Innholdsfortegnelse for December - January 2020 i MOTHER EARTH NEWS

I was asked to present at the American Honey Producers Association meeting in San Antonio, Texas, in 2014. I explained to the beekeepers that if I presented the science I’d uncovered on pesticides at a national meeting, it would be the end of my career as a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) research scientist. Their response was, “Tell the truth, Jon, and the beekeepers will have your back.” Six years later, both of those statements have proven to be correct. Nearly everyone cared about bees at that time. Colony collapse was receiving international attention as the U.S. honeybee population plummeted year after year. National annual hive losses went from historic averages of 11 percent to more than 50 percent, and queen longevity went from 3 years to 6 months. Working…

This past spring, I was fortunate to attend a weeklong course in primitive bow-making taught by Brad Salon and Sarah Corrigan at Roots School in eastern Vermont. Salon and Corrigan are experienced bowyers and members of the primitive-technology community. Far from being a synonym for “crude,” in this context, “primitive” refers to the re-creation of Stone Age technologies with simple tools and basic, natural materials. The bows my classmates and I made are “self bows” carved from single riven staves of Osage orange wood. As novices, we used modern tools for speed and accuracy, but you could make this bow using only stone tools. Lethal Geometry Most bow-making is done by feel, but there’s still a little math involved to determine your bow and draw lengths. Stand with one fist…

Readers, to mark our 50th anniversary as a magazine, we’re reprinting some of the more colorful stories from our archive. This was originally published in the June/July 1993 issue. Have you ever harvested and eaten garden snails? Tell us about it at Letters@MotherEarthNews.com. — MOTHER After years of battling snails in my garden, I finally got wise. As long as I’m gathering garden snails, why not harvest them for dinner? One bite told me I was onto something: Those fresh snails from my garden, though smaller, tasted far superior to pricey canned escargots. The common garden snail, Cornu aspersum, is a close relative of France’s traditionally harvested Helix pomatia. Second in gourmet popularity is Cepaea nemoralis, which was introduced to North America in the 19th century. How to Lure Snails…

When foxes began decimating our flock, I was forced to find safer mobile housing for our chickens. I haven’t been satisfied with the flimsy nature of many commercial chicken pens and tractors, especially since our flock shares a pasture with goats that love to destroy chicken wire. So, I decided to make my own chicken tractor out of a dog kennel, one that’s light enough to easily relocate yet sturdy enough to withstand our goats. The design I came up with holds a half-dozen chickens. One person can easily move it to a clean section of pasture every few days. I also mounted a hitch on one side to enable us to pull it with a lawn mower or tractor. In winter, I use it as an outdoor run by…

Growing up, I remember scooping goat feed from the barrel with a tall plastic container. We would often wash out these durable containers and use them all over the farm. Fast forward to our own homestead today, and we’re avid coffee drinkers. Some of you may know the feeling of waking up with the sun, taking your first sip of hot coffee, and then starting on your chores. But did you know those empty coffee cans can be used elsewhere? First, I recommend saving both metal and plastic cans. Both are durable and can be used for different projects. Depending on what you’ll use them for, keep in mind that metal cans will eventually rust. Give each can a good washing after you’ve emptied it out, and make sure it’s…

“We love our Mother and teach others to do the same so, one day, we can all live fruitful, sustainable lives.” Springs of Sustainability 50 Hello to all readers! You’ve helped make Earth a better place. I’m writing in response to the article “A Wellspring of Ingenuity” (August/September 2019) about digging a well to collect spring water. Back in 1997, my wife and I purchased 12 acres of land in western New York, about 8 acres of open land and 4 acres of woods. For 17 years, we’d been living in a city with our two kids in a 1,000-square-foot house. Not only were we tired of city life, but we’d outgrown the house. It was time to build a real home. I started by building a 24-by-32-foot pole barn…

Kombucha Kit I got the opportunity to take fermentation into my own hands and try the Kombucha Starter Kit from Northern Brewer (www.NorthernBrewer.com). I was worried about keeping a SCOBY alive through a constant brewing process, but I couldn’t have been more surprised by how simple brewing turned out to be. This kit comes with instructions that are clear enough for any beginner to follow. My first batch was a success! Making my own kombucha means I also get to experiment with unique flavors, from strawberry-basil made with my own garden ingredients, to ginger-orange, rosemary-grapefruit, and lemonade. — Haley Casey, editor Slip-Proof Grips Too many of my friends and family members have slipped on ice and suffered broken bones, and the older I get, the more anxious I get that…

Ciabatta is my daughter’s favorite bread. I like it for the same reasons she does: the attractive taste and chewy crumb. Additionally, as the family baker, I enjoy ciabatta because it’s a forgiving bread to make. As is the case with many Italian dishes, ciabatta has a memorable flavor produced through a recipe that’s both structured and extemporaneous. It’s an ideal bread to make during the holidays, because the recipe makeup is flexible. If something comes up and you don’t have time to complete the baking as planned, you can delay the starter or dough by placing it in the refrigerator for a day. Or, less drastically, you can increase or decrease the total preparation time by speeding up or slowing down the timing of the stretch-and-fold process. Ciabatta is…

Potatoes are an underappreciated garden crop, yet they’re easy to plant and care for. Spuds thrive in diverse soils and climates, offer a host of beneficial nutrients, and store well. Because store-bought potatoes are cheap, many gardeners opt not to grow them, but for those who do, deciding how to manage them can be a challenge. Garden resources are full of potato growing ideas. The variety of options can be overwhelming, especially because each method has both proponents who report fantastic yields and detractors who spout stories of failure. To separate the wheat from the chaff, I organized a study to test the performance of five of the most popular potato-growing methods. Tater-Growing Techniques Potatoes are native to the Andes, where the Inca and their predecessors cultivated varieties in a…

SHOW US! Share your unique perspective with our community by submitting photos of inviting gardens, nutritious foods, wild animals, and more to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Photo Group on Flickr (www.Flickr.com/Groups/MotherEarthNewsPhotos/Pool). We’ll feature our favorites here and online!…

In Baltimore, Maryland, the Black Church Food Security Network has built an alternative food system that supports black farmers and historically African American congregations. At Soil to Sanctuary Community Market at Pleasant Hope Baptist Church, producers gain the support of regular customers who come by after worship services, and those customers, in turn, receive increased food security. Plus, the church serves as a hub where food donations are processed and distributed around the city. The Network’s efforts are directed at food-insecure communities and fueled by the conviction that food and land sovereignty is essential to the empowerment of black communities. In addition to operating the market, the Network’s mission also includes creating and expanding church gardens through its Operation Higher Ground program, and leading educational sessions on environmental stewardship and…

After nearly 30 years of living and working in Madison, Wisconsin, we longed for a rural home. We’d spent several frustrating years looking for rural property, but anything with livable buildings disappeared quickly. So we decided that in order to acquire our dream home, we were going to have to build it. We started researching alternative building techniques and chose cordwood. Our planning process commenced with a discussion of what our dream home would include, and we laid out the floor plan with an inexpensive software program. In 2002, we found and purchased our dream property in Moscow Township, Wisconsin. And in 2004, with our initial plan in hand, Kim rented excavating equipment and broke ground. Our cordwood home would be approximately 40 by 60 feet, with two floors and…

Homemade bread that’s fresh from the oven is tough to resist. But there are ways to enhance your eating outcome: Consider sourcing a supply of organic grains from which to grind your flour, and add fresh-churned butter to those still-warm-from-the-oven slices. Both will offer you freshness of flavors not possible by other means. Grinding Flour Commercial flour, even if it’s organic whole-wheat, will likely sit around for months or even years before you buy it. Oxidation of the fats and other components occur during that time, and this causes deterioration of flavor and, in some cases, nutrient content. Oxidized fats are also known as rancid fats; they take on an off-putting, sometimes acidic flavor. Seeds are beautifully equipped tiny storage packages for all of the good stuff contained within, and…

MYCELIAL MAYHEM Mycelial Mayhem is a straightforward, no-nonsense resource for the aspiring mushroom grower. This practical guide cuts through much of the confusion surrounding methods and techniques, helping the hobbyist or farmer to select regionally appropriate species, practice sustainable, environmentally friendly cultivation techniques, and more. #7885 $29.95 $24.95 Mother earth News ORGANIC WORM CASTINGS, 10 LB. BAG Certified organic worm castings are nature’s best fertilizer! They are perfect for your vegetables, fruits, trees, flowers, potted houseplants, and more! These castings act as a repellent to whiteflies, spider mites, and other pests that feed on plant juices. The castings are odor-free and contain no added chemicals, perfumes, or scents. Use them directly from the bag on all plants in the house or garden! One 10 lb. bag treats around 125 plants.…

What’s slow and slimy, carries its home wherever it goes, and is one of the most unwelcome visitors for gardeners and orchardists across nearly all Zones? If your mind conjured up the whorled, golden-brown shell pattern of the common garden snail, you’re correct, and likely among the many growers who annually ponder how to rid their plots of this damaging pest. The common garden snail (Cornu aspersum) makes a home outside its shell among a wide range of host plants, including numerous fruit trees, vegetable crops, garden flowers, rosebushes, and rotting scraps. Rather than spend his time expelling snails from his property, one Washington farmer has spent the past decade perfecting the conditions under which C. aspersum thrive so he can cultivate them for culinary use. Ric Brewer is the…

Selling, whether products or services, in person or online, requires a level of promotion that many farmers are uncomfortable with, and a level of interaction that’s challenging for individuals inclined toward being alone. But the truth is that farming is as much about selling as it is about growing, unless you sell all of your crop as a commodity to one buyer. The image of the farmer as taciturn or introverted just doesn’t fit with the successful farmers I know, all of whom are good at marketing themselves, chatting with customers, and generally being charming and charismatic. If that seems like a high bar, remember that they aren’t like that all the time. As with many people, they have a limited supply of extroversion, which they recharge by being alone.…