Innholdsfortegnelse for December - January 2021 i MOTHER EARTH NEWS

I admit it: I cause a bit of chaos for myself by not returning tools to their rightful place immediately after using them, and I have a tough time tossing stuff that really should be tossed, or at the very least “might be useful in some future project.” My office is a mess to most folks because I’m a piler. A stacker. But the piles and stacks represent projects in various stages of completion. The problem is that even when those projects are completed, the stacks still grow. This continues until something snaps, and then I purge. And I feel lighter and clearer-headed. I become more efficient and nicer to be around. Even the dogs notice. We hired in a roll-off dumpster from a local recycling place this week, and…

After recent racial justice uprisings across the United States, legislative leaders have been pressured to address the racism built into their locales’ actions and infrastructures — and for Arlington, Texas, that meant examining the effect a fracking well would have on the community surrounding it, and ultimately rejecting its drilling. Nationwide, according to the Environmental Protection Agency, fossil fuel projects are more likely to be built near communities where people of color, specifically Black people, and people in poverty live. That proximity means those communities are disproportionately impacted by pollution — and thus by respiratory illnesses, such as asthma and COVID-19. This environmental racism holds true in Arlington, where French energy company Total was planning to drill a fracking well near a predominantly Black and Latinx neighborhood, where residents experience…

This article was originally published in the Summer 2017 issue of Heirloom Gardener. Revenue information was current at the time of publication, but may have changed during the intervening years. When Lynn Byczynski first authored an article on flower farming for Mother Earth News back in 2002, she estimated that “an acre of well-grown and marketed flowers is worth approximately $25,000 to $30,000 in sales.” Eighteen years later, cut flowers continue to be one of the highest-grossing crops you can grow per acre. Using small-scale, high-intensity production techniques, my farm, Floret, has been able to gross $55,000 to $60,000 per acre in good years, even when we’ve sold the bulk of our flowers at wholesale prices. By offering wedding flowers and design services, we’re able to include an additional $25,000…

Wood heat provided through a high-efficiency stove is a great, low-impact, and renewable way to warm your home during winter, and it can be virtually free of expense except for a few tools and a lot of labor. I’ve heated our house exclusively with wood for more than a decade, and I’ve supplemented with wood for decades more than that. I came by the notion honestly, as my dad heated his palatial home with two stoves until he was well into his 80s (my folks still supplement with wood). Dad’s reason for putting in a forced-air propane system was that his body couldn’t take the splitting, hauling, and stacking, or even just the hauling and stacking once he started buying split firewood that was already processed. Dad’s an old-school guy…

As kids, we all learned in school about the ancient trade routes used to move spices, tea, and other commodities around the world. The most well-known was the Silk Road, of course, but it was the maritime spice routes that brought explorers around the globe and even played a role in Columbus’ “discovery” of America. Now, you and I both know someone can’t discover land that someone else already lives on, but that’s another topic for a different article. When learning about these trade routes, we also learned that they served a purpose beyond just trade between countries. These roads also facilitated cultural exchange: religions, ideas, and knowledge. But unfortunately, we also learned about these trade routes in the past tense. As a seed keeper, I serve multiple roles, such…

When it comes to self-sufficiency, the more you can do for yourself, the more time and money you’ll save. This is especially true for maintaining your property’s equipment and machinery. Because the tractor is a heavily used piece of machinery, it’s a great place to start realizing basic equipment maintenance. This answer isn’t intended to be all-inclusive in its coverage of basic tractor maintenance; it merely attempts to point out some of the primary areas of consideration for maintaining your tractor. The fuel. When the tractor’s been stored for more than a few months, it’s a good idea to replace its old fuel with new. New fuel ensures a quality grade of fuel, without water buildup. Water buildup often results from condensation. This water buildup can accumulate and be distributed…

Livestock guardian dogs, or LGDs, are a collection of similar dog breeds that, just like herding dogs or hunting dogs, form a distinct group. Being an LGD isn’t a role you can train any other breed to perform. Developed over centuries by working shepherds, LGD breeds possess a specific set of qualities and behaviors that make them excel at this specific work. North American LGD Breeds These are the only breeds of livestock guardian dogs readily available in North America. Other breeds are used in different countries and may occasionally be found in North America as well. • Akbash • Anatolian Shepherd • Armenian Gampr • Caucasian Mountain • Central Asian Shepherd • Estrela Mountain • Great Pyrenees • Kangal • Karakachan, or Bulgarian Shepherd • Komondor • Kuvasz •…

Coming of Age I’m writing to you from my farm in South Africa. We don’t have many books or magazines for the homesteader who wants to live more sustainably, so I’ve resorted to modifying the American way to suit the African one. To this end, and besides the mountains of books I’ve read, I started subscribing to MOTHER EARTH NEWS for its wholesome, balanced, and highly informative articles. You’re celebrating your 50th anniversary in my 50th year, and I feel like I’m finally coming of age. I started this journey three years ago after burning myself out in the corporate world. I looked back on my 33 years in the workforce and couldn’t find a single thing that made me want to carry on, not even the big paycheck. So…

If you had told me even five years ago that my husband, Brett, and I would live in the country, raise hens and pigs, tend a 2,000-square-foot garden, build outdoor structures, get excited about worms, host a women’s homesteading group, can our own food, attend homesteading conferences, write about farming, design and sew vintage-inspired aprons, cook everything from scratch, forage in the yard, and nurture all kinds of ferments and tinctures in the depths of our kitchen cabinets, I wouldn’t have believed you. As a matter of fact, no one who knew us ever saw this coming. I was the least likely suspect to ever embrace this life, in part or whole. I grew up outside New York City, and not so long ago, I was a suburban soccer mom…

A few years back, a friend donated a Sunvelope solar water-heating panel to us. We were getting ready to expand our greenhouse, so the timing was perfect to incorporate an outdoor solar-heated shower. The system is pretty basic. We mounted the solar panel on the south side of our greenhouse, and tilted it to catch more rays. We used an old water heater tank and positioned it on top of the greenhouse, higher than the panel. The water heater acts as a thermosiphon, meaning water circulates simply because of temperature differences, with no need for electricity. The whole thing connects to the shower inside our greenhouse, and it’s an isolated system, so we didn’t have to plumb it to our house water source. Building the System Used water heaters are…

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!…

“As a family, we all helped in the gardens, and I’m so grateful for the time we shared, and I feel so proud and excited with the bounty I’m able to grow.” A Family Matter I’m writing in response to Hank’s “News from MOTHER” editorial (“Roots Reconnected” February/March 2020). I first must tell you how excited I get whenever I receive a new issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS! My parents used to give me their old issues, and I loved them so much that I recently asked for my own subscription. You asked readers to share stories about growing adventures that had a profound effect on our lives. My parents and grandparents were all gardeners, selling the extra bounty to regular customers who would stop by. When we settled down…

I first made this bread for Thanksgiving about 40 years ago, and I’ve been making it for that holiday ever since. This bread captured my imagination from the first loaf, because it’s delicious, beautiful, and different. Lighter and moister than most cornbreads, this bread has many uses. The gorgeous yellow color, light open crumb, and warm flavor blend well with traditional holiday meals centered around turkey or ham, and it’s also good in stuffings. For breakfast, I recommend it toasted with cream cheese, or as French toast. Cornbread with cream cheese is a marriage made in heaven — definitely a good choice for a special brunch. As French toast, it will elevate a weekend breakfast. Soaked in milk and egg, the crumb softens, but retains a lovely texture — soft,…

We’ve introduced a new online learning platform that continues to bring the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR to you with new courses and webinars added monthly! There are many rewarding aspects of producing the MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR. We meet and learn from the nation’s leading authorities on gardening, off-grid energy, foraging, food preservation, beekeeping, livestock management, shelter, and more, and then build a platform to deliver their work to the masses! Now, you can access and interact with them at MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR ONLINE and through our regular webinar series. It’s never been easier, and there’s never been a more important time. For the latest information on our upcoming events, please visit www.MotherEarthNewsFair.com. What Is MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR ONLINE? The MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR is your passport to…

You can plan for a trip to ensure everything goes smoothly, but what about when the unexpected suddenly pulls you off your property: mandatory evacuation orders, natural disaster, or hospitalization? You might find a farm-sitter on short notice, but how will you give them all the information they need during a stressful situation? I recommend you compile an emergency planning notebook. Consider how you could assist someone who steps into your muck boots, and assemble this information into a binder containing all the pertinent information needed to get the job done. Begin with your name, phone number, email, and your farm’s address. GPS coordinates might be helpful too. This information should be kept at the beginning of the book, along with how you can be reached, where you’ll be, and…

You can start with aromatherapy, which both is and isn’t herbalism. It is, because aromatherapy is used by many herbalists to complement an herbal regimen, or, in many cases, to complete it. It isn’t, because they’re different disciplines using botanical materials in different ways. Both disciplines use plants to support healing. Herbalists use a holistic approach, considering all aspects of a person’s dis-ease. In using both herbal preparations (infusions, decoctions, tinctures, etc.) and essential oils (water-insoluble components of the plant), an herbalist can create a broader holistic approach to address imbalance. Aromatherapy is the practice of using essential oils to support healing. Essential oils are volatile substances extracted from plants, typically by a distillation process. Their properties aren’t released in any significant amount in typical herbal preparations. Essential oils are…