start with this book. Here business with you without it!” are some of the ideas: fireplace front, to conserve heat; Now, all that remains is to let root cellar, to store those valuable vegetables through the world know about your petting the winter; fences, gates, stiles—even a turnstile; animal zoo. Erickson recommends holding shelters—from birds to horses; window greenhouse; inexpensive solar dryer; and a grand opening event with free dozens of small, useful items such as stove wood containers, a macramé hanger, 176 pages, $14.95 + $4 s/h. WI res. add admission: “We put an ad in the tool storage units and seed containers. 5.5% from the Countryside Bookstore, 1-800-551-5691. local newspaper that we were opening a petting zoo with an ‘Open Barn.’ Free food and admission sure Expert information sure to make your work! And the local paper gave us a very nice article on what we animal friends stay happy and healthy! were doing.” According to Cond- arco, “Google Adwords is the most efficient and cost-effective way to Veterinary Guide get business.” But both agree that a professional-looking website For Animal Owners and a presence on Facebook and 2nd Edition other social media sites are vital, Caring For Cats, Dogs, Chicken, Sheep, Cattle, Rabbits and More! as well. And of course, word of mouth advertising never goes out By C.E. Spaulding, D.V.M., and Jackie Clay of style. “When you show up with healthy, clean, and happy animals,” Veterinary Guide for Animal Owners is a guide for everyone Condarco says, “the word is passed who cares for or raises animals at home or on a farm—from around, and yes, word of mouth is the 4H student to the home breeder to parents of a new puppy. still a great way to get business.” The Veterinary Guide for Animal Owners includes detailed So why not consider starting a chapters on cats, dogs, rabbits, chickens, horses, cattle, sheep, petting zoo? As Condarco says, “Be goats, and pigs as well as hundreds of strategies for preventing aware that you are not going to get and curing common problems. From nail care for cats and dogs rich running a petting zoo. But you to treating saddle sore on horses to administering medication to can make money and pay your bills. caring for baby pigs, this is first-rate advice from a veterinarian You can be happy and live comfort- that anyone can understand. 432 pages, $14.95 + $4 S&H + ably.” And Erickson reminds us WI Residents add 5.5% tax. that not all the benefits are tangible: “The biggest reward has to be the smiles on the faces, young and old, Call 1-800-551-5691 or visit us at when they get the chance to be up close with the animals.” r www.countrysidemag.com 70 We find the man who stole the horse not guilty. — Anonymous jury foreman The woodshop:

Wo o d Preservatives o n t h e Ho m e s t e a d

By Be n j a m i n Ho ff m a n Photo 1 - A charge of cedar posts in a ntil about 15 years ago, wood 55-gallon drum. The posts were loaded preservatives for homestead individually, then chained for dripping use were easy to find. Creosote and removal from the drum. To our sur- U prise, the six- and seven-foot posts did and pentachlorophenol were effective and relatively safe for people and the not float when standing in 24 inches of preservative. environment when used properly, and several varieties of copper salts were Photo 2 - A charge of posts lifted above available at building supply stores. the fluid level and allowed to drip dry But nowadays, most chemicals are for several hours. The light colored posts regulated and not available for do-it- were fairly fresh and did not absorb yourselfers. Treating fence posts, barn much chemical. The darker colored posts poles and timbers for homestead use were cut several years prior to treatment is difficult, and old wives’ methods— and absorbed not only more chemical like used motor oil—are questionable. but it rose higher above the fluid level in the drum. When using CuNap in diesel, If you need treated wood for contact the wood moisture content should be with the ground, you are pretty much 20% or less, probably 3 to 6 months of relegated to buying commercial, pres- drying after cutting. sure treated material that is expensive and often not well-suited for the use Photo 3 - After drip-drying, the posts were laid you have in mind. And some of the out on stringers to dry for several days. Wrapping so-called pressure-treated landscape them in black timbers I have bought are rotting after plastic and five or six years. allowing them to “condition” Take barn poles, for instance. If for a week or you want a 20-foot pole, unless you more should can find used telephone poles, you improve pen- may only find expensive, 20-foot, etration. pressure treated timbers. Since a barn pole is covered above ground, only the butt four or five feet in contact Splice untreated timbers to them to cently, 1% CuNap was sold at build- with the ground needs treating,. For get the height you need, reinforcing ing supply stores, but state restric- my garage, I ended up using 6 x 6 at least two sides with dimension tions and low demand have kept it treated timbers costing over $400, lumber. Another choice—laminate a off the market in some areas. You can compared with standing native poles combination of treated and untreated find it on the Internet, in concentrate in a 55-gallon drum of preservative dimension lumber to get the length form, in five-gallon pails or cartons of for under $50. you need. Be sure everything below six, one-gallon jugs. Concentrates are If your only choice is to use grade is treated, and since many expensive, but when diluted, cost per pressure-treated timbers for poles, preservative chemicals corrode metal gallon is lower than the jugs I used to there are two options. In northern fasteners, use galvanized or stainless get from Home Depot. And CuNap climes, to set a pole below the frost steel fasteners. does not corrode metal fasteners. line, buy 10-foot timbers and cut Copper napthenate (CuNap), a CuNap comes in either water them in half; below the Mason-Dixon relatively safe preservative, has been or oil formulations, but oil is more line, eight-footers should suffice. around for over 100 years. Until re- resistant to leaching and is best for Countryside & Small Stock Journal,71 September/October 2013 71 ground contact where moisture might be a problem. Oil-based Cu- Nap comes in an 8% solution that can be diluted eight-to-one with diesel fuel or heating oil for a 1% solution. Randy Gross, Poles, Inc., Manitou, Colorado, dips pine posts in a 1% solution for 20-24 hours and gets enough penetration and retention to meet American Wood Protection Assoc. standards for ground contact. You may not get the same results, particularly with species other than pine. But when push comes to shove, nobody really knows all that much about preservative efficacy. Some tests have shown 1% CuNap to be as effective as 2%, and even 1/2% concentrations have proven viable after 17 years in service. You can apply CuNap by painting, spraying, dipping or soaking. For posts and poles, I stand them in a 55-gallon drum of CuNap and #2 fuel oil and soak them for 24 hours. I fill the drum with 20-25 gallons of CuNap and diesel, then add the timbers. If you have a tractor with bucket, loading poles is easy, if not, a simple A-frame with block and tackle works well. Pine, hemlock and white cedar can soak for 20 to 24 hours, but other species may soak up chemical more rapidly. Randy Gross says pine absorbs about a quart per cubic foot of post. So compute the cubic volume of submerged wood and soak it until fluid drop equals one quart per cubic foot. Also, in humid climates, dip post tops briefly to prevent rot above ground. Photo 1 shows white cedar fence posts that were dipped in 1% CuNap. Green cedar did not absorb much fluid, so we soaked it for 48 hours or more, but dry posts were only soaked for 20 to 24 hours. Fluid depth in the 55-gallon drum was 24 inches, and it rose six inches in green wood but 18 inches in dry. We also dipped the tops of posts to retard rotting in wood exposed to weather. Photo 2 shows a charge of posts raised above the fluid and allowed to drip dry for several hours. When drip-dry, we laid the posts on stringers (Photo 3) to dry. Water-borne CuNap is different, but I prefer it because the stench 72 Work is man’s most natural form of relaxation. — Dagobert Runes Photo 4 (left) - A Thompson’s Water Seal are effective plywood treating above ground but must be re-coated tank lined with periodically, and they are not suitable black poly. Don’t for below ground use. tuck excess poly at So what’s the best method? I don’t the ends, as fluids know and have been unable to get will wick out from capillary action. any definitive answers from experts. Make several folds, Personally, I like oil-borne CuNap INSIDE the tank for posts and poles in the ground and pin them with and water-borne for lumber, such as clothes pins. skirting, that has minimal ground contact. To play it safe, every five years, check posts and poles near the ground line, the most active zone of Photo 5 (right) - fungi. Dig down about six inches and Always wear pro- if necessary re-treat that area with tective clothing to a spray. Some tree species, such as prevent chemicals the American chestnut, black locust, from getting on you or your cloth- most cedars, and eastern red cedar ing. And always (a juniper) are naturally rot resistant, keep your tanks but their sapwood (particularly white covered, whether cedar) may rot. Again, check a few in use or not, to posts every five years and spray the keep rain, debris ground line area if necessary. and animals out. Even where water-borne preservatives have leached out, treated wood resists decay. My favorite treatment method, until recently, was double dip-diffusion, first in sodium fluoride, then in copper sulphate

(CuSO4). In theory, the chemicals of diesel fumes (and cost) are a bit wood and are effective against a react to form copper fluoride that overwhelming. You can buy 5% number of pests, including termites is insoluble in water. Treated stakes aqueous CuNap (five-gallon cans) and carpenter ants. You can spray, and posts lasted 37 years in tests, and dilute it four-to-one with water paint, dip or soak. The problem— but recent work at Colorado State to make a 1% solution, but waterwater soluble borates readily diffuse University found that both chemicals borne solutions may diffuse out of out of wood when moisture is pres- leach out in a wet environment. My the wood, into the soil. Water-borne ent, so using them in ground contact theory—only a theory—the leachate CuNap can be used to treat green is a no-no. But in buildings, where makes the adjoining soil unpalat- wood, but oil-borne requires wood wood is protected from moisture, able for wood-destroying insects to be dry—maximum 20% moisture they do well. Borates are recom- and fungi. Also, as chemicals leach content. For lumber such as wooden mended for log cabins and act as fire or diffuse out, concentrations in the gates and skirting for high tunnels, retardants as well as preservatives, wood cells tend to equalize and the aqueous CuNap is fine. I use a shal- but the log exterior must be coated residual strength may be sufficient to low plywood trough (Photo 4) lined with a suitable stain or sealant. Tim- prevent rot. with black poly to briefly (10-15 Bor for green wood and Bora-Care Lest you be tempted to use a dip minutes) soak lumber and spread for dry wood (or wood in service) are of CuSO4, a common chemical prod- CuNap over the surface with a paint- two effective, commercial products. uct for many farm uses, think twice. brush to assure good coverage. The Ranchers in the dry southwest use It is an effective fungicide but is not objective is to create an envelope of a borax dip for green fence posts, approved as a wood preservative by treated wood, and dipping gets bet- dry them to 20% moisture contact EPA, and it will react with steel and ter coverage and penetration than and follow up with CuNap in oil to galvanized fasteners and destroy just painting. But, do not use CuNap reduce leaching. them. treated lumber for raised beds or Asphalt emulsion is a possible Above all, when working with anyplace where it may contact veg- below-grade sealant for waterborne any preservatives, wear protective etable plants and roots. chemicals. One manufacturer’s rep clothing—a Kevlar suit, rubber Borate preservatives, even com- says it will work, one wood scientist gloves, face shield, rubber boots. mon borax, penetrate deeply into expressed doubts. Products such as (Photo 5) Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 73 Cognitive with one blade over dissonance is The woodshed: the other. The final a 50-cent word thing that I did was describing a to cut as fast as I pos- feeling of com- Reduce Your sibly could without plete confusion bogging the blade due to new down, setting the circumstances Cutting Times overload trip switch. contradicting The test was as your state of accurate as I could reality and past By 50% make it. Here are the experiences. By Jo h n Wi l d e r composite times to This was my prove what I have feeling the first time that a salesman laser cut expansion slots engineered been claiming: The generic blade changed the blade in my circular into it. Bottom line is that it cuts averaged 7.3 seconds a cut. The saw and asked me to try it. He in- much faster and truer and does not Marathon blade blew that away serted a Diablo blade manufactured overheat under continued forced with average time of 3.6 seconds. by Freud. production cuts. The Marathon blade is also a very Now all of you have what is I was so awed that I decided nice blade. The Diablo averaged called “muscle memory” based that I would try to get the blade to 2.45 seconds. I did not use my Mil- upon repetitive motions of making fail under heavy use. I set my blade waukee 15 amp saw, but I used my hundreds of rip and cross cuts on angle to 45 degrees and then made friend’s 10 amp cheapo junk saw to your shop saws. What happened forced repeated cuts in wet pres- make these cuts. to me was the feeling of falling sure treated 2 x 12s. I can’t think It seems as if it went on forever through the board like there was of a tougher torture test. The blade before I had to have it sharpened. not a blade in the saw. I was flabber- continued to shine and showed no That is because the thinner kerf, the gasted. Then as if I could not believe sign of overheating after repeated coating, the expansion slots, all of it, I made cut after cut reveling in forced cuts. which served to keep the blade cool, how much faster the blade cut with I was already completely im- kept it from getting dull due to the virtually no resistance compared to pressed (and I don’t impress easily) heat. my conventional framing blade. so I decided to put the blade to a If you are like me, I look through This blade is distinct not only quantitative objective test. I bought the market place looking for that in its cutting ability but also in its a $6 generic 24-tooth framing blade. product that gives me what I call: appearance. First of all the kerf is The only competition that I could The wow factor. The Freud Dia- literally half of that of your heavier find in the market place to the Diab- blo did not just make me stop and blades. You feel it immediately lo was the Marathon Decking blade, go “Wow, it completely blew me when you pick it up. It has a distinc- which was also a thin kerf blade. away!” tive red Teflon appearing coating Finally I bought a brand new Dia- That is why I lead with the chemically bonded to the metal. blo. I wanted the test to be accurate. paragraph about cognitive dis- This coating which is a proprietary Starting with all brand new blades sonance. This is another word that secret did not wear off after contin- helped to insure that accuracy. Then you should be aware of ergonom- ued use. This was amazing in itself. I bought a pressure treated 2 x 12 ics! It is the science of the interac- The coating further helps to cut to make the test cuts in. I wanted to tion with man and machine. Since I drag on the blade and this reduced make the test as fair and accurate have chucked this blade in my saw, frictional coefficient serves to keep as possible and eliminate any tester I feel as if my saw and I are one. In it cool. bias on my part. automotive terms, it is like going You have all had the experience I decided that one cut was not from a Geo Metro and graduating to especially with production rip cuts going to be accurate but decided a Mercedes Benz. where the blade begins to overheat to make three cuts and average I am not a paid spokesperson for and starts to wobble. You have also the times for a single score. I got a Freud. I do tool tests on all kinds of had the experience where the drag friend with a stopwatch to run the tools. I got no remuneration from on a long rip cut puts pressure on times for me. I again set the saw to Freud for this article. It’s just that the board and pulls it away from a 45-degree angle and run the saw sometimes you run across some- the fence ruining your straight cut up against triangular combo square thing that is so superior, you must and adding cut loss to your bottom to keep the crosscuts going straight give credit where credit is due. I line. Because of the coating and the and at a true 90 degrees. I did not suggest that you try this blade for fact that the blade is not only laser want any free hand cutting where yourself. Then you should thank cut instead of stamped, it also has again I could unconsciously veer me, the magazine, and Freud. 74 Countryside Bookstore To request a book catalog with a complete listing of all books available please write to: Bookstore Catalog Request, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 or call 1-800-551-5691 or visit www.countrysidemag.com

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Ca r o l Am u n d s o n Lo r e n Na n c a r r o w & Ja n e t Ho g a n Ta y l o r

As pets or livestock, goats are in- If you’ve ever had a swarm of creasingly popular animals on farms fruit flies in your kitchen or a gopher large and small. Easier and cheaper to wreaking havoc in your yard, you keep than many larger animals, they may have wondered what a conscien- will keep a pony company, pull a cart, tious gardener or homeowner can do and produce the perfect milk for many short of heavy-duty chemical war- artisan cheeses or meat for some of the fare. Dead Snails Leave No Trails is most up-and-coming ethnic cuisines. a comprehensive guide to repelling For anyone thinking of acquiring both indoor and outdoor pests using a goat or starting a herd—for what- organic methods—it’s the perfect ever reason—this book is an essen- DIY solution to eliminate unwelcome tial resource. Written by an authority visitors in your home and garden while keeping your- on goat breeding and behavior, this approachable guide cov- self, your family, and the environment safe from harmful ers every component of raising goats for fun or profit, meat or chemicals. milk. Beginning with the basics—history and behavior, types With a few easy-to-find items, you’ll learn how and breeds—Carol Amundson answers all of a prospective to: Make your own all-purpose pest repellents with owner’s questions about getting a goat, from land requirements simple ingredients like chile peppers and vinegar; Use and regulations to choosing or assessing particular animals or companion planting to attract beneficial insects and ani- breeds. In a clear and engaging way, she goes into the details of mals or repel harmful ones; Keep four-legged intruders housing and feeding, breeding and milking, training and show- —including squirrels, deer, rabbits, and skunks— ing, transporting and marketing goats of all kinds—as well as away from your prized vegetables and flowers; Safely the dos and dont’s of keeping them healthy from birth to old eliminate ants, roaches, and rodents from your house or age. Concise, complete, and easy-to-use, this is a reference that apartment; Protect your pets from critters like ticks and no goat owner should be without. 199 pages, $19.99 fleas. Full of tips, tricks, and straightforward instructions, Dead Snails Leave No Trails is the most user-friendly guide to indoor and outdoor natural pest solutions. The Backyard Sheep 186 pages, $12.99 An Introductory Guide to Keeping Productive Pet Sheep

Su e An n We a v e r

With Sue Weaver’s expert guid- ance, it’s easy to raise sheep in Order now toll-free: your backyard, whether for fleece and milk (and the cheese, yogurt, 1-800-551-5691 and other delicious things you can make from it) or as companionable 24 hr. fax: 715-785-7414 pets. Weaver covers absolutely everything beginners need to know to keep sheep safe, healthy, and maxi- www.countrysidemag.com mally productive. The essential beginner’s guide to: Choosing a breed; Housing and feeding; Caring for sheep; Producing beautiful All major credit cards accepted. fleece; Milking; Making cheese.215 pages, $16.95 Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/OctoberPreserving 2013 75 Ball Complete Book Of The Beginner’s Guide to Home® Preserving Preserving Food at Home 400 Delicious and Creative Recipes For Today Enjoy Local Produce Year-Round

Ed i t e d b y Ju d i Ki n g r y a n d La u r e n De v i n e Ja n e t Ch a d w i c k NEW BOOKS • NEW BOOKS • NEW BOOKS • NEW BOOKS • NEW BOOKS From the experts, the new bible in A wonderful thing is happening in home preserving. Ball® Home Can- home kitchens. People are rediscover- ning Products are the gold standard in ing the joys of locally produced foods home preserving supplies, the trade- and reducing the amount of the grocery mark jars on display in stores every budget that’s spent on packaged items, summer from coast to coast. Now the out-of-season produce, and heavily experts at Ball® have written a book processed foods. But fresh, seasonal destined to become the “bible” of fruits and vegetables don’t stay fresh home preserving. and delicious forever, they must be As nutrition and food quality has eaten now…. or preserved for later. become more important, home can- You don’t need a lot of time or years ning and preserving has increased in of experience to preserve garden-fresh fruits and vegetables. popularity for the benefits it offers: Simple step-by-step instructions give you the confidence and • Cooks gain control of the ingredients, including organic know-how to freeze, dry, can, root cellar and brine the abundance fruits and vegetables from your summer garden. • Preserving foods at their freshest point locks in nutrition Grate and freeze excess zucchini; it will be perfect in quick • The final product is free of chemical additives and preserva- breads and muffins all winter long. Pick up a crate of less-than- tives perfect tomatoes at the farmers’ market and preserve them in jars of • Store-bought brands cannot match the wonderful flavor of spicy salsa. Turn the overflow of green beans into tasty dilly beans homemade to eat all winter or give as holiday gifts. These techniques and reci- • Only a few hours are needed to put up a batch of jam or relish pes will have you eating locally all year long. 231 pages, $14.95 • Home preserves make a great personal gift any time of year These 400 innovative and enticing recipes include every- The Big Book of thing from salsas and savory sauces to pickling, chutneys, relishes and of course, jams, jellies, and fruit spreads. Preserving the Harvest The book includes comprehensive directions on safe canning Ca r o l W. Co s t e n b a d e r and preserving methods plus lists of required equipment and uten- sils. Specific instructions for first-timers and handy tips for the ex- Gardeners, cooks, and all who perienced make the Ball® Complete Book of Home Preserving a love wholesome foods will want this valuable addition to any kitchen library. 448 pages, $22.95 comprehensive guide. Presented with a full array of techniques, even busy folks can develop a healthful, well- How to Store Your stocked pantry using preservation Home-Grown Produce methods best suited to their lifestyles. Step-by-step illustrated instructions, Canning, Pickling, Jamming and So Much More which follow current U.S. Depart- Jo h n a n d Va l Ha r r i s o n ment of Agriculture guidelines, ac- company the indispensable charts How to Store Your Home-Grown Produce that describe preparation techniques, and processing and storage offers practical advice on how to bottle, times. Suggestions and instructions for preserving all varieties of dry, freeze, and even salt home-grown foods including jams and jellies, oils and vinegars, and attractive fruits and vegetables. Discover extra gifts make this the only book a home preserver will need. storage space in your home or learn how The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest covers handling and to convert a shed or garage to store your managing produce fresh from the market or garden including: tasty products. Learn how to make chut- Canning—Containers and equipment, techniques, safety, and neys from fruit; pickles from cucumbers; what to can; Drying—Equipment, appropriate foods, drying and ciders, jams, and even ketchup from times, and storage methods; Freezing—Containers and wrap- your garden! There is advice on drying pings, dry and wet pack methods, and safety precautions; Pick- foods, with instructions on how to store ling—Canning, freezing, and refrigerating, and equipment and food in oil, as well as ways to blanch and freeze your fruits and containers; Preserving—Canning and freezing jams, jellies, and vegetables. 186 pages, $12.95 preserves, adding pectin, and gift ideas. 347 pages, $18.95 76 Preserving Keeping the Harvest Preserving Made Easy Small Batches and Simple Techniques Ch i o f f i & Me a d El l i e To pp & Ma r g a r e t Ho w a r d

Preserving Made Easy is the perfect book for today's busy cooks who still want to prepare and enjoy the homemade goodness of fresh fruits and vegetables. These recipes were selected for their delicious taste and because they are easy to prepare. Thoroughly tested and perfected, each recipe offers something special--a new twist on an old favorite, a new way to mix and match flavors and tips to make the whole process easier and more fun. A reliable, easy-to-use reference for The authors offer delectable recipes for jams, jellies, con- thousands of gardeners and cooks since serves, pickles, relishes, chutneys, salsas, mustards, mari- 1976, Keeping the Harvest is now com- nades, flavored oils and more. Everything you need to delight pletely updated to reflect the latest tech- family and friends is here. Using this book will ensure that your family has only niques, equipment and USDA guidelines the best and freshest ingredients carefully prepared for their needs. for home preserving. With a wide range Preserving Made Easy is ideal for first-time users who will benefit from the step-by- of preserving techniques, this illustrated step instructions and for experienced cooks who are just looking for that extra twist step-by-step instruction explains tried- that will make the batch memorable. 286 pages, $9.99 and-true methods for canning, freezing, drying, pickling and curing fresh foods of all kinds. 201 pages, $14.95 Serving Up The Harvest An d r e a Ch e sm a n Root Cellaring Andrea Chesman is a cook and gardener who knows Natural Cold Storage of what it’s like to be staring down pounds of vegetables and Fruits & Vegetables panicking about how to use them all before it’s too late. Mi k e & Na n c y Bu b e l Simple. Delicious. Planned to fit the season. That’s the approach Chesman brings to the 175 recipes packed into this creative volume. The vegetables are organized seasonally by crop-readiness, so you can move through the book, trying new recipes, as the growing season progresses. There are many vegetarian options, but even when combined with meat, vegetables get top billing. Serving Up the Harvest is sure to become a favorite for everyone who wants to enjoy their vegetables fresh, local, seasonal, and simple. 502 pages, $18.95

Preserving Food Without Root cellaring is a way of using the Freezing or Canning earth’s naturally cool, stable temperatures Fo r w a r d b y De b o r a h Ma d i s o n to store perishable fruits and vegetables. This book explains the no-cost, simple, Typical books about preserving garden produce nearly low technology, energy-saving method of always assume that modern “kitchen gardeners” will boil or keeping the harvest fresh all year long, in- freeze their vegetables and fruits. Yet here is a book that goes cluding: How to choose vegetable and fruit back to the future—celebrating traditional but little-known varieties that store best; Specific individual French techniques for storing and preserving edibles in ways storage requirements for nearly 100 home that maximize flavor and nutrition. Translated into English, garden crops; How to use root cellars in the and with a new foreword by Deborah Madison, this book country or in the city; How to build root deliberately ignores freezing and high-temperature canning cellars, indoors and out, big and small, plain in favor of methods that are superior because they are less and fancy; Case histories—reports on the costly and more energy-efficient using salt, oil, sugar, alcohol, root cellaring techniques and experiences of vinegar, cold storage, fermentation, and more. Preserving many households all over North America. Food Without Freezing or Canning offers more than 250 easy and enjoyable recipes. 298 pages, $14.95 197 pages, $25.00

Countryside &COUNTRYSIDE Small Stock Journal, September/October BOOKSTORE 2013 77 Smoking Food Basic Butchering of A Beginner’s Guide Livestock and Game Ch r i s Du bbs & Da v e He b e r l e Jo h n J. Me t t l e r Jr., DVM Chris Dubbs and Dave Heberle explain Whether you plan to become more how to choose the best fuels, how to build self-sufficient or hunt to supplement your smokers from old refrigerators and card- food pantry, this book can help you enjoy board boxes, and how to smoke everything the better flavor of humanely and properly from turkeys to turtles. Their advice is slaughtered and butchered meat. Standard ingenious and cost-conscious. Aware of the domestic and game animals and birds— needs and wants of the modern cook, they from beef and veal to venison, pork, lamb, include low-sodium preparations, alterna- rabbit and poultry—are discussed, along tives to preservatives like sodium nitrite, with: when to slaughter; how to skin and and thoughts on safely handling meat. With more than 100 butcher; field dressing; the latest informa- recipes and tips for making brines, marinades, cheeses, appe- tion on chronic wasting disease in deer; methods to avoid tizers, soups, and main dishes, Smoking Food is an invaluable contamination and spoilage; aging, dry cures, pickling and resource for the home smoker. 185 pages, $12.95 smoking. 192 pages, $16.95

Feel free to use another sheet of paper, or call 1-800-551-5691 to place your order today! Order Form Title Quantity Price

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Mail your order to: Countryside Bookstore, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451 Or call 1-800-551-5691 • www.countrysidemag.com 78 Criticism is…always a kind of compliment. — John Maddox

Be y o n d Gold

By Je ff Ho a r d opposite! Again, everyone has their All those entitlements are paid for HM Ra n ch , Ne v a d a positions, I only want to address the in dollars. A collapse of the dollar gold buying frenzy. would destroy all of these programs. old is a hot commodity lately, I’ll lay out a scenario I believe According to history, this is a real and for good reason. With could happen after a currency crash, possibility. Gsoaring debts under a fiat and gold is the only monetary form of On top of everything else, gold currency system, folks have a right to buying and selling. First of all, every can be confiscated. It has happened be concerned. If you haven’t seen the electronic sales transaction would before in American history. What program on the Documentary channel come to a screeching halt. Obviously would you be compensated with? titled “End of the road: How money physical gold cannot be transferred The best way that I believe to became worthless.” (Ed. note: It’s also over the Internet. I’m sure nobody prepare for any catastrophic occur- visible on YouTube.) I recommend that has actually gone to the grocery store rence is a more self-reliant lifestyle. to everyone as they describe better with a chunk of gold to buy anything. Our whole infrastructure is vulner- than I can how our monetary sys- Nobody knows how to process it. able. They say, “Trade your dollars tem works and the dangers of a fiat How do you make change? Who for gold”; I say trade your dollars for currency system. In the end, these would suddenly determine that? devices that will take care of you, and financial “experts” advise changing This brings me to the next sce- eliminate paying utility bills every your currency (dollars) into physical nario. If gold is the only way to month for years to come. gold (not gold certificates). I believe buy something, and say 20% of the There are many reputable compa- what these “experts” advise is better population has gold on hand to buy nies that sell systems with a proven than the status quo “if” or “when” the with, that means possibly 80% (a track record of reliability that can dollar value collapses. But I want to huge number) are in desperate need save you money every month (pos- point out some possible dangers of of everything. It will be chaos on a sibly more in savings than you can that advice and propose a step beyond grand scale. How will law enforce- get back in traditional investments). gold for a secure future. ment be paid? Will they simply be Also, get set up to grow feed and ani- Now, like everybody, I have my overwhelmed? Perhaps. mals (easier in some areas than oth- religious beliefs, personal positions, If people need physical gold to ers). Grow a garden every year, using etc., but that is not what this article is buy groceries in desperate times, how heirloom seeds when possible. The about. Here at HM Ranch we live and close do you think they will get to a most common response I’ve heard advocate what we believe is the best store before they are mugged? With a from folks is that if hard times hap- path to a secure, comfortable present very large majority not having gold, pen, they‘ll “just grow a garden.” My and future, no matter what this world how many trucks full of food will response is that seeds will probably goes through. In these times it seems even reach the stores? Or tankers to be tough to find so I hope they will harder and harder to get folks to the gas stations? There may not be already have a fresh variety on hand agree on anything anymore. It seems anything to buy. and I hope the tough times happen more common that people don’t just I can’t say for sure that physical in the spring (at planting time), and feel different about things now. They gold will suddenly work as money in you have a 50-day supply of food on feel passionately the exact opposite this day and age. These are scenarios hand before that first meal of squash of each other. It’s not just the politi- that no one wants to think about, but hits your plate. cians that can’t agree on solutions. probably should consider the pos- Obviously that scenario is not The general population is no better sibilities. This is the type of problem a workable solution to a potential at it either. Not that everyone wants that would absolutely trump what problem such as this. It has to be an to be difficult; they just see the path is considered our worst now (social ongoing effort. to prosperity differently… Virtually security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc.). More self-reliance has to be a life- Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 79 The Easier Way To Trim and Mow

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But throughout history re- cessions, depressions, power out- ages, etc., have happened and will continue to happen. Why not be prepared, and save money every month on these readily available systems and feel more secure at the Four 100 watt 12 volt solar panels mounted on the roof of an RV. WindyNation’s same time? 100 watt solar panels use high efficiency German-made Bosch solar cells produc- Personally, I am not supportive ing 5.56 amps of current at maximum power point. Each panel is 40" x 26" x 1.5" of huge alterative powered electrical and weighs 18 lbs. generating facilities (I do not have a problem with them either), I just think that alternative energy on a personal level is more secure, and a good Portable Off-Grid Solar Kits investment. As the dollar continues to shrink in value, energy costs will con- & Wind Generators tinue to rise, so it is a good idea to call an alternative energy dealer and find Now available for the DIY-er out the cost-to-savings ratio. But after the cost vs. savings tally, then add in here’s a wind of change in the energy market thanks to de- the security of more self-reliance. It’s Tsign and engineering company WindyNation. This Ventura, worth looking into! California-based WindyNation’s Solar Panel Complete Kits for California Solar Initiative (CSI) RV’s, Boats and Off-grid Applications are for the layman. The kits, has a website, pge.com/csi, to look which are available from 100 watt to 600 watt units, take the trou- at. California really does lead in residential solar, but there are also ble and confusion out of adding a solar panel to a battery bank. other directions, i.e., wind power The company takes the approach that deploying cost-effective, and biogas. Since our appliances small-scale solar and wind power is not rocket science, according are gas-powered, we’re going in to WindyNation’s Josh Antelman. the biogas direction for our power Some of the benefits and features of a kit include producing up needs. But different regions require to 3600 watt hours of charge per day, depending on kit size; two different solutions. There are experts or more panels providing back-up power for critical appliances that can determine the pay-off rate like a refrigerator during a power outage; powering devices to traditional investments and these in remote back country locations, and easily providing power alternatives start paying off as soon for sheds, light poles and gates without the need for trenching as they are “on line.” and laying cable. A 100 watt kit’s suggested retail price starts at HM Ranch’s DVD titled “Hoard $214.98. Hillbilly Heaven,” includes a tour of Though designed for the do-it-yourselfer, customers are not HM Ranch. The “poor man’s guide” to left on their own. Customer service and product support come low cost, comfortable off-grid living fea- in many varieties: telephone, online product manuals, online turing an educational workshop on how question submissions, and videos. we use the scrap pile to build our own For more information, call WindyNation at (805) 323-6445 or inexpensive utility-generating devices. email [email protected]. Available on eBay or at www.hmranch- hoardmfg.com. Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 81 Country neighbors: erty, I made some adjustments to the planner and continued to use it to manage my gardening, yard work and home maintenance. I organized the monthly lists into subject groups: Plan Ahead for Household, Gardening, Harvest- ing/Preserving, Foraging, Livestock (which I further divided into lists for each type of animal), Buildings & Homesteading Success Grounds, Machinery & Equipment, and Enjoyment (because sometimes I have to be reminded to have fun on my homestead). Because I knew I have a veterinarian sedate the goat to By Cy n t h i a Bo m b a ch would be moving again eventually, I We s t e r n Pennsylvania do it—and the vet scolded me for my added blank lines at the end of each tardiness. Overripe vegetables would section for individualized items that hen I moved to my first languish in the garden while I was are unique to each property. Finally, homestead in 1995, I was focused on putting up fences for my in the spring of 2011, I decided to type eager to recreate the coun- new horse. And I repeatedly missed my planner on the computer. As I did W the chance to forage for morels, my try life of my childhood. I had grown so, I realized that other people might up on a small rural property where my favorite wild food. be able to use the lists to plan the family had a large vegetable garden, I knew that what I needed was work on their own homesteads. some kind of comprehensive plan- chestnut trees, a raspberry patch, fter spending two more years ner that would help me keep track A grape vines, dozens of rabbits and researching and fact-checking my in- of seasonal chores and activities even a pony. There was a lot to do, and formation, I published the planner in that needed to be done around the when chore time came my brother and book form with the title The Complete homestead. I had a collection of books I simply did as we were told without Homestead Planner: A Month-by-Month and magazines about homesteading, giving it too much thought. (Although Guide to Planning the Work on Your and even had a calendar that listed I admit to “accidentally” pulling out Homestead. At last, I have the book I landscaping chores for each month. more than a few bean plants by the was looking for when I bought my Those resources were helpful, but roots when I thought the harvest had first homestead! Even better, people what I really needed was an overall gone on too long!) in similar climate zones (I live in planning guide to tell me what to do After four years of college and USDA zone 6) can get the same ben- and when to do it. five years of living in a small town, I efit from it that I have. was ready to return to my rural roots. After searching for several years Because my Planner is a “when- In 1995 my husband and I found a and finding that such a book didn’t to” and not a “how-to” guide, I still 200-year-old log cabin with a pond exist, I decided to make my own. I rely on my collection of how-to books on four acres in the same area of bought a pack of file folders and la- and magazines (especially Co u n - Pennsylvania where both of us grew beled one for each of the 12 months t r y s i d e !) for details about how to do up. We were excited to begin making of the year. Then I wrote the chores some of the tasks I have listed for each our homesteading dreams a reality. that I knew had to be done each month. I also keep a calendar handy We quickly populated our place with month on the outside of the appropri- to write down breeding dates, plant- chickens, pigs, goats, rabbits and ate folder. As time went on, I filled ing dates, expected due dates, etc. later, a horse. We bought a tractor and the folders with articles and notes Since leaving my first homestead, planted fruit trees, raspberries, straw- pertaining to that month’s chores. I’ve lived on a one-acre country prop- berries, asparagus and a large veg- Gradually I began to assemble a erty, an 11-acre horse farm, and an- etable garden. Our water came from useful planner, and my work on the other country acre. Through all those an old springhouse and our house homestead became more organized. moves, my Planner has gone with me, was heated in part by a wood burner. I remembered to order heating oil in helping to keep my work—whether There was a lot of work to do, and I August. I remembered to run heat it’s full-scale homesteading or just quickly became overwhelmed—not tape to the springhouse in January so renting a country acre—more orga- with the work itself, but with plan- the water line wouldn’t freeze. And nized, efficient and well-planned. ning everything so that all the neces- I remembered to hunt for morels! I sary tasks got done at the right time. was so happy to find a nice patch of The Complete Homestead Planner: A It seemed that if I had one project them in a crabapple grove at the edge Month-by-Month Guide to Planning the under control, 10 others would be of our woods. Work on Your Homestead by Cynthia neglected. I was so late in having my When I moved from the log house Bombach, $11.95 paperback, is available first goat kid disbudded that I had to homestead to a smaller country prop- from Amazon.com. 82 Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance. — Will Durant needed. Bathwater is heated in the Country neighbors: stove reservoir or in buckets in the sun, rainwater harvested in barrels or tanks for washing, and water carried in jars from a spring for drinking and cooking. Bathrooms include shower stalls that drain to the greenhouse. The Peace A bucket and enamelware bowl provide the water. Urine and humanure are collected and composted of a Simple, along with kitchen garbage, leaves, grass clippings and weeds. After a finished compost pile sets for a year, it is ready to go on the garden. Frugal Life (Ed. note: There is a process to using “human manure,” safely. Read Joseph C. Jenkins’ Humanure Handbook, to find out how and prevent disease, $25 from the Countryside Bookstore, By Mi ch e l e Ma r l o w 1-800-551-5691.) The toilets are Te x a s beautifully simple—five-gallon buckets with a toilet seat on top are n the country, where I live most of the time, I hitch rides, ride a for humanure, with grass clippings bicycle or walk for transportation, close to 20 miles round trip or dry leaves for cover material. If Ito the nearest (very small) town. In San Antonio where I live in there’s a smell, add more cover and a small apartment on the west side, I ride the city buses and usually ventilation. The less urine in these walk to the supermarket and the library. I meet, or at least see, inter- the better—they’re more easily esting people on the bus and at the bus stop. It feels like a commu- washed, then left in the sun for a while and a second bucket with a nity, where strangers are kind and friendly with one another. little cover material in the bottom, Here in the Texas hill country, is put into service. Instead of toilet ash juniper is invasive follow- paper, we use big velvety mullein ing overgrazing, feral hogs out leaves which grow wild all around of control, exotic sheep escaped us. A urine bucket is set inside from high-fenced ranches ca- wooden cabinet with a hole over it tering to exotic species hunt- and a hinged lid for the “setters.” ers, compete with native white The others have easily-available tail deer, and spring fed creeks plastic half-gallon bulk jugs for uri- run through our little canyons. nals. The mouth of a small glass jar makes a good wiper for those using Neighbors and electric lights are the urine bucket inside the cabinet, minimal, and the road is rough and a large mouth quart jar a small and forbidding. Nights are given urinal for women. over to brilliant stars and the Clothes are soaked overnight coming and going way of the moon. in rainwater and washed (we do This house is built of rock with three-foot thick walls for thermal use laundry detergent!) in a James mass and a two-story food and heat-producing solar greenhouse washer, with a hand-powered agita- across the south side. I cut wood with a crosscut saw, a bow saw tor and a roller wringer, rinsed in and a hatchet; cook and heat with a wood cookstove. Fireplaces, two washtubs and hung out to dry modified Rumford-style with outside combustion air pipes, are for in the sun and wind on a clothes- line. The washing machine is easier leisure and ambiance, and rarely used. There is one solar panel and on the clothes than a rub board, but one battery for lights and music. A solar oven and a rocket stove I have that too—my mother’s. It is serve for cooking in hot weather, a lot of that in south central Texas. so good to see your clothes blowing Dishpans are set on the cookstove or outside in the sun. I have and flapping in the wind as they discovered that dish detergent isn’t needed and it is more pleasant dry, then bringing dry clothes in without it. Baking soda and vinegar are good for cleaning when smelling like sunshine. Countryside & Small Stock Journal,83 September/October 2013 83 I have two hand-powered food grinders, one for rye, wheat, corn and barley; one for flaxseed with our morning oatmeal and chopped Warning: apples, raisins and cinnamon. I would grind coffee, but we have “This book is not what rosemary and sage tea, or dark co- coa, powdered milk, cinnamon and you’re expecting.” stevia for hot chocolate. I would love to have milk goats, but goats That’s the first sentence in the latest book on can create desertification in this country living from Co u n t r y s i d e magazine’s fragile habitat. Rye flour and warm founding editor Jerome D. Belanger. But then, spring water quickly become sour- what would you expect from a book titled dough starter and mixes with other whole grains for baking bread in Th e Co m p l e t e Id i o t ’s Gu i d e t o the wood cookstove or solar oven— totally delicious with a little olive oil. This is definitely four-season Se l f -Su f f i c i e n t Li v i n g ! gardening country—even without Above all, do NOT expect a rehash of all the old ideas about the greenhouse. We have double homesteading and country living. Yes, you’ll find plenty of good dug garden beds—never walk on advice on gardening and country cooking, raising small livestock, them! We have leeks/garlic, mul- and shelter, energy and foraging, in this 400 page guide. tiplier onions, chives, cilantro/ But simple living takes on an entirely new meaning when it includes coriander, arugula, Romaine let- understanding your carbon and water footprints, the slow food movement, tuce, collards, turnip and mustard the small house movement, the Maker movement, and more than passing greens, turnips, butternut squash reference to the effects of compound interest and the Great Recession. and pumpkins, tomatoes, basil, and Self-sufficiency for individuals is impossible. At the same time, chard—that’s just in January. Oh self-sufficiency for Planet Earth is absolutely essential. This might be the first yes, rosemary and sage, too. book to provide an up-to-date analysis of the economic and ecological We don’t have a refrigerator— realities facing both individuals and the Earth in 2010, from the stand- that and running water are easy to point of the experienced homesteader, and to suggest some possible do without. I do miss being able answers. (Hint: The Establishment won’t like the proposed outcomes, but will to turn on a burner or an oven to anyone have a choice?) cook a quick and easy meal, but Wide-ranging, lively, thought-provoking, humorous, sometimes you can’t have it all. This is a joy- controversial — and yet incorporating plenty of practical how-to informa- ful, healthful life, and being part of tion on self-sufficient living — this book is a must-read for anyone who is nature never gets old. Full disclo- concerned about their future and the survival of the planet. sure: we are part of a land trust and The Co m p l e t e Id i o t ’s Gu i d e ® t o Se l f -Su f f ici e n t Li v i n g has the mak- there is running water from another ings of a long-lived, influential classic. But don’t wait to get your copy. building that is near the garden, which we use to water the garden in hot weather. Make no mistake, Or d e r Yo u r Co p y To d a y ! this is full-time work, not the life of Call 1-800-551-5691 or visit www.countrysidemag.com the leisure class. Because I do not have the privilege of being here full Yes! send me ______copies of Th e Co m p l e t e Id i o t ’s Gu i d e ® time, there is much that does not 3 To Se l f -Su f f ici e n t Li v i n g for only $18.95 each plus $4 shipping get done, always much needing to & handling. WI res. add 5.5% tax. be done, which is another reason not to have a milk goat. Gandhi may have taken a milk goat on a Name:______trip to England, but I cannot take a Address:______goat to an apartment in San Anto- nio or on a bus to Tennessee. City, State, Zip ______

The challenge facing us is Payment enclosed Charge my credit card daunting—not to change the world, but to adapt to changes that are Visa/MC #______Exp.______upon us before it is too late to save Countryside Bookstore • 145 Industrial Dr. • Medford, WI 54451 ourselves. 1-800-551-5691 • www.countrysidemag.com 84 Architecture is frozen music. — Goethe Country neighbors: turned into the driveway and there she sat in all her splendor waiting for old Builder Bob to bring her back to her former glory He could see great potential. She needed lots of fixing up, but he could do it. Just as the They Happily ad boasted, there was a small white house with a front porch, a nice size barn and chicken coop. Yes, he could make this happen. Headed for the Hills The long awaited phone call home was full of excitement. I had a million questions. I could hardly wait until he came home with the details of this little farm deep in the Ozarks. By Pa t Mi l l a r d was scary, things were happening too When Bob arrived back home to Mi s s o u r i fast for me. Michigan, we immediately put our Fortunately my husband worked house on the market and hoped it ow fortunate we are to live in a for the airlines so getting a flight to would sell. It took five scary months, free country. A country where Missouri would not be a problem. He but we sold it to a very nice couple. Hwe can live in peace, choose managed to get some days off and We were getting closer to our new life where we want to live, whether it be before you know it, he was headed and I was very apprehensive. the city or the country, work where to central Missouri. We rented a truck, packed up all we can find a job and create a life Now Missouri is very different our belongings, put the kids and dog for ourselves. It’s all up to us. Well, from Michigan. We were used to flat in the car and we were ready to head we chose the Ozarks. Actually, she ground, straight roads and lots of south. Bob drove the truck ahead of chose us. streetlights. Central Missouri is hills us to navigate around the big cities. Back in the late 1960s we were liv- and hollows, endless oak forests, This was a new chapter in our lives. ing near Detroit, Michigan. There was creeks and rivers and winding gravel I was determined to make this new much unrest in the city and when the roads that seem to go nowhere. He life work for us all. riots started, it was all downhill from was smitten. Would this farm be the When we arrived at our new farm then on. Our jobs were in jeopardy right one or would it be just another there was much to do. There was and we had to do something quickly. dilapidated fixer upper? The real cleaning, painting and some renovat- We were in a real jam. What should estate agent assured Bob that it was ing to be done to make it habitable. we do? We had to do something! a good buy, and Bob hoped he was It all took time and patience. Bob Well, this is where the story of our right. found a job as a local carpenter and lives unfolds. As they drove closer to the farm, we downsized our way of life to fit At night, while I was doing the Bob’s heart was pounding. They his income. My job was to be a stay- dishes and getting the kids ready at-home mom, raise a large garden, for bed, my husband would thumb can and freeze the produce. This through the farm catalogs and dream was definitely going to be a learning of a better life for his family. He curve. turned the pages in desperation. Well…with a canning book in one Each page showed small farms from hand a pressure cooker in the other, every corner of the U.S. For hours I proceeded to do just that. I canned and hours he would gaze at the pages and canned until I had hundreds of until all of the sudden, he stared at quarts of vegetables, fruits, jams and this one page showing this small jellies put up in our new cellar. We farm in the Ozarks. The ad boasted were set for winter. I am proud to say a farmhouse, a barn, a chicken coop we never starved and the bills all got and some acreage. The price was paid. Quite an accomplishment for right, too. He couldn’t believe his our first year I thought. eyes. He read and reread the ad again The country folk in our small com- and again. It sounded good, almost munity were wonderful to us. They too good. “Let’s make a phone call wanted to share some of their good and investigate,” he said. Yes, it was old ways. It was fascinating stuff. I indeed still on the market, but how do learned so much from them in the we make this opportunity happen? It first few months. They showed us Countryside & Small Stock Journal,85 September/OctoberYour 2013 Cracking Heel, You might also like85 how to butcher, sugar cure the hams Athlete’s Foot & my newest book.... and bacon, and make molasses. Ugly Nail Fungus This handy guide helps you compare Over the new few months we Can Be Gone! pharmaceutical and alternative bought a cow, a couple of pigs and remedies for nail fungus on fingernails & toenails, as well as cracking heel some chickens. We bought a cream and athlete’s foot, including what separator at an auction and ran the actually works (and milk through our separator. I made We Guarantee it! what doesn’t). butter, too. Yum! By the time Christ- mas arrived I was feeling pretty The Handy Guide proud of our year’s accomplish- to ments. We continued this lifestyle Nail Fungus, for many years. The children knew 40 pages $895 how to garden, milk a cow and do Postage included chores, and were all part of this Order 1 box Nail Fungus Soak country life. $1695 Postage included Well, fast forward to the next chapter in our lives. The children Or, order the book and 1 box of are now graduated from school and Nail Fungus Soak for $2390 and save $2 college, and leading their busy lives Questions? Long Creek Herbs through their children. They have Click on Q & A button, on the P.O. Box 127-CS ongoing careers, beautiful homes in Nail Fungus page of our website Blue Eye, MO 65611 suburban neighborhoods and living their lives their way. We are very Major Credit Cards & PayPal Accepted 417-779-5450 proud of them and our six grand- Visit our website to see all of Jim Long’s books and herb products. Mon - Fri, 8:00 - 5:00 Central time children. Meantime, we are still living our www.LongCreekHerbs.com country life our way. I still garden, COS913.qxd 6/17/13 11:36 AM Page 1 preserve all I can get my hands on, have farm animals and try to live a very simple life. It suits my personal- ity. We have lived this lifestyle now for 40 years, so I should be an expert. Ha! Do you ever become an expert at anything? I think not. This old gal seems to learn something new every day and loves every minute of it. Looking back on it all, I feel we were young enough, had some guts and gumption and were willing to take a risk. We worked long days and never quit trying. It paid off for us. We were blessed. I have asked myself some questions over the years. Would I do it again? The answer is definitely yes. Could we have done it better? Of course we could. If you do anything a second time, you have better knowledge. The vast knowledge we have gained over the years is priceless. I count myself blessed to still be living the good life. My hope for everyone is to dare to dream and then hold on to that dream and make it happen. With hard work, determination and the whole family working together, it becomes reality. 86 At times it is strangely sedative to know the extent of your own powerlessness. — E. Jong, “Fear of Flying”

An Unwanted Calling

By Je r r i Co o k as I was trying to compose a stern, those oddities, which much to my Co u n t r y s i d e St a ff but polite, response to my insurance chagrin, qualified me for the posi- company’s denial of a claim. I tried tion of secretary in the first place. s talented as I am, there explaining to him that it isn’t my job For everyone else, however, it’s far are several vocations for to check on his super powers, but too cumbersome for them to know Awhich I am wholly un- he wouldn’t hear any of it. I finally where a pen might be beforehand, suited. For instance, I don’t have the relented and agreed to call the super let alone actually possess one in temperament for waitressing. Listen- hero station first thing in the morn- anticipation of useful information. ing to people whine about their food ing. I also cautioned him not to get Inevitably, this leads to whispered would drive me crazy. I don’t know his hopes up. You know how hard it growls in my direction. “Where are how people do it. You couldn’t pay is to get a straight answer from that all the pens? I need a pen. C’mon, me enough to put up with the abuses bunch. Each of them thinks they’re I’m on the phone!” professional wait staff have to deal the one in charge. To solve this problem, simply tie with. Yet, try as I might, I am unable I’m a reluc- a pen to your phone’s handset with to convince my family that I’m not the tant secretary, some fishing line. I found both the waitress. I’m constantly called upon to but over the line and the pen in my junk drawer. deliver meals, top-off cups of coffee, years I’ve come Dorothy The fishing line was a tangled mass and clear the table—all without any to terms with Parker that someone couldn’t part with. I hope of a tip. it. I even devel- pulled it as tight as I could at one end I would also make a terrible secre- oped a few novel strategies that my while holding onto the tangled wad tary. For one thing, I hate talking on fellow homestead secretaries may and then cut a piece about 18-inches the telephone. When my phone rings, find helpful. The main point to re- long. I tied it just beneath the caller I have the same response as the early member is that you are the only one ID screen, and attached the pen that 20th century writer Dorothy Parker who will follow through with any was handed out at a local parade to had when a ringing telephone inter- scheme that involves lists, notes, the other end. It’s not pretty, but it rupted her train of thought, “What charts or chalkboards. You, and only sure is effective. fresh hell is this?” I couldn’t have said you, are responsible for these things. Being the designated farmstead it better myself. No one who hates the Realize it and adapt—and the sooner secretary means that I’m inter- phone as much as I do would pursue the better. I’ve been the farmstead rupted multiple times each day by a career in office administration. Yet, secretary for 30 years. I spent the a family member who needs the my entire family—from great-grand- first 10 trying to get everyone “on the contact information of another fam- mother to grandson—is convinced same page.” Forget it. You’re the only ily member. Of course, the person that I am the resident administrative one with a page, and no one wants to on the other end is rarely satisfied assistant. be on it unless they need you to do with the requested information; they “Grandma, I need you to call the something. want to chat for a while. And just like super hero station and find out where I’m not sure why, but I’m the that, I’m an hour behind in my daily my super powers are. I’ve been wait- only person in my family who has routine. Add to that the requests for ing a long time.” My five-year-old a pen at the ready before I dial the the number to the gas station, the grandson was handing me the phone phone. Apparently, it’s just one of grocery store, the hardware store, Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 87 the feed mill, the doctor’s office, the ing the messenger responsible for the library, etc., and it’s a miracle I ever contents of the message, you will be get anything done. There is the occasional held accountable. I had the unpleas- To reduce the interruptions, I pur- call from someone stuck ant task of informing my grandson chased inexpensive address books that his super powers were probably for several members of my family on the side of road who not going to be arriving any time who can’t seem to remember each needs the number for a soon. I called the super hero station An Unwanted other’s contact information. I dili- as he requested, but things got a little gently filled each address book with tow truck, but those are out of hand. Batman took an attitude the contact information for all of our with me, and I responded with a important family contacts. Then, to rare these days. snarky remark about how his tights Calling ensure that the calls for directory as- make his hind side look big. He hung sistance would decrease dramatically, stead secretary and another trip to up on me. I included the addresses and phone town. You can burn through a lot of I’m not sure how, but somehow, numbers of the local businesses that gas and goodwill if you’re not on top this is all my fault. “You’re not a good we frequent. I wrapped each one of things. caller, Grandma,” my grandson said and gave them as gifts. I am happy As the farmstead secretary, you as he stomped back to his house. It’s to report that for the most part, the will on occasion have to deliver bad true. I’m an awful secretary. Yet, no calls for directory assistance have news. You should know, that despite one has volunteered to relieve me of stopped. There is the occasional call a time-honored tradition of not hold- my duties. from someone stuck on the side of road who needs the number for a tow truck, but those are rare these How to Build Animal Housing days. Most of the family can’t afford enough gas to travel too far from By Ca r o l Ek a r i u s home. It’s the price of fuel that brings us How to Build Animal Housing helps you evalu- the next problem facing the home- ate the housing needs of your animals and provides stead secretary—scheduling. As the dozens of adaptable plans. You’ll get tried-and-true secretary it is your job, and yours advice on the importance of planning ahead and alone, to schedule trips to town. It budgeting adequately. Includes: Portable shelters, just makes sense to take care of as backyard pens, coops and hutches, barns of all sizes, much business as you can when stables both large and small, windbreaks, shade you’re in town, but if you leave the structures, and more! 260 pages, $24.95 scheduling to someone else, you’ll find that you’re on the road a lot more than you’d like to be. You must announce any planned excursions as The Blacksmith’s Craft far in advance as humanly possible, A Primer of Tools & Methods and you must announce it often thereafter. By Ch a r l e s McRa v e n Never, ever, leave for town without checking with everyone else to Setting up your own forge and crafting every- see if they need something. Don’t day items is easier than you think. Step-by-step expect others to be proactive and guides help you through the process of building actually tell you what they need. This a simple forge from recycled materials, acquir- won’t work. Even though you’ve ing or crafting the basic tools, and learning the been telling everyone for weeks that techniques to get you started in blacksmithing. you’re going to town on a specific day McRaven demonstrates his simple methods in at a specific time, no one has paid the easy-to-follow photos throughout this book. Work- first bit of attention to your curious ing under his tutelage, you’ll find yourself encour- ramblings. But if you don’t check aged and confidant that you, too, can create items with everyone before you leave, of lasting beauty and durability from iron and steel. 247 pages, $19.95 it will be your fault that whatever needed to be picked up or whoever Please add $4 s/h. WI res. add 5.5%. needed to be dropped off wasn’t. This Countryside Bookstore • 145 Industrial Dr. • Medford, WI 54451 invariably results in harsh questions about your competence as a home- w w w .c o u n t r y s i d e m a g .c o m 88 Capture Your Countryside... and share it with us!

Co u n t r y s i d e is proud to present an on-going photo contest. Send us photos from your homestead— livestock, grandchildren, garden, barn, etc.—and we may share it with Co u n t r y s i d e readers! Each issue’s “Featured Photo” will receive a FREE Co u n t r y s i d e t-shirt! E-mail your photo(s) as jpeg attachment(s) to [email protected] with “Capture Your Countryside” in the subject line, be sure to include your name, mailing address, phone number and a brief description. Or mail photo(s), including your name, mailing address, phone number and a brief description, to “Capture Your Countryside,” 145 Industrial Drive, Medford, WI 54451. Any photos received will become the property of Countryside Publications and can be used at anytime. Countryside Publications retains the right to publish and/or reproduce any and all photos submitted in future issues or publicity, with or without mention of source. Featured Photo

I am a new to homesteading. I have been exploring the world of An empty field with beautiful yellow flowers.— Kathy Castro agriculture for two years, in three different states. Here is one of my favorite photos from my recent ad- ventures. — Jes Hagan, Missouri

Five-year-old Colton, taking a “sleep break” while his parents were shoveling corn. Hay cutting on our farm which is located in the “Bluegrass Colton, his sister, and parents farm about and Bourbon” region in Kentucky. — Marke Richardson, 500 acres in Ohio. — Chris Spitzer Kentucky Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 89 three days until it reaches equinox on October 18, and it will be visible at 3:44 p.m. (EST) on September 22, throughout the Americas. Watch the Poor Will’s entering the sign of Libra at the same eclipse from sundown until 11:00 moment. p.m. o u n t r y s i d e C The Planets of September The Sun’s Progress Jupiter continues in Gemini, ris- October 23 is Cross Quarter Day, Almanack ing before Mars after midnight and the halfway mark between autumn shining high in the east at sunup. equinox and winter solstice. The sun ~ for ~ Mars, moving retrograde into Leo enters Scorpio at the same time. this month, rises later than Jupiter Early & Middle and is visible lower along the eastern The Shooting Stars horizon in the early morning. Saturn The Draconid meteors arrive in is in conjunction with Venus on Sep- the late evenings of October 7 and Autumn tember 20, both planets low on the 8. The Draconids usually appear be- western horizon at sundown. fore midnight, unlike the Orionids, which will peak in and around Orion By W. L. Fe l k e r The Stars near and after midnight of October 21-22. As we lay awake long before daybreak, Throughout the evening, the setting of the Corona Borealis and listening to the rippling of the river and Hercules mark the closing of tomato The Planets the rustling of the leaves ... we already season along the Canadian border. Jupiter lies in Gemini, high in suspected that there was a change in the The Summer Triangle, just a little the east before dawn. Mars, still in weather, from a freshness as of autumn west of overhead complements the Leo, trails along behind him. Venus in these sounds. That night was the Harvest Moon, and it also brings moving retrograde into Ophiuchus turning-point of the season. We had color to the leaves throughout the remains the brightest evening star. gone to bed in summer, and we awoke in northern half of the United States. Far Saturn in Libra disappears from the autumn; for summer passes into autumn on the eastern horizon, the Pleiades sky this month. in some unimaginable point of time, like are rising, promising leaf-fall, then The Stars the turning of a leaf. — Henry David winter. Chilly October evenings bring the Thoreau The Shooting Stars Milky Way from east to west across The Piscid meteors fall through the sky. Now the Big Dipper hugs The Ephemeris for September Pisces, in the southern sky, on the the northern horizon, its pointers The phases of the Blackberry night of September 21. The Alpha Au- actually pointing up and south to Moon and the Harvest Moon rigid meteors pass through between Polaris. As midnight approaches, Although the harvest of fruits and August 28 and September 5. the red eye of Taurus will have risen vegetables has been taking place all over the horizon, pulling December’s summer, the harvest of field corn is The Ephemeris for October Orion with it. one of the major turning points in the The Phases of the Harvest Moon farm year. Sweet corn from the South The Almanack Daybook began to reach markets in April; now and the Cider Moon Like maple syrup time that marks ~ September ~ the entire northern half of the United the transition from winter to spring, 1: The day’s length has fallen be- States and Canada brings in corn for cider time leads to middle fall, late low fourteen hours throughout the silage and grain. fall, and finally to the cold of win- continental United States, a signal for ter. does and ewes to begin estrus. September: 2: Today is Labor Day and it 5: The Harvest Moon is new at October brings increased chances for market- 6:36 a.m. 4: The Cider Moon is new at 7:35 ing fruits and vegetables. 12: The moon enters its second p.m. 3: The moon’s position in the first quarter at 12:08 p.m. 11: The moon enters its second two weeks of September and October 19: The moon is full at 6:13 a.m. quarter at 6:02 p.m. brings the best lunar time of early 26: The moon enters its final quar- 18: The moon is full at 6:38 p.m. fall for planting and transplanting ter at 10:56 p.m. 26: The moon enters its final quar- plants that produce their fruit above ter at 6:41 p.m. the ground. The Sun’s Progress 4: New moon on September 5 and The sun moves toward fall at a The second penumbral lunar October 4, and full moon on Septem- little more than one degree every eclipse of the year will take place ber 19 and October 18 increase the 90 I’m the Hiroshima of love. — Sylvester Stallone likelihood of storms and frost. upcoming changes in the weather percent all across the northern half of 5: Today is the first day of the Har- could have a negative influence on the country. vest Moon. Jewish New Year, Rash the joints of mammals – including Hashanah is celebrated today and you! ~ October ~ tomorrow, a good point in the year 19: Today’s full moon increases 1: Nutting season is underway: to explore marketing to the Jewish the chances for cold weather (includ- gather black walnuts, walnuts, pe- population in your area. ing light frost) as late summer gives cans and hickory nuts as they fall. 6: September 19 is Chuseok, way completely to early fall. 2: Now is the time to make a the Harvest Moon Festival often 20: Plant bulbs for spring flowers check of the weight of your beehives observed by Korean Americans as the moon wanes. to insure that bees have enough hon- and others of Asian descent. Start 21: The waning moon favors cut- ey to make it through the winter. marketing kids and lambs now for ting corn for silage all across the na- 3: Test your soil after harvest and this market. tion’s midsection, cutting spring oats fertilize as needed. Don’t wait until 7: The moon is right: Plant your and wheat in the west, cutting spring spring to feed the land. fall peas. Set out cabbage, kale and barley in California, cutting hay 4: Mullein stalks stand bare like collard sets. in Alaska, harvesting sugar beets, withered cacti. In the perennial gar- 8: Today is the average day for pears, cabbage and cauliflower in the den, varieties of late hostas, like the the beginning of early fall, the first of Midwest, and bringing in tobacco in August Moon and the Royal Stan- autumn’s three seasons (early, middle the South. dard, discard their petals. and late fall). 22: Today is equinox, and that 5: The Hindu feast of Navaratri 9: Take advantage of early fall event is often accompanied by a or Navadurga begins today and ends mornings to work with your bees. brisk cool front. on the 13th. Kids and lambs born in The insects will be slow and clumsy 23: If your kids and lambs grew the late winter and spring may be when the air is cold, will be less able slowly this year, review their feed- suitable for this market. to sting you. ing program now in order to put 6: Do your Thanksgiving mar- 10: Stirred by the change of sea- pregnant animals in peak condition keting now: Have your turkeys all son, northern goat herders are fixing - as well as to get the new kids and placed before the leaves turn! up the “milk parlor” and making a lambs off to a good start in the winter 7: The heaviest time of Halloween real milk stand—that can do extra and spring. sales has begun. duty as a hoof trimming stand. 24: The dark waning moon of 8: The period of peak leaf color- 11: Keep carrots, oats, bran, io- September’s final week favors vac- ing begins along the 40th Parallel, dized salt and good greens on hand cinations, surgery, and general live- holds off for another month in the to invigorate bucks and rams as the stock (and human) care. South. breeding season opens. 25: The demand for goat and 9: Beggarticks stick to your pants 12: Pickle season is usually over sheep milk rises in the fall, and pric- legs and to your sheep. by now, and peaches can be done for es start to rise too, remaining at their 10: Studies say that the buck or the year. best through the winter months. ram can definitely influence the 13: Soybean fields are yellow and 26: Plan now to market lamb amount of milk his offspring will shedding, and some fields have lost and chevon before Islamic New produce. all their leaves. Year (November 4 – December 3), 11: Cattails and thimble plant 14: The period between the 19th Ecuadorian Independence Day (No- seed heads begin to break apart, an- through the 25th of September and vember 7), and the Islamic feast of nouncing leaf-turn of the maples. October historically brings an in- Ashura (November 14). 12: When the night temperature creased chance for dangerous weath- 27: The milkweed pods are full, is starting to drop below 50, feed er: hurricanes and tornadoes. straining, starting to open, foretell- sugar or corn syrup to hives that 15: Plan to renew some of your ing frost. need it. land by putting in an “antiseptic 28: Sandhill crane migration has 13: The cold front that arrives crop” of mustard, radishes, and begun throughout the country. between the 11th and the 14th almost turnips. 29: April 13–15 of next year is the always brings in a chillier and more 16: Your herd can graze an area time for New Year celebrations of dramatic subseason of autumn close now; then you can fertilize and people of Cambodian descent. Both known as “middle fall.” seed those fields in early spring with Western and Orthodox Christian 14: The Muslim feast of Eid Al- a legume. churches celebrate Easter on April Adha (the Festival of Sacrifice) takes 17: Peonies and other perennials 20. Passover occurs between April place between today and the 16th. may be fertilized this month after full 14 and 21. Plan now to breed lambs Consider selling kids and lambs to moon to encourage improved flower- and kids for these events. this market. ing next spring and summer. 30: Chances that a light frost will 15: Light frost starts to touch 18: The full September moon and have brushed your garden reach 80 Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 91 down at higher elevations across inside of the hive top and comes back Answers to the July-August the South. Deer rutting season has down on the bees in the form of very Sckrambler opened in many areas. Most wild- cold rain, which can chill and even AWS: SAW flowers, even the asters and golden- kill the bees. NERPRU: PRUNER rod, have gone to seed. Snow season 29: This week’s dark moon is the ARPSHRENE: SHARPENER spreads across the northern states. best lunar time this month for prun- SREASH: SHEARS POLPRE: LOPPER 16: Throughout middle fall, the ing shrubs and trees to retard growth, AINCHWAS: CHAINSAW maples are transformed, and the ash, and for killing weeds. MWROE: MOWER locust, hickory, red mulberry, cotton- 30: Chances for tomato and zuc- TRMMRIE: TRIMMER wood, crab apple, redbud, box elder, chini loss rise quickly across the WEROLB: BLOWER buckeye and walnut leaves come South. LITREL: TILLER down in average years all across the 31: And by now a killing frost OHE: HOE central states. has reached down from Canada into HOVELS: SHOVEL 17: Before full moon, dig up can- the northern states at least half the LOVESG: GLOVES nas, caladiums, tuberous begonias years. YREPRAS: SPRAYER and gladiolus bulbs to avoid damage NIKEF: KNIFE ELBBID: DIBBLE from the cold. Lunar Feeding Patterns WORELT: TROWEL 18: Today’s full moon threatens For People And Beasts ROPPEB: BOPPER th frost all along the 40 Parallel (a line Date: Above; Below EEEWDR: WEEDER approximately between New York September ROKF: FORK City and Denver). 1–5: Mornings; Evenings 19: You may want to set up your 6–12: Afternoons; Midnight to Dawn 13–19: Evenings; Mornings The September-October own impromptu roadside stand for 20–26: Midnight to Dawn; Afternoons Sckrambler your Halloween crops. Some people September 27–October 4: If you are the 2nd, the 21st, the use the “honor system” and have Mornings; Evenings 42nd, the 72nd, the 100th or the 150th their customers serve themselves and 5–11: Afternoons; Midnight to Dawn person to return your correct Sck- put money in a locked container. 12–18 : Evenings; Mornings rambler solutions by my deadline of 20: The best lunar grain har- 19– 25: Midnight to Dawn; Afternoons August 25 to Poor Will, P.O. Box 431, vest conditions occur between now 26–31: Mornings; Evenings Yellow Springs, OH 45387, you will and early November as the moon win $5. There should be no typos in wanes. Meteorology and Peak this puzzle, and no typo prize will 21: The very last monarch but- Livestock Activity in be awarded. If you happen to find a terfly flies south. September and October typo, however, you may simply skip 22: Deer are in estrus throughout Weather history suggests that that word without penalty. central states, more likely than usual cold waves usually cross the Missis- to appear suddenly in front of your sippi River on or about the following OHG SUHB car. dates: September 2, 8, 12, 15, 20, 24 SIHCLE LPWO 23: Today is Cross-Quarter Day, and 29; October 2, 7, 13, 17, 23, and ROTAVITLUC when the sun reaches halfway to 30. Storms often occur prior to the LLAIF winter solstice. passage of each major front. Fish, KUPCIP URTKC 24: This year, Cross-Quarter Day game, livestock and people tend to SIKD is a good marker for the last day to feed more and are more active (and SOPT RREVID breed your sheep and goats for the more troublesome) as the barometer KCUBEKAR Easter market. falls one to three days before these AOHRRW 25: Corn and soybean harvest weather systems. WEROM and winter wheat planting seasons EAEGLNR develop in the countryside. Winners of the July-August EIOCMBN 26: Feed your trees after all their Sckrambler Sweepstakes LALSVERO leaves are down, wrapping new trees A total of 39 readers solved the last RCTRTAO with burlap. puzzle, and a prize of five dollars was ATTORRO 27: As foliage thins, Eastern promised to the 3rd, the 24th, and the TONES CKERPI th phoebe, catbird, turkey vulture 58 to reply correctly. The 3rd correct KRAE and house wren migration seasons respondent was Barbara D. Beargeon EAERPSDR th deepen. of Denver, Colorado; the 24 was LERAB 28: Don’t forget ventilation in the Dottie Lesnock of Canonsburg, Penn- HSRERHTE beehives. Clustering bees produce sylvania. If another winner emerges water vapor in the hive, and if it is his/her name will appear in the next Copyright 2013 – W. L. Felker not removed, it condenses on the Poor Will’s Countryside Almanack.

98 Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry. — Mark Twain In memoriam: The Silence of an Anvil

By Jd Be l a n g e r I visited him in Tennessee Fo u n d e r several times, where he lived in a Co u n t r y s i d e & Sm a l l St o c k Jo u r n a l trailer near a crystal-clear stream. His latent interest in blacksmithing n a world of instant (and con- developed into a well-equipped stant) messaging, I was shocked shop. In keeping with his interest Ito learn today (July 12) that my in earning an income on the home- old friend Ken Scharabok died — last stead, he started a store selling December. dented canned food. The store Apparently, many other home- didn’t last (wrong location, he said) steaders got the news soon after his but his interest in blacksmithing led Dec. 31 heart attack, but that’s not Ken shared his love of blacksmithing to an eBay storefront where he sold surprising: Ken had a lot of friends. skills with others. Photo courtesy of blacksmithing tools he made. He was that kind of guy. www.thefabricator.com. I recall telling him how I When I first met him (by mail) (no connection here) he talked me thought he’d enjoy having a com- he was a civilian employee of the into my one-and–only venture into puter when they were still a nov- Air Force in Ohio, living in town. skinny-dipping in our mucky bog elty: he wasn’t interested. When he The truth is, he didn’t seem very lake. Ken was not your stereotypi- finally succumbed, he got involved homesteadish. Most of his first cal MBA Mensa member home- in a big way. articles were about making money, steader. For a few years there was a such as he did with his urban hous- He kept adding to his acreage spate of Co u n t r y s i d e get-togethers, ing arrangement. These articles in Tennessee. Never married, he readers gathering to share ideas, eventually appeared in a book, How planned to leave his woods and information and camaraderie. Ken to Earn Extra Money in the Country. pastures to a land trust. Meanwhile, hosted several of these. Later, he When he was offered early he got seriously involved with beef did the same with the blacksmith retirement during one of the gov- cattle. That spawned many articles, community. ernment’s periodic cutbacks he not all about cattle and not strictly Many of the people who learned grabbed it — and bought land in about homesteading, but somehow of his passing before I did men- Tennessee. With kinfolk in Florida, they always seemed appropriate. tioned his generosity, especially he often traveled there from Ohio, with books. I can vouch for that. and he said something about Ten- One of his many gifts was what nessee attracted him. he called a “husband-beater” fire Sometime in the late ‘80s Co u n - poker, fashioned with his black- t r y s i d e offered lifetime subscrip- smithing skills. tions. Ken Scharabok was the first After my retirement in 2000 our to sign up. correspondence became sporadic, I met him personally when we but he continued his contact with moved from Waterloo, Wisconsin, Co u n t r y s i d e . In July of 2010 he add- to Withee, in 1990. Ken (who also ed this as a postscript to an email to had relatives in Milwaukee) came my daughter/editor Anne-marie: up to help. And he wanted to work, “If you run into the old fart tell him not kibitz! He sawed firewood, but growing old may beat the alterna- mostly, he built bookshelves and tive, but it isn’t as much fun as it then sorted and shelved all 4,000 used to be. I’m thinking of starting volumes. Some went home with a collection of hospital wrist tags.” him. I only heard from him once after We found we shared a taste for This fire poker is an example of that. cheap Carlo Rossi jug wine… and Ken’s blacksmithing artistry. He was 66. r Countryside & Small Stock Journal, September/October 2013 99 100

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