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Featuring 74± acres with a workshop/garage, 3.5-BA sustainable, concrete and steel panoramic views and close proximity private well, solar system, wind built home with passive solar, natural to Modoc National Forest. and generator system. light, safe room and more. $500,000 | ALTURAS, CA | #04037-44290 $385,000 | SELIGMAN, AZ | #02036-19104 $494,900 | WAUPACA, WI | #48042-19092 RIVERFRONT LIVING SECLUDED CABIN UNTAPPED POTENTIAL Beautiful 3-BR, 2-BA home situated Old Virginia “Hand-Hew” 3-BR, Secluded 4-BR, 3.5-BA log cabin along the banks of the Suwannee 2-BA log cabin with cathedral on 128± acres offering tillable River on 13± acres with a horse barn, ceilings and custom moldings farmland, room for horses or cattle workshop and access to boat ramps. throughout on 50± private acres. and excellent hunting opportunities. $439,000 | BELL, FL | #09090-78308 $499,900 | CHATAM, VA | #45079-59593 $389,000 | GRAVEL SWITCH, KY | #16033-01330 SELL THE LIFESTYLE YOU LOVE Leverage your love of country and lifestyle properties and explore career opportunities with United Country Real Estate. As the nation’s leading seller of lifestyle and non-urban properties, we can give you the tools you need to succeed. Contact us today. 844.415.8959 | [email protected] Find many more lifestyle, recreational & country properties at ADMAnimalNutrition.com 866-666-7626 UCCountryHomes.com | 800.999.1020 ext 110 [email protected] 1 2 I AM COUNTRYSIDE FEATURING STACY BENJAMIN FROM THE 5R FARM IN OREGON 3 4 5 6 Little did I know when I got my fi rst three backyard chickens 10 years ago, it would lead this city girl to the small farm life that I enjoy today. I’ve always loved nature and animals. In college I We built a large chicken coop and expanded our studied biology, and I spent my summers working for ock to 30 chickens, including several roosters. the Forest Service. After college, followed by a short On Sunday afternoons we would return to Portland, stint in New York City, my husband and I moved back while a friend that lived at the farm would take care of to Portland where we both grew up. I started a career everything until we returned the following weekend. in environmental consulting and began climbing the As time went on, I began to feel like I was missing out corporate ladder. Portland was at the forefront of the on so much that happened at the farm while we were backyard chicken movement, and I began walking away. My husband and I both grew tired of the traf c I AM COUNTRYSIDE by houses where I could hear chickens singing the and noise of the city and longed to spend more time egg song in the morning on my way to work. at the farm. So, after a couple of years of splitting our I got my rst three chicks in the spring of 2010, time between our city house and the farm, we decided FEATURING STACY BENJAMIN FROM THE 5R FARM IN OREGON Rhoda the Rhode Island Red, Raquel the barred to move to the farm full-time. I commuted to my job Plymouth Rock, and an Easter Egger who turned in the city for a while, but for the last ve years I have out to be a rooster. In a few months I added three worked for myself from home, and my exible work more chicks — Ruby, a gold laced Wyandotte, and schedule gives me more time to enjoy the farm. two more Easter Eggers, Rosie and Ramona. In 2013, we added bees to the farm and we added I let the girls out of their coop often to play in heritage Narragansett turkeys in 2015. As much as the garden, and in no time, they devoured and I consider myself a crazy chicken lady, I’ve fallen scratched up everything green within beak’s reach. head over heels for my turkeys. I nd the behaviors I was surprised to realize that I didn’t mind all and vocalizations of a heritage turkey ock to be that much that the chickens destroyed my once so fascinating. Ringo, Eleanor, Dear Prudence, and thriving garden, and it wasn’t long before I began Pumpkin Pie keep me on my toes with their endless to wish that I had room for more chickens. turkey antics. One of my favorite farm experiences For several years, my husband and I had joked about is watching momma turkeys and chickens raise buying a place in the country, but now the conversation their own little ones. It’s truly heartwarming. became more serious. In a few months we were the I keep a large garden, and I love to preserve food proud owners of 4.5 acres in the country. We named from our garden for eating over the winter. I also the property 5R Farm, after the ve chickens — Rhoda, have a hobby soapmaking business and I sell natural Raquel, Rosie, Ruby, and Ramona — that inspired us soaps, lotions, and shampoos on my website. Future to make our dream of moving to the country a reality. dreams include raising ducks and goats, if I can For the rst couple of years after we bought ever nd the time! The farm life keeps me on the go the farm property, we still lived in the city, but from dawn until dusk, but I love practically every we spent long weekends at the farm working moment of every day, and I wouldn’t have it any on projects like xing the well and the water other way. It is amazing to think that our 5R Farm ltration system, battling thickets of thistle and adventure started with just three little chickens. blackberry, and putting in a vegetable garden. Follow Stacy Benjamin at: Instagram @5rfarmoregon JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2020 || 5 Previous pages: 1 | Eleanor and her poults. 2 | Handmade 5R Farm soap. 3 | Summer garden. 4 | Our little home in the woods. 5 | Putting in the vegetable garden. 6 | Stacy and her fl ock. This page: 1 1 | Momma Violet on hatch day. 2 | Ramon with his Black Copper Marans ladies. 3 | Winter wildlife in the front yard. 4 | Fall squash harvest. 5 | Pumpkin Pie as a fl ower child. 6 | Beehive inspection. 7 | Gotta shovel a path for the chickens, too! 8 | Turkey poults getting ready for bed on the high roost. 2 3 Pumpkin Pie as a poult. 4 Lap time with Sweet Pea. 6 5 7 My Easter Egger, Violet, and her little ones. 8 Introductory Price! LOW AS CONTENTS January/February 2020 $ 21 IN EVERY ISSUE HOMESTEADING BEEKEEPING 4 I Am Countryside 18 Flavored Kombucha 30 How Do Bees Survive Winter 85 each 11 Editor’s Letter By Patricia Baird Greene Without Fresh Pollen? By Rusty Burlew 12 Country Conversation 22 Battery Maintenance Tips & Feedback By Theresa Miller 33 Ask the Expert: No Queen By Rusty Burlew 82 Capture Your Countryside 26 Is Your Livestock Barn at 84 Just for Fun Risk for Fire? GROWING 86 Almanack By Anita Stone 34 Black Raspberries (Rubus): 90 Marketplace 2020 Herb of the Year By Rita Heikenfeld 92 Breeders Directory/Classi eds 38 Sea Buckthorn: It Started with a Prayer 26 34 By Tom and Sharon Pescinski POULTRY 42 How to Keep Chickens from Actual size Eating Their Eggs is 40.6 mm By Janet Garman 46 How to Make Homemade Chicken Feed By Amy Fewell Be One of the First 50 A Guide to Different Colored Chicken Eggs Lock in Your Price on the NEW 2020 U.S.