Countryside & Small Stock Journal articles from July 1997

Countryside & Small Stock Journal archives from July 1997

Salads as an analogy for homesteading.(making salads from garden vegetables)(Editorial)
July 1, 1997... Homesteading is like making a salad. Salads are inexpensive, healthful, and simple. There are no rules, so it's hard to make a mistake. And there are endless possibilities for combinations and creativity. Just like homesteading. ...

Power from the sun: not that difficult; not that expensive.(solar power for the homestead farm)
July 1, 1997... My family and I have used solar electricity for more than a decade. I am not an electrician, yet I hooked up the system with help from suppliers and a book. It is not that difficult. It also is not that expensive. What follows is a...

The sweet smell of success has the aroma of garlic!(growing garlic; includes related article with a recipe for garlic jelly)
July 1, 1997... Charles O'Sullivan PO Box 1650 Polk City FL 33868 Three years ago my wife and I moved to the country with the intention of creating a situation in which we could be entirely self-sufficient. Our plan was to raise all our own vegetables and...

The importance of pasture.
July 1, 1997... One of the most common images of pastoral tranquillity is that of a cow or a sheep lazily grazing in a lush green pasture. Even my vegetarian friends savor the sight. But so many farms, large and small alike, no longer include this scene as a...

Managing your pastureland.(includes related article on what weeds say about the health of pasturelands)
July 1, 1997... In the management of your pasture area, whether one acre or hundreds of acres, it is extremely important that leaf and root volume remain in balance during the growing season. Many factors influence how much a plant grows: rainfall,...

Gardening with the deep mulch system.
July 1, 1997... Spring here in central Missouri is off to a good start and even though we are three inches over normal on rainfall, making the ground very muddy, I still have been able to plant garden. With our strange weather patterns anymore, I got tired of...

Deep mulch leads the Intentional Peasant to deep thoughts.
July 1, 1997... The hardest thing to come by here in Big Town is dirt. Not the kind that cars and factories belch incessantly, but the kind that will hold up tomatoes. I say "hold up" advisedly, because most of the dirt hereabouts won't give a tomato much...

Pastured poultry project helps boost incomes.
July 1, 1997... Eleven southern families are raising "pastured poultry" through a project to help limited-resource farmers boost incomes and diversify operations by growing, processing and marketing chickens on their farms. The farmers are also founding...

Revving neglected fruit trees.
July 1, 1997... As Long Island suburbs expand into what was once productive farmland, many new homeowners inherit a tree or two from a former orchard. A mop-top, scraggly tree with pitiful fruit often poses a dilemma for the new guardian: spend two to seven...

Improve plant growth with foliar feeding.
July 1, 1997... Plants can absorb nutrients not just through their roots but also through their leaves, stems, buds and flowers. Plants are like giant sponges. The trouble is that nutrients aren't normally in the air where leaves can absorb them. Foliar...

Using all of the watermelon.(includes recipes)
July 1, 1997... We had a bumper crop of watermelons last summer and there is no easier way to enjoy a watermelon than just eating those juicy, red slices cold out of hand on a hot day, with juice dripping off your chin and spitting seeds in the yard. It...

Raising squabbing homer pigeons.
July 1, 1997... A few years ago, I took an interest in raising pigeons for food and flying. After studying all the sources I could find, I designed and built a family-sized loft and fly pen and in the summer of 1995, started raising squabbing Homers. I wanted...

How they make "free" chicken feed in Guatemala: food scraps are dried and ground.
July 1, 1997... While in Antigua, Guatemala, on a workteam with the Godchild Project, we were given a tour of the "Chicken Project." The similarity between homesteading and raising food for the poor is surprisingly similar. Before the chicken project,...

This buck goat gives milk.
July 1, 1997... I recently acquired an American Alpine buck from a good milking line. He is around two years old. After a few weeks, when he was standing with his front legs up against the fence of his pen, I noticed something hanging right in front of...

Sharing the bathroom with a goat.
July 1, 1997... I am currently sharing my bathroom with a billy goat. No. . .that is not a pet name for my husband. It is an honest-to-goodness live Pygmy goat. Of course you know there is a story in this (also some information to pass along) but that is...

Donkeys teach calves to lead. (makes handling of the livestock easier)
July 1, 1997... We raise Scots Highland cattle on our farm for breed stock and custom beef sales. Because it is much easier to handle tame animals, we teach each of our calves to lead. Even if you never lead them again, the handling and the training to stand...

Raising wild boar.
July 1, 1997... If possible, could you feature an article on the European wild boar?--Richard Dixon, Wind Ridge, Pennsylvania Hearing the words "wild boar" usually only seem to make one imagine a vicious pack of savage beasts ravaging everything in sight...

The amazing story of Coco, the guard llama.
July 1, 1997... Most readers are aware of what your editor thinks about animals that are rare and expensive, or are kept only because they're "different" or cute." They're fine for people who want such things (including some homesteaders), but were as...

To find the 'right' place, they looked at 103 of them!(Finding Property)
July 1, 1997... We're here! We've moved onto our 5-1/2 acre property in western Washington that's just right for us. We're sure it's right for us because we put in so much time and effort looking for it. All in all, we evaluated 102 other properties...

Was it a first big step...or a blind deep plunge? (starting to homestead)
July 1, 1997... In the Jan/Feb 1997 issue, I noticed two questions: "What has been your greatest challenge as a homesteader? How did you overcome it?" This depressed me. We've been on our homestead for almost two years and haven't yet started anything that we...

How I save my money.(Frugal Living)
July 1, 1997... Spring is here and with it the best opportunities to save and stretch every dollar. Most families any more are on a tight budget, and sometimes groceries, clothing, or tools and supplies get the last dollar if any at all. These ideas work in...

An invitation to homestead in southwestern Minnesota.
July 1, 1997... We love this magazine and find ourselves arguing over who gets to read it first. It's good to know there are so many like-minded people out there. After reading the article by Allan Smith in the 1996 July/August issue titled "More people...

Where to market your crafts.
July 1, 1997... If you are a craftsperson interested in the possibility of marketing your crafts, the following is provided as a resource list: Shops: A listing of shops which purchase or take on consignment handcrafted items can be obtained from: *...

Another letter to Matthew.(homesteaders advice teenager looking for ways to make money)
July 1, 1997... Dear Matthew, Can you earn money? Yes! Anyone willing and able to work--with both their head and their hands--should be able to turn a dollar one way or another. The number and kinds of ways you can make money varies with your personality,...

Dream vacation for this homesteader is a national tour of homesteading!
July 1, 1997... "If you were given unlimited time and money," we asked, "how would you spend your vacation?" Not too surprisingly, many countrysiders told us they'd like nothing better than to stay home from work to wallow in the delights of their own...

"How can I get started without a grubstake?" Some people do it - but how?(getting started homesteading)
July 1, 1997... Here's a question that comes up often--much too often--and in turn raises many others. A reader in Ohio (she's 31) writes, "I would really like to see a Question of the Month featuring experiences of people obtaining their homesteads who...

Pitching horseshoes for old-fashioned fun.(building the playing area and rules of the game)
July 1, 1997... It's hard for me to imagine a more appropriate form of recreation for Countrysiders than pitching horseshoes. Not only is it inexpensive and easy to learn, but it is steeped in the rural tradition which we all hold dear. I'm not writing...

You can enjoy summer's garden produce in winter. (produce storage methods; includes related article)
July 1, 1997... Two years ago, my husband and I got the opportunity to move to the country. This gave us the chance to have a huge garden. We plant everything from tomatoes to sunflowers. We're a little "green" in our knowledge of keeping vegetables...

Possums I have known. (includes related article on diseases transmitted from opossums to horses)
July 1, 1997... Opossums are probably a recognizable, if not familiar, animal to many people living beyond, as well as along the sidewalks. They are what is called a marsupial meaning that they carry their young in a pouch, like the kangaroo. They are about...

Muzzle loader basics. (hunting with muzzle-loading rifles)
July 1, 1997... I've finally caught up to my Jan/Feb issue, after five months in Alaska, where I will be moving permanently in the Spring to work and homestead. Thank you for the recent article from some homesteaders in the interior--gave a lot of useful...

Muzzle loading events have many attractions for homesteaders.
July 1, 1997... One of Countryside's readers has recently expressed her delight in the discovery of muzzleloading and the activities that go along with muzzleloading. She also expressed surprise that there did not seem to be a "crossover" interest in the...

Ishmael, an Adventure of the Mind and Spirit.
July 1, 1997... By Daniel Quinn; Bantam Books, 666 Fifth Ave., New York NY 10103; 262 pages, $10.95 As a flower child of the late 60s, I have always been deeply saddened by the way our dreams and ideas for a better world were shattered by the violence and...

Carrying Water as a Way of Life: A Homesteader's History.
July 1, 1997... By Linda Tatelbaum; available from About Time Press, 1050 Guinea Ridge Rd., Appleton, ME04862; $9.95 (Maine residents $10.55) plus $2 postage; softcover, 117 pages. This book is an emotional, spiritual and political sharing of 20 years of...

First love.(memories of a wood cookstove)(Column)
July 1, 1997... In the last issue, Karen Macaulay reminisced about her first goat--something many of us can identify with. Here, another correspondent remembers a wood cookstove. These bring up fond memories of some of our own first loves--or at least...