Countryside & Small Stock Journal articles from January 1997

Countryside & Small Stock Journal archives from January 1997

The new status: reject status symbols!
January 1, 1997... A lot of what's cool among today's trend-setters comes awfully close to certain aspects of homesteading. Instead of yawning at their re-inventing the wheel, I find this development tremendously exciting. The latest example was in the...

Why we're proud to be homesteaders. (readers react to criticism of their movement)(Letter to the Editor)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... This letter appeared in our Sep/Oct issue.. Countryside. I'm sorry, your magazine is not what I expected. Some of your readers go to great lengths to seemingly go back in time, to the good old simple days, ??? They buy several items to...

How we found our homestead.(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... In the preceding pages we learned why some people homestead. However, many Countrysiders who already know why want to know bow. For starters, how did others find a home suited to this lifestyle, what attracted them to the place, what do they...

Not much time to check, but they got lucky.(new homesteaders)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... My husband and I (ages 50 and 46) truly lucked out when we went looking for our place in the country. The city was really getting to us and problems with a new neighborhood tavern had us practically sleepless. After a particularly loud...

Their secret: research, and plan!(new homesteaders)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... How did we find our homestead? Research and planning! I spent 20 years in the Army and was a participant in the. Gulf War. The many months of separation from my family and the uncertainty caused me to think about my future. I...

They met the challenge, conquered it...and now they're ready for more!(new homesteaders)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... How did we find our homestead, and what were our misgivings? It's a long and complicated story, but I'll try to keep it short! This is our second homestead. We left our first one for a variety of reasons and moved back to the city in...

Building the homestead: they have a straw bale house, rainwater collection system, and more on the way.(new homesteaders)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... My husband and I live on 12 acres near Johnson City in a partially completed plastered straw bale home which we are, for the most part, building ourselves. We have a filtered rainwater collection system which supplies all of our water....

Financing the homestead dream.(new homesteaders)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... As a "Behind the Sidewalks" person, I'm sure that I have a lot of company with others who want to move beyond the sidewalks. Usually the problem is that the amount of money to finance the transition is staggering. As an apartment dweller (in a...

Accident ends one lifestyle, but starts a new one.(new homesteader)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... Three years ago an accident at work stopped my life as I knew it. And put me at the mercy of our government to depend on an income. It has been a long uphill battle but I am learning. Learning how to live with my disability and how to do...

Life is interesting and rewarding as a struggling homesteader.(new homesteader)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... I am a fairly new Countryside fan. Claudie, a friend of mine, recently gave me an issue as a gift because she knew that I am new at homesteading and would appreciate the information. I am so impressed with the helpful, interesting and...

She became an outdoorswoman...muzzle loader included!(new homesteader)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... Wow! I feel like a whole new world has opened up to me. I'd like to share it with homesteaders who might not have connected with the world of muzzleloaders, buckskinners, and history re-enactors. I've been reading all the homesteading...

A lady named Fran came to call.(Hurricane Fran)(Cover Story)
January 1, 1997... All right, I'll admit it: I'm an addict. I'm addicted to a nice, hot cup of coffee before jumping into a nice, hot shower. I'm addicted to a pump that works and lights that light and a computer to work on. But I learned some valuable lessons a...

What you should know about generators.(emergency home electricity)
January 1, 1997... Recently, Wilmington, North Carolina was the victim of hurricanes Bertha and Fran. Thousands of families were without electricity for days or even weeks. A portable generator separated a disaster from a bad inconvenience. During...

Winter, cooperatives, and recycling: country life in West Virginia.
January 1, 1997... In recent years we have had some hellish winter storms. In '95-'96 we had 105-plus inches of snow - the most since records have been kept (that's more than 100 years now). We raise beef cattle and the herd averages 175-180, plus two...

Building a house out of cordwood.
January 1, 1997... To me, "alternative house building" was something out of the dark ages. It was people living in caves or in strange underground houses. What shocked me was people would actually purchase books to read about how to live in such a primitive...

Livestock guardian dogs: introduction, and a summary of training advice.(includes related articles)
January 1, 1997... We have been subscribing to your magazine for a couple of years, and it is definitely the most sought-after piece of literature on our farm. We raise peaches and other fruits and vegetables for a living and are also building up a...

The rooster sees the vet.
January 1, 1997... We had an interesting experience with our rooster and thought it worth sharing. The rooster -- named Pretty Boy -- is a three-year-old Leghorn/Rhode Island Red cross. He's a very good rooster, finding lots of food for his gals and...

A moveable chicken coop: and other ideas from Arkansas.(includes blueprint)
January 1, 1997... Countryside came into my life in late 1989. Thank goodness! I was a bachelor living alone in a one-bedroom apartment in the city. I really wasn't happy in town. Since then I have relocated to the Ozark Mountains and now live on 20 acres...

I never liked sheep ... until I met a Shetland!
January 1, 1997... I never liked sheep. You would never find me hanging around the sheep barns at the county fair contemplating the fine lines of a Cheviot, Suffolk or Montadale. Meat is usually not on the menu at Winter Sky. So why are there eleven...

Miniature sheep win friends and favor.(includes related article on breeding registries)
January 1, 1997... Although miniatures have been in existence for a long time, they are quite scarce. Due to their diminutive size, they have never been in demand in the commercial meat breeds or wool markets. Many people interested in only a spinning flock find...

My experience with low-cost pens.(livestock ranching)(includes related article)
January 1, 1997... When we started in goats 14 years ago, it was easier to find milking goats than just the milk. Because our then eight-month-old son had finally been diagnosed as allergic to cow milk, the need was immediate. So with 30 acres of brush and...

The horse garden.(winter feed for horses)
January 1, 1997... Horses love to eat. If left on their own, they roam and graze non-stop, nibbling at the tenderest plants. Most horses now a days don't have unlimited pasture. Winter is especially tough because the grass is eaten down and hay must be fed...

How to establish a bluebird trail.(nestboxes)
January 1, 1997... While at one time probably the most prevalent of native American songbirds, the bluebird population has been drastically reduced since the turn of this century. Their population decrease is primarily attributed to two factors. The...

He keeps bees for both their honey and stings!
January 1, 1997... About four years ago I started beekeeping; just wanted to raise some honey like I raise flowers and vegetables. My cousin Pete has kept bees for 25 years and was ready to help. He gave me some hive bodies and frames and told me what books to...

Homemade bread? No sweat! These recipes are extremely simple - and fast, too!(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... You'll get this bread in the oven in less than 10 minutes! In response to Mary Gnizak's request for a recipe for one-hour bread (80/5:8), Lynne Fairchild of Sacramento, California, sent this recipe from a newspaper...

The REAL secret to homemade bread: once you get the hang of it, almost anything seems to work!(humor - includes recipes)(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... Some people think bread-making is hard, drawn-out drudgery, a mysterious art and arcane science fraught with peril for the beginner. If you believe that, just try the quick-and-easy recipes on the preceding page! They're so incredibly...

Reduce sugar by cooking with honey. (includes recipes)(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... I'm always reading letters from folks who want to know about cooking with honey instead of sugar. We've cut sugar out of our diets completely. It's not that hard really. Just takes awareness. Read labels. You'll be amazed at what has...

Root cellar vegetables.(includes recipes)(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... Perhaps the least mentioned homesteading skill is one that is essential for food self-sufficiency. It is the ability to eat and enjoy -- throughout the winter -- those foods that it was possible to store. The greatest test of this ability...

Brew it better yourself!(includes related article on the heavy taxes on brewers)(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... This homebrew may not win any awards from connoisseurs, but it is easy to make, does not cost much, and tastes good. I have been making this brew for more than 30 years. Equipment: 5 gal. carboy (bottled water, glass or plastic...

Using the versatile soybean.(related recipes)(Country Kitchen)
January 1, 1997... The philosophy We are not vegetarians. We in no manner shun animal products or by-products. Yet we regularly grow, make and consume soy products. As with anything worthwhile on a homestead, there are multiple reasons for us to...

Many notes from Grass Valley - ManyTracks homestead: part 1.
January 1, 1997... It's 50 degrees and raining, the woodstove has come out of summer hibernation and is nursing a fire made with too green wood, the cats are sleeping (as befits the day) and Steve is out trying to tame and train the menagerie of computers and...

The farmer's husband.(humor - raising goats)
January 1, 1997... The rock hard ground made my butt ache. I sat there anyway, mostly because I was just too tired to move. The blistering Texas sun forced a steady stream of sweat to pour out from beneath my hat and into my eyes, stinging and irritating them....

Welding: Oxy-Act Cutting, ARC and MIG Welding, Equipment.
January 1, 1997... This video starts by demonstrating the proper use of all equipment and strongly emphasizes safety. Foremost is the checking of lines, nozzles and gauges and knowing the proper funtion of all of these before lighting the torch. Part one...

Poultry of the World.
January 1, 1997... This book has been in the incubator for 20 years, and is undoubtedly the crowning achievement of a man who has devoted his life to poultry. This is a history book, a geography book, and even a "comic" book, all devoted to chickens. But...

Homesteading is preparation - but for what?(After Chores)(Column)
January 1, 1997... When I was a young reporter on a large daily newspaper in the 1950s, people with offbeat ideas regularly showed up in the city room with the scoop of the century. The editors had heard it all before, of course, and were experts at cutting such...