Innholdsfortegnelse for Fall 2019 i The New Pioneer

When I told a friend that we were focusing on DIY projects in this issue, he said, “I know the perfect guy—he sums up what it means to be a new pioneer and a DIYer—Michael Garnier, Mr. Treehouse.” How right he was! One of our regular contributors, Paul Fattig, had met Michael and offered to tell us how he made his improbable dream come true: to earn a living on 40 wooded acres doing what he loved—building treehouses. Not those like the little one my father built in our backyard oak so we could climb up and play, but marvels of innovative design, some 50 feet up complete with lights, a bathroom and a spiral staircase. The same mindset led Jeff and Sherry Owen to finish building their sweet log…

A few miles outside of booming Columbus, Ohio, Andy Lynd, a fourth-generation apple farmer at Lynd Fruit Farm, knows that most people think of apples only in the autumn when it’s time for picking. He also knows that he’s been thinking about this fall fruit since spring when the success or failure of an apple crop begins. “Between the mowing, the spraying and the pruning, the monitoring for diseases and insects, deciding do you spray or don’t spray, spring is the busy time,” he says. “Spring is almost busier than fall, because once the growth starts, there are a lot of things you have to do on a timely basis. You’ll get one shot.” WEATHER MATTERS That shot starts with the weather, and spring can be a fickle partner, especially…

For an arboreal pioneer, Michael Garnier had both feet firmly planted on the ground when employing a common-sense approach to achieving his dream. “I always wanted to make a living out of something I enjoyed,” explained Garnier, who performed street theater, made pole furniture and was a physician’s assistant before venturing out on a limb to build rental treehouses. “I like working with wood and I like trees, so I decided to find a way to work with them,” he added. “But I never thought it would turn into something this big. It has worked out rather well.” Indeed, his Out ‘n’ About Treehouse Treesort in southwest Oregon has 16 treehouses, making it the largest cluster of treehouses on the planet, according to his website. The Tree-sort site in the…

Is a cow right for your family? The benefits are obvious: healthy, fresh milk right from the backyard, produced by an animal you know and care for personally. The reality may be a lot more work than you realize, and it’s good to go into the project with eyes wide open. Here are some questions Michelle suggests considering before you make the investment: ✓ 1. Are you comfortable putting needles into veins to administer medicine or health tests? ✓ 2. Do you know how to prevent or contend with frozen equipment in the cold season? ✓ 3. Do you know how to recognize and get help for a sick cow? ✓ 4. Do you have the right amount of space? ✓ 5. What will you do with all of your…

Just like you’d give a sick child Pedialyte, some baby chicks need electrolytes to survive their journey from the egg through the postal system to your brooder. Twitching, shaking and general weakness or lethargy are all signs that your chicks need essential minerals like sodium and potassium. Commercial electrolyte packets work great, but you can save a few dollars by making your own with a short list of common ingredients. • 1 gallon warm water • 1 Tbsp. granulated sugar • 1 tsp. baking soda • 1 tsp. salt • 1 tsp. potassium-based salt substitute, like LoSalt (optional) Fill a milk jug with the ingredients and shake vigorously. This mixture can be kept in the refrigerator for a few days, but it should be served warm to the chicks. It…

“…the fact that the fencing tools, welding equipment, chain saws and portable generator needed a regular storage place led us to the conclusion that it was time to build a shed.” Materials While it is possible to use pallet boards for the floor and siding of the shed, I opted for plywood. It added about $130 to the cost of the project, but the saving in time made it worthwhile to me. If you have enough pallets and are willing to spend the time to cut them apart, you’ll save money and have an attractive shed. 12standardpallets (40 inches by 48 inches) (2) 10-foot 4x4 treated posts (1) 8-foot 4x4 treated post (10) 8-foot 1x4s (10) 8-foot 2x4s (1) 12-foot 2x4 (1) 12-foot 2x6 (1) 12-foot 2x12 (1) sheet…

A cistern is nothing more than a vessel designed to hold gallons of water. You can make one from anything, but food-grade plastic is the safest material, especially if your intent is to use it for drinking water. For this project, I used a recycled 55-gallon pickle barrel that I was able to pick up for free. As most of the parts were salvaged materials, the total cost of the project was about $5 for the adhesive. I wanted to use water from the gutter system on my house to fill the container, thus storing the water for later use in the garden. The water was not to be used for human consumption, so that was not a concern. With a plan and the container in hand, I assembled the…

Screw holes in the doorframe and finish-nail holes in the doorstops and door casing can be filled with wood putty or drywall compound prior to priming/painting. A small putty knife is beneficial for filling these holes and scraping away excess putty/ compound. Allow sufficient time to set and dry. Next, roll the door’s flat surfaces with an interior paint-plus-primer formula. Most folks prefer a semi-gloss, but you can choose a paint with more or less sheen. Get the corners and other places the roller can’t reach with a small paint brush.…

The New Pioneer is now on Instagram at instagram.com/thenewpioneer. Be sure to stop by our page, give us a follow and share your photos with us by using #thenewpioneer or #thenewpioneermagazine. Keep your helpful Facebook comments and emails coming so we can provide the information you crave. Your letters prompt us to order feature articles. We do read your comments. If you know a family who might be a good cover story, let us know. We also want more of your helpful “It Worked For Me” stories. Cut and paste your 350-word manuscript into an email and attach a high-resolution photo (between 1 and 5 MB) or two for illustration purposes. We’ll pay $100 upon acceptance. Email us at editdesk@ athlonoutdoors.com.…

1 Do research. Know the conditions where you want to plant and get to know available apple varieties. 2 Plant for disease resistance. Make sure the trees you plant aren’t highly susceptible to fire blight and apple scab. 3 Know what you’re buying. Semi-dwarf trees fruit in three to five years. Fully dwarf trees fruit the year after planting. 4 Buy from a good source. Andy recommends buying from Gurney’s Seed & Nursery Co. because the company’s website offers small quantities of varieties suitable for the homeowner and includes helpful You-Tube videos. Gurney’s sells two MAIA apples: Baker’s Delight and Crunch-A-Bunch. Andy often recommends Pixie Crunch and Goldrush since they’ll cover early and late seasons while producing both sweet and tart fruit. 5 Prune wisely. “The more you prune, the…

Although she’s handy with tools, when Heather Davis decided to build a treehouse vacation rental on her 20-acre parcel overlooking a stream in Hardwick, Vermont, she turned to the hosts of the DIY Network’s The Treehouse Guys. “I hired the Treehouse Guys because I wanted to make sure the platform was secure and professionally done,” said Davis, 46, a behavior interventionist at an alternative school. “They did a great job.” She also hired a carpenter to build the frame and roof for the structure, the interior of which is 16 feet long and 10 feet wide. “But I did all the interior—putting in the flooring, the insulation—and I built the cabinet and painted everything,” she said. “I even built a little room for the compost toilet.” The treehouse, which has…

Part of the joy of gardening is being able make the best use of everyday items to enhance the outdoor experience. By tapping into our creativity, we can upcycle vintage items into outdoor lights, create microclimates to extend the growing season, utilize garden space wisely and devise ways to simplify caring for our plants. Even the birds and bees benefit when we add water to the landscape, whether it’s by building a water feature or offering a drink in a whimsical teacup. The point of DIY gardening projects is to take what’s available and turn it into something useful. Choose a couple of these projects to step up your gardening game as well as add unique features to your landscape. “Growing vertically saves space and makes picking your vegetables much…

We’ve all seen the cute chicken coops with curtains on the windows and pictures of children holding chickens in a bed of wildflowers—not to mention the compelling evidence that backyard eggs are healthier than store-bought eggs. For these reasons and more, thousands of people over the last decade have shown an interest in becoming backyard chicken keepers. In an effort to connect with our food source and save money on our groceries, we too decided to raise chickens so we could have fresh eggs daily. Not just any eggs from any chickens, but eggs from chickens that we fed, nurtured and loved—chickens that weren’t kept in tiny cages their entire lives and didn’t have artificial lights on them 24/7. They were going to be farm-fresh eggs from happy, healthy chickens,…

Have you recently acquired a few goats, or are you contemplating getting some for your homestead? They’re a ton of fun, but you need to be prepared to handle their medical problems. When goats get ill or injured, their health can go downhill extremely fast. Waiting on a veterinarian to open the clinic or make it out to the farm isn’t always a viable option. It can even be hard to find one who’s qualified to treat goats. Not all large-animal veterinarians work with goats on a consistent basis, and small-animal vets rarely know how to treat them adequately. Another major hurdle for goat owners is that very few medications are labeled for goats. Therefore, they often require off-label dosages. When called, a veterinarian will typically go over the symptoms…

Camp Chef Pursuit 20 Most pellet grills are suited for the back deck, but Camp Chef offers a transportable solution with its Pursuit 20 Portable Pellet Grill. All you need to power it is a 110-volt outlet. The compact design stores and transports easily, thanks to folding legs and leg levers. A locking chamber and hopper lid provide additional security. Bells and whistles include two meat probes, an ash cleanout system, a cord management system, a grease management system, an electronic auto-start ignition and even a bottle opener. A 160- to 500-degree Fahrenheit temperature range can slow-smoke, grill or anything between. Whether you’re entertaining or just grilling a few burgers, the 501 square inches of rack space can accommodate your needs. MSRP: $525. (campchef.com) Green Mountain Grills Davy Crockett Want…

Ruts from an old wagon road can be seen crossing Jeff and Sherry Owen’s property, and if a wagon suddenly rumbled into view, it’d seem right at home in their rugged Ozarks setting. Deep in the woods near speck-on-the-map Sligo, Missouri, the couple have blazed their way, building a magnificent two-story log home and a successful woodworking business. They’ve crafted their kitchen cabinets, tables, desks and other furnishings for the house. “Our home is our showroom,” says Sherry, 53. Clients wanting custom-built furniture often visit and sit around the cherry trestle table Jeff built using square-peg construction. It’s solid, built to last. Old-fashioned “do it right” craftsmanship goes into every piece of furniture. Inevitably, customers marvel at their handiwork and ask how in the world the big-city couple from St.…

For years, I searched high and low for a leather belt sheath so I could belt-carry a favorite Norlund hatchet. I visited a local Tandy Leather store last winter to buy a kit to make a small knife sheath. The thought of making one myself from scratch never crossed my mind. But after I started talking with one of the staff members and learned that they offer free leatherworking and tooling classes, I started to wonder, and soon a very useful new hobby was born. AN AMAZING MATERIAL Leather has been an important material to human survival for millennia. The oldest human-worked leather artifact ever found is 4,200 years old. We favored leather then and we still use it now because it’s a strong, versatile material. It’s also beautiful and…

Materials & Tools One 10-gallon cylindrical or 50-quart rectangular plastic cooler with removable spigot One ½-inch stainless steel ball valve Two ¾-inch GHT (garden hose thread) female garden-hose-repair couplings with /8-inch barb for spigots One or more hose clamps Two ½-inch to ¾-inch dual male pipe thread adapters Two ½-inch faucet washers/O-rings Plumber’s tape One 24- to 36-inch by ½-inch diameter braided stainless steel flexible supply line 3 to 5 feet of /8-inch-OD (outer diameter) copper tubing ½-inch OD vinyl tubing Hammer, small nails, slotted screwdriver and needle-nose pliers Hacksaw with blade for cutting metal and/or pipe cutter Tubing bender All-grain brewing equipment can be purchased through homebrewing suppliers, but the inner workings are simple enough that they can easily be built at home, usually at a significant savings. All…

Thriftiness and independence are still alive and well in rural America. Even though I’m a city-slicker transplant, I’m happy that I can carry on this tradition. I moved to farm country in Nebraska a few years ago, and we recently built our home on the same farm that my partner’s great-grandparents homesteaded. It’s a picker’s dream to sift through all of the treasures that have accumulated here over the generations, and we’ve incorporated some of these antiques and heirlooms into our home. Our new house is small with an open floor plan in the living room and kitchen area. I wanted the kitchen to be the focal point of the house, highlighting some of the wonderful finds from the farm. Some of the gems that I used included two Hoosier…

5.11 TACTICAL PENINSULA HYBRID JACKET In nasty weather new pioneers will appreciate the many uses of this jacket that has a body engineered with a mini-ripstop fabric with a durable water-repellent finish and Primaloft insulation for warmth. Besides its internal storm flap providing extra protection against the wind, it also features a quilted front and upper back body panels, one-way center-front zipper, hand zip pockets with internal pass-through access, a thumbhole opening on sleeve cuffs and concealed left-chest zip pocket with internal media port. (511tactical.com) 5.11 TACTICAL ARIN SHORT These seven-pocket shorts, made of a poly/elastane blend to support your every move, will be comfortable for wearing in warmer weather while working on your homestead or in the garden. The Arin also features wicking technology to keep you as cool…

Carol J. Alexander writes about sustainable living, health and wellness, and home remodeling topics for print publications, blogs, and websites from her home in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. Her credits include Grit, Hobby Farms, Living the Country Life, and Family Handyman. She is the author of Homestead Cooking with Carol: Bountiful Make-ahead Meals. Cody Assman has been blessed to write for outdoor magazines all across the country. His interests include bowhunting, trapping, horses, primitive camping, living history, and all things western history. Recently he published his first book The Wild Adventures of Old Bill Williams and will soon publish Journey of a Mountain Man. Both books and Cody’s creations can be found at his website frontierlife.net. Marti Attoun is a freelance writer who lives in Joplin, Missouri. She…

The Midwest Apple Improvement Association (MAIA) started with Mitch Lynd (Andy Lynd’s father), three colleagues, plus pollen from a Honeycrisp apple tree and a Fuji apple tree. Twenty years later, the MAIA grower-owned cooperative is leading the way in developing apple varieties that are particularly suited to the Midwest climate. It has trademarked and named several apple varieties, and the first and biggest—EverCrisp—is now grown around the world. “Dad collected the Honeycrisp pollen from our orchard here and took it to another grower up near Youngstown when the Fuji trees were just about ready to bloom. They pollinated the Fuji and then marked the branch and we picked that fruit in the fall and the seeds got planted,” says Andy. “From this planting, one tree was exceptional, and that tree…

It’s one thing to love tomatoes and to grow flavor-packed Brandywines, Black Princes or Mortgage Lifters in your own garden. But it is yet another challenge to breed a new type of tomato that’s stouter and more compact than the usual big-flavored heritage types that hog lots of garden space. There was a need, says North Carolinian Craig LeHoullier, for a sturdy, flavorful tomato that was equally at home in a garden and a patio pot. So, LeHoullier teamed up with Australian Patrina Nuske-Small in 2005 to create dwarf tomatoes. Over the last 15 years, they—and hundreds of volunteers across the planet—have created more than 100 new open-pollinated varieties that tomato enthusiasts can grow from seed. “I’d been selling tomato seedlings in Raleigh for five or 10 years or so,”…

Milking a goat by hand can get old quickly. Using a milking machine makes a lot of sense, especially for those who cannot milk manually or need to get the job done quickly. Which kind of machine you need depends upon how many goats you’re milking and if you need to milk other livestock. Recently, David Moore of greenyardmaster.com rated what he considers the three best goat milkers on the market. At about $160, he cited Dansha Farms’ two-teat milker as the best-priced unit available, a good choice for newbie homesteaders and those who have a few goats. “The company uses less-expensive parts and components to provide a reasonably priced milker without sacrificing quality,” he wrote, adding that it is “the least invasive milker that we saw and also the…

Bears are an increasing nuisance due to aggressive wildlife management policies. With the colonization of North America came hungry people who found bear a delicious source of meat and thick fur for coats. Hunting and habitat loss through deforestation caused the black bear population to plummet. By the early 1900s, only a fraction (around 10 percent) of black bears remained. So, state game departments implemented measures to bring them back. “The big change came in the mid-to-late ’70s when we made changes to the harvest regulations,” says Dave Kocka, a district wildlife biologist with the VDGIF. The department pushed back the hunting seasons to when the female bears denned up, thus saving the females and their unborn offspring. “We are now harvesting more bears a year,” he says, “than existed…

My parents grew up during the Great Depression. They never wasted a thing and saved everything, just in case. They also instilled in me and my siblings the conservation mindset, and I still live by it today. I remember my father coming home from work and then spending hours working on our car just to keep it running so he could go to work in the morning. What did he use to fix the car? Salvaged parts. Our garage was full of them, as well as coffee cans full of nuts, bolts, screws and other items. While my father was under the car, my mother was darning the holes in our socks and patching the rips and tears in our clothes. With five kids, there was no such thing as…

“… the strike plate must fit flush with the wood surface on the doorframe, otherwise the door won’t shut.” Tool Checklist ✓ Note: Tools needed may vary by project/situation. Have you ever stumbled upon such a great deal that you instantly decided to buy the item in question? That recently happened to me while cruising up and down aisles at a local building-supply store. I was there to purchase a few odds and ends for a project when I found myself picking through clearance doors. After looking at several, I discovered one marked at $5. I blinked my eyes a few times, then refocused them on the price tag. Yep, I’d read it correctly. And not only was the…

• Sign up at your leather store to get email sales notices. I bought half a cow hide for just $29 last winter. • Add some flair to your design. I incorporated the cattle brand into one piece. On a knife sheath, I kept some extra material on top to affix brass buttons to match the brass on the knife handle butt. • Use a large pair of sharp scissors to cut leather. Doing so will give you a fine-edged, controlled cut. Use a utility knife for thicker leather. • To gauge how much thread you’ll need, I find that 2.5 times the length of the stitching line is just about right. Remember, you need extra at the start and end to tie off the thread. Further secure loose, frayed…

Sheesh, woodworking chisels can be expensive! While you can buy a set of four small bench chisels made in China for $7.99 at Harbor Freight—that’s just $2 per chisel—you only get what you pay for. Inevitably, a cheap tool won’t work well or last long, and chisels are no exception. New, top-quality wood chisels range from $50 to upwards of $125 each! And a used, collectible 3-inch-wide timber framing slick can set you back about $300. Given these prices, when I need a chisel for working wood, I’ll light up the forge, grab a hammer and make one. So should you. Only basic skills and a penchant for meticulousness are required to produce chisels that chop and pare efficiently, hold their edge and last for several lifetimes. A FEW WORDS…

In the world of fiber artist Carola Jones, vibrant color can be found everywhere in nature. And with these natural colors—blues, reds, yellows and browns—she dyes cotton, linen, hemp and wool fabrics that are then sewn into quilts, shawls and blankets reflecting her Native American heritage on the coastal plains and outer banks of North Carolina. “We were weavers, and for my family, this is how we kept the natural dye history in our bloodlines,” she says. ART AS A CALLING Fabric art was not Carola’s first calling to the art world. As a youngster, she was fascinated by the famed Bob Ross who taught landscape painting on a popular public television show. After attending a Ross workshop, she took up painting. Later, she studied design and went on to…