Fabulous Farm Stands
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The magazine of modern homesteading & Small Stock Journal Volume 103 • Number 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 Fabulous Farm Stands PlusAutumn Apple Recipes RAISING A LOVE KEEPING THE BEST TILAPIA FOR MASON AND FARM WEAVING HONEY BEES DOGS $5.99 US • iamcountryside.com SOLAR DC REFRIGERATION THE NEXT GENERATION OF REFRIGERATION HAS ARRIVED Energy ecient appliances are essential to living the "o grid" life style, and now with Unique’s lineup of DC powered fridges & freezers you can harness the power of the sun/wind and do just that! With sizes ranging from a compact 3.8 cu/ft bar fridge to the 16.6 cu/ft large family size refrigerator, there’s something for everyone. Unique 10.0 cu/ft Retro Unique 6.1 cu/ft Retro Unique 9.0 cu/ft Unique 10.3 cu/ft Unique 16.6 cu/ft Solar DC Bottom Mount Solar DC Upright Solar DC Top Mount Solar DC Top Mount Solar DC Top Mount Refrigerator: All Freezer: Refrigerator: Refrigerator: Refrigerator: UGP-275L W UGP-175L UF R UGP-260L1 B UGP-290L1 W UGP-470L1 W Visit our website for more details! www.UniqueOffGrid.com ©2019 Unique Off-Grid Appliances. All rights reserved. No power, no problem® is a registered trademark of Unique Off-Grid Appliances. SOLAR DC REFRIGERATION THE NEXT GENERATION OF REFRIGERATION HAS ARRIVED Energy ecient appliances are essential to living the "o grid" life style, and now with Unique’s lineup of DC powered fridges & freezers you can harness the power of the sun/wind and do just that! With sizes ranging from a compact 3.8 cu/ft bar fridge to the 16.6 cu/ft large family size refrigerator, there’s something for everyone. Unique 10.0 cu/ft Retro Unique 6.1 cu/ft Retro Unique 9.0 cu/ft Unique 10.3 cu/ft Unique 16.6 cu/ft Solar DC Bottom Mount Solar DC Upright Solar DC Top Mount Solar DC Top Mount Solar DC Top Mount Refrigerator: All Freezer: Refrigerator: Refrigerator: Refrigerator: UGP-275L W UGP-175L UF R UGP-260L1 B UGP-290L1 W UGP-470L1 W Visit our website for more details! www.UniqueOffGrid.com ©2019 Unique Off-Grid Appliances. All rights reserved. No power, no problem® is a registered trademark of Unique Off-Grid Appliances. I AM COUNTRYSIDE 1 3 1. A basketful of homemade cold-process soap. 2. Finnegan, the Clydesdale, visiting while porch sitting. 3. The Magpie ducklings 2 take a field trip outdoors. I was not raised in a farming family, nor was requirements of various plants, what properties make my husband. A life in agriculture and animal the foundation of good soil, succession planting timelines, composting and proper harvesting. Our husbandry was never even on my radar. I was first animals were ducks for fresh eggs and then a city girl at heart, owning and operating my own geese as their guardians. I took a beekeeping course graphic design business of 10 years, and we were New and started a small backyard apiary for fresh honey York City-bound. I had a vegetable garden where I and to host personal pollinators. Finally, my lifelong dabbled in growing a few herbs, lettuce, and tomatoes. dream of horse ownership came true — we brought I absolutely loved working edible plants into our in Clydesdales for plowing and tilling the land (and outdoor landscaping but that was the extent of my leisure trail rides too). We were finally a working farm. food production experience. I became pregnant and Little by little I continue to add more opportunities had my first child and this changed everything for me. for growth and accomplishment to our homestead I suffered from postpartum depression and and I strive to improve every skill with every season. questioned my current path; trying to balance client We now grow as much of our own produce as we design deadlines, raise my son, and maintain the can (including citrus and avocados within our home. It was a struggle. I wanted to play outdoors greenhouse). We tap our own maple trees for syrup and be fully present in my child’s life but the time and we harvest honey using both traditional and Flow just wasn’t there and instead I was parked behind Hive methods. Our horses just plowed the land for a a computer screen all day. I needed a change and backyard vineyard, and we’ve learned to create our decided it was time to close my business. I had my own kombucha, beer, wine and soap. And, of course, husband’s full support when it was time to trade in we have a small farm stand where we sell duck and my paycheck for homegrown food, my high heels goose eggs, produce and several other seasonal items. for muck boots, and a computer screen for a plot of I feel as though I’ve stumbled into this lifestyle or land. I was going to learn to farm and I was going to that it somehow chose me. But I take great pride in raise my children outdoors, alongside animals with learning self-sufficiency and teaching my children the freshest homegrown food I could provide them. to be stewards of the land. We have learned to live We’d renovated our own houses in the past with our by the seasons and to align ourselves with nature. bare hands so I was no stranger to manual labor. This We have created a life where we don’t yearn for is what I wanted to do. I spent nights and weekends vacations though we often end the day sore or pouring over books and videos despite the raised weary; having pushed ourselves to the boundaries eyebrows and questioning glances from my close of our minds and bodies. We have found our friends and family. I talked to experienced farmers and happiness in the challenges, chaotic routine, and I took a few classes. With every facet of homesteading sense of accomplishment that is homesteading. I learned about, I became more infatuated and I AM COUNTRYSIDE certain that this lifestyle was the right fit for our Follow Angela Ferraro-Fanning at Axe & Root Homestead young family. Axe & Root Homestead was born. on her homesteading journey: I started with produce and learned the nutritional instagram.com/axeandroothomestead SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2019 || 5 1. Both the horses and geese graze the lawn. 2. No matter how old or young, everyone harvests at the farm. 3. The new roadside farm stand built in the spring of 2019. 4. Hand-gathered and farm-fresh Cayuga and Pekin duck eggs. 5. Homegrown Glass Gem corn. 6. Welsh Harlequin and Cayuga ducks pause for a water break. 7. Sugar Baby watermelon is a favorite at our homestead. 8. Honeybees festooning (measuring for comb). 9. Camilla, our Sebastopol goose, leads her flock out of the coop. 10. Our home-tapped and bottled maple syrup. 11. Pekin and Crested Pekin ducks at about 12 weeks of age. 12. Working the honeybee hives. 13. Proudly harvesting potatoes. 3 1 4 5 2 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 CONTENTS September/October 2019 IN EVERY ISSUE 84 Just for Fun 24 Raising Tilapia at Home 4 I Am Countryside 86 Almanack By Kenny Coogan 11 Editor’s Letter 90 Marketplace 30 How to Process a Deer By Ellen Grunseth 12 Country Conversation 92 Breeders Directory/Classifieds & Feedback BEEKEEPING HOMESTEADING 34 Keeping Both Mason Bees and 82 Capture Your Countryside 20 A Love for Weaving Honey Bees By Rebecca Sanderson By Rusty Burlew GROWING 38 48 38 Black Currants – America’s Forbidden Fruit By Patricia Baird Greene 42 Mullein: Not Just a Common Weed By Karin Deneke POULTRY 44 What Does a Chicken Coop Need for Fall? By Janet Garman 48 Weeding With Ducks By Angela Ferraro-Fanning ANIMALS & LIVESTOCK 52 How Smart Are Pigs? By Tamsin Cooper 58 Becoming a Shepherd By Janet Garman 64 Goat School By Marissa Ames 68 Choosing the Best Farm Dogs for Your Farm 58 72 By Janet Garman FARM TO F0RK 73 Apple Brownies and Apple Crisp By Becky Pederson 74 Farmhouse Apple Butter By Hannah McClure 75 Slow Cooker Apple Cider By Ann Tom HOMESTEAD HACKS 76 Apple Cider Vinegar Hacks By Jennifer VanBenschoten ON THE COVER Lauren from Browning’s plans on using their rustic farm stand to bring fresh, local, cut flowers to Cynthiana, Kentucky. See more farm stand photos on page 16. Tag us on Instagram, share your stories on Facebook and find new Join the Countryside Community! inspiration on Pinterest. We read all the comments and love the feedback! INSTAGRAM FACEBOOK.com/ PINTEREST.com/ @iamcountryside iamcountryside iamcountryside #iamcountryside Volume 103 • Number 5 September/October 2019 Countryside & Small Stock Journal Includes Small Stock Magazine Founded 1917 by Wallace Blair and Countryside Magazine Founded 1969 by Jd Belanger. EDITORIAL Ann Tom, Editor [email protected] Steph Merkle, Content Director [email protected] Samantha Ingersoll, Marissa Ames Editorial Assistants Traci Laurie Publication Designer CIRCULATION & MARKETING GENERAL MANAGER Ellen Grunseth, Marketing Director Mike Campbell [email protected] [email protected] ADVERTISING COUNTRYSIDE’S MAIN HOMESTEAD Alicia Soper, Advertising Director Countryside [email protected] P.O. Box 566, Medford, WI 54451 (715) 748-1388 iamcountryside.com Kelly Weiler [email protected] SUBSCRIPTIONS (U.S. FUNDS): (715) 748-1389 $24.99 per six issues Sue Lapcewich Countryside Subscriptions [email protected] 580 Mallory Way, Carson City, NV 89701 (970) 373-7301 (970) 392-4419 PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. Countryside & Small Stock Journal (ISSN 8750-7595; USPS 498-940) is published bi-monthly by Countryside Publications, P.O.