MOTHER EARTH NEWS October-November 2013

Get something new a-brewin’ on the homestead this fall by learning how to craft your own cider, beer, wine or soda. With simple ingredients, a small upfront equipment investment, and a bit of time learning the ropes, you’ll soon be turning out refreshing fermented beverages customized to your palate and preferred strength. Our Guide to Homebrewing has tons of know-how on tap for tackling this delicious hobby, from assembling your home brewery to bottling your finished product. You’ll learn the science behind fermentation, fundamental brewing techniques and the basic brewing process, complete with step-by-step instructions to shepherd you through your first batch and beyond. After you’ve gotten the gist, imbibe recipes for a brown ale, hard cider, blackberry wine, root beer, grape soda and several more delightful drinks. You’ll also…

All across this country, ordinary people are remaking the food system. They’re turning away in droves from industrial agriculture toward sustainable and local alternatives. Driven by concerns about food safety and quality, as well as disgust with inhumane treatment of livestock, people are queuing up to join community-supported agriculture (CSA) ventures — or to start their own farms. They’re launching farmers markets as well as schoolyard and community gardens by the thousands. And they’re revitalizing communities as they do so, getting to know their neighbors and reinvesting in the places where they live. Steven McFadden, author of The Call of the Land: An Agrarian Primer for the 21st Century, estimates that 6,000 to 6,500 CSA programs are now operating in the United States. Considering that the first two such enterprises…

A MOTHER-Inspired Change of Course If I hadn’t found a stack of MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazines on the shelf at the Steamboat Springs, Colo., library in winter 2002, I’d not be living off-grid or installing solar systems for a living. Without the countless articles and inspiring people who have shared their stories, I wouldn’t have built a straw bale house (followed by an earth-sheltered, passive solar, active solar, VOC-paint-free, partially recycled house), logged with horses, milled those logs with a portable sawmill, started beekeeping, built an earth-sheltered chicken coop, planted fruit trees, experienced the benefits of homegrown produce, or tried my hand at a number of other projects. Thank you for spreading the word about how we can each have a positive impact on this world. To the naysayers who…

‘Expensive, Inefficient and Inhumane’ We generally love your magazine and find many useful ideas, but we were appalled by the “Chickens in the Garden” article in the April/May 2013 issue. We couldn’t believe anyone would recommend such an expensive, inefficient and inhumane way to use hens in a garden. Penning any animal out in the summer sun with only a small shed (or plastic bin!) for shelter — and no mention of feed and fresh water — suggests your authors care more about saving money than the basic comfort of their livestock. A vastly easier and cheaper method is the tried-and-true one: Employ your hens as part of regular crop rotation. Fence off this year’s fallow section and let the birds range freely, giving them access to a fully equipped…

Reminded of Old-Time Flavor I tried ‘Floriani Red Flint’ cornmeal, and it is the best I have tasted since I was a child. I am 77 years old, and it reminds me so much of the cornmeal I had when I was young. Beatrice Dail Durham, North Carolina Tastier Cornmeal Some time ago, we read in MOTHER EARTH NEWS about ‘Floriani Red Flint,’ a grain corn from Italy imported to the United States. I located a source for seed and planted a plot of it last spring. I raised enough to save seed and make cornmeal. I have been growing yellow dent corn to make cornmeal for years, and I must say, the red flint yields a much tastier cornmeal. Here’s a photo of a few of the ears of…

In the past few years, installing home solar power has become an affordable option for many more people. As more homeowners tap into solar power, we collectively reduce our reliance on fossil fuels that drive climate change. Here are the factors that are changing the playing field. Lower prices. Solar panels are a sizeable investment, but according to a recent report from the Solar Energy Industries Association, the average national price for a solar electric system is now less than $5 per watt installed. That’s a notable drop since 2009, when prices averaged $8 per watt. Ten years before that, they were about $12 per watt. A small home solar electric system might be 2 kilowatts (kw) — or 2,000 watts. At $12 per watt, the system would have cost…