Countryside & Small Stock Journal articles from January 2000

Countryside & Small Stock Journal archives from January 2000

It's the hardware, stupid.(ideal homestead)
January 1, 2000... Homesteading often calls for doing things we've never done before, and perhaps know nothing about. We fumble our way through, taking much longer than we should and not getting the results we expected. But by the time we finish we usually have...

Latest issue inspires helpful comments.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: Here are some comments inspired by your latest issues: Hot Water: Paint some milk jugs with whatever dark color you have. Fill, cap and set in the sun. In an hour or so in summer -- longer in other seasons -- they will get so...

"Indoor plumbing" without water.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: Greetings from NW Montana where, at 4,000 feet we can't grow as much variety as we would like but wouldn't trade it for anything. Your magazine is great and has been a help in moving us closer to being self-sufficient. We heard an...

Feedback on firearm accuracy.(alignment of the scope )(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I enjoyed the article on improving your firearm accuracy in Vol. 83 No. 6. One additional point could be added concerning the final alignment of the scope to the rifle. After the bore procedure is complete, to make sure that...

Add two more poison ivy cures to the growing list.(Brief Article)(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I had to write after the poison ivy articles in the July/August (83/4:95) issue. I have two more "cures" for after you have the poison (ivy, sumac, oak). First, the old-timer's cure. Dig up the root of a pokeweed. Cut it up...

Is homesteading just for those who can "afford" it"?(includes related article)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: This newspaper clipping tells the story of what could happen if a large number of very poor people would be forced to try to stay alive by "homesteading." I have been reading your stuff for for more than 20 years and I have...

One nurse's advice on stocking the medicine cabinet.(prepare for Y2K)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: After reading the article in 83/4 I thought I would write to put in my two cents. My husband and I live on a small four acre homestead and have been working to prepare for Y2K. He is a carpenter and I am a registered nurse. ...

Homemade feminine hygiene product.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I've been reading COUNTRYSIDE for two years, including back issues from the library. I can't say enough about your magazine. I just love it. In the July/August issue, there is a note on a feminine hygiene product called the...

In the incubator ...(Brief Article)(Editorial)
January 1, 2000... This time I'll admit it: I have no idea what's going to be in the next issue. Advance planning doesn't work for a magazine that waits for the mail to see what its reader-writers are going to do next... Which means you can help decide what...

This market gardener farms 1/8 acre ... at 8,000 feet elevation.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I am a big fan of COUNTRYSIDE. I am also a Certified Organic Grower through the state of Colorado. My home is near the small mountain resort town of Estes Park, which is over 8,000 feet in elevation. Organic growing can be...

Newspapers into firewood.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: Concerning making newspapers into firewood (83/4:127). About 12 years ago I did that for two or three years as I was very short on money and the place I worked at had an abundance of newspapers. I bought the machine from a mail...

Some geese don't lay without competition.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I have a solution to Mary Ann's problem concerning her goose not laying eggs (83/5:109). I had the same problem some years ago. Then a neighbor told me "What she needs is company and competition!" Well, he was right. I...

Make coffee filters and "Bisquick".(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: Life actually living on the homestead is much more active than I'd ever anticipated! Most of the time in the city, when a new COUNTRYSIDE would come, I would relish every page. To dream and learn about country living and the...

A different way of butchering chickens.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: As a hurried home-steader, I find good minute savers much appreciated. I stumbled on one while slaughtering more chickens than I could handle. Not needing roasting birds, I decided to "skin" the birds. The birds are hung in...

Can't escape debt? Don't believe it!(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: Three years ago we paid our credit cards off and I decided that it was more important for me to stay home with my two daughters. Last week we sold our home, paid our truck off and are moving to family-owned land (almost 100...

Life is loverly in Louisiana.
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: The wood's cut, split and stacked; the barn's full of winter hay; the sweet potatoes have been dug; corn pulled -- 50 pounds ground and sifted for next year's meal. Next year's onions, cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts have...

City living is tough for a country girl.
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I spotted your magazine in my neighbor's mail while picking it up for them. She said I could read any of her magazines if I wanted -- and I hadn't, until COUNTRYSIDE! As a country-girl-at-heart, having to live in the city is...

Y2K isn't just a one-day event.
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: In contrast with your excellent and even-handed coverage of Y2K, I believe your Question of the Month (83/6:31) regarding "the last day of 1999" does a disservice. It implies that Y2K applies to January 1, only. The truth is, as...

We're all different, and here's proof.
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: From reading the letters in your magazine, I am struck by the wide variance of views, needs, wants, expectations and goals of the readership. I guess this shouldn't be a surprise, though, as people are so very different. And...

Field of dreams changes into house of horrors.(hog farming)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I don't know why I am writing except perhaps to ease the sadness of my own heart, but I feel that others should know of this tragedy. Many years ago while my husband was in college we lived in the inner-city. We could not let...

Do you like to be beaten, too?(Letter to the Editor)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I read with interest the "People don't need electricity to live" letter in your Nov./Dec. issue. I agree with your response to Mr. Rothrock but could go even further. I was born in 1938 in a three-room log house on a 120-acre...

No fare-thee-wells are due yet.
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I was very, very disappointed and hurt to find that Jd put out his last issue without even a fare-thee-well. I have been reading this magazine for more than 20 years, and have felt we were all "family." I have watched the...

Build this cabin in three weeks for under $2,000!
January 1, 2000... Here are the step-by-step procedures we used for building our backwoods cabin. This is a sturdy permanent little house that can keep you warm and comfortable throughout any weather. The basic design is easily expanded and can be modified to fit...

Special feature: Equipping the ideal homestead.
January 1, 2000... You might want to use this shopping list if you win the lottery or cash in all your investments; If you're not rich, be smart Introduction and background This is my ninth attempt to describe "the ideally equipped homestead." In the...

Tooling through the alphabet.(homesteading tools)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Everyone has their own idea of what the farmstead needs for tools. In the late 20th century, it is quite obvious that we need to have and know how to use non-electric tools. This all started when I was trying to figure out the most important...

Cleaning out the office leads to a round table discussion.(homesteading tips)
January 1, 2000... September 29, 1999: Anne-marie is taking over my office, so I started clearing it out... boxes and boxes and piles and piles of stuff that was too good to throw out but for one reason or another didn't make it into print. Most often it...

Home-bottled beans and bean soups Nutritious, full of fiber beans and bean soups in a hurry!(Brief Article)(Recipe)
January 1, 2000... With bottled beans, soups and other vegetable-bean mixtures, you have ready-to-eat meals in any emergency -- like "Oops, it's dinner time already!" Or, when the power goes out and you need a filling soup that tastes good hot or cold. With the...

How I made a stovetop oven.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... As a fairly recent subscriber, I believe COUNTRYSIDE is performing a valuable service by its continuing, though balanced, portrayal of the potential problems inherent in the forthcoming Y2K dilemma. Frankly, I view the situation rather...

Growing winter profits; organic produce from your solar greenhouse.
January 1, 2000... In winter, the delicacies from your greenhouse may enliven all of your senses. The vibrant contrast of lush green against stark winter will open your eyes and please your soul. Sweet smells surround you and the exquisite taste of savory, leafy...

How to grow great greenhouse cucumbers.
January 1, 2000... European cucumbers can be a bumper crop in green houses. They differ from other types of cucumbers in many ways. The fruits are long, between 14-18 inches, and weigh a pound or more each. The forest green skin is very soft, so many producers...

Is the pork you eat raised in a sewer?
January 1, 2000... A discussion of the science linking sewer pipes and hog confinement buildings We have unwittingly loosed an environmental disaster upon ourselves. We have inadvertently adopted parts of the sewer industry's technology for our hog...

Some hazards can be subtle.(harmful effects of plastics on children)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Some years ago there were reports of children in Puerto Rico developing breasts and/or pubic hair as early as four years of age. The cause was traced to excessive use of growth hormones by commercial chicken growers. And now, plastics? ...

Making soap, and more.
January 1, 2000... One of the first things we acquired when we moved to rural America was a wringer washer. Wringer washers are as American as the Columbus washboard from Ohio. I suppose that's why many of the "country faire" type restaurants position one on the...

Make jelly without pectin.(Brief Article)(Recipe)
January 1, 2000... I'm not satisfied with the jelly I make using pectin from the store. I think my mother made jelly without pectin and it tasted better. How do you make old-fashioned jelly like hers? Some fruits contain enough natural pectin to jell with...

Basic techniques for the homestead winery.
January 1, 2000... Dr. Salsbury's homemade wines even have fancy labels, created on his home computer. The Kartoffelwein in the foreground is made from potatoes. Making wine is both a science and an art form. It can be as simple or as complex as a person...

Making sugar on the homestead.
January 1, 2000... There has been a recent flurry of interest in making sugar at home. The last time we saw that was during the big sugar shortage of 1974. This is the article we printed in response to the question in January, 1975. As the price of sugar...

There's money in honey.(bee culture)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Honey production in the U.S. took a nose-dive in 1995 due to infestations of two kinds of parasitic mites which killed almost all wild honeybees and decimated many cultivated hives. Adding to this is the arrival of African killer bees in...

The art of growing landscape plants for fun or profit.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Growing landscape plants is much easier than most people think and a free booklet explains a simple, yet extremely effective technique for starting new plants from cuttings. Contrary to what most people think, you do not need a greenhouse or...

Oregon homesteader prefers modern conveniences.
January 1, 2000... I was reading COUNTRYSIDE this morning and felt I had to put my 33 cents worth in. The Y2K Problem--how much of a problem is it? From what I can tell, not a lot! You see, I live in a small town in Oregon and I work three days a week for...

Country living leaves no time to be bored.
January 1, 2000... Thank you for your publication! My family and I really enjoy the articles and all the creative ideas. We have enjoyed living on 60 acres in Central Illinois for the past three years. I must admit things have been easier for us with my...

The homestead milk cow -- consider the Jersey.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... For those who only need one or two milk cows for the family, one dairy breed in particular seems to stand out -- the Jersey. The Jersey was developed on the Island of Jersey in the English Channel to produce milk on forage. It was one of...

Drying off does.(goat care)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... COUNTRYSIDE: I need some help. I've read four different books from the library and they tell me everything I ever wanted to know about goats, except the one problem I have. I raise goats for meat, so I don't milk any of them. I hare a doe...

Growing market for meat goats.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Farmers in eastern Kentucky are having success raising goats. But profits are not from milk and cheese as you might expect -- the money's being made in meat production. "There's a lot of excitement in the meat goat industry right now...

Vegetable growers should think "Markets, markets, markets!".(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Interested in adding vegetable crops to your farm operation? Practice the mantra "markets, markets and markets." That simple sounding, yet complex message is regularly uttered by Tim Woods, University of Kentucky College of Agriculture...

Garden experiments, and more.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... I have a few questions, garden experimentation results and other dodads to share. We've been hearing so much about companion planting, intercropping and square foot gardening lately that I decided to do my own experimenting and here are my...

Homesteading on the tropical island of Culebra, Puerto Rico.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... I am another new subscriber and I am delighted at what I'm reading in your magazine. I live on a small island off the coast of Puerto Rico and though the tropics differ from the so-called temperate zone in many respects, your excellent...

Food for thought (and if you're lucky, for eating).(vefgetable gardening on Culebra, Puerto Rico)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Okay, we're going to discuss a topic that's near and dear to my heart: attempting to grow food on Culebra. A friend and I were once remarking on the charms of Culebra ("Yeah, it kind of grows on you,") and the difficulty of establishing desired...

Build a 4-hour $10 root cellar.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... For several years I have stored root crops in pits in the garden. The woodburning furnace in our basement keeps that too warm for potatoes and carrots, etc., and they last much longer in the pits. I simply dig a hole, toss in a bushel or two of...

Construct a low-cost battery-charging genset.
January 1, 2000... K. D. "Hoot" Gibson says he is "not an authority on much of anything, just a simple man living in the country and enjoying life very much... This genset is a product of my imagination of over 40 years ago when I built my first one. I've since...

How to pump water with compressed air.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... There is no reason to pay a lot of money for a water pump if this unit will do all you want. The cost is very low. The materials list is for a 100 foot well; adjust this to meet your well depth. Materials list 1/8" strong woven...

Composting for beginners.(Review)
January 1, 2000... All About Compost; Recycling Household & Garden Waste; by Pauline Pears, revised by Charlotte Green; 48 pages, 160 color photos, ISBN 0-85532-868-1; $11.95 If you know little or nothing about composting and would like to learn more, this...

Viewing life from a Minnesota garden.(Review)
January 1, 2000... Putting Down Roots; A delightful blend of gardening wisdom, wit and whimsy, by Cliff Johnson; ISBN 0-9670927-0-1; $14.25 ppd from CJM, 12920 Laurie Lane, Chaska MN 55318 This isn't a "gardening" book in the sense of being a reference work,...

A homestead classic remnant sale.(Review)
January 1, 2000... The Fat of the Land, by John Seymour; first published in 1961; Republished 1991 by Metanoia Press (Ireland), ISBN 0 9518381 0 5; currently available for $16 from Nathan Griffith, HCR 68 Box 185, Trout WV 24991 This book might be considered...

Capretto: another market for goat producers.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Chevon -- a word derived from chevre (the French word for goat) and mutton -- is the term given to goat meat and most goat raisers are familiar with both the term and the product. But have you heard of capretto? That's the term Italians...

Heating value of selected woods.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
January 1, 2000... This table by the U.S. Forest Service lists the relative heat of 33 dry woods, with hickory equaling 100, and compares densities to water. Denser woods burn longer; less dense woods ignite and burn faster. Species Density...

Why the three-day blizzard is a good -- but troubling -- analogy.(Y2K computer problem)
January 1, 2000... Doomers and skeptics agree on one thing at least: Is this a clue to what to expect? Things are never as bad as the pessimists say, nor as good as the optimists say; With Y2K, that means look out below! Is anybody still interested in...

News from Spaceship Earth.(seeds with terminator genes; pesticide restriction; household assets and wealth; jeans fashions)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Terminator seeds Monsanto says it will not commercialize the so-called "terminator gene" which makes seeds sterile, preventing farmers from saving seed from one crop to plant the next. Hailed by plant breeders as a way to protect their...

Just a quiet night at home.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... Although this took place in June, it sounds like many homesteads on New Year's Eve. June 25, Saturday night: The old clock on the wall has struck the half hour. The slightly twisted hands march on towards midnight with grim determination....

Out with the old, in with the new--kitchen wall calendar, that is.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2000... New Year's Eve has always been a time of reflection for me; a time to look both back, and ahead. Most of my Beyond the sidewalks columns in January issues of the past 30 years have dealt with that in some way. The following is abridged...