Innholdsfortegnelse for February - March 2016 i MOTHER EARTH NEWS

Many people have never tasted alien-looking kohlrabi, but when they do, they find the crisp texture a nice surprise. Though related to cabbages, turnips and broccoli — kohlrabi translates from German to “cabbage turnip” — kohlrabi is milder than those brassicas. I like to spark up its pleasant, distinctive flavor with an assertive herb. During winter months, when I cook my stash of kohlrabi, the herb I choose is often the rosemary grown in a pot that I’ve brought indoors. Kohlrabi and rosemary pair wonderfully, and they’re readily available as fresh crops through colder days. Kohlrabi Cultivation Kohlrabi is usually considered a root vegetable, although technically its round globes are enlarged stem bases. Unlike true root vegetables, such as carrots and parsnips, kohlrabi doesn’t grow underground. A kohlrabi “root” perches…

Ingredients • 1½ pounds kohlrabi, each 1½ to 2 inches in diameter • 1 cup heavy cream, divided • 1 tbsp fresh rosemary, finely chopped • 1 tsp coarse sea salt • 1 tsp nutmeg, ground or grated • Black pepper, freshly ground • ½ pound sharp cheddar cheese, coarsely grated (about 2 cups) • 2 tsp smoked paprika In this gratin, similar to scalloped potatoes, kohlrabi takes the place of spuds. Even with cream and a cheese topping, the kohlrabi flavor comes through. The slices hold their shape nicely despite the casserole’s long cooking time. Kohlrabi gratin is simple to make and is oh-so-satisfying on a chilly day. Yield: 4 servings. Directions: Trim and peel the kohlrabi and slice crosswise into thin rounds. You should have at least 4…

Let this list get your brain churning about the jobs in your community that you could cobble together to make ends meet. For job seekers with little hands-on experience or start-up capital, the left-hand column, under “Rural Jobs,” provides a list of entrylevel careers that are sorted by specialty (and may require a small amount of training): construction and repair; agriculture and livestock; and other miscellaneous jobs, including elder care, retail, and digital telecommuting positions. The right-hand column, under “Business Opportunities,” is a comprehensive list of rural employment prospects that may require a shop and inventory, more extensive training or experience, and often a license or permit. Rural Jobs CONSTRUCTION AND REPAIR Part time to full time Asphalt paving; concrete work; excavating/bulldozing; interior painting; well drilling and repair; fence installation…

Cold, cloudy weather can hinder your winter growing efforts. These simple additions will improve conditions inside your greenhouse. Insulation. In many growing zones, the temperature inside this greenhouse will not stay above freezing all winter. By increasing the insulation, however, you can avoid freezing temperatures and grow more than just cold-hardy greens, brassicas and other winter crops. To do so, line the foundation with polystyrene insulation, or bury foam board insulation all around the perimeter to prevent the cold from infiltrating your interior sun-warmed dirt floor. For several ways to insulate solar greenhouse foundations and create a warmer growing environment, see http://goo.gl/N9nsX4. Thermal mass. A material’s ability to store heat is known as its “thermal mass.” You can add thermal mass to your greenhouse by finding some large containers —…

Signs of Spoiled Meat: Does the Nose Know? Is smell a reliable way to know whether meat is past the point of no return? Can cooking eliminate any possible danger? While a change in odor may be one symptom of spoiled meat, it’s not the only sign you should rely on. If your meat smells unpleasantly pungent, you’re right to toss it, but even if its scent is normal, the meat could still be spoiled. With proper cooking, however, some “rotten” meat may not make you sick — but whether you should eat it is another question. Meat is a veritable playground for bacteria and fungi and can pose a food safety concern if not properly handled. According to Marianne Gravely at the U.S. Department of Agriculture, two different types…

Until last year, U.S. farmers could only readily and effectively insure commodity crops, such as corn and soy. This left many small-scale, diversified and generally more sustainable farmers in a risky lurch. Enter Whole-Farm Revenue Protection (WFRP), an insurance policy that protects all the crops and livestock on a single farm. This new option, administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), gives all farmers an adequate safety net to protect against the inherent risks of farming — think weather — no matter whether that farmer grows heirloom tomatoes for a farmers market, raises beef and organic vegetables for a community-supported agriculture program, or cultivates acres of corn. Starting in 2015, this wholefarm insurance became available in certain counties in 45 states, and then expanded to all counties in every…

Ingredients • 2 tbsp sour cream or crème frâiche • 2 tbsp Greek yogurt • 2 tbsp mayonnaise • 1 tbsp grated horseradish • Pinch of salt • 4 kohlrabi, 1½ to 2 inches in diameter, trimmed and peeled • 1 to 2 sprigs of fresh rosemary Kohlrabi “chips” are a nutritious, gluten-free and all-around healthy alternative to crackers. The trick is to slice them thin enough to be tender, but still thick enough to support the topping. For this use, small kohlrabi are better than large orbs, both for tenderness and shape, and freshly harvested ones are better than those that have been kept long in storage. The topping should be thick enough to form a tidy mound on the kohlrabi chip. If you use regular yogurt rather than…

Steve Maxwell calls himself “Canada’s Handiest Man.” He connects with a worldwide audience to share his carpentry and DIY expertise. He lives with his family on Manitoulin Island, Ontario. Follow his work online at www.BaileyLineRoad.com. In 1985, I signed paperwork to make a 91.5-acre piece of rural farmland and forest my own, with two aspirations in mind. First, I’d work from home without leaving the property. Second, I’d make a living doing something I love. For almost 20 years, I’ve supported my family, now seven people, on a single income earned from my laptop. I’ve secured hundreds of online freelance gigs from home. I produce stories, photos and videos for magazines and websites, including my own. I have no “boss” and do entirely independent work. Through the content I produce,…

If you produce 100 percent grass-fed lamb, you’ll deliver some of the healthiest and most sustainable red meat in the world to your family and customers. In New Zealand, most lambs are 100 percent grass-fed, and it shows in their meat’s fatty acid profile, which has 35 percent more beneficial omega-3s and 43 percent fewer inflammatory omega-6s than domestic feedlot-raised lamb. (See http://goo.gl/rQshan for more on omega fatty acids’ role in our diets.) In the United States, Minnesota farmer Janet McNally finished her flock on an experimental pasture that included kale, turnips, radishes, ryegrass, hairy vetch and red clover. McNally’s lamb had almost four times more anti-inflammatory omega-3s than domestic industrial lamb, and 27 times more than industrial ground beef! Read her full report at http://goo.gl/baf89S. The U.S. Department of…

During my two decades in the green building industry, I’ve worked with many prospective homeowners who want to make sustainable, environmentally friendly building choices, but struggle to make sense of a building industry that labels every product as “green.” For environmentally conscious builders, sustainable construction encompasses many factors, including ecosystem impacts, carbon footprint, waste, energy efficiency, cost, durability and indoor air quality. Ultimately, those sustainability considerations must mesh with practical concerns, such as labor, building compliance, and material sourcing and availability. One measurement that helps builders and future homeowners compare various materials’ environmental impact, embodied energy (EE), totals the amount of energy invested in a product during sourcing, shipping and installation. When builders include the energy associated with a material’s use and disposal, or that product’s “downstream,” they have completed…

Our vegetable gardens offer us beautiful, fresh bounty during the growing season — and they also have the potential to increase our food security the rest of the year. When you craft a plan to put up some of the crops you grow, you’re preparing for the future, simplifying winter meals, reducing waste, and saving money, too. As you plan your garden with preservation in mind, consider what your family loves to eat versus what they merely tolerate. Talk with your household members about what you want your meals to look like for the following year. If you’re aiming for year-round veggie self-sufficiency, calculate how many times per week on average your family eats a particular crop, and multiply that figure by 52 (number of weeks in a year). Then,…

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer has become one of the foundations of modern industrial agriculture — and it’s leading to alarming consequences. Nitrogen is essential to life — it’s in protein, RNA and DNA. Photosynthesis depends on it. In the root nodules of legumes, such as clover and beans, nitrogen-fixing bacteria transform atmospheric nitrogen into forms that nourish plants and, in turn, animals. At least, that was how the nitrogen cycle worked until 100 years ago, when chemists discovered they could create synthetic nitrogen by using natural gas to transform atmospheric nitrogen into anhydrous ammonia. This substance was used in the munitions industry during World War II. Postwar, with production facilities still humming, farming became its next chief application. As soil fertility declined because of repeated tillage and other industrial practices, farmers…

Tomatoes have made news in recent years because they’re rich in lycopene, a heart-healthy antioxidant that scientists say may also help reduce the risk of stroke and cancer. And the redder and riper the tomato, the more lycopene it contains, right? Not so fast. New research shows that orange tomatoes are actually an even better source. Orange tomatoes contain a different form of lycopene, known to scientists as “cis-lycopene,” that’s easier for our bodies to absorb. Drinking only one glass of orange tomato juice will give you the same health benefits as drinking eight glasses of red tomato juice. This advantage is maintained when the tomatoes are cooked, too. Is the popular ‘Sungold’ cherry tomato rich in cis-lycopene? Nope — like most yellow-fleshed tomatoes, it’s low in the compound. Instead,…

Ingredients • ½ pound peeled kohlrabi, preferably less than 3 inches in diameter • 2 medium carrots, scrubbed but not peeled • 1 small rib celery • 1 medium yellow or white onion • ¼ cup toasted sesame oil • 4 kohlrabi leaves, preferably no bigger than your hand • ¼ cup tamari or soy sauce • ¼ cup cream sherry or other fortified sweet wine • 2 tbsp fresh ginger, grated • 2 large cloves garlic, grated or pressed • Salt to taste This is a light, low-calorie soup composed of hearty storage vegetables. Have it for lunch with bread on the side, or as a light supper. A small ladleful of this kohlrabi soup could also make a not-too-filling start to a dinner with guests. Serve in shallow,…

Cam Mather and his wife, Michelle, homestead on 150 wooded acres in Ontario, where they run a 50-member community-supported agriculture (CSA) program and a publishing business, all powered by sun and wind. See page 80 for his book Little House Off the Grid or visit www.CamMather.com to learn about the in-depth CSA workshop he’ll be teaching in spring 2016. Our community-supported agriculture (CSA) program reduces the financial risk of selling solely at markets or growing one main crop. By using the CSA model, we’re guaranteed an income upfront because members pay in advance for their weekly vegetable boxes. We don’t harvest more produce than we can sell, and we don’t compete with other market-bound growers. In our CSA venture, each member gets a proportional share of the harvest, and we…

Idiscovered what I coined the “eat-all greens” garden method mostly by accident 20 years ago. At the time, I lived in downtown Corvallis, Oregon, and tended only two small garden beds. At one point, I ordered 2 cubic yards of compost. Having no vehicle in that era, I had the compost delivered and dumped onto my concrete driveway. While I stood there looking at that pile of compost, I realized that if I just spread it around on the driveway, I could double my gardening space. The No-Labor Garden I quickly spread the compost into a broad bed about 6 inches deep and broadcast ‘Green Wave’ mustard seed. Then, I did … absolutely nothing. No weeding. No thinning. After about two months, I harvested an unbelievable amount of greens. I…

Green coloration and a bitter taste are indicators of possible trouble. The green is chlorophyll, caused by the potatoes’ exposure to light. The light exposure that promotes chlorophyll production usually increases the formation of solanine, a naturally occurring poison that tastes distinctly bitter. Solanine levels may also increase slightly if tubers are diseased or damaged, are kept too long in warm temperatures, or experience a spring frost and show stunted growth as a result. Our bodies can easily break down and excrete the natural amount of solanine in an average-sized serving of potatoes. According to Andrew Montario with Cornell University, “Solanine levels in the blood are low after ingestion because of poor absorption by the gastrointestinal tract. And solanine exits the body fairly rapidly, usually within 12 hours, preventing accumulation…