Innholdsfortegnelse for Summer 2019 i The New Pioneer

We kick off TNP’s “Raise and Grow Paradise” issue with features about two exotic creatures that show you just what can be done practicing today’s new approach to raising animals for profit. It’s called “gentle farming.” When done properly, it benefits man, the animals and the environment. To learn more, read about the Gardiners and their Suri alpacas, which give them six income streams and are an integral part of their permaculture practices. Using similar techniques, a non-profit group in Alaska is domesticating the mighty musk ox to revive the species and give natives a way to earn a living. For many of you having farm animals is still a dream but you can take part in the nationwide, backyard chicken craze. It’s easy to have fresh eggs and meat…

Alpacas have been domesticated for thousands of years, and fiber is considered to be their primary product. Compared to llamas, another South American native camel, alpacas are smaller, about 3 feet tall at their shoulders. They typically weigh between 100 and 200 pounds compared to the heftier llama that can get up to 450 pounds. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s 2012 agricultural census (the most current available), there are more than 141,000 alpacas in the U.S., with Ohio, Washington, Oregon and Colorado noted as the top alpaca production states. Alpaca registries, however, cite unverified numbers as high as 250,000 in this country. Of the two breeds, the Huacaya (pronounced ‘wah-KI-ah’) alpaca is the most common at about 90 percent of the documented population compared to the Suri’s 10-percent…

Sooty shearwater (Ardenna grisea): A southern sea bird that spends its days at sea and makes its nests in the forest at night. Cockles and mussels: New Zealanders don’t use the generic term “clams” for bivalves. Cockles are found buried beneath the sand in intertidal zones and estuaries. Mussels cling to rocky outcrops in the sea that are exposed at low tide. Pāua (pronounced “pā-wā”): A large, native sea snail protected by an iridescent shell. It is gathered from rocky crevices exposed (or nearly so) at low tide. Blue moki: A species of trumpeter found in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. WWOOFers: WWOOF (Willing Workers on Organic Farms) is an organization that brings several young travellers to our home each year in search of an organic and sustainable living experience. They…

Technically, not all chickens offered at a hatchery are actual breeds. In the chicken world, there are three types of chickens: 1. Pure Breed: A breed is a group of animals with particular traits that they’ll reliably pass on to their offspring when they reproduce together. In general, pure-breed chickens mature slowly, may go broody and can be dual purpose. Pure breeds are the foundation for a breeding program. 2. Heritage: This is a subset of pure breeds. In general, these are old breeds that were raised before the Industrial Revolution. Breeds are regularly added to, moved within and removed from the list of heritage breeds maintained by the Livestock Conservancy, so be sure to check the nonprofit organization’s website for an up-to-date list. 3. Hybrid: A hybrid is an…

“The founder’s idea was to learn how to domesticate musk oxen so that an Alaskan native family could each raise three or four” Do not act like a wolf when you visit the shaggy, horned creatures at the nonprofit Musk Ox Farm in the beautiful Matanuska Valley nearly 50 miles northeast of Anchorage, Alaska. That means no growling or howling. And, for heaven’s sakes, do not crouch when taking a selfie. “You become a wolf to them when you crouch down—they perceive creatures at their eye level as a potential threat,” explains Grayson Wallis, an interpretive guide at the facility that hosts 83 musk oxen—the largest captive herd in the world. “When there are numerous people on a tour, we want them to stay in a group,” she adds. “If…

It’s common to think of nature as perfect, or nearly so, even if she does sometimes make two-headed calves, seven-toed cats or storms that uproot your favorite tree. But perfect or not, she really doesn’t seem to be nearly as obsessed with efficiency as we are. In the animal kingdom, for instance, reproductive efficiency is abysmally low, as very few offspring of most species ever make it to adulthood. And yet, almost miraculously, it all works out for the general welfare of the planet. Photosynthesis—the process of turning water, CO2 and sunlight into sugar—is itself a study in inefficiency, considering that only about 3 percent of the solar energy that falls on a green plant is ever converted into energy-rich chemical compounds. This is far worse than the 8 percent…

Several hundred logs, all 4 inches in diameter, 3 to 4 feet long and arrow-straight, lined the forest floor. Propped up against thin tree branches nailed between trees, they looked like little lean-tos, upright and at an angle. On tighter focus, the logs blossomed to life, each covered with shiitake mushrooms. Steve Gabriel, the agroforestry extension specialist with the Cornell Small Farms Program and co-owner of Wellspring Forest Farm in Trumansburg, New York, bent down and trimmed a shiitake with a small pair of scissors and gently placed it in a large stainless bowl. “This is my kind of workday,” he said. “I’d much rather be out here, working with my hands, than indoors.” I met Gabriel over email two years ago. The Cornell Small Farms Program advertised its immensely…

Ten minutes away from the Sugar Shack in Mayville, New York, sits Webb’s Candy Shop, a “must” place to visit. All candy is made on-site. Opened in 1942, it has remained in the family since that time and is famous for its goat’s milk fudge, molasses sponge and peanut butter squares. All the candy is made by hand using the old-fashioned copper kettle method. When we entered the store, we were enticed by glass cases filled with chocolates of every shape and size. Darrel Webb was in the candy factory ready to make peanut brittle for us. He filled the large copper kettle with all the ingredients. As we watched it heat up, he stirred everything until it was ready to pour on a metal sheet to cool. And, wow,…

Embroidered quilts: There are several ways to embroider quilts: by hand, with a programmable sewing machine and with pre-embroidered blocks that you can add to a quilt. If the quilt is to be hand-embroidered, patterns can be found on websites and in quilt stores that can be heat-transferred onto the squares and then hand-sewn using embroidery thread. You can machine-sew designs using stencils and quilt the block at the same time. There are also programs that will sew designs using a sewing machine that’s programmable with an SD card. Appliquéd quilts: Putting appliqués on a quilt gives it a three-dimensional look that can be either retro or very modern. Today, most appliqués are either hand- or machine-sewn to quilt squares or fastened to the quilt with fusible webbing, a glue…

The effects of this hammer are shown here. At the lower left are four bars, all of which began ½-inch square by 6 inches long. The third bar from the left was not hammered and retains its original shape. The other three bars were hammered to reduce their thickness to ¼-inch in the middle 3 inches of their length. The two bars furthest left were hammered using the hammer’s extra-wide fullering face. The leftmost bar was struck crosswise, rendering it significantly longer but hardly any wider. The second bar from the left was struck lengthwise, leaving it dramatically wider but hardly any longer. The bar at the far right was hammered using the oversized ball peen face—notice that it ended up both wider and longer. At the top left is…

If a pressure washer freezes in the winter and there’s water in the unit, the internal seals will blow, and it’ll need an expensive fix come spring. Prevent all that by winterizing the unit. Here’s how: Connect the unit to a hose, just like you’d normally use it. If it’s a gas unit, add a fuel stabilizer like Sta-Bil to the gas can and run the power washer for two minutes so it cycles through the unit. Next, clean the detergent from the machine by taking the soap hose and running it to a 5-gallon bucket of clean water on the lowest pressure setting. If there’s any soap still in the detergent tank, dump it or run it through the washer first until it’s dry. When the detergent tank is…

It’s ironic that a guy named Gil can get into so many fishing pickles even with tons of experience under my belt. I just goof up a lot and fish a lot, so the overlap is inevitable. In fact, I’m betting I can make it through this entire fishing article without telling a story that involves me actually catching a fish. I’ve already told the one about tipping the canoe and sinking all the camping and fishing gear. I broke my own record that day by turning a girlfriend into an ex-girlfriend in mere seconds. And I’ve already spilled the spiel about when I dove into the trout stream to save the old man, and he ended up pulling me to safety. But fishing and laughing go together like hooks…

Jake Anderson, owner of Norfork Adventure Supply, breaks down the key strokes to master for optimal kayaking. 〉〉〉 Sweep stroke: It’s easy to get off course as you paddle. To straighten the boat, pull the paddle in a D-curve from front to back on the off-course side. This should correct your path. 〉〉〉 Reverse: Slice the blade into the water next to your hip. Rotate the paddle forward. Repeat on the opposite side. 〉〉〉 Draw stroke: This moves the kayak sideways. Reach out until the blade touches water about 2 feet away from the boat. Turn the blade so it’s horizontal to the kayak and pull the blade in towards your body. Slice the blade vertically away from the boat through the water, repeat until you reach the destination. Jake…

Growing up in the Deep South, I was raised eating a whole lot of fried food—chicken, quail, turkey, steak, alligator (uh huh) and, well, you name it, we fried it. Sure, it tasted great, but often the meat itself was pretty dry, especially with lean white meats like quail, pork chops, and wild turkey. Then I found a little convenience store near my rural hometown where the fried chicken and country fried steak were so moist and wonderful that people travelled miles and miles to eat there. What was the trick? It took a while before I earned the trust of the local ladies behind the counter, and when I did, I was floored at their secret: pickle juice! Now how about that for being a key ingredient in anything…

“…instead of two to four peppers per plant per season, I picked over a dozen every two days!” Tomato & Pepper Lessons Simple ways to grow a bumper crop I began intensive gardening so I could start canning. For me, there is no such thing as too many tomatoes. I start seed eight weeks before the last spring frost, transfer the seedlings to peat pots and then later to wax paper cups to block cutworms, and finally, I plant at May’s end. I read that plants grow better roots if you wet soil before filling pots (surprisingly, it avoids compaction), but that article did not say how fast tomato plants will grow. I started using grow lights on our table because one of our windowsills gets sun a few hours…

Cody Assman writes for outdoor magazines all across the country. His interests include bowhunting, trapping, horses, primitive camping, living history and western history. Recently he published his first book The Wild Adventures of Old Bill Williams and will soon publish Journey of a Mountain Man. Check out Cody’s books and his creations at his website frontierlife.net. Marti Attoun is a freelance writer in Joplin, Missouri. She has written hundreds of articles for newspapers and national publications, including American Profile, Ladies’ Home Journal, Reader’s Digest and Family Circle. Dave Boyt has a degree in forest management and manages a family tree farm. He is a certified logger, and has been running band saw mills for 13 years. He is a contributor to Sawmill & Woodlot Management magazine, and a technical writer…

Hemp is traditional livestock fodder, i.e. a crop grown for the purpose of feeding livestock. It is “feed” when fed to animals as seed to add oils and protein to their diet. As fresh “fodder,” the whole plant provides superior nutrition, providing fresh enzymes, chlorophylls and many other nutrients. All livestock will choose fresh food when given the chance. Alpacas also eat dried hemp leaves (hay) with enthusiasm. Whether as fodder or as feed, hemp contains the rich profile of cannabinoids that nourish the mammalian endocannabinoid system. When meat animals eat hemp, their cannabinoid needs are met, and they stay healthy more easily. Their meat is a rich source of these precious nutrients for the carnivore. Hemp fodder is easy to grow in many climates. It’s a ready solution to…

With gloriously long days, summer is full steam ahead. From starting new crops to protecting the ones you have, along with improving the quality of the vegetables you already grow, there are always ways to increase your garden’s bounty. Give these techniques a try to make this summer one of your best. PROTECT CORN FROM BIRDS You can fence out deer and raccoons, but there’s no real protection from magpies and other birds that have a taste for fresh corn since they quickly become accustomed to loud noises or visual deterrents when a good meal is involved. It’s difficult to cover the entire corn patch, but if you want to keep your corn safe, place a plastic or brown lunch bag over each ear to save it until it’s ripe.…

They say necessity is the mother of all invention, and I have to admit I believe it, especially on farms, ranches and homesteads. We can see examples all across rural America. From creative uses of duct tape, welders and bailing wire to more refined custom-built projects, people’s ability to overcome challenges stands out. Every homestead has them, no matter how big or small. And not too long ago, my own family had a small challenge of our own. When we first got our small flock of chickens, we hastily built a self-feeding chicken feeder following a plan we found on the internet. Basically, the feeder consisted of a few PVC pipes you filled and let the feed run down. It worked, but it had some major problems. First, these PVC…

“There is no need for tilling or weeding at Salamander Springs Farm, as Susana practices 100% no-till permaculture.” Susana Lein’s journey that led to her reputation as one of the country’s foremost permaculture practitioners in the U.S. began in the mid 1980’s when she was growing disillusioned with her land planning and architecture career in Boston. “I no longer wanted to make my living designing office parks and condominium developments,” she told me. Tired of “turning wooded green spaces into concrete jungles,” she began participating in weekend events and workshops at the New Alchemy Institute on Cape Cod, “an amazing revolutionary place during that time, started by a true visionary, John Todd.” There she learned about a new ecological design system called “permaculture,” which was making its way to the…

1 Begin weeding as early as possible in late winter or early spring. 2 Kill weeds while they’re babies. 3 Use a scuffle hoe that slides just under the soil and cuts on both the push and pull strokes. 4 Keep soil disturbance to a minimum to prevent bringing dormant weed seed from deeper in the soil up into the germination zone and scattering it about. Grub weeds only as absolutely necessary when you can’t get at them with a hoe blade or when they’re too big and massively rooted for effective hoeing. 5 Use corn gluten meal as a pre-emergent herbicide to safely and drastically reduce weed seed germination. 6 Deep mulch. 7 Fill open spaces with wildflowers and other beneficial plants.…

The name “musk ox” is a misnomer. The wonderfully mystifying ruminants aren’t actually oxen, nor do they have a true musk gland. “They are not related to oxen or bison,” notes Grayson Wallis of the Musk Ox Farm. “They are related to mountain goats and sheep. But they don’t graze all the way down to the ground like sheep do. The ‘musk’ name was due to their discovery during early Arctic explorations. The explorers first saw bulls during rut season. The bulls had urinated on themselves to attract females and they had a very musky scent. But they have no true musk gland.” Their only sweat glands are found on their back hooves, one of the many fascinating facts about musk oxen. Indeed, nearly everything about them is captivating. Consider…

Coffee lovers can get finicky about their morning pick-me-up. They have personal preferences as to where the coffee beans are grown, how and when they’re harvested and the machine and method used for brewing. That was the inspiration for Justin and Britta Burrus, who are making a niche product in the rural, rolling hills of northeast Missouri. At their Red Rooster Trading Company, they manufacture hand-crank coffee bean grinders, which don’t contain any plastic parts and fit atop a Ball jar rather than a wooden box. They sell the cast-iron and black walnut beauties worldwide from Bible Grove, Missouri. “We wanted the best cup of coffee we could get,” Justin says. The manual ceramic burr grinders they build are stout and durable, nearly a foot tall and weighing four pounds.…

Bolt: A log inoculated with spawn. Flush: A group of mushrooms that fruited within a short period of time. Forcing: The process used to trigger the mycelium to produce fruiting bodies (mushrooms) predictably, within a 7- to 14-day period. Laying Yard: The place where the logs are incubated and routine maintenance is performed. The logs usually remain in the laying yard for the rest of their productive lifetime (4 to 5 years), which includes both fruiting and harvest time. Mycelium: The vegetative part of a fungus, consisting of a network of fine white filaments (hyphae). Potato Dextrose Agar: A mixture of a potato infusion, dextrose and agar, a gelatinous substance that comes from red seaweed. Shocking: The means of triggering shiitake mushroom production, which involves soaking logs in cold water…

“Being on a budget basically turns you into a gourmet cook.” Q How do you feed such a large family food that’s healthy and a delight to eat? I get asked this question almost every day, and the answer is pretty easy. Delicious and nutritious meals start with the ingredients. Anytime you’re eating fresh food, whether you grow it, raise it yourself or buy and cook it from scratch, you have a head start on preparing gourmet food. We always have a lot of food on hand—fresh eggs from our chickens, vegetables and fruit from the garden, canned goods we’ve put up and three freezers fully stocked with meat we’ve harvested. The cost of our meals is cut way down because we harvest so much of our own food. Being…

PRESSURE WASHER NOZZLES ARE UNIVERSALLY COLOR CODED: Red: The narrowest angle—zero degrees—for deep-cleaning stubborn stains, but it can also break glass windows, chip car paint and cut wood. Yellow: A 15-degree angle, good for hard surfaces like concrete, brick and pavement. Green: A 25-degree spray for most pressure washing, ideal for washing a car, outdoor furniture and decking. White: A 40-degree spray good for windows and siding. Black: A 65-degree spray, used to make surfaces wet before cleaning with a tighter nozzle, such as soaking a car first before cleaning with a green 25-degree nozzle. Protect your garden or plants along the edge of your house with a blue tarp before you start pressure washing, as one quick water blast is enough to kill most plants. Always presoak a surface…

When we think of summer, we think—nay, crave—tomatoes. That’s why I can’t wait for summer to arrive so I can try Burpee’s gigantic “Gladiator Hybrid,” which the company calls the new champion Roma tomato. This 8-ounce tomato has “an unbeatable amount of vigor, flavor, aroma and yield,” and the company suggests that its dense flesh and tangy taste make it perfect for pasta, sauces, soups, salsa or ketchup. Even better is that this new variety boasts an indeterminate growth habit and strong roots to guard against diseases like blossom-end rot. With a tomato as promising as this garden warrior, I see a lot of homemade pasta sauce in my future. MSRP: $7.29 for a packet of seeds; $18.99 for three garden-ready plants. (burpee.com)…

“She fell in love with the finetextured, soft fleece that’s hypoallergenic, anti-microbial and flame retardant.” Roving a grassy pasture and guarded by big white dogs, fleecy alpacas of many colors graze safely in the winter sunlight. This charming, elegant herd of South American camels descend from ancestors who originated in North America about 30 million years ago. The alpacas of today come from Peru, Chile and Bolivia, where they still provide an economic foundation for the traditional economy. Arriving in the USA only about 30 years ago, they have provided an education and a modest income for John and Christine Gardiner of Siskiyou Alpaca (www.siskiyoualpaca.com). The former university professors came to farm life in a roundabout way. “We wanted to engage in a life that expresses the principles of permaculture,”…

• Four 4-foot lengths of 2x4 for feeder legs • One 20-inch length of 2x4 for cross piece between legs at the bottom of the unit • Two 20-inch lengths of 2x4 for box bottom supports • Two 19½-inch lengths of 2x4 for box lid • About 14 square feet of ¼-inch paneling, plywood or scraps in the following sizes: 14x20 inches (four pieces); 17x20 inches (one piece or in pieces); and 22x22 inches (one piece) • 6 feet 4-inch PVC • Two 4-inch 90 ° PVC street elbow joints • Two 4-Inch 45 ° PVC street elbow joints • 1x2 pieces for roost (optional) • Screws • Caulking I needed a few simple tools, including a drill, saw, reciprocating saw, tape measure, level, square and caulking gun. As mentioned,…

When Gail Black was born in 1939, a war was ramping up in Europe. But in many ways, 1939 was still a hopeful time for women to work alongside their husbands in America, carving out a better, more meaningful life. It was a time when farm women tended to the home, the children and a small plot of garden space while their husbands took care of the brute work at the farmstead—a true partnership. Gail still remembers the day that her childhood was interrupted to some degree and she became a working partner on her dad’s mink farm. She was 3 years old, and her dad decided that it was time that she start to assist him (she had no male siblings). He handed her a 20-foot rope lead to…

Quilting can become a passion— no, an addiction. There are actually quilters known as “century quilters” because they have made 100 or more quilts. But that can be a problem. After everyone in the family has been gifted a quilt or three, what is an addicted seamstress to do? Shut down the trusty Bernina machine, give away a closetful of colorful fabrics and find a new passion? Many quilters who can’t give up putting colors and patterns together in an orderly fashion give away their quilts to honor soldiers, to hospitals for sick infants and to police departments to comfort children in crisis. Marga Tegmeier, a century quilter, has donated uncounted numbers of quilts to just about any organization that helps people. “Giving away a quilt allows me to make…

Materials 4-pound engineer’s (sledge) hammer head 14- to 16-inch hickory hammer handle matched to the shape of the eye in the head Wood wedge Metal wedge The carpenter, sawyer, lumberjack, miner, shipwright, turner, mason, quarryman, stonecutter, sculptor, plumber, butcher, tailor, tinker and every other plyer of a trade or craft all went to the blacksmith for their tools back in the day. And even now, when tools are machine-made, robotically assembled and purveyed via the internet, it is still the blacksmith toolwright whose skills are sought when a one-of-a-kind hand tool is needed. In my time, I have wrought a myriad of unique tools for use in various trades and crafts—a special hoop driver for a cooper, for example, and a pair of tongs with nubby jaws to gently carry…