Innholdsfortegnelse for June - July 2020 i MOTHER EARTH NEWS

At the time of writing this, I haven’t been to the office for more than a week, in part because I stepped down from my role as Editorial Director to focus on our farm before I get too old, and in part because our company has encouraged us to work from home during the pandemic. I came to the office today to record a podcast, and it feels a little eerie with so many desks empty. I’ve heard from several folks who are in an understandable panic as our world gets turned around with attempts to slow the virus’s spread. I’ve felt empathy, sadness, and some uncertainty, but not panic. In the realm of things that matter to us, my family has a certain abundance. We have plenty of homegrown…

In 2018, Hill Farm Vintage Vegetables prospered as thousands of other farmers lost most of their crops. The record rainfall that hit much of the mid-Atlantic didn’t adversely affect Scott and Susan Hill’s farm in Louisa, Virginia, thanks to their high tunnels. By cultivating in raised beds under protective high tunnels, Hill Farm grows crops year-round. It profits by supplying customers with early- and late-season crops, and it can survive excessive rain. While other farmers lost millions of dollars in drowned vegetables, the Hills were able to continue supplying produce to customers. High tunnels, also known as “hoop houses,” are similar to greenhouses, except they aren’t heated. Like most modern greenhouses, high tunnels use a plastic covering to protect crops from excess rainfall while letting in sunshine. During winter, the…

If you built forts with Legos or Lincoln Logs when you were a kid, or if you’ve built retaining walls with landscape timbers as an adult, the building technique described in this article will be familiar. It involves stacking 4x6 landscape timbers “log cabin style” to create a small—and sturdy—animal shelter. This shelter is just the right size for a few goats, pigs, sheep, or chickens. Some features of this building style make it unique: • All you’ll have to worry about is the framework of the structure. You won’t have to install exterior or interior sheathing, siding, or paneling.• It’s easy to modify the size. To make a larger structure, use longer or additional timbers; to make a taller structure, stack the timbers higher.• The wall timbers and roof…

Several years ago, as fuel prices spiked and I read that up to half the expenses of the average U.S. farm can go toward energy, I decided to see how our farm compared. Our energy usage was only 5 percent of our total expenses, and that included two delivery trucks we ran about four days a week. At the time, we determined that diesel fuel could go up to $10 a gallon and we’d still be fine. Although we still use plenty of fuel, we’re consoled knowing we’ll be the last guy standing if everything falls apart. While this difference in percentage doesn’t necessarily translate to profitability, it certainly does reflect a degree of resiliency. Reducing energy consumption and dependency offers numerous benefits. But how do we do it? Here…

Today, you can get a free book from former CIA Officer Jason Hanson that reveals the “The Trident”—A confidential trade secret of the U.S. intelligence community and the #1 most devastating self-defense technique ever developed. But, before I tell you how to claim you free book, I must warn you that The Trident ‘3 move’ sequence could be dangerous in the wrong hands. In other words, this book is for responsible American citizens only. The fact is, this book is a 520-page “Survival Bible” that covers more than 100 spy, military and security secrets to keep you and your family safer. So, when you get your copy of this book (it’s called Alone and Unafraid) open it immediately to page 179. That’s where you’ll find complete step-by-step instructions and illustrations…

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!…

EDITORS’ PICK A Transformative Tree I was a 20-year-old college sophomore in 1971, when I suddenly became acutely mentally ill. More specifically, I entered the nightmarish world of full-blown schizophrenia. I was wracked with hallucinatory pain and anguish and unable to think or function. Every waking moment became a living hell; there was no escape from it, day or night. After a couple of months as a couch zombie, my mother, bless her heart, took me to Lexington Gardens, a large nursery and greenhouse. There, I saw a bonsai tree sitting on a bench in the corner. It was a perfect little tree with nice green moss. That tree awakened something in me; it reached into my soul, grabbed me, and said, “Johnny, hold on, you’re still in there.” So,…

Anyone who has grown a backyard garden knows all too well that vegetables can quickly disappear in a jungle of weeds. So how do you keep a garden weed-free? And can it be done effectively using hand tools? It’s important to acknowledge that weeds compete with vegetables for water, nutrients, and growing space. Despite the views in some “natural” gardening circles, the idea that it’s possible to grow beautiful vegetables in harmony with weeds is simply untrue; just as seeking a cropping system that would not require weeding in some form or another is unrealistic. So-called natural organic herbicides claiming to control weeds may do so in the short term, but they destroy the long-term biological health of the soil. For weed management practices to be both ecological and sustainable,…

The divestment movement began as a decentralized network of people who used their membership or support of universities, churches, and organizations to push for divestment on a local level. As a result of this pressure, more than 1,100 institutions have made divestment commitments, bringing the amount of divested funds above $14 trillion. Now, a new arm of the divestment movement has emerged that’s bigger in scope and involves a coalition that has come together under the name Stop the Money Pipeline. Elana Sulakshana, an energy finance campaigner at Rainforest Action Network (RAN, www.RAN.org), says this movement primarily targets financial institutions, the biggest backers of the fossil-fuel industry. RAN’s 2020 fossil fuel finance report, “Banking on Climate Change,” shows that 35 banks have invested a total of $2.7 trillion into fossil…

A cornucopia of edible wild plants is growing under our noses. Despite the appealing qualities of these feral foods, most of them have been forgotten, overlooked, or dismissed as useless. Some are simply invisible. The plants featured here are wild foods I use at home daily when they’re in season. By providing a range of recipes for these plants, I’m making what I hope is an irrefutable argument for bringing these ingredients from the foraging fringes to everyday cooking. One of the many excitements on a forager’s calendar in late spring is the appearance of black locust blossoms (Robinia pseudoacacia). They appear just when roses and peonies are peaking in gardens. The trees (also known as “acacia” or “false acacia”) are all over North America. You have to pick them…

Over the past five years, my wife and I have built many outbuildings and tackled numerous projects around our homestead. First came the chicken coop, followed by a greenhouse, a garden, a dog kennel, and even a small ice-skating rink! Each of these projects has one thing in common: They need electricity. We had been using a small gas-powered generator, but it was loud and expensive to run. For a more sustainable option, we decided to build a portable solar-powered generator. Our solar generator provides us with 115 volts of power that can be moved anywhere on our property. We built it using an old garden trailer, so we can simply hook the trailer up to our ATV and relocate it as needed. We’ve used it for several months now,…

Brooms can be made from a variety of materials, such as broomcorn sorghum, straw, and plastic. A full-sized broom can help keep a home clean and tidy, but what about the often overlooked hand broom? These miniature brooms can clean small messes, such as ash around a fireplace or sawdust in a workshop. Dual-purpose hand brooms can be made easily from collected pine needles, and they’re not only functional, but decorative as well! Only three things are needed to make these hand brooms: pine needles, scissors, and twine. Alternating the color of your twine to your liking for a personal touch is a great idea, but for this example, I’ve used a basic tan jute twine made from natural fibers. Collect. Pine tree species vary across the world, but my…

How can I develop a hardier garden in the face of volatile weather patterns? Floods, droughts, ruined harvests—by now, many of us have experienced extreme weather events, and we may experience more. So, developing, saving, and sharing locally adapted seed is a key piece of building garden resilience. For me, one such seed is ‘Bob Steffen’s Hardneck’ garlic. Garlic isn’t typically grown from seed. It’s grown by saving a few of the plumpest bulbs at harvest time, separating the bulbs into cloves, and planting those cloves the same fall. Nonetheless, some folks call it “seed garlic” and grow it each year to continue the existence of favored varieties. Bob Steffen was the farm superintendent of Boys Town (a home for at-risk children in Nebraska) from 1943 to 1977. He promoted…