Countryside & Small Stock Journal articles from May 2001

Countryside & Small Stock Journal archives from May 2001

ALBC wins Slow Food honors.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I was pleased to see your article on the Slow Food Movement in the latest issue of COUNTRYSIDE. While the emphasis in your article is on the techniques of regional slow food preparation, ultimately the issue must include the...

From the editor.
May 1, 2001... Homesteaders never seem to have enough storage room, whether it's space for animals, canned goods or seedlings. There are some great building ideas in this issue--ideas ranging from small barns to house your chickens and goats, to sun pits...

Heavy-duty drums make inexpensive goat housing.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Dr. Salsbury made some excellent comments on cisterns in the Jan/Feb issue. I would like to interject a line or two on that subject. In the old drinking water cisterns, a small red brick box (usually 24" x 24" x 18" high) enclosed...

Unconventional health wisdom.
May 1, 2001... COUTRYSIDE: Tammy South's article in the Jan/Feb 2001 issue got me to thinking that I should share some unconventional health wisdom I have experienced first hand. I have developed severe food, and to a lesser degree, environmental,...

Great tool rack, courtesy of Nordstroms.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: After finishing my day I sat down to skim through my first issue more slowly. The tool rack, (Jan/ Feb 2001) page 72, caught my eye the first time around. This second time, I read the very clear article and smiled, considering the...

Canning mayonnaise.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I was wondering if it is possible to home-can mayonaise. I have a recipe to make homemade mayo, but don't have much fridge space. Have you ever heard of canning it? If so, please let me know how to do it. Thank you so much! --...

Collecting water in arid regions.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: In the March/April issue, Jamie Jackson asked how the water was collected in the arid region of South America. Here's what I know of it (can't remember where the info is from, maybe from the book, Gaviotas?): That area (Chile?)...

Wood stove UL number needed for insurance?
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: We recently purchased a used 1970s wood/coal burning cook stove made in Innsbruck, Austria. It has no UL number, which I understand is needed to keep the insurance on a lodging. Anyone out there know if it is necessary? I had to...

Advice on corking bottles and vinegar.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Here is a trick I learned many years ago for removing air from a bottle which is to be corked: Obtain a length of clean wire and insert one end into the neck of the bottle with the other end looped around your hand (or around some...

She finds camphor aids in weaning.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: My mother, who was born in 1905, once told me that spirits of camphor or camphor oil was used by women of her day on their breast at weaning time. This was doctor recommended. I have tried it and it worked wonderfully, although the...

Crab apple source recommended.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Regarding Emanuel Schlabach's inquiry about the crabapple tree, it sounds like it might have been a Whitney crab. Try: Sonoma Antique Apple Nursery, 4395 Westside Road, Healdsburg, Ca 95448; ph (707) 433-6420; www.applenursery.com...

More on cords, ricks and hanks.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I hope to clear up a little confusion regarding the amount in a cord of wood. (85/1:27). The first sentence states "most folks think..." there-in lies the confusion. I made wood as a boy and later made and sold wood for...

Countryside gathering June 29th.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Please publish this as an open invitation to all COUNTRYSIDE subscribers: Last year, we placed a notice in the "Upcoming Events" section inviting subscribers of COUNTRYSIDE tO attend a gathering at our homestead specifically for...

Manger troubles and locating rosin.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I love the magazine. I haven't written in before, but wanted to cover a couple of points. One is that I was glad to see instructions for making fly strips, but I have looked all over for rosin, and people look at me like I have two...

Looking for small dairy equipment.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I am looking for dairy equipment for a my small dairy. I like to get items that are hand turned or in other words uses no electric. Looking for a butter churn at this time. I have catalog from Hoegger and Caprine goat supplies but...

Chickens will take care of grasshoppers and morning glories.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I've made plenty of croutons by the method described by Carmen Rose (85/1:12), and I like her recipe better than the one I've been using. Another great additive is dry grated Parmesan cheese. But, there's another way to salvage...

Drainfield tips.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I received the March/ April issue and one of the many articles which caught my eye was "Caring for your drainfield." My father used to pump septic tanks. He always told me to keep the bacteria working properly to mix 1 pound brown...

Use caution with rotenone.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: This is in response to reader Mildred Griffith's report (85/ 1:18) that in her battle against fleas she "dusted the dogs with a 2% rotenone dust (used for cat flea powder or as garden insecticide)." I would like readers to be aware...

No more fleas!
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Last summer you printed my plea for help against fleas. I have 41 orphaned, throw-away dogs and fleas have been an enormous problem for us--both in the house and on the dogs. But thanks to the many COUNTRYSIDE readers who took...

Vegetable oil requires special wicks.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: In reply to the article about trying to save lampwicks, from G.W. Pfahl: Flat wicks cannot work with vegetable oil, as that type of oil is too thick/heavy to rise up that sort of wick and burner design (now someone tells ya!). ...

Energy crisis? Not here!
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: It's early on a January morning in the Sierra foothills of Northern California. The hills are covered with a combination of last year's dead and this year's new grass. The thermometer said 30 [degrees] before dawn, as I went out to...

What's wrong with older homes?
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: There seems to be an alarming trend of new home building. What happened to buying a fixer-upper and some elbow grease? Recycling on a large scale. Some older homes cost less to buy than some bare ground! We started...

Hay-saving manger really works.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Thank you for the article in the Nov/Dec 2000 issue on the goat hay manger by Steve Belanger. It worked for us! Our hay consumption was cut in half. There still are many of us who opt for no computers, so would people please...

View your homested from the air.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: If someone becomes very interested in a particular area as a potential homestead, before purchase consider hiring a private charter service for an aerial view of the property and the surrounding area. Some examples of what you...

Starting over ... some 6,000 feet lower.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I'm sitting here in the snug little cabin we built with snow and cold outside. It is the first thaw since October, which is unusual for this area. The goats are real close to kidding and we were getting worried that the kids would...

Here's the ultimate homesteader in the city.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I am the ultimate homesteader. I live in a small town (pop. 2,000), in a small apartment where I can't have a garden or livestock. I buy all of my food in bulk, either at extremely good sale prices or just a little above...

They'd like to share city gardening tips.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I am a new reader of your publication. I was a Mother Earth subscriber for over 20 years but the yuppies finally got the best of me. My wife and I recently moved to town after many years on our little bit of heaven. Our...

Goat correspondents wanted.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Oh what a joy it was to read our first copy of COUNTRYSIDE! We have been subscribers to Mother Earth News since 1988; although it is a wonderful magazine, it lacks information about small livestock, especially goats. We got...

Semi-tropical plant references.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Seems that many references for plants deal mostly with temperate climates. Here are a few books I've found in bookstores of local botanical gardens (Flamingo Gardens, Davie, FL and Fairchild Tropical Garden, Miami, FL) dealing...

Reader offers info on Ojibwa herbal tea.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Ojibwa herbal tea was administered by Canadian nurse Rene Caisse for almost 60 years. Rene first came upon the herbal treatment when treating a woman diagnosed with terminal breast cancer in 1922. Reportedly the woman made a...

Consumption, economics, and habitat.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Paul Strand's letter in the March/April issue is indeed correct that most world problems can be traced back to a human population too large for the Earth to support while keeping natural systems healthy and functioning properly....

Cantaloupe raising tip.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: In response to your ad in the March/April issue regarding sharing good ideas, I have a method for growing cantaloupes I would like to share. To prepare the soil for planting cantaloupes, put barnyard manure on already rich,...

Countryside Contacts.
May 1, 2001... Countryside Contacts: Your listing is free; however, please keep the following in mind: * We reserve the right to accept or reject any and all submissions for any reason or no reason at all. * Submissions may be edited for clarity...

Contact notice.
May 1, 2001... Contact notice: COUNTRYSIDE: First, I would like to tell you how much I love COUNTRYSIDE Magazine! I really appreciate the articles sent in from other readers. I also wanted to let you know that an ad in the COUNTRYSIDE Contacts...

Frequently asked questions about cordwood masonry.
May 1, 2001... The basics of a 1000-year-old building method With the beginning of the true third millennium --Y2K wasn't the real thing--I can't help but reflect on the origins of my favorite building method, cordwood masonry, which anecdotal evidence...

Rob Roy's time-tested cordwood masonry mortar recipe.
May 1, 2001... Equal parts by volume: 9 parts sand 3 parts soaked sawdust 3 parts Type S lime 2 parts Portland cement The sand should be light-colored, relatively fine-grained masonry sand. A coarse sand will make for a crumbly mortar and is...

A glossary of energy terms.
May 1, 2001... Degree days: A convenient measure of heating requirements for a particular climate. The DD's are based on 65 [degrees] F as a baseline. If the average temperature for a day has been zero, 65 degree days were accumulated that day. For example:...

Building for free with "alternative" natural materials.
May 1, 2001... Building for free; a wonderful concept that can be put into practice by anyone looking to create shelter for man or animal. Homesteaders and people seeking a simpler life are amazingly ingenious at discovering alternatives to store bought, high...

Underground housing builder addresses misconceptions.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Julie Owens begins her March/April COUNTRYSIDE letter with: "Wow! Where to start? Mike Oehler's article (85/1:52) on underground housing surely ruffled my feathers. You see, I live in a conventional (the disastrous "first thought"...

Planning the small barn.
May 1, 2001... Small barns can be just as functional as their larger cousins (if not more so) Here's one way to arrange a small building to house four or five milking does. There's 100 square feet of space in the loafing pen. The does have a door to...

Build a goat/chicken barn.
May 1, 2001... Here's a neat barn that can house goats and chickens -- and more! My roommate and I designed our barn to hold chickens, ducks, guineas, doves, pigeons and goats. We can also store feed, hay and tools upstairs. We aren't finished with the...

House your quail in style.
May 1, 2001... I came across this design for a small quail or chicken house that looked really nice. It's big enough for two hens or a trio of quail. Cut a 4' x 8' sheet of plywood for the two ends and attach 2 x 2s for support on the inside face of each...

Have logs? Build a root cellar.
May 1, 2001... We have plenty of timber, so logs were a perfect choice for building material. We have a northern exposure hillside which is a perfect location to keep sun exposure to a minimum. Our root cellar is 8' x 9' which is optimum size for a...

Build a sunpit.
May 1, 2001... My husband and I were in need of a challenge and thought that building a little homestead in a totally foreign environment would be just the thing. We've really come to depend on COUNTRYSIDE for the "real deal." It's encouraging to know that...

The basics of spinning: Spinning with a drop spindle.
May 1, 2001... I've always liked making things with my hands. I'd been crocheting for a number of years and spinning became the next logical step for me to take. Why buy yarn when you can make it yourself? I found a booklet for the Michigan Fiber Festival...

Warm season grasses offer longer forage times.
May 1, 2001... Warm season grasses can offer a complement to cool season grasses for forage programs. Warm season grasses produce most of their growth from May to September. Cool season grasses, on the other hand, have their main growth spurts in the spring...

Easy to care for, prized wool, and low cholesterol: Soay sheep.
May 1, 2001... The little Soay is an animal with a variety of economic uses. In North America it is not widely known, but in Great Britain it is valued primarily for its meat. According to Richard Lutwyche of the UK's Rare Breeds Survival Trust, "The very...

Signs and symptoms of scrapie.
May 1, 2001... Scrapie is a fatal, degenerative disease affecting the central nervous system of sheep and goats. Scrapie has had a significant impact on the sheep industry and has caused financial losses to sheep producers across the country. In the...

Another use for your spatulas.
May 1, 2001... For many lobs, a rubber-bladed kitchen spatula works better than a putty knife. The rubber blade is far more flexible than the putty knife's metal blade, so it's much better for filling nail holes and cracks in walls and ceiling.

British White Cattle capture American hearts.
May 1, 2001... What a pretty pastoral scene... beautiful white cows, with distinctive black ears, eyes and noses, contentedly grazing with their frisky calves on the lush green grass of spring pastures. These rare British White cattle are a calm, gentle...

Evaluate bulls for breeding soundness.
May 1, 2001... Infertile bulls waste time and money A beef cow owner can lose a lot of money from using an infertile bull. That's why a bull should have a breeding soundness exam before the start of the breeding season. Approximately 20% of breeding...

How to butcher a goat.
May 1, 2001... Homestead kids learn where their food comes from at an early age--and meat is no exception. Here, 13-year-old Gregory Shannon describes his family's goat butchering method. We have been raising goats for five years. We have been using them...

Administer penicillin with care.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I read Mary Garcia's article about goat pneumonia in the Jan/Feb 2001 issue. Mary gave the advice to give sick goats penicillin as soon as you notice anything unusual; however, I think it is important for the goat owner to monitor...

Raising homestead hogs.
May 1, 2001... Since 1997 my wife and I have successfully raised a couple of pigs each year for butchering in the fall. We have had few problems and plan on getting another pair of baby pigs again this coming spring. We buy newly-weaned pigs--they weigh about...

Fun facts about sunflowers.
May 1, 2001... * The sunflower is the state flower of Kansas. * Sunflower heads consist of 1,000 to 2,000 individual flowers joined together by a receptacle base. The large petals around the edge of a sunflower head are individual ray flowers which do not...

Commercial hatcheries and fanciers can differ.
May 1, 2001... I read with interest "Endangered Domestic Waterfowl," in the Jan/Feb issue. I agree with very little. I'm sure commercial hatcheries were the only ones consulted. As past secretary of International Waterfowl Breeders Assoc., I have been quite...

SPPA Breeders Directory Available.
May 1, 2001... The Society for Preservation of Poultry Antiquities (SPPA) announces the 2001-2002 edition of the Breeders Directory, a comprehensive catalog of rare poultry and the people who breed them. Copies were mailed to all current members of the SPPA....

Using guineas for tick control.
May 1, 2001... Over the years we have heard of many people keeping guineas as a method of natural tick control. With the increasing concern about Lyme disease, which is carried by some ticks, this has become more and more common. Guineas eat ticks but, does...

How to sex baby chicks.
May 1, 2001... Courtesy of COUNTRYSIDE'S Forum (www.countrysidemag.com), here are a few ideas on sexing chicks. If you have any others, let us know about them. I ordered 100 straight run chicks with the intention of taking the cockerels to auction right...

Why some eggs have blood spots.
May 1, 2001... We have seven free-range hens, which provide us with delicious eggs. Periodically there are blood spots in the eggs. I know that they come from the hen's body, during egg formation, and are not an indication of an egg being fertile, as we do...

Rotational grazing: Good for your cows and your pocketbook.
May 1, 2001... Only about 30% of our nation's dairy farmers pasture their herds, and even fewer manage their marginal land for the top-quality, low-cost forage it can produce. While some farmers think of pasture as nothing more than a holding area or a source...

Our favorite, most essential, garden tools.
May 1, 2001... Most gardeners have a motley collection of tools stored in a shed for their gardening pursuits--useful, potentially useful, or just space-takers. I'm no exception, though the array in our chicken coop turned garden shed has, over the years,...

Designing and planting your herb garden.
May 1, 2001... As a child, I first became acquainted with herbs by Grandmother--a Russian immigrant, who both grew and foraged from the wild, a handful of herbs that she religiously used in the cooking of her old world recipes, as well as in teas for various...

New at organic gardening? Don't give up too soon!
May 1, 2001... Richard Pruiksma's and Margaret Holcomb's "Effect of double-digging in a backyard garden," (85/1), disturbed me. It reminds me of an article written by Harold Garrett in Acres USA entitled "First Year Organic Garden Blues." Richard and...

Saskatoons: The blueberries of western Canada.
May 1, 2001... The cool early 1936 Saskatchewan July dawn was invigorating as my parents readied the family for the yearly saskatoon berry harvest. We children were barely awake as we were herded into a wagon for the trip to the Coulee of Saint Clair, a few...

A renewable energy system: The load profile.
May 1, 2001... In this issue of the Solar Cowboy we start with planning a "load profile" and finding the most cost-effective renewable energy design through energy efficiency. Users will often begin their load analysis with their current utility bill....

Sprout a salad in your kitchen for pennies.
May 1, 2001... Growing a "garden" of sprouts requires much less effort than traditional outdoor or window gardens. Rinsing and draining several different kinds of sprouts takes only about 15 minutes a day and can provide a large variety of fresh vegetables...

You can make soy milk.
May 1, 2001... Busy working woman's soy milk recipe Throw in a blender: 1 package 12.3 ounce tofu. I use Extra Firm by Mori-Nu, "Silken Style." No refrigeration of this brand is required until opened. Figure any good brand will do. Pinch of...

How to clean chitterlings.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: I have been searching for years for a really countryside method of preparing pork chitterlings. Whenever I look through a cookbook that claims to be of primitive cooking I look for "chitterlings" in the index. Very seldom do I find...

This voice of experience says "Grow as you go".
May 1, 2001... Don't have a farm, not much property, or live in an apartment? Perhaps dreaming of moving out away from the city, away from honking horns and sirens, away from persnickety neighbors that feel a need to monitor everyone else's property. Maybe...

correction.
May 1, 2001... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] These enterprising young men were misidentified in the last issue. They are the sons of April Hamilton, Hersey, Michigan.

Homesteading in the city.
May 1, 2001... What a contradictory statement, yet it is the best way I can describe what we are doing. My heart yearns for a quiet place in the country but alas, it is not to be. Our home is situated on a 3/4 acre lot. We have neighbors on both sides...

The $1 log house.
May 1, 2001... When I passed a dollar bill to the clerk... I didn't know I was also signing up for a way of life The US Army Corps of Engineers made a decision in 1970 that changed my life. After deciding to dam up the New Hope Creek, near Chapel Hill,...

Country life is contagious.
May 1, 2001... Sometimes it just takes a little patience and some gentle nudging to appreciate-- There's something wrong with my husband, folks... but you can bet that I'm not eager to find a cure! It's been nearly four years since I married this...

Oregon kids stay out of trouble by horsing around.
May 1, 2001... Rhett Davis rode his large chestnut mare through the quiet streets one November afternoon. A tall, imposing figure of 43, his chaps flapped in a gentle breeze. His dark cowboy hat, bobbing up and down, hid most of his face. As he rode by, the...

A twist on parsnips.
May 1, 2001... Parsnips can be baked in their skins like potatoes, or roasted along with a pot roast.

On-line personality test can help you choose the right pooch.
May 1, 2001... Searching for that perfect canine? Taking an on-line personality profile can help you find a dog that fits your lifestyle. You can take the test by going to www.petcare.umn.edu, which is maintained by the University of Minnesota College of...

The Chicken Book.
May 1, 2001... The Chicken Book, by Page Smith and Charles Daniel; University of Georgia Press, 2000; 380 pp, $18.95; ISBN 0-8203-2213-X It's hard to decide whether this book is more fascinating and valuable for its information on chickens or for its...

Mike Pelly's biodiesel update.
May 1, 2001... COUNTRYSIDE: Since publication of my biodiesel recipe in the Jan/Feb issue, there have been updates by myself and others in the advancement and development of biodiesel, along with new research findings that have very recently been announced....

Balance.
May 1, 2001... There is a dim flashlight under my left arm, and a jug of water and two leftover pancakes in that hand. These items somewhat balance the right hand's burden--another jug of water and two plastic cups filled with Sunshine brand dog food, the...