The magazine of modern homesteading & Small Stock Journal Volume 101 • Number 5 SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2017 FALL RECIPES AND CANNING POPULAR MEAT CHICKEN BREEDS Controlling KEEP FARM ROADS Rodents IN SHAPE on the PLUS: Homestead Learn to Grow Saffron HUNTING SEASON IS HERE! UGP-60L1 Unique 2.1cu/ft portable fridge/freezer UGP-80L1 Unique 2.8cu/ft portable fridge/freezer UGP-120L1 Unique 4.2cu/ft portable fridge/freezer Perfect forroadtrips to the camp or the cabin Unique’scoolers and freezers areadventureready. Available in avariety of sizes, these coolers and freezers sport generous capacity and durable design making them ideal forhunting season! Unique UGP-120/80/60 L1 AC/DC SolarFridge/Freezers Unique’s AC/DC solarpoweredfridge/freezers areversatile, portable andequipped with the world’smost reliable compact DC compressor cooling system. Keep your wild game meats and fish fillets frozen with our deep freezercompartments (evenon the road) -All 3models come with an insulated cover. Unique UGP-2 3-WayFreezer (LPG/AC/DC)–2.2 cu/ft This rugged,lightweight freezerfeatures side handles anda UGP-2 small footprint for easy portability, anditcan run on propane, Unique 2.2 cu/ft 12V or 110V powerfor maximum versatility. portable 3way freezer Full specifications available on website ©2017 Unique Off-Grid Appliances. All rights reserved. No power, no problem® is aregistered trademark of Unique Off-Grid Appliances. I AM COUNTRYSIDE Show us what homesteading means to you! There are as many different reasons and ways to homestead as there are homesteaders today. Help us tell your unique story by submitting photos and short stories about your homesteading adventures. Hey, friends, my name is Alisha Alisha Galbraith. and more time using the wild I’m a writer, oil guide, home- plants I’ve found and dried to steader, and self-proclaimed wild- make folk remedies, salves, and flower. I’m two years new at this infused honey. I spend less time homesteading thing ... and most weeding, and more time drinking of the time when I call myself a tea, baking bread, eating said “homesteader” I feel like a phony. bread, and reading books I don’t have big livestock. I don’t about essential oils, plants, and have a tractor, and I still shop at butterflies. the supermarket. I love that there are people But the beautiful thing about like us who want to learn how being countryside, about being a to live a more self-sufficient homesteader, is that there are so lifestyle. For those of you who many different ways to be one. are just starting out, even if Homesteading is about learning homesteading is just a thought to live better where you are, and in your mind, here are a few that’s different for everyone. things I’ve learned about For me it’s raising chickens, homesteading: failing at gardening more often than not, learning about herbs, • Not all moments are essential oils, and the plants in beautiful. Some are really my area during all seasons. messy and heartbreaking. My favorite season isn’t a • You don’t have to do season at all. It’s the space everything. between seasons when you get the best of both summer and • You don’t have to own land. autumn. When the days are • You don’t even have to be warm and the nights are cool. “good” at homesteading. When the wildflowers are extra • You just have to want it. wild in their last bloom, and when the drying leaves sound Start this season with like ocean waves. a change. As summer winds down on our little homestead I spend less Follow Alisha’s photo journey time worrying about tornadoes on Instagram: @folkandco. Email photos in JPG format to editor@ countrysidemag.com with “I Am Countryside” in the subject line Mail your entry to: Countryside, 145 Industrial Dr., Medford, WI 54451. To have your photos returned, please include a self-addressed stamped envelope Message us on Facebook: Facebook.com/iamcountryside Tag us on Instagram or use #iamcountryside: Instagram.com/iamcountryside WAYS TO SHARE: WAYS Countryside & Small Stock Journal retains the right to publish and/or reproduce any and all photos submitted. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Watching the honeybees on our property is one of my favorite things to do; An all-natural tick spray. I use this from spring all the way until the end of fall. 4 oz bottle, 30-50 drops of rosemary essential oil and fill up the rest of the bottle with witch hazel; An apricot tea from Baker Creek’s spring planting festival. Teas are a must-have during fall! OPPOSITE: Goldenrod honey CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: Free-range, pasture-raised eggs; Fresh baked baguettes; A few “must-haves” for the handmade apothecary — you can find more “must-haves” at folkandco.com. CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: Throughout the spring, summer, and fall I stock my apothecary for fall and winter illnesses; My very first garlic harvest from two years ago; Goldenrod is often overlooked, but a good medicinal plant and nectar plant for monarchs!; Gwenevere as a young chick. Also known as “Gwen the Hen.” My Favorite Season isn’t a Season at all. It’s the Space Between Seasons. September/October 2017 Contents 4 I Am Countryside HOMESTEADING 10 Editor’s Letter 62 Making a Smooth Ride 24 12 Country Conversation Learn how to grade and & Feedback maintain driveways on your homestead. 68 Exploring Wood-Burning Stoves GROWING for Off-Grid Living 20 Don’t Be Fooled: Growing Heating options to ward off Saffron is Easy! winter’s chill. Learn to grow this expensive and rare spice. ANIMALS & LIVESTOCK 24 Phytoremediation Plants Clean Contaminated Soil 74 How to Assist a Cow Using plants to make soil healthy Giving Birth is an option for big companies Learn how to tell when a cow 46 and homesteaders alike. is in labor and how to help if necessary. FARM TO FORK POULTRY 30 Heat Source Options for Canning 82 Popular Meat Chicken Breeds Make sure you’ve got the Explore the pros and cons of right heat source for your two popular meat breeds. end product. 34 Understanding How Botulism AFTER CHORES Causes Illness 86 Just for Fun Learn how to avoid this disease especially during the 88 Almanack 62 canning season. 91 Marketplace 40 Ladle & Loaf - Harvest Soups 94 Breeders Directory/Classifieds and Breads for Autumn Easy and yummy recipes for fall meals. COUNTRY LIFE 46 Rat-Hunting Dogs: An On the cover Organic Pest Control Option Get the job done without chemicals. 82 50 Understanding Hantavirus While rare, understand this disease to better protect yourself. 54 Natural Ways to Get Rid of Mice Keeping rodents out of your home and barn without poisons. 58 How to Find a Beekeeping Mentor A little help and guidance can Ah rats! This issue of Countryside mean success! turns the spotlight on rodent control on the homestead and arms you with natural ways to prevent and remove an unwanted population. 8 || COUNTRYSIDE & SMALL STOCK JOURNAL People everywhereare trying to get their hands on an appliance invented in theU.S. Woolseyisn’t afraid to experimentin Freeze dryingleavesthe nutritional the kitchen. Hertwo years in South integrity,aswellasthe taste and Americamade her an adventurous chef; appearance, of the food completely and, her husband and three children intact. Agrape still looks likeagrape; a motivateher to cook healthymeals that sliceofpeach still looks as fresh as it did everyone will enjoy. beforeitwas freezedried; meatsand seafood stayfresh and taste fresh even Woolseyisahardworking mom trying after being freeze dried. Whether Harvest Right Freeze Dryersare easy to use, to balancehome management, freeze drying full meals likelasagna and affordable, and preserve large batches of food within 24 to 36 hours. part-time work,church and community beef steworpreserving dairyproducts involvement, and everything else. likecheddar cheese, yogurtand ice prime. Woolseynotedthather Harvest cream, Sharon has the confidencethat Right freeze dryeris“a game changer” “Ofall the interesting, and innovative the food is going to taste great. forher beautifullypreserved avocados. appliances I’veworkedwith, this was possiblythe most amazing, the most Besides preserving meals as long term The ability to keep food from going bad interesting, and the most innovative,” storage forher familyand making helps offsetthe pricetag, Woolseysaid. Sharon said after her first fewmonths delicious baked goods, Woolseyhas also Families throw out $2,250 worthoffood with the HarvestRight freeze dryer. found her freeze dryeruseful in ayear on average. Thatnumber alone preserving her garden bounty.Like almost pays forthe freeze dryer. It is This convenientfreezedryer isabout manyavidgardeners, Sharon sawher perfect to freeze dryfoodthatwould the sizeofamini-fridge and canbeused food going to waste because she otherwisegotowaste so thatitcan be in avariety of locations such as a couldn’t use the producefast enough. usedasamealinafewweeks or to be kitchen, spareroom, laundryroom, or Now, she has asolution thatkeeps her eaten in 25 years. evenagarage. Woolseykeeps her freeze goods fresh until she’s readytouse dryerinher garage during the winter them. Freeze driedpineapple, grapes and and brings it into her food storage yogurtdrops have replaced Woolsey’s closetduring the hot summer months. “[I love to preserve]myfresh producein kid’sfavorite candy. Sheturns the freeze dryerbecause it plumps back freeze-driedkale and Greekyogurtinto This applianceisagame changer for to lifesobeautifully.It’salso the powder to add to her morning manyreasons. It canfreezedry 6to10 absolute best way to preserve herbs, smoothies; and freeze-driedice cream pounds of food at atime, which especiallyastheyretain 100 percent of dippedinchocolate has become a amounts to 1,500 pounds of food per their flavor.” popular treatather house parties. year.When stored properly, Woolseyhas found away to turn this freeze-driedfoods canlast for15to25 Producefromthe garden isn’t all a remarkable food storage technique into years, it is an essential tool foranyone freeze dryercan save from going to away of life.