From Scratch Magazine June/July 2013

From scratch {life on the homestead}

Joel Salatin: Homesteading Advice From a Master

June/July 2013

Raising Cattle on Small Acreage

Pests in the Garden How to Make Homemade Yogurt

The Magazine for the Modern Homesteader

Contents

Homesteading advice from the master

humble fruit to excellent wine

page 18 The Farmstead

page 28

Raising cattle on small acreage

Beneficial Predatory Insects

page 134 page 108 Primal Pastures

how to make homemade yogurt

Create an instant garden with sheet mulching

page 128 fly control methods for the homestead

page 44 2 • from scratch magazine

page 80 page 54

Letter From The Editor

“

living the simple life is hard work.”

T

The other day my son asked why the schools close for summer vacation. I explained that a long time ago the United States was full of farmers. In fact almost everyone was a farmer and the reason kids didn’t have to go to school was because they had to help out with the harvest. He replied: “It’s not much different for me.” He does have to help. In fact he has to help a lot. The numerous tasks that fill up our days seem endless. It is hard work. All the things that comprise a “simple life” caring for animals, tending the

Photo by: Erika Tracy

garden, building projects, cooking and cleaning. It is easy to get overwhelmed and discouraged, which is why I was so inspired when I read “Homesteading Advice from a Master” Joel Salatin.

This homesteading lifestyle is hard work but the rewards are amazing.

And this summer when you are hot and tired and wondering why in the world you ever decided to do this in the first place - remember Joel Salatin’s words: “Don’t Quit!”

Melissa Jones from scratch magazine • 3

Contributors

Thank You

Julie carol chris Thompson-Adolf alexander mclaughlin Gardening Editor Lessons from the Homestead Growing Days Homeschool Columnist A Suburban Farmer

Lesa Wilke Better Hens And Gardens

lisa steele Chicken Columnist Fresh-Eggs-Daily

jennifer burcke 1840 Farm

kate richards Farmhouse38

emily mcgrath our little coop

Christy Wilhelmi gardenerd

Anna hewitt Road to the Farm

teri page Homestead Honey

amber karnes My Aim is True

4 • from scratch magazine

from scratch magazine • 5

Animals on the homestead 2.

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1. llamas from Nancy Russell’s Moonshadow Alpaca Ranch 2. Horse from Covenant Ranch -submitted by Bethany Joy 3. Bacon taking a bath - submitted by Elaine Selfridge of Corny Goat Farm 4. Cow kisses - Submitted by Rich and Julia Fink of Fink Farms in Darlington, Indiana. 5.

Milk, a bunny from Millix Family Farm - submitted by Tricia Millix 6. Baby Goat from Marsha Hickman’s Mima Oaks in Olympia, Washington 6 • from scratch magazine

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from scratch magazine • 7

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Buckeye Chickens: Heritage Jewels Story and Photos by: Lesa Wilke

T

he Buckeye is the only American chicken breed developed solely by a woman, Mrs. Nettie Metcalf of Warren, Ohio.

In 1896, Mrs. Metcalf set out to produce a dual purpose breed that would thrive in Ohio’s bitterly cold winters, and she was very successful.

She bred Barred Rocks, Buff Cochins, and black-breasted Red Games to produce the first birds, and named them Buckeyes after their home state.

Besides their beautiful mahogany-red color (which Mrs. Metcalf described as a “garnet”) and friendly natures, Buckeyes are known for withstanding freezing weather conditions without suffering harm.

14 • from scratch magazine

BUCKEYE CHARACTERISTICS

Buckeyes are a dual purpose breed (good for both flavorful meat and eggs) with deep mahogany plumage, yellow legs and skin, and pea combs. Since there is game bird in their makeup, they do well in free ranging conditions, but not in total confinement.

Roosters weigh approximately nine pounds, and hens weigh approximately six and a half pounds and lay 150 - 200 brown eggs per year. In the bantam size, roosters weigh about 34 ounces while hens weigh about 28 ounces.

They are the only American birds that have pea combs, and have a shape that resembles the Cornish Game bird. They have a

slanted, short broad back, meaty thighs, and powerful wings and breast. Their body shape and pea comb make Buckeyes extremely cold tolerant – perfect for colder weather regions.

Buckeyes also have unique personalities. They are very active, and are particularly good “mousers” – it’s unwise for a mouse to venture through Buckeye territory.

In addition, they have little fear of humans, are quite inquisitive, and are very friendly. Many chickens run away from humans, Buckeyes tend to run toward humans.

Hens often retain their “setting and mothering” abilities and can go broody, traits appreciated by those wanting to maintain small, self-perpetuating flocks. Chicks grow relatively fast, and benefit

from a higher protein feed than other breeds. Chick starter feeds typically contains around 20 percent protein, so many Buckeye owners use game bird starter instead (which typically contains around 28 percent protein).

Buckeye roosters are known for their gentle dispositions, excellent flock protection skills, and wide range of vocalizations. It’s not unusual to hear everything from a purr to a roar from a Buckeye rooster.

HISTORY

The Buckeye breed was admitted to the American Poultry Association Standard in February of 1905, and the breeds build, productivity, foraging ability, and

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HappyHenTreats.com from scratch magazine • 15

inquisitive nature made it a popular homestead bird for nearly fifty years. However, after World War II, poultry production commercialized and moved indoors, and the Buckeyes free ranging nature made them unsuitable for commercial production. That, along with the demise of backyard flocks during last half of the 20th century, caused Buckeyes to become endangered. In 2003, there were less than 72 known breeding birds left in the United States.

In addition, the increasing availability of chicks from large hatcheries over the last several decades caused once commonly known selection methods and techniques for maintaining chicken breed productivity to be lost, and as a result, the remaining Buckeyes often exhibited decreased productivity. So in 2005, the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (ALBC) began a program to recover the Buckeye’s original characteristics. The purpose of the project was to see if traditional selection methods and techniques (as documented in early to mid-

16 • from scratch magazine

20th century poultry texts) could be used to return a rare heritage breed to the productive homestead breed it once was.

The program was highly successful. After just three generations of using these traditional selection methods, the Buckeye chickens grew to size two weeks faster, weighed a pound more, had improved egg production, and again matched the published American Poultry Association standard for the breed. In 2007, one of the ALBC project birds shocked the chicken exhibition world by winning Reserve Grand Champion in the American class at the Ohio Nationals. Today Buckeyes descended from the ALBC project birds are making a comeback as excellent birds for both flavorful meat and eggs, and in 2011, Buckeyes were upgraded from “Critical” to “Threatened” status based on 2010 status data reporting more than 2,400 birds.

Homesteaders and chicken keepers all over are discovering that Mrs. Metcalf’s “garnet” birds truly are heritage jewels.

MORE INFORMATION/ FINDING BREEDERS The American Buckeye Club The American Buckeye Club is dedicated to the preservation of the Buckeye Chicken and is a place for Breeders, Hobbyists, Fanciers and Poultry Enthusiasts to share information about this exceptional breed of fowl.

The organization was established in 1909 and reorganized by a small group of Ohio based Buckeye Breeders in 2009.

Their mission is to be the primary resource for the Buckeye Breeders Directory- in addition to a historical reference for everyone interested in learning more about Buckeyes!

American Buckeye Poultry Club - The American Buckeye Poultry Club is a registered non-profit breed club created in 2008 to promote and support the Buckeye chicken, both large fowl and bantam.

from scratch magazine • 17

Humble fruit to excellent wine By: Steven Jones

I

f you are ever in Duplin County North Carolina and stop by the Duplin Winery you might meet Ms. Kaye Corbette a former tax auditor who now sells wine and hosts tastings.

She will tell you all about the muscadine grape wine the company produces and sells. You will notice however, that the product she’s shilling is much different from the vintages touted by winelovers the world over.

18 • from scratch magazine

With just as much complexity and depth as the best of its European and Californian counterparts, this wine has a humility that comes from the native American grapes used.

“God made this grape and made it what it is,” Ms. Kaye said.

What’s a muscadine?

A muscadine is a grape native to

the Southeast. It grows wild in the forests. Children sometimes pluck the dark, purply-red grapes from vines while surrounded by briars and honeysuckle, on creek banks and hollows.

They come giggling home, with cockleburs stuck to pant legs and puckered mouths, their clothes and hair soaked in the scent of the distinctive berries.

Despite this democratic accessibility, the grapes have a noted history.

A Florentine explorer noted one variety -- the Scuppernong -- in a logbook in 1524 while exploring the Cape Fear River Valley. Sir Walter Raleigh’s explorers wrote about the grapes in 1584.

The Mother Vine -- growing on Roanoke Island in North Carolina -- is quite possibly the oldest surviving cultivated grape vine in the world, with an estimated age over 400 years old.

Ms. Kaye tells visitors to the Duplin Wine (pronounced “Doo-

from scratch magazine • 19

plin”) retail center that the Mother Vine was named for the Queen Mother at the time, Elizabeth I. Hundreds of years later, the Fussell family decided to grow the grapes. In the 1970s, Jonathan Fussell’s father, David Sr., and his brother started growing muscadines. The grapes take about 3 years to produce and six years to produce well. In 1972, the grapes were considered a wonder crop and sold for $350 a ton. In 1974, the price dropped to $150.

So the Fussell family decided it would be more profitable to make their own wine.

20 • from scratch magazine

The first winery was located where their current retail center is located.

At first, they made wine designed for the “bottom shelves.”

They bought the warehouse and winery grounds from David Fussell Sr.’s father, Jonathan’s grandfather.

“He sold it to us, we just never paid for it,” Jonathan said.

By all accounts, the new winery did alright producing “cheap” wines. Through the first few years of the winery’s inception, North Carolina’s tax law for wine helped.

They could sell wine at a cheaper

rate than out of state competitors and still make a profit.

Then in 1985, everything changed.

A lawsuit led to a level playing field. In 1985 it was determined they would have to be taxed at the same rate as out of state competitors.

“Our sales plummeted,” Jonathan said.

David Sr.’s brother got out of the business during the 80’s.

The family bought him out.

David Sr. got a job as a school teacher to make ends meet. At one point, the Fussell family lost their home.

Only through the intervention of the family patriarch, who purchased the property from the bank, did they actually keep a roof over their heads.

They struggled through the years.

When Jonathan went off to college, there were only three people working for the company, including his father.

Jonathan was told to major in whatever he liked, because it was entirely possible the company wouldn’t be there when he graduated.

from scratch magazine • 21

Jonathan Fussell, one of the heads of Duplin Winery, poses with chilling tanks at the winery’s facility in Rose Hill, NC.

revival

Jonathan said, dilutes the sugar content.

Then in 1996, something hapSo suddenly, the lowly muscadine, pened. It was discovered that with its ancient pedigree, was a antioxidants had all sorts of benhot commodity and Duplin Winery efits for personal health. was poised to take advantage of Muscadines, and the wine made that fact. from them, contain lots of antioxidants, Jonathan said, including Sales skyrocketed, increasing more than 20 percent per year for resveratrol. the next 14 years.

The wine, he said, because it is native to the Southeast, produces Even with the economic downturn, the antioxidants to fight infections. they’ve still managed to grow As a result, and added benefit, the more than ten percent in the last grapes do not have to be sprayed three years.

This year, Jonathan said, the winwith antioxidants and they don’t require the irrigation necessary for ery has grown 22 percent over last year’s figures. other crops.

Part of the success, Jonathan In fact, the less irrigation -- the said, is their attempts and efforts drier the weather -- the sweeter to use every part of the grape. the grapes. Too much wetness, 22 • from scratch magazine

The bottling room at the Duplin Winery.

The skins and seeds leftover after pressing are sold to a food supplement company that produces antioxidant supplements. To remove tannins from the wine a cooling process produces cream of tartar.

This is also sold. Right now, the only thing not sold from the muscadines are pulp that falls out during the first cooling process.

The company employs 92 people.

They contract nearly 50 families to provide grapes in four states and over 1,500 acres.

They produce millions of bottles of wine a year.

More than 90,000 people visit their retail center in Rose Hill, North Carolina.

“We count them,” Jonathan said,

with a gleam of pride.

Now the company is in an unusual position.

Despite its size, the winery still occupies a niche market. A quick Google search reveals many “winos” consider muscadine wines to be dessert wines. While many of Duplin’s vintages are sweet, many of them have the crisp complexity which can be expected from any good white wine.

The company makes plenty of money, but a tour of the winery reveals they all know their employees and the brothers who now run the company -- Jonathan and David Jr. -- are on a first name basis with everyone, from salespeople to the employees from scratch magazine • 23

working in the shipping room.

Facilities in the winery, like the bottling room, are dedicated to past employees, complete with plaques and signs paying tribute to their service.

Their ethos seems to have a lot in common with a small dairy farm or a little homestead: Nothing goes to waste, everyone works hard and everyone takes care of each other. The company even locally sources synthetic corks from Zebulon, North Carolina.

All this appears to have happened organically.

Like Ms. Kaye said “God...made it what it is.”

24 • from scratch magazine

Growing Grapes

While most of their grapes are grown by contractors, including about 10 whom the company has what Jonathan calls a “handshake” agreement, the Fussell family still knows a lot about cultivating muscadine.

Jonathan even remembers as a child having to dispose of the seeds and skins, which were used by farmers as fertilizer (now only the pulp is used).

Muscadines are grown from clippings.

In June, the clippings are propagated in a greenhouse into a root

the grapes into bins placed in between the vines. The bins hold 1,600 pounds of grapes each.

Most of the muscadines are grown in North Carolina.

After Hurricane Fran the winery decided to expand into other states, signing contracts in Mississippi, Georgia and South Carolina.

“Fran wiped out 50 percent of our crop,” Jonathan said.

The winery reasons that any weather event that hits one state will not hit all three, leading to less crop loss. There are 72 varieties of muscadine grapes. Six are used by Duplin Winery: Carlos, James, Magnolia, Scuppernong, Noble and Coastal James.

Continuing their success ball until the following April or May, when they are planted in the fields. The vines are then trained, using pruning methods, to grow up a bamboo stick and then parallel to the ground on lines.

In three years, an acre of muscadine grows 1-2 tons per acre. In about seven years, the vine produces 6 to 8 tons per acre. Vines in their “teenage” years can produce 10 tons or more, in some cases, up to 22 tons.

The vines, after their years of training, are ready for harvest each September. The grapes are “picked” by large harvesters, which use metal “fingers” to shake

Since the 1996 revival of the business, Duplin Winery has worked hard to keep itself relevant and get the wine into the hands of their customers. One of the best ways to do this, Jonathan said, is through the retail center.

Originally the first winery built by the family, the facility became the retail center and bistro when they built a new facility just up the road.

“The retail business is the number 1 tool for our winery,” Jonathan said.

If you visit the winery, hosts like Ms. Kaye will guide you through the tasting process, using a com-

from scratch magazine • 25

Kaye Corbette, a hostess at the tasting room at the Duplin Winery retail center in Rose Hill, NC.

bination of a great personality, Southern hospitality and knowledge about the wine.

Ms. Kaye asked all the visitors during one tasting where they were from.

When one visitor named a nearby town, she said, “I got a dog from there once.”

Ms. Kaye keeps her audience captivated with stories about the wine. Magnolia was once named Martha Stewart’s favorite summer wine.

“We sent her two cases and said thank you,” she said. They never heard back from the craft maven.

She offers recipes using Duplin Burgundy created by another 26 • from scratch magazine

employee, Bruce Herring.

“He knows everything,” she said.

“I’m not joking.”

She even dishes dirt about the family.

One wine, Bald Head Red, was originally named by David Jr. as a way to take a dig at his brother, Jonathan, who happens to be bald.

He commissioned a label which featured Jonathan’s head. When shown to the family matriarch, Ms. Kaye said, their mother axed the idea.

“You are not going to put my children’s bald heads on that bottle,” she reportedly said.

The wine bottle now features an

image of “Old Baldy,” an out-of-service lighthouse on Bald Head Island in North Carolina.

Ms. Kaye teaches visitors how to taste wine, emphasizing the 5 S’s: See, swirl, smell, sip and savor.

“Try that with a glass of Mountain Dew,” she said.

Ms. Kaye emphasizes everything great about the winery. There’s a honest pride about the wine, using native crops to the Southeast, coupled with a humility that can be lacking in other wineries throughout the world.

Ms. Kaye tells a story about the winery’s Pink Magnolia wine that highlight’s the muscadine wine’s duality.

The wine was entered into a west coast competition in 2003. Among 3,200 wineries, it won two gold medals, including Best Blush and Best in Show.

After winning, organizers, Kaye said, contacted the company, only to be shocked to find out that the wine did not sell for hundreds of dollars.

The winery was not invited back to the competition.

They do not seem to mind.

The companies have won many awards, Kaye will show you.

But for Jonathan and his family, it does not really matter. They like their wine. Jonathan drinks his wine, he drinks wine from other wineries in North Carolina.

“I consume a lot of wine,” he said.

And he has no intention of stopping. He jokes that he hopes to die like some of his yeast “from alcohol poisoning.”

In the meantime, Jonathan wants to just keep making wine and keep growing his company.

Just like his father, who retired years ago.

“He hasn’t stopped working,” Jonathan said.

The rest of the family will keep working too.

“I want my kids to learn to work,” he said. “Somebody’s going to want to be involved (in making wine).”

from scratch magazine • 27

“Every single act should be a physical manifestation of our thought process” -Joel Salatin

28 • from scratch magazine

Homesteading Advice from the Master Story by: Carol J. Alexander Photos by: Amber Karnes

{

}

Polyface, Inc. is a family owned, multi-generational, pasture-based, beyond organic, local-market farm and informational outreach in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley

H

ow do you introduce a man who, in the homesteading/farming arena needs no introduction?

Mr. Joel Salatin of Polyface, Inc. in Swoope, Virginia is a regular speaker at homesteading venues like the Mother Earth News Fair, and the Sustainable Living Fair.

He’s written several books on the topic of growing food for family and community, like Family Friendly Farming, Pastured Poultry Profits, and Folks, This Ain’t Normal.

A third generation alternative farmer, Salatin is the go-to man for those just beginning their homesteading journey, as well as those that have lived their entire

lives on the farm. I was thrilled that Mr. Salatin agreed to share his expertise with From Scratch readers.

From Scratch: I think that most readers of From Scratch will have a general knowledge of Joel Salatin and PolyFace, Inc. but for those new to the homesteading scene, could you tell us a little bit about yourself, your family, farm, and what you do?

Joel Salatin: My mom and dad bought the farm in 1961, when I was four, and worked off the farm to pay for it. In a decade they paid it off so we were debt-free.

Meanwhile, we were experimenting with things and Dad invented a portable electric fencing system and other portable infrastructure.

When I came along, I developed from scratch magazine • 29

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more portable infrastructure, added direct marketing, composting, and refinements to Dad’s designs so that today, more than 50 years after coming to the most run-down farm in the area, it’s arguably the most productive and beautiful. We produce pastured poultry (broilers, eggs, turkeys), salad bar beef, pig-aerator pork, forage-based rabbit and lumber.

Our son Daniel and his wife and their three children are also fulltime on the farm, so that the farm now has four generations living on it -- my mother is an energetic 89 year old. In addition, a team of interns, apprentices, sub-contractors and staff help us maintain our nearly 1,000 head of cattle, 1,000 pastured hogs per year, 25,000 broilers, 150,000 dozen eggs,

2,000 turkeys, rabbits, honey, vegetables and anything else we can produce to service our 50 restaurants and 5,000 family customers.

FS: Living a sustainable lifestyle is a trend. Never in my life have I seen a more powerful thrust to provide for one’s own family, live off the land, reduce one’s carbon footprint, eschew chemicals, cook whole foods, etc. And everyone wants a front-row seat on the green bus. But is everyone cut out to grow their own food? Share with us the traits the successful, modern homesteader possesses.

JS: Everyone can’t grow their own

from scratch magazine • 31

food, but everyone can live as if they were. And everyone can do something, even if it’s just a vermicomposting bin under the kitchen sink and using cloth diapers instead of disposables. The point is that every single act should be a physical manifestation of our thought process, a conscious decision. Mindless acts have no place in our lives. Even wanting to do something mindless like watch a silly movie should be for a season: “I need a break from the 120 percent I’ve been giving all day to such-and-such an activity.” While I appreciate the desire for self-reliance, I’m much more in favor of mutual inter-dependence.

Sometimes we can become so independent we do things we’re not good at or deplore, and then burn out or fail miserably. Part of

32 • from scratch magazine

self-reliance is building a resilient community of hard goods and soft goods (spiritual, emotional, educational) around us, proximate, and relationally-oriented. All that said, here are some traits to think about:

Perseverance.

Don’t quit. The opposite of success is not failure, it’s despair.

The only difference between a success and a failure is that last failure. Be willing to get up one more time and you’ll eventually get it or find another way to do it.

Risk.

All innovation is risky. If you want security, don’t become a

homesteader. Dead lambs, wilted things, but so your kids will know you stand on the shoulders of othtomatoes—learning new skills— requires us to risk making a mess. ers.

Mentoring.

Magnanimity.

Too many folks assume that current practitioners can’t really be that smart. First, copy the masters and do it as well as them; then you earn the right to make changes. All of us need to copy the folks who already know how to do it.

Too often homesteaders develop their passion out of an angriness mentality--government, neighbors, criminals, big business, etc.

We need to channel that frustration into a magnanimous, sharing, embracing, giving mystique.

read.

All good homesteaders I know invest in education, seminars, and reading. Fill your house with good books, not only to keep you thinking about new ways of doing

FS: So, if someone comes to the conclusion that they’re not cut out for farming per se, yet they want to make a difference, what can they do to create a more sustainable lifestyle for themselves?

from scratch magazine • 33

JS:

get in the kitchen.

get rid of the tv.

The most fundamental and farreaching thing anyone can do to create a different world right now is to quit patronizing the corporate preparing, packaging, and preserving of our food. Domestic culinary arts are the single biggest component missing from our food and farming culture. You can’t be as ignorant about food as our culture is and maintain any food integrity.

A close second is video games and any other mindless trivialities that eat up our time and feed us the cultural status quo pablum.

Invest that time in other things: reading, gardening, playing checkers, talking.

34 • from scratch magazine

find your food.

Invest all the time and money you planned to spend in the next

“Don’t quit.”

The opposite of success is not failure, it’s despair.

-Joel Salatin

year on entertainment in your local food shed. Every community and city is surrounded by wonderful land-healing and food-healing farms. Find them and patronize them.

eco-fit your house.

They will eat your kitchen scraps and lay your eggs. Retrofit your plumbing to send grey water into your toilet to reduce water consumption. Install a cistern to catch roof water and eliminate utility bills.

buy bulk direct Install a solarium on the southern side to heat you in the winter from farmers. and grow vegetables out of season. That way you can quit using Not only does this help farmers petroleum-based heat and grow get more of the retail food dollar, your own food. Get rid of the it makes juggling inventory on the pets and get two chickens instead. farm easier and it reduces your from scratch magazine • 35

trips to the grocery. Pledge to reduce your supermarket trips by half. Restoring a larder makes you eat more seasonally and become more innovative planning your meals around what you have on hand. Seasonal eating is critical to reducing food miles and carbon footprints.

these accessories, you deny industrial corporate pseudo-food businesses a few dollars. This does not take an act of Congress, an Executive Order, increased taxes or government agencies; all it takes is individuals to empower themselves one bit at a time.

FS: I’ve been amazed in just the last few weeks at how many folks have told me they’d love to live a more sustainable lifestyle but they live in the city. What three ways From slow cookers to dehydrators would you recommend an to sausage stuffers, enjoy building urban dweller get started in your infrastructure of self-reliance, providing food for themselves? knowing that every time you use

accesorize your kitchen with processing equipment.

36 • from scratch magazine

JS:

1. pot gardens Legal pot gardens, that is.

Although, I’m certainly in favor of illegal pot gardens. Anywhere you have sunlight a few hours a day you can grow something.

2. bees On the roof, set a hive.

castings. This eliminates the garbage handling, reduces landfill use, and generates wonderful fertilizer for your plants.

FS: I think folks often spend more time dwelling on what they don’t have than how to make the most of what they do have. With that in mind, what advantages can you see for the person that only has 1-3 acres as opposed to 20?

JS: Smaller acreages are not as 3. vermicomposting daunting because each project is not as large. By breaking up Plenty of kits exist to turn your the projects into small units you kitchen scraps into rich earthworm can accomplish them fairly quick-

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ly and move onto the next one.

Completion breeds completion.

Too much incomplete stuff breeds despair. Secondly, your mistakes are not as catastrophic. If you put in fences on 20 acres and then learn they are all in the wrong places, you’ll probably never rip them all out and put them in the

38 • from scratch magazine

right places. But if you do it on only one acre, that’s not too much to change.

Third, creativity. I think the smaller the acreage, the more we’re forced to think creatively, like vertical gardening, companions, and intensive production techniques.

{

}

Joel’s advice for new homesteaders with just a couple of acres

Don’t do anything for a year. Think. Walk the property — where is it wet, dry, hot, cold, shady, or sunny?

Make drawings. Using this information, begin designing what you’d like to do.

Grow something you like to eat. Nothing incentivizes us to be successful more than mouth-watering experiences. Start with what you like to eat the most and you’d be surprised what you might accomplish.

Visit other people with one acre (or less). Every time I visit places, I’m amazed at the ability of people to conceive new ideas, new ways of doing things.

DON’T start with something you fear. If you’re afraid of bees, don’t put in a hive. If you’re afraid of squash bugs, plants tomatoes instead. Plant or grow the easy stuff first. You need some successes; there’s plenty of time to deal with the hard stuff.

DON’T do too many things too fast. You can’t solve everything in a day. You can’t learn everything in a day. Be content to enjoy a pace that works for you and don’t sweat that there’s still more to do. You’ll always have something more to do, so work at it hard. But don’t despair when it’s two steps forward and one step back.

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FS: If a person wants to do more than feed their family, have a market garden, or even make a living off their land, how much land do you think they need to have?

start something, even if it’s a windowsill. Movement begets movement. Don’t even think about how much land you need or what you could do with a given acreage. Just start doing something NOW, and if you fill it up, are comJS: Anyone familiar with me knows pletely faithful with that, then the next step will become apparent. that I’m a huge advocate of NOT Seldom do we see the whole jourowning land. I’ve seen too many ney. The journey starts with one people create full-time farming step. Take that one and then the careers in the city, on borrowed next will show itself. city back yards, on roof tops—you name it, all you need is access to sunlight. People are even full-time Elderly couples need young folks to care-take their yards and small farming on concrete by filling bins acreages. Abandoned lots, abanwith mushroom tailings for soil. doned farms, unused sidewalk The question is: What are you doing today with what you have? edges, expressway medians. It’s all out there. Go for it.

If you don’t have anything, then 40 • from scratch magazine

FS: Do you have anything else you’d like to share with From Scratch readers just beginning on their homesteading journey?

JS: We live in an age of excuses and victimhood.

The easiest thing in the world is to rail against the evil whatever.

The hardest thing is to provide a solution, and even harder, to participate in that solution.

In formal interscholastic and intercollegiate debate (I competed five years in high school and four years in college— best thing I ever did, besides marrying a beautiful homeeconomics major more frugal than I).

The affirmative team (demanding a change) has two responsibilities: Prove the need for a change (case) and offer a solution (plan).

If the affirmative wins the case—i.e. things are really bad and we need to change them—but loses the plan, their side loses the debate.

If they have a wonderful plan but fail to prove it’s needed, they also lose. Remember, it’s not enough to gripe; the only way griping becomes positive is to offer a credible solution. Let’s get both parts right by being agents of change in a time when it’s never been more necessary.

from scratch magazine • 41

Chicken Chicken Columnist Columnist

talking chicken scratch with lisa Lisa Steele Fresh Eggs Daily

Q.

be outside WITH a traveling heating pad to scurry underneath whenever they get cold! So when you buy chicks or hatch them in an incubator, it is good advice to wait until the chicks are fully feathered (about 6 weeks old) to let them outside unless it’s exceptionally warm where you live, and to wait even a bit lonA. You’re right, when chicks are ger if you live in a colder climate.

Until they are fully feathered they hatched under a chicken, they will are unable to regulate their own be outside from the moment they body temperature and are extremely hatch. But remember, they would Everyone tells me that I should wait until chicks are at least a few weeks old before I let them explore the world outside out of their brooder. I’m a little confused at this because if the eggs were hatched by one of my chickens, the chicks would be outside already.

42 • from scratch magazine

grower feed. You are correct that feeding young non-laying hens Q. I am considering ordering layer feed can damage their kidchicks to add to my current three neys due to its high calcium conlaying hens. As the chicks grow tent. By offering only the starter/ and are integrated into my exist- grower feed alongside a separate dish of crushed eggshells or oysing flock, how do I make sure they eat the chick feed and not the ter shell, your laying hens can layer feed which is harmful [due regulate how much additional calcium they need for strong eggto the high calcium content] if shells. Your non-layers and roostgiven too early? ers won’t touch it.

A. Any time you have a mixed Lisa Steele from flock with layers and non-layers, Fresh Eggs Daily you should feed them all starter/ The resident susceptible to being chilled.

From Scratch Chicken Expert.

EVERYTHING FOR CHICKENS Incubators Brooders Feeders Waterers Treats Medication Nest Boxes Egg Cartons Q.

RANDALL BURKEY COMPANY 800-5311097

randallburkey.com

from scratch magazine • 43

44 • from scratch magazine

Primal Pastures By: Melissa Jones Primal Pastures came to be out of a belief that the world is experiencing a major food crisis and an intense desire to be a part of the solution.

Located on a micro-ranch in Temecula California, Primal Pastures aims to provide food that is grown responsibly, sustainably, and according to nature’s brillant design. They provide pasture raised, free range, no GMO chickens to Southern California.

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What is the mission of Primal Pastures?

Our #1 goal is to feed our neighbors the best meat in California.

That’s really what drives our decisions and strategy. We also feel strongly about healing families, healing animals, and healing the land. We want to reconnect people with their food and be uber transparent about what we’re doing and how we raise our animals. People are begging for this and it’s really not rocket science.

We are in a rare position where a very successful business plan has been laid out for us by nature and we do our best to emulate that.

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Tell us about your operation. What do you do differently? Where are you located?

We’re a tiny pastured poultry micro-ranch located in Temecula, CA, (about 1 hour from Los Angeles, Orange County, and San Diego). We raise animals on grass with organic, no soy, and no GMO products and offer local pickup sites throughout Southern California. We are a family made up of individuals who hold degrees in a wide spectrum of concentrations. We all have our own unique and interesting life experiences, but have found a common love for regenerative agriculture.

The difference starts with our chicks. Since we’re in beautiful warm and sunny Southern California we are lucky enough to raise chicks out on the pasture from day one. This has several advantages, the biggest being that the chicks are picking and scratching for bugs and worms as infants and in turn grow to understand where their food comes from. This makes for an extremely healthy bird that knows how to forage and actually ends up saving us money (Organic, no soy, no GMO feed is expensive!).

Once they’re grown, we move them into large portable electric fencing “paddocks” that are rotated on a weekly basis to fresh pasture so the birds get fresh forages. We move the coop around with them for protection and shelter.

We harvest at 7-9 weeks, which allows our pasture raised birds to reach a nice full weight of 4-6 pounds. We also raise laying hens that produce eggs with the most delicious, dark, orange creamy yolk that you have ever tasted.

We never have enough to sell because we always eat them all.

Who is involved?

It’s kind of like a bad episode of the old show “Gilligan’s Island” where we have a lot of people with diverse backgrounds that combine perfectly to solve prob-

lems and overcome obstacles. We are a family operation led by four guys heavily subsidized by our better halves. Three of us are under 35 which is unheard of in a country where the average rancher exceeds 65 years old. Tom is definitely the resident expert having grown up on a farm, ran a successful construction company, and studied organic and grass based farming for the last 30 years. Jeff and Rob are Tom’s two sons and Paul married into the family through Tom’s daughter Lynsey (Rob and Jeff’s sister).

Tom is the brains, Jeff is our logistics (double masters degree and owns a small logistics company), Paul is the business guy (MBA student and CPA), and Rob is the day to day and health guy (in PA school).

What is a Paleo diet and how did it inspire your operation?

The “Paleo diet” or “Paleo lifestyle” is a way of eating that looks to the diets of traditional hunter gatherers as a baseline for human eating. Traditional hunter gatherers lacked many of the modern day “diseases of affluence” like cancer, diabetes, and obesity that we now find plaguing our country and our lands. It’s more of a “lifestyle” than a diet and since we started eating this way we began viewing the world differently. The same logic holds true that the way farming once was may be a good from scratch magazine • 47

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starting points for what it should be. We really look to nature to be our farmer and we rely on God and nature’s intelligent design to give us the optimal template for raising animals.

It is really cool to see this in action and provide our animals with a very natural habitat to grow in. The Paleo lifestyle has given us a strong intuition for what is normal or out of the ordinary for our flocks. We are learning that the more we can replicate nature (African Serengeti, Southeast Asian Jungefowl) the healthier a bird that we can raise.

What are your plans for the future of Primal Pastures?

We are going to revolutionize the meat industry in America. Our plan is to take the factory farming, pick it up, turn it upside down, shake it out, and stand American food back on its feet.

We are starting on one tiny 2.5 acre micro-ranch with 54 chicks but we’ve quickly outgrown the space and will be expanding into Grass Fed Beef and Lamb this summer.

We believe in the local food movement and we don’t ship at all, but part of our strategy is to work with failing conventional farms.

We want to turn them into pastured operations. Using our name, website, and media tools, we are able to help them sell a healthier

product at a better price and heal the land beneath them. We’re also really excited about helping overseas and have manyconnections in East Africa where they could exponentially benefit by gaining an understanding of this alternative to factory farming.

I’ll mention that what we’re super excited about is helping people to do this at home. Backyard flocks used to be common practice 50 years ago but because of zoning regulations and cultural shifts it is almost unheard of now. Since we’ve recently gone through all of this ourselves (we just started in April 2012) and learned our lessons the hard way, we’re offering services to help people across the country get set up to raise their very own laying hens for eggs.

There is nothing more rewarding than walking outside on a cool summer morning, saying hello to your ladies, and cooking up a scramble with fresh pastured eggs and garden veggies. Wow!

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Homeschool Columnist

Lessons from the Homestead By: Carol J. Alexander

I

was recently privileged to interview Joel Salatin— twice. The first interview was for my blog, Lessons from the Homestead. The second was for this magazine.

The interview on my blog focused on homeschooling and many folks commented with questions about homeschooling on the homestead.

The question for this column was taken from one of those comments:

Joesette asked: Great article! If you have no animal husbandry background, 50 • from scratch magazine

what would you recommend as a good option for a first time farm animal for a child to raise and care for?

Great question, Joesette! Really, no one needs an animal husbandry background to keep farm animals any more than they need one to keep a dog or cat.

However for children, I do believe it’s better to start small. For one thing, a cow is a $2,000 investment; a chicken, $5.

This isn’t a farm animal, but when my son wanted a pet snake I asked him what he knew about keeping snakes. He stared blankly. The next trip to the library, he checked out every book on pet snakes and read each one cover to cover. I suggest the same thing for the junior farmer.

The chicken, I think, is the best place to start for several reasons.

First, it is relatively easy to care for. Second, it gives you back in eggs. Third, they are entertaining.

Before buying your chickens, have

your coop all ready to go. Don’t bring chicks home from the farm store and think you can keep them in a box until you build your coop.

Something will come up to detain you—it never fails. Build your coop and put up your fencing before you even go looking at chicks. If you need ideas for coops, or any animal housing for that matter, I recommend How to Build Animal Housing

by Carol Ekarius. This book contains plans for many different styles that your middle to high school-aged child can understand. Our boys built almost all of our animal housing, with minimal assistance.

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For information on feeding and caring for your chickens, have your child read Your Chickens: A Kid’s Guide to Raising and Showing, by Gail Damerow and the appropriate sections from The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery.

Both of these books will cover everything he needs to know from chick to the stew pot (if that is in your plans). In fact, you will want to have a plan for your chickens before you buy them because different breeds make better layers or meat chickens than others. And, of course, if you intend to eat your animals, you need to prepare the children for that real-

52 • from scratch magazine

ity from the start. That is another good reason to choose chickens for them. Chickens give back to the homestead without sacrificing their lives.

Lastly, chickens are entertaining.

Everyone loves to watch them— especially younger children. And if you get them as chicks, your kids will tame them by carrying them around everywhere they go.

Kids can learn more than just animal husbandry by keeping animals.

Building a chicken coop involves reading plans, calculations, math, and critical thinking. Feeding and

Follow Lessons From the Homestead For More Homeschooling Information.

Homeschooling for 18 years and homesteading for 12, Carol J. Alexander looks for the lessons in every aspect of her family’s homesteading lifestyle. She is the author of a series of e-books entitled Lessons from the Homestead which help parents find those lessons as well.

for math, science, language, art, home economics, and more. Other titles include Lessons from the Bee Hive, Lessons from the Garden, Lessons from the Seed Catalog, and Lessons from the Tree House.

You will also receive helpful homeBy the way, my son earned his pet schooling on the homestead inforsnake. In fact he kept several pet mation by subscribing to her free snakes throughout his middle and monthly newsletter. teen years; to the delight of his mama. caring involves science. Even language arts assignments can include chickens. That is the beauty of homeschooling on the homestead; all of life is learning—textbooks unnecessary.

For more information on what your children can learn from keeping chickens, check out Carol’s e-book Lessons from the Hen House. Part of her Lessons from the Homestead series, it includes over 50 lessons

Lessons from the Homestead

Down-to-Earth Support for the Homesteading Homeschooler E-Books • Blog • Newsletter from scratch magazine • 53

O Homemade Fly Control Methods for the Homestead By: Kate Richards 54 • from scratch magazine

ur chickens have changed our lives. They have brought us endless laughter.

They have brought us fresh eggs. They have brought into sharp focus the brilliance of garden-to-table eating.

And they have brought us flies. Lots and lots of flies.

I am well aware that our tiny suburban homestead fly population pales in comparison to that of a real farm, but our tight proximity to our nonchicken-keeping neighbors makes it hugely important to keep them

under reasonable control. And my general, insatiable (possibly pathological) quest for tidiness also dictates that I wage a merciless war on these buzzing, winged, soulless demons. With one caveat: I want to wage a merciless responsible war…. no chemicals, please.

There is a reason that the over-the-counter jar/bag traps and tacky (in more ways than one) fly strips are the most commonly used methods of fly control; they are totally effective.

They also aren’t completely awful with their ingredients. But between the terrible smell from the jar attractant, and watching in horror as one of my chickens fluttered too close to a fly strip and

then proceeded to wrap herself, mummy-style, in it…. I am not a fan of either.

Besides, both look so terrible hanging around the garden and house. I don’t care how efficient they are; they ugly.

So it was with embarrassing enthusiasm that I decided to do some good old-fashioned internet research on what sorts of homemade recipes people were tossing around out there. I figured there just had to be a way to build a better mousetrap--er, flytrap, that is. After far too many hours of serious recipe finding, testing, and manipulating, I’ve come up with several methods that really seem to work quite well for us around here.

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traps).

The attractant options were here are so many DIY attrac- equally as diverse. Suggested concoctions ranged from sugar tant trap recipes out there and water, to hunks of raw meat, that it was almost overto vinegar and fruit juice. It whelming. Fortunately, they all stands to reason that your bait share three pretty basic traits: a probably depends heavily on what canister, fly-enticing attractant, types of flies are your target vicand some sort of escape barrier.

The canister manifested itself in tims, so I encourage a little ingredient testing (at our house we a myriad of forms: milk jugs and have the average houseflies as cartons, yogurt containers, water bottles, and other up-cycled trea- well as a plethora of little, seriously annoying fruit flies).

sures. But for me, there was no Admittedly, I spent way too question that the Mason jar would be my canister of choice; I already much time mixing up various combinations to figure out what spehave them hanging as decoracial elixir might work best. What tive votives in our grapefruit tree (where I intended to hang my fly- seems to work well for our pur-

Jar Traps

T

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How to make your own Jar trap

JAR TRAPS JAR TRAPS

• 1 quart-sized mason jar equipped with wire hanger, lid drilled with 4 small holes • 1 cup organic apple cider vinegar • 1/4 cup honey • The juice of ½ grapefruit, or similar fruit, and small bits of as much pulp as you can pull out of it and toss in the mix (you want these pieces to be small and submerged—don’t give your flies any islands to land on and relax) • 1 tablespoon organic liquid dish soap Mix thoroughly and hang in a safe, mostly shaded spot. In a few days, the mixture will turn darker and start to ferment, and this is when it really starts to work best. Change them out from time to time.

poses is a mixture of organic apple cider vinegar and honey with a dash of fresh grapefruit juice and pulp added in (as all our pesky flies seem to love our grapefruit tree and fruit about as much as they like the chicken poop).

The escape barrier proved to be the trickiest part of the whole equation. The over-the-counter jar traps feature handy lids with small entry holes that make it easy

for flies to enter, but tougher for them to exit. The flies get trapped and eventually die inside. DIY versions emulate this concept either by punching/drilling a few small holes in the canister or canister lid, or by creating a funnel-like attachment for the top of the container (from paper, cardboard, etc). A third, and highly interesting option, was the idea that adding organic liquid dish soap to the attractant

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potion will coat any interloper and prevent it from flying away, essentially trapping it to perish in the very mixture that lured it there.

Ultimately, after testing several of these variations, it seemed that poking small holes in the jar lid, as well as adding dish soap to the mixture worked impressively well; two escape barriers for the price of one.

Fly Paper Strips he DIY fly paper recipes I found all call for pretty basic ingredients: strips of paper dipped in a sticky mixture of water and either honey, sugar, corn syrup, molasses or any combination

T

58 • from scratch magazine

of the four. I tested and retested infinite versions of these things, and you know what?

Disappointingly, I just did not come out with any decent results.

These strips were brilliant at attracting flies, but let me tell you how frustrating it is to watch a big fat bug land on your painstakingly-made sugar-paper, have it leisurely mosey around for a lovely snack, and then fly happily off into the sunset. It is way beyond frustrating.

I knew there simply had to be a better way, and after going back to the drawing board, I stumbled across an organic over-the-counter product called Tanglefoot. Bingo. Listed by the

OMRI (Organic Material Review Institute) for use in organic gardening, it is an all-natural supersticky paste made of gum resins, vegetable oil, and wax. Can I make it at home? No. But I can buy it on Amazon, so that’s close enough, right? Used on homemade fly strips, it works like a darned charm.

I decided to get a little more creative with this new flypaper attempt. Instead of paper, I used two pieces of yellow duct tape (sticky sides pressed together) to form strips. There are two reasons for this choice: the first is that I had read several times that flying insects are attracted to the color yellow—I’m not sure if this

is a scientific fact, but I happen to like the color yellow, so I am willing to take that chance. Secondly, duct tape is inherently durable and weatherproof, and therefore, washable. I love being able to reuse these things.

Once I had assembled several strips of double duct-tape, I punched holes in either end of the strips in order to attach both a wire hanger to the top, and a weight to the bottom. I decided to use some re-purposed chandelier crystals, because I’m fancy like that. If you don’t have any chandelier crystals (or don’t want to be so fancy) just a simple bit of wire works as a hanger, and something slightly heavy to attach

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to the bottom will help to keep it from fluttering too much in the breeze (try a small ‘chip clip’ or alligator clip). At this point, I went ahead and hung them, put on a pair of gloves (this stuff is sticky), and painted the Tanglefoot liberally to each side of the duct tape. Because honey had proven to be such good bait, I also went and dabbed some small spots of it along each side to lure those buggers in. The proof was in the pudding—within one day, those things were ripe with victims.

In conjunction with these two DIY tricks, several other basic prac-

60 • from scratch magazine

tices play into our homestead fly population control. It goes without saying that keeping waste of all types picked up and disposed of properly goes a long way towards discouraging the bugs from settling in, as does spreading diatomaceous earth routinely throughout the garden. Planting insect-repellent plants (such as lavender, mint, basil, marigolds, and catmint), also seems to help ward off the hoards. We’ve really had excellent results with these simple, natural solutions, and it really helps that they also aren’t too awfully hard on the eyes.

DIY Health & Beauty

The

Homemade

Personal Care experiment

P

art of the modern homesteading lifestyle is being frugal and making things from scratch. So, it is no surprise that making homemade shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste would be something that would ignite interest AND hesitation.

It is one thing to bake your own bread and raise your own chickens — it is another to make your own deodorant and interact with the public. Lucky for you we had some great volunteers who agreed to test out homemade recipes for shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste for 2 weeks and tell us about their results. from scratch magazine • 61

the experiment:

Use only homemade shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste for 2 weeks

the participants:

Bobbie Glick

From a Montana Front Porch

Meredith Chilson Green Circle Grove

62 • from scratch magazine

Becky Neville

Thoughts from a Daughter of a King

Katie Driscoll Maple Grove

the recipes: Coconut Toothpaste ingredients • 6 teaspoons baking soda • 1/4 teaspoon hydrogen peroxide • 2 tablespoons coconut oil (heated enough to be liquid — above 76 degrees F) • 10 drops peppermint, clove, or citrus pure essential oil

instructions Put baking soda in a bowl, add hydrogen peroxide, coconut oil and essential oil. Mix until you achieve a paste. If mixture is not thick enough add small amounts of baking soda until the paste reaches the desired consistency. If the mixture is too thick add additional coconut oil. Store in a dark or opaque container to protect the hydrogen peroxide. Brush teeth for 2 minutes with paste.

Shampoo ingredients • 1 tablespoon baking soda completely dissolved into 1 cup of water.

• 1 tablespoon apple cider or white vinegar mixed with 1 cup water.

instructions Scrub baking soda and water mixture into hair. Rinse well with warm water. Pour apple cider vinegar mixture onto hair. Rinse hair clean with warm water. from scratch magazine • 63

deodorant ingredients • 3 tablespoons baking soda • 3 tablespoons cornstarch or arrow root powder • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin coconut oil (heated enough to be liquid — above 76 degrees F) • Tea tree oil (a natural antifungal), and/or other essential oils for fragrance (optional)

instructions

Whisk or sift the baking soda and arrow root powder or cornstarch together in a bowl until there are no lumps and is a fine powder. Add the coconut oil. Stir oil into the powder. Whisk until smooth. Add essential oils for fragrance if desired. Pour into the empty deodorant tube or container and refrigerate until solid.

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the experiment: The Toothpaste:

We asked the participants how they expected the toothpaste to perform Katie Driscoll

I

was skeptical about homemade toothpaste with baking soda. I believed it would be effective in cleaning the teeth and mouth, but I’ve brushed my teeth with baking soda before, and even storebought toothpaste with baking soda in it doesn’t taste good to me. I wasn’t sure I could bring myself to use it.

Meredith Chilson

I

wasn’t sure. I’ve used just baking soda as a toothpaste before, but wasn’t too happy with the taste.

I have been “oil pulling” with coconut oil for a while, so when I saw the toothpaste recipe has coconut oil, I was intrigued.

Bobbie Glick

S

everal people had told me about using baking soda for toothpaste and I knew that they swore by it.

I had toyed with the idea of tying it, but hadn’t worked up the nerve to take the plunge. I mixed it up hoping that it would work better than regular toothpaste.

Becky Neville

I

stopped using toothpaste a long time ago. I never liked the strong minty taste of toothpaste; it took over my taste buds. And I do NOT trust fluoride. A coconut oil proponent, I have been oil-pulling to cleanse my mouth for about 8 months. The method I use is simple. I put about a teaspoon of coconut oil in my mouth and swish for about 20 minutes. Then I spit it out, rinse and brush my teeth with baking soda, floss, then rinse with water. I also swish with about a tablespoon of peroxide once or twice per week. I did not try another method, because this is working so well. Since I started cleaning my mouth and gums with this method I have watched my tooth stains disappear. Oil pulling is an old method of mouth care and is supposed to help the body heal from all sorts of illnesses. The only change I noticed in my health, however, was in the condition of my gums. The result: My gums, which were mildly receding in a few areas, have grown back and are healthy and pink.

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The Toothpaste updates:

Real life responses from our volunteers.

Katie Driscoll End of Day 1: Bobbie Glick I didn’t have the essential oils on hand when i mixed up the recipe so the taste of the baking soda caught me off guard! It also left my gums feeling like I had rubbed salt on them. My teeth felt clean but my gums were a bit sore at spots.

End of Day 5: Bobbie Glick The sore spots on my gums were gone and my mouth had started to feel cleaner than I could remember it ever feeling before. My gums, which had been a little red before I started using this, were starting to look a normal pink color.

Meredith Chilson

I’ve gotten used to the flavor; my mouth feels clean after brushing. I’ve started rinsing with hydrogen peroxide in a little water before brushing in the morning.

End of Day10: Bobbie Glick Jason, my husband, noticed my teeth looked whiter and my gums healthier. (he started using it at this point) I noticed some stains on my teeth fading!

66 • from scratch magazine

Well, I was right about the taste. It was just like I expected, although the coconut oil helped a little. I was determined, however, to stick this out and give it a good try.

Meredith Chilson I think the baking soda taste is still quite strong. I added clove essential oil when I made the recipe, I may add another drop or two.

Katie Driscoll My teeth and mouth felt clean, but I still didn’t like the taste. I decided to warm it up to soften it and whip in a drop of spearmint extract. That didn’t really help the taste, in my opinion. It only teased me with a reminder of a fresher tasting toothpaste. Also, my gums were feeling a little sore and even bleeding slightly. This surprised me, because I’ve always been very diligent about brushing and flossing my teeth.

My dentist always compliments me on having clean teeth and healthy gums. I thought maybe the baking soda was a little too abrasive, so I began to water down the solution a little before brushing.

Meredith Chilson My teeth are noticeably whiter; I think this may be attributed to the coconut oil pulling, though. I have gotten used to the taste. I like the consistency of this homemade toothpaste. Almost time to make more!

Katie Driscoll My gums were feeling better, and I returned to using the thickened paste rather than watering it down. I can’t say that my mouth feels any cleaner than when I was using storebought toothpaste, and I still miss the minty taste.

However, my teeth were brightening up and looking whiter.

End of Day14: Bobbie Glick Jason, my husband, noticed my teeth looked whiter and my gums healthier. (he started using it at this point) I noticed some stains on my teeth fading!

Meredith Chilson Very, very clean mouth.

With normal toothpaste my mouth lost it’s clean feeling right after eating something.

With this my mouth feels good all day. I’ve noticed significant whitening and my gums look like they are supposed to, a nice salmon color.

Katie Driscoll My mouth feels clean and healthy, and my teeth are much whiter than they were before. I’m still not crazy about the taste, but I’m getting more used to it than when I first started two weeks ago.

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The Results:

Real life responses from our volunteers.

End of Day 1: Bobbie Glick

This turned out better than I had hoped for. We can all use it, it doesn’t take near as much as ‘normal’ toothpaste, and our mouths are definitely healthier. I have already started sharing this recipe with others and will continue to do so.

Meredith Chilson I thought it performed well, and I will continue to use it. I like this recipe — I may change the essential oils a bit just for fun. I would definitely recommend it to a friend. I had all the ingredients on hand, and so it didn’t cost anything extra. Now I know exactly what’s in my toothpaste.

Katie Driscoll The homemade toothpaste takes some getting used to the taste. It does clean my teeth and mouth as well as I expected it to. My teeth got whiter than I expected. I am going to continue to use it because I really like the fact that I’m not using a product with unnecessary additives, and it is a big dollar savings over using storebought toothpaste.

I would recommend that others give it a try. I have three more months before my next dental exam; I’m curious to see what my dentist will say.

the shampoo:

We asked the participants how they expected the shampoo to perform Katie Driscoll

I’m 59 years old. I have a lot of gray in my hair, and I don’t color it or use other chemical treatments on my hair. My hair is chin length with very little layering in it.

My hair was very wavy and oily when I was younger, but as it has been turning grey, it is straighter and drier than it used to be. I was very skeptical about using baking soda and vinegar to wash and rinse my hair. I just didn’t believe it would work as well as a nicely lathered shampoo.

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Bobbie Glick I’m 28 so my hair is fairly healthy but it has always been on the oily side. Skipping a day was not something I did unless I had to. However the thought of simplifying and maybe having some oil control was a thought that I liked.

Becky neville I was intrigued by the idea of using ordinary household items to wash my hair. In fact, these items were already stored in the bathroom. I’ve been using baking soda to brush my teeth and to gently exfoliate the skin on my face for years. My hairdresser had been urging me to try shampoo without sulfate and other chemicals, and I had tried several brands, all of them expensive. My main concern was that I would have difficulty with tangles. I had been using conditioner daily, mostly to be able to easily comb through my hair with a widetoothed under the stream of the shower.

Meredith Chilson I was very skeptical about using baking soda for hairwashing. I have used a vinegar rinse before, and so I knew that would work. I was afraid my hair would not feel or smell clean, and I really thought I would miss lather and bubbles.

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The Shampoo updates: Real life responses from our volunteers.

End of Day 1: Bobbie Glick This was hard. My hair felt clean and yet not. I was used to using the suds as my indicator on cleanliness and this has no suds. I love a good lather so I will admit to being a little turned off by this aspect of it. I was pleasantly surprised to find my hair didn’t smell like ACV after rinsing

Becky neville The first day, I decided to use the baking soda as a paste, rub it into my scalp, add water, and rinse. I thought it would clean better to keep the mild abrasive properties of the undiluted baking soda. I used white vinegar, mixed with water in a plastic cup, which I poured on my hair, massaged and rinsed. My fine, curly hair tangles easily, so I was concerned that it would be hard to comb through. While washing, instead of feeling soft and silky, my hair felt stiff and hard to manipulate. When rinsing, I was able to comb through -- this was a relief, because the experiment would have ended right there if combing was a chore.

I was worried about frizz and flyaway, so I applied the grocery store, curlsculpting cream that I have been using for several years to my wet hair. When my hair dried, it felt great. I noticed that it had more “lift’ at the roots.

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Meredith Chilson I was pleasantly surprised after the first use of baking soda to wash my hair. The first time I used white vinegar to rinse. My hair felt clean and soft.

Katie Driscoll I chose to use distilled white vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar.

I thought the smell of the vinegar wouldn’t be as strong, and because of my whitish hair, I was concerned that the acv would tint it. Whether or not that was a valid concern, I don’t know, but it’s what I thought. I was so amazed at how nice my hair looked after that very first wash and rinse!

My hair was softer, shinier, and more manageable. I was pleased indeed!

I’ve shampooed my hair every day since I was about 13 years old. (That’s a lot of years.) I decided I was going to give this a wholehearted try and wash my hair every other day to see what would happen. By the end of the second day, my hair was very oily. But I continued to wash it every other day.

End of Day 5:

Real life responses from our volunteers.

Katie Driscoll Each day that I wash and rinse my hair, I just loved it. I was washing it every other day, and after just one week, my hair was not nearly as oily the second day. It really helped that I don’t work outside the home. I think it would have been hard to go into the office on those days that I didn’t wash my hair.

Meredith Chilson I have been washing my hair every other day since I’ve started this experiment. Always before, I washed my hair every day. On the “off” day now, I just rinse my hair with clear water in the shower. I have naturally wavy hair, and in the morning it looks like I have slept on my head or under a rock. In order to have my hair do what I want, instead of what it wants, I have to wet it and then use a blow dryer. This seems to be working. I think my hair is shinier, and I know it is softer.

Bobbie Glick I skipped two days between washings like the recipe recommends. The first day I skipped, my hair felt a little dirty but not horrible. The second day it took all I had not to wash with normal shampoo. I wore a bandana to hide my hair.

Becky neville I switched from white vinegar to Bragg’s organic apple cider vinegar for rinsing, though I was concerned that I smelled like a salad. I also began to mix the baking soda with warm water.

I had great difficulty shampooing my hair with “water,” but I did my best.

In addition to changes in method and ingredients, I also started to go several days in-between washings. My curl needs water to activate, so I still rinsed in the shower. And I still used my curl /frizz taming product, though I used much less of this in my attempt to avoid build-up Instead of feeling soft, my hair felt as though it had a buildup. On day 7, I used “real” shampoo.

After shampooing, however, I noticed that my hair didn’t have the same lift.

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The Shampoo updates: End of Day 10:

Real life responses from our volunteers.

Bobbie Glick

I am in love with my hair! I have never had this much volume or shine! The days between washings aren’t greasy like they were the first couple of times.

Jason even noticed a difference and started using it on his hair.

Meredith Chilson I will start skipping one more day of hair washing today. I’ve noticed my hair is much curlier than before. It’s sort of like it’s more natural -- I don’t use sprays, gels or “product”, and now it doesn’t even take long to blow dry it.

End of Day 14: Bobbie Glick I now skip 3 days between washings.

The day I wash my hair feels cleaner than it used to with normal shampoo.

The first day I skip it feels like it would after a normal washing. The second day I skip it almost feels like a skipped day with normal shampoo.

Meredith Chilson At the end of the second day without washing my hair, I notice that it’s quite oily. My hair feels like it might be healthier than before.

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Katie Driscoll I became perfectly content with washing my hair every other day. My hair has not been this soft and shiny and manageable in many years! My hair is always all over the place when I wake up in the morning, so if I am going somewhere on the days that I don’t wash it, I just wet it in the shower and blow-dry as usual. At this point, I decided I would give it a try to wash my hair every third day and see what would happen.

Katie Driscoll I really love the way my hair looks and feels, but I’m not happy with the everythird-day washing. I think I need to stay at every other day. I was scheduled to go to the salon for a hair cut, and I debated whether I should get it shampooed. I love that lathery, freshsmelling, head massaging experience, so I decided I would. (It felt good, I admit.) However, later that day, my scalp felt itchy, and I just had to jump in the shower and use the baking soda and vinegar wash and rinse. So much better!

Becky neville It took a while for me to perfect my method. By the end of the second week, I had decided to stop using the curl activating product. I found that my natural curl was looking pretty good. I think my natural oils were coating and protecting my hair. This week I did a lot of outside work. My head was covered by a hat, which caused sweating. It felt dirty. I used a “real” shampoo again. The result: I plan to continue using baking soda and vinegar to wash and rinse my hair every few days, with one “real” shampoo per week. My hair and scalp are clean. I’m converted.

The results: Bobbie Glick This blew my expectations out of the water! I was hoping for clean hair, which this gave me, but it delivered so much more! Thicker, shinier, healthier hair that stays clean longer. I will never buy shampoo and conditioner again, and the whole family has been conveted!

Meredith Chilson A couple things I’ve noticed: shampoo stings if it gets in your eyes. Vinegar does, too, but a quick rinse with water and the sting is gone. Also, a terrific side effect: the shower is staying much cleaner, especially the floor of the shower. I am certain it’s because of the baking soda and vinegar.

Katie Driscoll The baking soda and vinegar wash and rinse far exceeded any expectations I had for clean hair and acceptability.

It’s not easy to give up the smell and lather of your favorite shampoo and conditioner. But, I have to say that I absolutely love this method. I love the way my hair looks and feels and performs. I really don’t miss my old shampoo any more. I will definitely continue to use the home remedy, and I highly recommend it. The cost savings is huge, and no more added ingredients that are unnecessary and questionable.

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The Deodorant: We asked the participants how they expected the deodorant to perform

Bobbie Glick

Meredith Chilson

I don’t sweat a lot so this one didn’t seem like a big deal to me, however once again the lure of not having to buy this item again had me excited to give it a try.

I was a little hesitant about making deodorant. I have used deodorants with baking soda in them before, and found they irritated my skin to the point I had to stop using them. They hadn’t worked all that well, either. By bedtime, I was stinky. I thought that was probably how the homemade deodorant would work--it would either be very irritating or just not work well.

Katie Driscoll I was most skeptical about the homemade deodorant, particularly because I couldn’t imagine effectively not using an anti-perspirant. I do my share of sweating. I’ve always been willing to try things that may be better for my health, so I was a willing participant.

The fact that I am retired and don’t work in an office anymore made it a little easier for me to be “daring” on this.

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Oil Pulling

Swishing 1/2 - 1 tablespoon of coconut oil in your mouth daily for detoxification and rejunavation.

Becky neville I was very reluctant to make deodorant.

Many years ago, I stopped antiperspirant products because I felt that perspiration was the body’s natural way to eliminate toxins. I was happy with my Tom’s natural deodorant. But, seeing that the deodorant recipe was simple and used coconut oil, I decided to give it a try. The recipe I used was easy to make, with only 3 ingredients, plus a scent. While stirring the mixture, I decided to make it up with a few different scents. I chose sweet orange, laven-

der, and plain. I spooned a tablespoon or two into each container and labeled them. I had a few extras and decided to share with my yoga buddies. This brings me to a warning... coconut oil has a melting point of 77 degrees, prior to that, it is a solid. One of my friends opened the little container and the mixture spilled onto her hand. At home, melting would not pose a problem, but I think it is important to note that this deodorant would not travel well.

End of Day 1:

End of Day 5:

Katie Driscoll

Bobbie Glick

I added a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil to the recipe. I really like the scent. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the deodorant worked the first day.

Meredith Chilson

Meredith Chilson I added a few drops of tea tree oil and lavender oil to the recipe. I really like the scent. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the deodorant worked the first day.

Bobbie Glick I once again didn’t have any essential oils when I mixed this up so I didn’t know if that would affect how well it worked. I also didn’t have arrowroot powder so I subbed cornstarch instead.

I actually liked that this didn’t have a smell.

I’m liking this one! No smell even after full cleaning days! I think I’m sold on it already.

Still love it. I thought I should wait a bit if putting on a dark colored shirt, but I’ve found that the deodorant goes on clear and doesn’t leave any residue on dark shirts.

Katie Driscoll I have been surprisingly pleased with how effective the deodorant is, and I haven’t had any perspiration concerns like I expected.

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End of Day 10:

Real life responses from our volunteers.

Bobbie Glick

Jason tried it out during one of his busiest work days of branding. It worked!!!

He loved that there was no smell in the deodorant (he’s not really a smelly kind of guy). After a day of being on his feet for 9 straight hours he came home with no smell of sweat!

Katie Driscoll I continued to be pleased with the smell and effectiveness of the homemade deodorant. I used the arrowroot flour in the recipe. I don’t know how the cornstarch would work.

Meredith Chilson

I’m very happy with the deodorant. I love the smell of the essential oils, and the coconut oil makes it “glide” right on. I do notice a little scratchy feel from the baking soda when it’s first applied, but most of the underarm irritation is gone.

End of Day 14: Bobbie Glick I worked outside all day in the garden and raking the yard and can say that this stood up to that as well. I haven’t had a problem with the deodorant getting too soft either like I read could happen. All in all I’m happy with this recipe!

Katie Driscoll No complaints and just totally satisfied with this recipe.

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Meredith Chilson Still love it. I gave the deodorant a good test — went 48 hours before reapplying. That’s too long!

The results: Bobbie Glick I’m very happy with this! Jason jumped right on board with this one so yes, we will continue to use it. Super cheap to mix up and it takes a small percentage of what you would normally use so it is a big money saver. I will be telling everyone about this!

Meredith Chilson It was great. I found it kept me smelling fresh all day, and by reducing the amount of baking soda in the recipe, there was very little skin irritation, even right after shaving. Recommend it? I might even make some for my friends! I plan to continue using and making this deodorant, so it will definitely save money. I like the idea that I know exactly what is in it, too. It is not an antiperspirant, but I don’t perspire like I did 50 years ago, either.

Katie Driscoll I did not expect the deodorant to work as well as it does, and I was very doubtful about not using an antiperspirant.

I am very pleased with it and will continue to use it. I appreciate the health gain of not using an antiperspirant and added ingredients, and the cost savings is great.

Becky neville The deodorant works beautifully. I am so happy that I tried it.

‘Tis the Season to Be Berry

By: Jennifer Burcke

B

erry season is fast approaching. Berries are one of the first crops to be harvested from the gardens at 1840 Farm.

After a long, snowy winter, their vibrant colors and fresh flavor are a welcome harbinger of the delicious summer to follow.

During the height of berry season, we harvest several pounds of fresh berries every day. It all starts with the raspberries and strawberries. As they begin to wane, blueberries and schwatzenberries come into season and fill our berry baskets to the brim.

We love to eat our berries fresh from the vine. We also make jams and syrups to last through the next winter. We also freeze pounds of our fresh berries so that we can make this recipe on

the darkest of winter days. On a cold, snowy December day, these bars are a very welcome sight.

I love to make pie from scratch and feature the freshest of our homegrown berries, but I don’t always have the time required to make pie. Summer is a very busy time here on the farm with gardens to tend and beautiful weather to enjoy. Our summer season is painfully short and we try to spend as much time as possible outside soaking up every moment.

Luckily, I have developed other recipes that allow us to enjoy the bright flavor of our fresh berries without spending the day in the kitchen baking. Our favorite is the recipe for raspberry crumble bars. The first time I made them, I hoped to combine the delicious rich flavor of homemade from scratch magazine • 77

raspberry pie with the earthy flavor of brown sugar and cinnamon.

I am happy to say that these bars deliver on both counts. They’re also incredibly easy to make. In a matter of minutes, they can go from raw ingredients to the oven.

As they bake, the farmhouse begins to be perfumed with an intoxicating aroma of brown sugar, cinnamon, and raspberries.

These bars are portable and make the perfect dish to take along to a summer barbecue or party. At home, we love to eat them warm with a small scoop of vanilla ice cream. With each bite, we’re reminded that we have survived the long winter and that our favorite time of year has finally arrived.

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Raspberry Crumble Bars Makes 18 bars • 8 ounces raspberries • 72 grams (6 Tablespoons) sugar • 2 Tablespoons water • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch • 1 Tablespoon tapioca • 1 1/2 cups All-purpose flour • 120 grams (3/4 cup) brown sugar • 80 grams (1 cup) old-fashioned oats • 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 6 ounces butter, cut into cubes • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract • Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 9×9 pan with parchment paper. Set aside.

• In medium bowl, combine raspberries, sugar, and water. If using frozen berries, warm mixture in microwave for 1-2 minutes. Add cornstarch and tapioca and stir to combine. Set aside as the crumble mixture is prepared.

• Combine flour, brown sugar, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and cubed butter in the bowl of a food processor. Process briefly until the texture resembles a coarse meal,

approximately 15 – 30 seconds.

Add vanilla extract and pulse just until dough comes together.

• Transfer half of the crumble mixture into the bottom of the prepared pan. Press the mixture lightly to form a crust that completely covers the bottom the pan.

Stir the raspberry mixture and pour over the crust, spreading to cover evenly. Sprinkle the remaining crumble mixture evenly over the berry filling.

• Bake the crumble in the preheated oven for 35 – 40 minutes until the topping has browned lightly and the raspberry filling has thickened. Serve warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. from scratch magazine • 79

M

uch of homesteading is about every day transformations. For some, this means turning a suburban lot into a vibrant vegetable garden, for others it could be spinning wool into yarn, watching chicks grow into laying hens, or letting go of processed foods and choosing to eat locally grown.

Living in an urban apartment, I

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don’t have a place to plant seeds in the ground or raise animals so I embrace the transformations that happen in my kitchen. I use fruits and vegetables to fill jars of homemade salsa, jam, preserves and pickles. I stir flour and water together and watch yeast and the heat of the oven turn in into bread.

One of my favorite transformations is making milk into thick

How to Make Homemade Yogurt Photos and Story by: Anna Hewitt Homemade yogurt is a perfect addition to your “From Scratch” routine. It’s easy to make and great for your health! tangy yogurt, a pantry staple that I make year round and eat every day.

Humans’ use of milk from other mammals is an ancient practice.

Depending on the region, people milk cows, goats, sheep, water buffalo, camels and even horses.

Before the convenience of refrigeration, this milk was usually consumed as soured, cultured or fermented. What we call yogurt

today has been eaten by people all over the world in various forms for thousands of years. I appreciate the connection that this process gives me to food traditions around the world and the way that making it myself deepens my appreciation for the taste, texture and versatility of homemade yogurt.

There are several great reasons for making yogurt in your own

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kitchen. With glass bottles of milk from a local farm, I don’t have to figure out how to keep a cow in the courtyard behind my apartment and I know that my yogurt comes from animals that graze on pasture and live relatively nearby.

I return the milk bottles to the co-op when I’m ready to make my next batch.

Making yogurt in my own kitchen helps saves resources and space (no plastic containers piling up) and money since I can make two quarts of yogurt from local organic milk for the price of one quart of yogurt from the store.

It doesn’t take a lot of effort or special equipment to make yogurt

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at home since the cultures do most of the work. Thermophilic, or heat loving, bacteria is added to warmed milk and in a matter of hours the bacteria turns it into something tangy and spoonable.

When it comes to culturing yogurt at home, try to find milk without added ingredients or stabilizers and avoid anything ultrapasteurized.

Homemade yogurt is often soft, sometimes almost pourable, unlike the stiff sweet product that comes in a plastic tub.

Begin by heating milk in a pot on the stove. If you have a ther-

mometer you can use it to figure out the precise moment the milk reaches 180 degrees F, but you can also watch until the milk is steaming and foamy but not boiling. When it reaches this temperature (or even if it accidentally goes beyond) turn off the heat and let the milk cool to 120 degrees F, or until warm but not hot.

Whisk in 2 tablespoons of yogurt for each quart of milk and make sure that the starter yogurt is completely incorporated.

Pour the liquid into glass jars, cover, and place them together in a warm, draft free spot. Ideally

the yogurt should be kept at around 100 degrees F while it is culturing. Covering the jars with several tea towels will keep the yogurt warm enough. Let the cultures to do their work for several hours.

In years of yogurt making, I’ve never had a batch that didn’t set using this method. If you feel nervous about the success of something so low-tech, there are other ways to incubate the yogurt.

Yogurt makers, a crock pot or an oven warmed by the pilot light all help to keep the yogurt at a constant temperature while fermenting. from scratch magazine • 83

You can also fill a small cooler with warm water and close the jars inside while culturing. After 4-6 hours (or up to 12 hours for an increasingly sour flavor), the milk should be mostly solidified, surrounded by the watery whey.

Place the jars in the refrigerator and, once cooled, enjoy.

Each batch of yogurt becomes the starter for another. Save a bit to inoculate your next pot of heated milk and soon it will be a staple of your kitchen.

A supply of plain yogurt gives you many options. Add fresh or fro-

zen fruit, jam, preserves, honey or maple syrup for sweetness. Use it in smoothies, with granola, on pancakes, or in baked goods.

If Greek-style yogurt is your favorite, place a couple of layers of cheese cloth or a clean tea towel in a sieve or colander and let the yogurt strain until it reaches the desired consistency.

You can continue to drain the yogurt until it is as thick as cream cheese, lightly salt it and use it for sweet or savory purposes. The thin, watery part that drains out of the yogurt, called whey, can be saved and used for the liquid in

Step by Step Yog Start with one half gallon of milk. Any kind will work but of course better milk will make better yogurt.

Heat the milk until it reaches 180 degrees F. Remove from heat and let cool to 120 degrees F. Stir in 4 tablespoons of yogurt and whisk to fully incorporate. Pour into 2 quart sized glass jars or other containers.

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making bread, smoothies or soups.

Yogurt is an incredibly useful kitchen staple which can provide sustenance and satisfaction in many ways. Making yogurt at home is a simple ritual of transformation that adds to the connection we have with the food we eat and keeps us well provisioned for all kinds of meals.

gurt Instructions Cover the yogurt with several tea towels or use another method of incubating (see photo) to keep the yogurt around 100 degrees F for 4-6 hours. Refrigerate to cool and enjoy.

For greek style yogurt, place a strainer over a bowl and line it with cheese cloth or a clean tea towel. Add yogurt and strain until it reaches your desired consistency.

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Yogurt recipes

Yogurt Loaf

Thanks to the addition of yogurt, this simple cake is moist and not too sweet. Perfect for a snack, dessert, or tea time. It is also a nice breakfast treat alongside a bowl of yogurt.

• 1 cup all purpose flour • 1/2 cup whole wheat flour • 2 teaspoons baking powder • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 6 tablespoons butter, at room temperature • 3/4 cup granulated sugar • 2 eggs • 1 cup plain yogurt • 1 teaspoon vanilla • zest and juice of one lemon Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter or oil a loaf pan and set aside. Whisk together the flours, baking powder and salt. Using a stand or hand held mixer, beat the butter until fluffy then add the sugar and beatto combine. Beat in the eggs, one at a time and then add the yogurt, vanilla, lemon juice and zest. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 45 minutes or until a tester inserted comes out clean.

Let cool for 15 minutes, remove from the pan and let cool completely before serving.

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Green Herb Yogurt Dip This version is made with spinach, chives and cilantro but you can substitute any leafy greens and herbs that you enjoy. It is ideal for dipping chips but also makes a great creamy dressing or topping for roasted or grilled vegetables.

• 2 cups, loosely packed, spinach or other greens such as swiss chard • 1 cup greek-style yogurt • 1/4 cup chopped chives (plus more for garnishing) • 1/4 cup chopped cilantro • 2 teaspoons lemon juice • 1/2 teaspoon salt • 1/2 teaspoon cumin Rinse the greens and place them in a sauté pan over medium heat.

Cook until they are just wilted. Squeeze out any excess water that the cooked greens may have. Place them in the bowl of a food processor along with the yogurt, chives, cilantro, lemon juice, salt and cumin.

Puree until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings. Garnish with finely chopped chives and serve chilled or at room temperature. Makes about 1 1/2 cups of dip and keeps refrigerated for at least a week.

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Summer Sweet Corn Moonjito By: Kate Richards

M

aking cocktails with ingredients pulled straight from your garden is an absolute joy (if you are a cocktail person, and if you aren’t, you really should look into it), and I find myself constantly concocting things in my head as I go about my yard work. The Summer Sweet Corn Moonjito is one such byproduct.

2.

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Summer Sweet Corn Moonjito There is just nothing like a truly fresh ear of sweet corn. It is the absolute essence of summertime; a sugary slab of good-for-you candy complete with its own adorable wrapper. It shows up at any respectable cookout in just about every form: grilled, steamed, buttered, spiced, creamed, popped…. but in a cocktail? Have I gone too far outside the box? I heartily encourage you to find out.

To make one serving, you will need: • 1-2 ears of the freshest sweet corn you can get your hands on (enough to yield 3 oz. of muddled ‘corn juice’) • 1 oz. fresh limejuice • 1 oz. simple syrup • 1.5 oz. moonshine (you know, the legal kind) • Approximately, 8-10 fresh mint leaves • Ice A word of caution about moonshine: It is no joke. That is some strong alcohol. The straight stuff is usually above 100 proof, so if you’re looking for something a little gentler, go ahead and substitute light rum.

But I, for one, was pretty excited for a cocktail that required moonshine.

Maybe it’s just me.

Start your prep-work by de-kernel-ing your corn. In small increments (I’d say a third of a cup at a time) place the kernels in a pint glass and

4.

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use a muddler to mash the living the daylights out of that. Add daylights out of them until you’ve your limejuice, simple syrup, and liquor to that half, then add your got quite a bit of milky juice. corn juice from the other half.

Now pour this mash/juice Add ice to the mix, unite your through a fine sieve into one half shaker parts, and shake it up real of a cocktail shaker; use the mud- serious-like; good form is imperadler to push the juice through the tive (just kidding, no one wants a sieve and further mash the grain. serious bartender).

Repeat until you have 3 oz. of liqUse a cocktail strainer and that uid. fine sieve and pour the mix over Now, rip up and add your mint ice in your glass. leaves to the other half of the cocktail shaker, and then muddle Garnish with mint.

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I am all about the unusual and unexpectedly delicious cocktails. I admit I get a little overexcited when taking everyday ingredients and reinventing them.

A sweet corn cocktail might not be everyone’s go-to summer drink, but it is most definitely a memorable concoction; a garden in a glass.

Cheers! from scratch magazine • 91

Green Beans: Bumper Crop By: Gretchen Ceranic

E

very single day when I head out to my little garden, I can’t help but feel like the old farmer settled on hundreds of acres in the middle of nowhere that would brag to his fellow farmers about his “bumper crop” of corn or squash or whatever it

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was he had growing that for whatever reason took off and supplied him with an overabundance of his prized plantings. When I looked up the term bumper, I was tickled to find that it originates from the 17th century and was used to describe a large glass of beer or wine that

r

was filled to the brim. I can proudly say that I’m currently experiencing somewhat of d a bumper crop of top crop p bush beans.

- We’ve only got about 35 plants but from them I’m getting a family sized serve ing of beans every day. The first few days was excit-

ing as we’d pick the long, vibrant pods that looked like the beans inside were snuggled in a too tight legging, shows all their soft curves.

As I’d go over a bush from top to bottom making sure I’d pick all the full sized beans, my son or daughter would come behind me and from scratch magazine • 93

inevitably find one or two huge ones that I’d somehow missed. The excitement of these bright green gems, came to a screeching halt shortly thereafter, when we’d had our fourth consecutive dinner served with, you guessed it green beans. Now, to my credit, they were cooked differently each night. I felt like Bubba from Forest Gump, with his creative ways of cooking shrimp.

I even sent out a message on facebook asking my friends to send me their favorite green bean recipe because I had run out of ideas.

I decided we needed a break however my garden didn’t think so. My bushes kept pumping out beans like an assembly line. Though I’d never frozen fresh veggies before, (I’ve done plenty of freez-

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ing fruits) I was surprised to see that they needed to be blanched beforehand. From the National Center for Home Food Preservation, “Blanching (scalding vegetables in boiling water or steam for a short time) is a must for almost all vegetables to be frozen. It stops enzyme actions which can cause loss of flavor, color and texture.

Blanching cleanses the surface of dirt and organisms, brightens the color and helps retard loss of vitamins.” Each vegetable requires a different blanching time and can be found at the NCHFP link. Mine only took about 3 minutes to blanch with 3 minutes to cool and once they had dried off I packed them up to cook another day (or if you asked my kids another month).

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Southern Green Beans Ingredients

• 1 lb green beans, washed • 1 medium onion, diced • 1/2 lb or so of some sort of cured pork: bacon, salt pork, ham hocks • Pepper to taste (lots!)

Directions

1. To prepare the beans, you want to remove the ends and break (or cut) the beans into about 1” lengths.

2. In a large pot, saute your pork for a few minutes to release some of the fat (don’t need to fully cook it. It’s there just for flavor).

3. Toss in the onions and sauté until just tender. Add your beans, and cover with water. Sprinkle a teaspoon of pepper and bring just to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer for about 30 - 45 minutes or until the beans are good and cooked. Not crisp tender but soft. During the cooking time you may need to add another cup or two of water.

5. Remove pork and shred small pieces of meat and discard the rest.

6. Season as needed, most likely they won’t need much if any salt with all the salty pork.

7. Drain and serve.

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Bacon Walnut Green Beans Ingredients

• 2 lbs fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces • 3 tablespoons butter • 2 -3 roasted garlic cloves, minced • 2 -3 tablespoons brown sugar (add enough depending on how sweet you like it) • 2 1/4 teaspoons soy sauce • 2 1/4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce • 4 slices cooked bacon, crumbled • 4 -5 tablespoons walnuts, toasted & sliced

Directions

1. Place beans in large saucepan and cover with water.

2. Bring to a boil; cook, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes or until crisp-tender.

3. Meanwhile, melt butter in large skillet over low to medium heat.

4. Sauté garlic for a couple of minutes until tender being careful not to burn.

5. Stir in the brown sugar, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce and cook for a couple of minutes until sugar is dissolved.

6. Drain beans; add to the skillet, cook and stir for 2 minutes or until heated through.

7. Sprinkle with the bacon and walnuts; toss to coat.

Parmesan Roasted Green Beans Ingredients

• • • • •

12 oz green beans, trimmed 2-3 tsp olive oil Salt and pepper to taste ¼ tsp garlic powder ½ cup shredded parmesan

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425. Line baking sheet aluminum for easy clean up. Lay green beans out and drizzle with oil.

2. Season with salt, pepper and garlic salt and toss evenly to coat.

3. Bake for 10 minutes, shake pan to turn the beans, and then bake for 5-7 additional minutes.

4. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Sesame Green Beans Ingredients

• 12 ounces fresh green beans (rinsed) • 1 cup pre-sliced baby portabella mushrooms (rinsed) • 1 tablespoon sesame oil • 1 teaspoon sesame seeds • 1/2 teaspoon seasoned salt

Directions

1. Place green beans and mushrooms in microwave-safe bowl. Cover and microwave on HIGH 8-10 minutes or until beans reach desired tenderness.

2. Stir in remaining ingredients; cover and set aside 2 minutes. Serve.

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DIY PVC Chicken Gravity Feeder and Waterer By: Emily and Kevin McGrath 98 • from scratch magazine

he old fashioned feeders are quickly becoming a thing of the past.

Although they may still work for some, people are finding themselves frustrated at the fact that their chickens are either pooping or kicking bedding into the feeder, which can quickly spread illness and disease.

T

A properly constructed gravity feeder will be the solution to most feeder problems. It can contain as much or as little feed as the handler wishes to keep, it prevents any possible ways for your chickens to get waste into their feed, and it will keep the inside contents dry and pest free.

If you are looking for an alternative means of providing your girls

crushed oyster shell other than in a bowl, this will accommodate that offering as well.

All of the materials needed to construct these feeders can be found at your local home improvement store. The tools required should be available in most everyone’s home or by borrowing from a neighbor.

from scratch magazine • 99

Tools needed:

Materials needed:

• Tape measure • Power drill • 1/4” Drill bit • 7/16” socket and 7/16” wrench or adjustable wrench • PVC primer (clear or purple) • PVC cement • A hand saw or PVC pipe cutter capable of cutting up to 4” PVC.

• 24” of Schedule 35 PVC. This is a grey pipe and is used as waste pipe. *(Regular Schedule 40 PVC will not work properly as noted in my explanation) • (2) 1/4”x 1” length bolts, washers, and nuts • 4”Black corrugated waste drain cap • PVC fencing post cap • 4”x 2”x3” waste pipe fitting. This is found near the corrugated waste pipe and can be used for tying in downspouts.

Chicken Feeder

PVC fence post cap (left) Downspout adapter (right)

Start out by taking the fence post cap and slipping it over the square end of the waste pipe fitting. This will be a snug fit. On the lip of the post cap, measure 1" from the end and mark a dot on either side. "Carefully" with the 1/4" drill bit, drill a hole thru these marks and slightly ream out to remove any burrs.

For more DIY projects visit 100 • from scratch magazine

our little coop

Push the 1/4” bolts into each one of these holes, and by reaching into the circular opening of the fitting, slide a washer and thread a nut on each of the two bolts. Tighten enough where these connected fittings can just barely hinge apart.

Drill a 1/4” hole on either side 1” in from the corners

With the PVC primer, lightly coat one end of the pipe approximately 2” down and the opening side of the fitting you just constructed.

Apply a light coat of PVC cement and firmly slide the fitting over the end of the pipe and hold in place for 10 seconds.

Poultry gravity feeder assembly

Slide the black cap over the top, and you are done! Mounting can be done in several different ways. I used a chimney pipe bracket, but a couple of heavy duty zip ties will work as well if mounting to a fence post or such. Be creative!

The handy cap keeps out dirt and debris.

Chicken Waterer

PVC fence post cap (left) Downspout adapter (right)

Start out by taking the fence post cap and slipping it over the square end of the waste pipe fitting. This will be a snug fit. On the lip of the post cap, measure 1" from the end and mark a dot on either side. "Carefully" with the 1/4" drill bit, drill a hole thru these marks and slightly ream out to remove any burrs.

from scratch magazine • 101

No Yard?

No Problem!

How to Grow Dinner in a Pot

Photos and Story: Julie Thompson-Adolf

102 • from scratch magazine

G

ardening can be intimidating. Soil tests, crop rotation, and planting schedules make even Master Gardeners tired. For most of us, though, the cravings for sunwarmed heirloom tomatoes and crunchy, candy-sweet sugar snap peas keep us motivated.

But what if you don’t own an acre of land or have room for a raised bed? If you’d prefer to relax after work rather than tackle weeds, are you doomed to bland, rockhard supermarket tomatoes? Or will you rise at the crack of dawn to beat the crowd to the farmers’ market?

No. You deserve homegrown, delicious veggies.

Whether you’re landless or timecrunched, container gardening is the perfect solution for delicious meals. All you need is a balcony, patio, or any outdoor space, and you can grow tasty, healthy, gorgeous treats.

Grow what you love to eat.

Do you crave Italian dishes?

Tomatoes, basil, and oregano are staples for your container garden. Do you snack on spicy salsa?

You’ll want heat-producing peppers and cilantro. Do you prefer from scratch magazine • 103

to add a dash of spice to your meals? A gathering of potted herbs to flavor your culinary creations is essential. When space is at a premium, it’s important to grow only the food that you love.

Choose an appropriate container.

Once you select your favorite foods, research their growing requirements. Tomatoes, for instance, need a fairly large, deep container with rich, well-draining soil—and most varieties demand trellising or staking. Lettuce, with its shallow roots, looks attractive

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and thrives in narrow containers.

Rosemary tolerates porous terra cotta that dries out more quickly, because it doesn’t like wet feet.

When you understand a plant’s growing requirements, it’s easier to select an attractive, appropriate container for your edible garden.

Containers range from expensive, artistic creations to simple fivegallon buckets with holes drilled in the bottom for drainage. Plus, with the trend for flea market finds, you can expressive your individuality when selecting unusual containers. Make certain, though, that the container is safe for growing food and will drain well.

Stylize your garden.

An attractive collection of monochromatic pots provides an harmonious backdrop for beautiful herbs.

Prefer a more modern design?

Sleek, streamlined containers filled with ‘Bright Lights’ Swiss chard makes an impressive statement.

Or perhaps add a bit of garden whimsy with the popular containers shaped like heads—with spiky “hair” of lemongrass or curls of oregano. No matter your taste, you can find or create containers that match your style.

Pick perfect partners.

Ensure success of your container garden by selecting crops with similar growing requirements. Sunloving tomatoes perform well with sun-loving herbs, while lettuce and kale enjoy a bit of shade. It’s frustrating to find beautiful container gardens on Pinterest when, upon closer inspection, incompatible plants are paired. Trust me—lavender and lettuce will never coexist happily in a container. Lavender prefers full sun and low moisture, while lettuce needs ample water, cooler weather, and a bit of shade.

On the other hand, you can choose plants that benefit one another.

Carrots repel aphids when planted with tomatoes, and icicle radishes deter squash vine borers when allowed to flower. Louise Riotte’s

Edible Container Gardening Recipes

Spicy Salsa Container Container Size: 5 gallons (1) Thriller: 'Floradade' Tomato (1) Filler: 'Lemon Yellow' Habanero (2); Cilantro (3) Spiller: 'Moonlight' Nasturtium (3)

Perfect Pasta Container Container Size: 5 gallons (1) Thriller: 'Bison' Tomato (1) Filler: 'Genevose' Basil (3); Italian Flat Leaf Parsley (2) Spiller: 'Fordhook' Zucchini (2) (Flowers are also edible)

Scrumptious Salad Container Container Size: 5 gallons (1) Thriller: 'Silvery Fir Tree' Tomato (1) Filler: 'Forellenschluss' Lettuce (5), Icicle Radish (5) Spiller: 'Red Wonder' Fraise des Bois (alpine strawberries) (5)

from scratch magazine • 105

book, Carrots Love Tomatoes, is an excellent source of companion planting information.

In addition to compatible growing requirements, select plants designed to create an attractive container. When designing ornamental containers, it’s recommended to choose a “thriller,” “filler,” and “spiller.” The same design principle applies to edible container gardens.

For instance, a “thriller” -- the taller plant that is central to the container, placed either in the middle or toward the back of the container—might be a gorgeous, striped heirloom tomato. The “filler”--plants that are shorter, more compact, and provide the lush, rich look to the container— could be Genovese Basil. And finally, the “spiller”--the plants that drape dramatically over the edge of the container, adding visual interest and tying the container together—might be nasturtium, an edible flower. Edible container gardens are practical, but they can be beautiful, too.

companion crops in the container.

Love strawberries? Using a hanging basket and coir liner, you can design a strawberry ball and enjoy delicious berries all season. Hang your basket from a shephard’s hook, and you’ll have more room for additional containers below.

Prefer fruit to vegetables? Dwarf varieties of fruit trees make excellent additions to a container garden. Blueberry bushes, grapes, strawberries...all can grow well in containers, providing a sweet feast all season. Additionally, container gardens allow you to enjoy fruits grown outside your USDA zone. While we normally can’t grow citrus in my zone 7b garden, our lemon and orange trees are mobile—we move the containers inside during the winter.

Ensure Success.

As with any attractive container garden, a few rules apply.

• Use high quality, organic potting soil that drains well. Soil from the garden can compact and affect drainage, leading to root Grow up. rot. Additionally, garden soil might contain weed seeds and pests, Limited garden space doesn’t need impacting the health of your to limit the crops you grow. If plants—and leading to more work you love cucumbers, add a trellis for you. to your container—and grow up.

Similarly, squash grown in a large • Water often—sometimes twice a container supported by a trellis day in summer. Make certain that performs well. By growing crops the container drains freely. I give vertically, you can underplant our containers the “finger test.”

106 • from scratch magazine

Insert your finger 1-inch into the soil. If it’s moist, don’t water. If it’s dry—get out the watering can.

Edible Container Gardening Recipes

• Don’t overwater arid-loving plants. Your rosemary, lavender, and oregano will thank you.

Italian Herb Garden:

• Fertilize heavy feeders, like tomatoes, every two weeks.

Each time you water the container, nutrients leech from its soil. To ensure the health and productivity of your plants, replace the nutrients with a balanced organic liquid fertilizer appropriate for your crops.

• Monitor for pests and diseases, and react quickly to any problems. Most pests can be hand-picked or eliminated with a diluted soapy water spray. Common diseases, like powdery mildew, can also be controlled with proper plant maintenance and vigilance.

By catching problems early, you’ll avoid disappointing harvests later.

• Prune and tidy the plants to keep your container garden attractive.

With minimal space and effort, you will enjoy months of deliciousness from your new container garden. And honestly—is there anything

Container Size: 3 gallons (1) Thriller: Rosemary (1) Filler: Silver Thyme (3), Broad-Leaf Sage (3) Spiller: Greek Oregano (3)

Pretty Purples:

Container Size: 5 gallons (1) Thriller: ‘Purple Beauty’ Sweet Pepper (1) Filler: ‘Purple Dark Opal’ Basil (3); Shiso Purple (3) Spiller: ‘Johnny Jump Ups’ Viola (5)

better than a homegrown tomato?

Enjoy!

Visit Growing Days to chat about growing gardens, growing kids, growing green, growing locavores, and growing... one day at a time.

from scratch magazine • 107

Special Pest Section

Beneficial Predatory Insects By: Chris McLaughlin

A

s far as we gardeners are concerned, with insects there are the good guys and the bad guys. It might not be very politically correct of us, but there it is. Like knights to the queen, some insects are born plant protectors and some see our gardens as a veritable smorgasbord.

eradicate every bad insect in the garden, but they take care of more than enough to balance out the equation quite enough to establish beautiful, healthy plants a only a few munched-on leaves.

With these natural soldiers on our side, you can eliminate (or drastically reduce) the use of potentially harmful synthetic pesticides.

Insects such as the Colorado potato beetles, snails, slugs, aphids, cabbage worms, and coddling moths are just a few on the “Insects Least Wanted” list, while beneficial insects that are the pollinators and predators are on certainly on the “Insects Most Wanted” list.

Predatory beneficial insects won’t

Beneficial insects fall into two categories: pollinating and predatory.

The pollinators such as honey bees, Blue Mason bees (and other native bee species), butterflies, moths, etc make it possible for the garden to produce a vegetable bounty.

However, the predatory insects are the dudes with the heavy

108 • from scratch magazine

artillery and diligently destroy the bugs that devour your garden. Your best bet is to invite as many beneficial insects from both classes into your garden as possible. But for now, let’s focus on the predators.

Meet the Predators Learn to recognize the players on your team players, people.

Not all of them will be super models -- you’ll want to know the difference between friend and foe. You don’t want to accidentally wipe out your own troops! Beneficial insect images are online, in organic gardening books, field guides, and your local master gardener’s office.

Depending on the species, many of these predatory insects will double as pollinators in your garden, too. This isn’t an exhaustive list by any means. For more information on local beneficial insects contact your local Cooperative Extension office.

Assassin bug. These predators prove that you don’t have to be good-looking to get the job done right. What they lack in attractiveness they more than make up for in appetite and speed. Favorite meals include Colorado potato beetle, cabbage worms, aphids, tomato hornworms, cucumber beetles, cutworms, Japanese beetle, caterpillars, and more.

Dragonfly and damselfly. Adult dragonflies and damselflies are tenacious predators. As carnivorous grown-ups, they’re both superior hunters-of-the-skies and snatch their prey in mid-air.

They’re also one of the fastest insects in the world. As nymphs (young) living in the water, they have insatiable appetites for water insects such as mosquito larva.

Green lacewing. Also called the aphid lion, these predators use a pair of curved mandibles (jaws) to harpoon aphids and suck the life

from scratch magazine • 109

Photo by: whologwhy

Dragonfly

out of them. They also eat other soft-bodied insects such as mites, mealybugs, spider mites, whiteflies, scale, and thrips. The adult lacewing is a pollinator. Their kids are tenacious, too; green lacewing larva can eat 60 aphids per hour.

Ground beetle. Pretty shells, large mandibles, and a voracious appetite pretty much describe ground beetles. With a tendency to hide under plant debris in the ground, you may not notice them, but at night you can be sure they’re on the hunt.

Ladybug. These assassins cloaked in a red Volkswagon’s clothing will each consume 5,000 aphids by the time they die. Other ladybug prey includes bean thrips, mites, chinch bugs, Colorado potato beetles, and asparagus beetles.

Ladybug larvae. These little dudes are black and orange-red with a prehistoric alligator look. These spiny little creatures aren’t much to look at, but they can eat as many as 50 to 70 aphids a day.

Leather-winged beetle or soldier beetle. These slender guys Hoverfly. Also called syrphid flies, are long and orange with dark the larvae feed on soft-bodied pest wings. If you’re roses are covered insects such as mealybugs, aphids, in aphids, the super-hero soldier beetles aren’t far behind! Give maggots, and caterpillars. They resemble a little bee and have one them a chance to come to the rescue. pair of wings, yellow-striped bodMinute pirate bug. They may be ies, and huge compound eyes.

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Praying Mantis

Photo by: vladeb

Trichogramma wasp. This wasp doesn’t bite humans. It’s just one in a group of parasitic wasps that lay their eggs inside the larvae of garden pests such as cabbage worms, cutworms, and borers. Once inside, they dine on the internal organs of their host. The aphid ends up mummified as baby wasps spin a cocoon in there, pupate, and finally emerge as an adult wasp.

Soldier Beetle

Photo by: Ted Buckner

Spined soldier bug. Another master of the harpoon-attack, spined soldier bugs inject a paralyzing substance into their prey and feast on the juices. Potato beetles, tomato hornworms, caterpillars, saw-fly larva, and cabbage worms end up as this predator’s dinner.

Ladybug

Photo by: Gail Hampshire

Spider. People are often repelled by these eight-legged creatures, but spiders are friends to the garden. After an insect is caught in a spider’s web they’re quickly wrapped up by his host and injected with a venom that liquefies the insect and the spider just sucks him down. They eat more insects in the garden than birds and they help out with pest control year-round.

Green Lacewing

Photo by: Wendy Cutler

Praying mantis. Although mantids (plural for mantis) are big consumers that don’t always discriminate between good and evil, they certainly eat garden pests. On the other hand, they sometimes grab a good guy or two in the process.

Photo by: Arend Vermazeren

tiny but these predators help control small caterpillars, aphids, mites, and thrips. The move lightning fast when they spot a good meal, piercing it with their needle beaks.

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Special Pest Section

Vegetable Pests and the Predators that Control Them By: Chris McLaughlin

Aphids. These teeny, pear-shaped, plant-sucking ladies can show up in colors of green, brown, black, gray, red, and yellow. In small numbers, their damage is minimal, but infested plants can suffer new growth to be curled and distorted, which can stunt them.

fellows look relatively harmless.

But make no mistake, they have a voracious appetite and will defoliate plants.

Ladybugs, damsel bugs, parasitic wasps, assassin bugs, tachinid flies, spiders, lacewings, and praying mantids are all natural controls Natural aphid predators are praying for the Colorado potato beetle. mantis, lacewings, minute pirate bugs, hover flies, damsel bugs, Cucumber beetle. There are a big-eyed bugs, ladybugs, assassin few different species of cucumbugs, and spider. Just about every- ber beetle. The yellow-green ones with black spots on their wing covone enjoys them for lunch! ers and yellow kind that has three Colorado potato beetle. Dressed black stripes running down their in dapper, unassuming, pinstriped covers. In any case, the damage suits are about half the size of is the same; eating flowers off of your thumbnail. These rather cute crops, making holes in leaves, and

112 • from scratch magazine

Photo by: Jim Capaldi

Squash Vine Borer consuming germinating seeds.

and tachinid flies are all enemies of the earwig.

Natural predators for the cucumber beetle are tachinid flies, assassin Japanese beetles. Japanese beetles are a metallic, iridescent bugs, and parasitic wasps. bronze/green color and have plump Earwigs. Otherwise known as in bodies. They eat the tender part of infamous "pincher bug" and are the leaves leaving only a "skeleton" hard to mistake as they have large, behind. These beetles also have no ominous pinchers on their back end. problem eating the flowers while Earwigs chew on seedlings, leaves, their grubs (young) eat away at flowers, and maturing fruit. It may the roots of your lawn. Parasitic surprise you to know that they play wasps are the primary predator for a more positive role in the garden, Japanese beetles. as well. They also enjoy decaying matter (helpful for creating com- Mexican bean beetle. You may post) and they also act as a preda- dismiss these beetles in the garden tor by eating aphids. because they look an awful lot like lady bugs, but bigger and they're Praying mantids, assassin bugs, on your bean plants. Orange with from scratch magazine • 113

Photo by: Bob Peterson

Photo by:Karunakar Rayke

Earwig or “Pincher” 16 black spots on their wing covers, they feed on leaves, causing them to become skeletonized.

Stem of plants and the beans are often consumed, as well.

Ladybug eying some aphids victims of snails and slugs.

As opposed to insects, frogs, toads, snakes, moles, and birds are the best at eradicating these pests. In fact, these three will help control Praying mantids, ladybugs, assas- all garden pests. sin bugs, tachinid flies, parasitic wasps, and minute pirate bugs will Squash bug. Squash bugs are be happy to take of them for you. brown or gray with long antennas and a flat back that resembles a Snails and slugs. It's hard to miss shield. these slimy pests that creep along the ground leaving a slimy residue They feast on plant juices by piercbehind them. Whether they carry a ing them and sucking away. You shell on their backs or not, they're a may notice small dots on plant garden demolition crew. Seedlings leaves, only to have it turn yellow, and new plant growth are the usual wilt, and die a short time later.

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Natural predators are Spiders, praying mantids, and tachinid flies.

Squash vine borer. These are 1 1/2" long moths that have black and red bodies with clear wings.

It's their white young that bore into plant vines (usually in the curcurbit family) to eat the flesh.

Parasitic wasps and ground beetles can help.

Tomato hornworm. These guys are incredibly chameleonlike in their ability to fool the eye. But once you come across one, you'll never forget it.

Fat-bodied and the same green shade as your tomato plants, these 3"-5" long caterpillars defoliate plants in just a day or two.

Plants that have are hosts to hornworms have entire leaves missing (sometimes the stem is left behind). You may notice 1/4" long, dark green "pellets", which is (you guessed it) caterpillar poop.

Parasitic wasps and assassin bugs will both take down this crop destroyer. As we discussed earlier in this chapter, tomato hornworms are despised in the garden and yet are a valuable pollinator for some plant species.

Aphids: An Army of Women If it seems that a bazillion aphids seem to be born overnight, that’s because they are -- literally. The crazy fact is that aphids are all women and every lady aphid is born pregnant. They give birth once they are a mature adults -- which is about ten days after they’re born.

During the warm, spring temperatures of spring, special aphids called “stem mothers” emerge from over-wintering eggs. Stem mothers give birth to live daughters who are also pregnant; no male is necessary.

It’s truly a superior race of women gone terribly wrong.

The phenomenon continues with every generation of girl aphid until the end of the season -- and then things get really interesting. The aphids begin to produce daughters and sons.

The sons mate with the current generation of female aphids and those females lay eggs on bud scales to over-winter...and the creepy cycle begins again.

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Special Pest Section

Squash

Squash Vine Borer (and Other Garden Pests) with Companion Planting Photos and Story: Julie Thompson-Adolf

I

t happens to the best of us.

We pamper, prune, water, and weed our vegetable gardens, and then overnight— we’re invaded. Tomato plants, devoid of foliage. Nasty, sticky clumps of aphids, sucking the life from leaves. Or my personal nemesis: Japanese beetles, turning lush raspberry bushes skeletal.

It’s aggravating to care for and coddle our fruits and veggies, only for them to become an all-youcan-eat smorgasbord for uninvited 116 • from scratch magazine

garden guests. Plus, most of us would prefer not to find the remnants of a cabbageworm in our coleslaw.

Ewww.

But most of us also prefer to eat our veggies without a dressing of pesticide. After all, eating a sunwarmed strawberry in the garden loses its appeal when it’s coated in poison.

So, how can we combat the nasty creepy crawlies while preserving

our organic harvest?

Play matchmaker and introduce companionable plants to one another.

Great Couples.

You may be familiar with common companions, like basil and tomatoes. Not only do they taste great together, but according to the book, Carrots Love Tomatoes: Secrets of Companion Planting for Successful Gardening, basil protects tomatoes from both insects

and disease, while also improving growth and flavor. Plus, when basil is allowed to flower, it attracts beneficial insects to the garden, which enjoy feasting on tomato pests, like aphids.

In fact, there’s a long list of plants that form symbiotic relationships to repel pests. For instance, bush beans planted among potatoes help repel the Colorado potato beetle. To return the favor, potatoes protect the beans from Mexican bean beetle. It’s a perfect match. from scratch magazine • 117

While some plants work together to combat intruders, others provide protection without restitution. Many aromatic herbs repel insects when planted throughout the kitchen garden. Wormwood, for instance, repels cabbageworm moths, preventing them from laying eggs on brassicas that turn into a feast for just-hatched caterpillars. Wormwood also repels black flea beetle, which eats tiny holes in leaves, making them less marketable—and less palatable.

Additionally, by planting wormwood as a border, the herb repels 118 • from scratch magazine

animals, such as mice, from nibbling your soon-to-be-dinner.

Squash-vine borers wreck havoc in many gardens, decimating the crop and perplexing gardeners. Last year, I read about the benefits of planting two to three icicle radish seeds alongside each squash seed. The radish remains in the garden, allowed to flower, and the scent repels squash-vine borers. I gave it a try, and guess what? I had an incredible squash harvest, with no sign of squashvine borer.

Likewise, garlic’s potent scent deters a host of pests from eating crops: Japanese beetles, aphids, fruit tree borers, and spider mites.

Companion planting green onions, too, deters Peter Cottontail from devouring lettuce. Also, the aroma of certain herbs, like parsley, keeps favored crops like carrots undercover by masking their scent, confusing the carrot fly.

Not only does interplanting herbs into the vegetable garden aid in repelling pests, it also enhances the garden’s beauty. The blue flowers of green culinary sage

brighten my garden and attract beneficial insects. Plus, when harvesting crops for dinner, you can easily pluck a few herbs to spice up the meal. Culinary convenience and pest control—perfect reasons to companion plant.

Invite Friends to Dinner.

We know that not all insects are bad. In fact, by creating a welcoming habitat for beneficial insects, it’s like unleashing

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an army of good against evil.

Our heroes tackle intruders with aplomb, decimating our enemies while we enjoy a frosty drink in the shade.

Really, does it get much better than that?

Knowing which insects are friends versus foes is the first step in developing a plan for companion planting. Eliza A. H. Lord, author of the blog Appalachian Feet and organic gardening expert, leads classes to help gardeners identify pests versus beneficial insects.

“The most effective control of pest insects are beneficial insects,” she says. “After all, less than 3% of insect species are pests. If you plan your garden to attract

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beneficial insects, then you may not need to bother with pests when they show up.” Lord usually employs a “‘watch and wait” policy. “Sometimes I watch pretty closely — especially if the plant under attack is fragile, and I know the pest can multiply fast. I’ll step in if things are looking dire, but even organic spraying is very much a last resort.”

Permaculture designer and educator Penryn Craig also believes in inviting beneficial insects to the garden. Parasitoid wasps, for instance, serve to greatly reduce the number of tomato hornworms, Manduca quinquemaculata (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae). The wasps hatch from eggs laid on the caterpillar, consuming the host as

it grows. Adding members of the Umbelliferae plant family to the garden, such as dill, coriander, fennel and wild carrot, says Craig, attracts the wasps, which then look for suitable hosts for their babies-to-be.

Feed Your Enemies, too.

Sometimes, it pays to lose a few plants to protect the majority of your garden. Planting trap crops is a clever solution to save your harWhile many of us don’t consider vest. A trap crop lures pests away wasps “friendly,” ladybugs enchant from your main crops, enticing the us from the time we’re kids. pest to feast on an intended plant that you’re willing to sacrifice. For Because ladybugs, or the instance, aphids find nasturtium Coccinellidae family, devour aphids delicious. By planting nasturlike popcorn, many gardeners tium as a trap crop in the garden, introduce purchased ladybugs into aphids tend to choose it over our their landscape. However, make more valuable vegetables, like certain you can identify ladybug tomatoes. larva, so that you won’t be tempted to squish the strange, orangeFrench marigold is perhaps one spotted, alligator look-alike you of the best known trap crops, lurfind on plants. ing thrips, slugs, and nematodes aways from the main crops. I Just like any dinner party, flowers plant French marigolds along the add ambiance. Invite beneficial perimeter of each raised bed, insects to your garden by adornenhancing the visual appeal of the ing it with a wide variety of flowgarden, while also luring pests ering plants native to your area. away from our main vegetables.

The adults arrive to drink the nectar and stay to lay eggs, ensuring a future generation of plant protectors.

Sometimes, happy accidents turn into intentional companion plantings. Japanese beetles plague our gardens. Two years ago, I noticed dead Japanese beetles among my Plants known for attracting polgeraniums. I felt a terrible joy, linators, like bee balm, cosmos, realizing the Japanese beetles zinnias, milkweed, and cleome are tried to devour my flowers but excellent additions. ended up dead instead. HA! I used to hand-pick the beetles from the Attract birds, too, by planting sun- rose bushes and raspberries, but flowers and black-eyed Susan for I’ve now add geraniums as comseeds, as the birds can also feast panion plants near the roses and on your pests. vines, and the population appears from scratch magazine • 121

to be dwindling. I hope it continues.

Pay Attention Like any good relationship, companions need attention. Check 122 • from scratch magazine

your garden frequently to see what’s working and what needs tending. Remove eggs from trap crops. Refresh and replant herbs that repel pests. Add more flowers to lure beneficial insects. Your garden, like a marriage, is a work in progress. Enjoy the journey.

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Preparing Food for Storage By: Christy Wilhelmi

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or a gardener, nothing stings more than spending all season growing your own food only to have it rot in the refrigerator. It happens all the time. That’s why it’s best to clean or prep veggies right when you bring them in from the garden. Some of these preparations go against what you might typically read about food storage, but they work.

Fill Up the Sink Lettuces and other leafy greens will store for weeks if you soak them for twenty minutes in a sink or bowl full of water. Give them room to fl oat around and stir them every once in a while. Soil and grime will sink to the bot124 • from scratch magazine

tom, and plant cells will plump with water. Use a salad spinner to remove most of the water. Place a paper towel or small dishcloth at the bottom of a produce or plastic bag (hate to say it, but plastic bags work better than anything for this task), put your greens inside, and tie the bag closed.

Store in the vegetable drawer of the refrigerator until ready to use.

After this, salads are as easy as tearing individual leaves into a bowl. You can also go a step further and tear leaves into a large plastic or glass storage container, so all you have to do is put dressing on your greens when you’re ready, but they don’t last as long this way.

Keep Certain Fruits and Veggies on the Counter or in the Pantry

will last a long time. Some say asparagus can be stored this way, though others prefer to store it in the fridge unwashed, wrapped in a paper towel in a plastic bag.

Tomatoes, squash, avocados, melons, onions, and potatoes should not be refrigerated. Stone fruits such as nectarines, peaches, and plums should be stored on the counter until ripe, then placed in the refrigerator drawer. Wash them just before eating.

Magic Foil

Don’t Wash Until Ready to Use Some produce begins to decay quickly if you wash and store it: basil, beans, cucumbers, and peppers. For these guys, brush off any soil and store in the fridge.

Then wash them right before you plan to use them.

Take Off the Tops Carrots, radishes, and parsnips stay crisp longer if you take the greens off before putting them in the fridge.

Put It in a Vase Herbs such as cilantro, parsley, and even basil can be stored like flowers in a vase. If you put a plastic bag over the entire thing and store it on the top shelf in the refrigerator, replacing the water every few days, these herbs

When you wrap celery in a paper towel, then in aluminum foil, it lasts for a miraculously long time.

Just don’t forget about it. If possible, store veggies in clear containers. It is confusing to be greeted by unmarked bags of mystery produce when you open the vegetable drawer. Your food is more likely to be consumed when it’s fresh if you can clearly identify it. Many garden geeks label their produce with sticky notes. There’s no shame in that.

Geeky Garden Tip -

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Salad Spinner Is Your Friend If you don’t have a salad spinner, get one. It’s a gardener’s best friend when it comes to preparing produce for storage.

The power of centrifugal force spins water off leafy greens, leaving them practically dry for storage.

If you don’t want to get a salad spinner, you can become one by wrapping your greens in a dishtowel (gather up the corners), walking outside, and whirling your arm around like you’re serving a softball game. Just make sure you stand away from anyone who doesn’t like to get wet!

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Special Advertising Section

My Patriot Supply

Heirloom Gardening with My Patriot Supply By: Steven Jones

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y Patriot Supply is a company devoted to self-sustainability and independence.

We purchased our seeds about six months before planting, which is one of the reasons we decided to buy seeds from My Patriot Supply.

The company sells a collection of seeds called a survival vault in a sealed steel can.

Inside, the seeds are protected by resealable mylar bags.

The can is rated to last more than five years at room temperatures, longer at lower temperatures.

While we didn’t keep them in storage that long, the seeds looked fine after about six months.

The proof, however, is in the planting.

We planted the seeds as per the instructions on the seed packets.

The vault we purchased contained 20 different types of seeds, including 126 • from scratch magazine

beans, corn, squash and more.

All the seeds are heirloom varieties.

The company prides itself on selling seeds in which all the harvest seeds from plants can produce new plants.

We wanted to use heirloom varieties that were not GMO because of the many benefits of these types of plants.

After the standard germination period for the different types of seeds, we noticed a fantastic rate of germination.

We didn’t keep spreadsheets or anything (but we might next year), but we noticed at least a 90 percent germination rate.

As the plants grew, we noticed they appeared to be robust and hardy.

All things considered, we found the seeds purchased from My Patriot Supply to perform quite well this season.

We were pleased to have all heirloom varieties and we will be harvesting the seeds to plant again next year.

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Create an Instant Garden with Sheet Mulching Photos and Story By: Terri Page

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y family recently purchased 20 acres of raw land in Northeast Missouri on which we are building a food forest and organic gardens.

I aim to grow most of my family’s fresh vegetables during the summer months, and to preserve food for the next winter. With heavy clay soils, tilling the land would necessitate waiting until the soil dries completely, and I am way too eager to get started on late spring plantings! This year I’m getting a

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jumpstart on an immediate growing space with sheet mulching.

The sheet mulch technique mimics the processes of nature: in a healthy forest, a litter layer of fallen leaves, twigs, branches, and decomposing plants creates a moist, weed-free environment that is teeming with microbial life.

Similarly, by layering carbon and nitrogen-rich organic materials and allowing them to compost directly in the beds, a sheet mulched garden will enjoy enhanced moisture

retention, weed suppression, and over time, improved soil structure.

Best of all, sheet mulching creates garden space with no tilling or digging!

Why sheet mulch?

Sheet mulching is relatively inexpensive and can turn an otherwise undesirable area into a garden. If you have a large backyard, imagine turning a corner of your lawn into a space to grow food! For those

of us with heavy clay soil, sheet mulching spares the backbreaking work of digging or turning the soil. Sheet mulching is also ideal for weedy areas, as the weeds are cut down and left to decompose in place, and then smothered with layers of organic material.

Finally, sheet mulching makes use of what might otherwise be considered home yard waste such as grass clippings, leaves, cardboard, and newspaper, and diverts these materials from landfills into lush, bountiful gardens. from scratch magazine • 129

Sheet Mulch Basics Creating a sheet-mulched garden is very similar to making lasagna – layer, layer, layer. In fact, some people call this method “lasagna gardening.”

It can be done with a wide variety of organic materials, some of which are likely available for free or cheap: straw, hay, leaves, wood chips, saw dust, manure, stable bedding, compost, food scraps, cardboard, newspaper, or grass clippings.

How-to: 1) Get yourself some big old piles

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of organic matter!

Sheet mulching uses an incredible amount of organic materials, so plan accordingly.

For our sheet mulch project, my family purchased an enormous straw bale, but we were able to source free topsoil, sawdust, finished compost, and unlimited horse manure from a local university farm.

If you don’t have immediate access to a large amount of materials, you can sheet mulch over time; many years ago, I sheet mulched a new garden space over the course of several months and simply added leaves, food scraps, manure and grass clippings as I acquired them.

2) Prepare the earth.

To begin, first cut down weeds and tall grass in place and leave them to decompose.

If you want to add any soil amendments, such as lime, rock dust, kelp meal, or wood ashes, go ahead and sprinkle them right on top of the cut grass.

Some gardeners will also recommend also opening up the earth a bit by inserting a digging fork and rocking it back and forth before pulling it back out, but quite frankly, I skip this step completely.

Finally, spread a thin layer of a high nitrogen material such as manure or grass clippings to accelerate decay of the weeds and grass and

to stimulate soil life. Wet this layer thoroughly.

3) Establish a weed barrier.

Next you will lay down materials to smother any emerging weeds. I like to use cardboard or a ½ inch thick layers of newspaper as a base layer, but other acceptable materials include burlap bags, paper sacks, or cotton or wool clothing.

Be sure to remove any packing tape or plastic from your cardboard, as these will not decompose.

As you fill your desired garden area with cardboard, overlap the edges by at least six inches to assure that weeds will not find their way through cracks.

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straw, hay, leaves and manure will compost over time and will shrink 4) Layer your organic materials, considerably! watering as you go.

It seems that every sheet mulch 5) Top it off. enthusiast has their own preferred If you plan on seeding or plantmethods of layering organic mate- ing into your sheet mulch beds right away, make your final layer rials.

I chose to imitate lasagna’s layers approximately three inches of finof sauce and cheese and alternated ished compost, or compost mixed three-inch layers of wheat straw with soil. with composted horse manure. If you are preparing your beds in Continue layering your organic mat- advance, for instance in the fall, ter until you create a thick layer of then you can finish with manure. materials; my beds are about 12 Top off the pile with a weed free inches tall. layer of straw, sawdust, leaves, or Remember that your layers of wood chips – something that will Again, wet this layer thoroughly.

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hold moisture and prohibit weeds.

6) Plant! Now you are ready to plant directly into your new garden.

Simply move aside the finish layer of straw, sawdust or wood chips and plant into the compost layer below.

My personal experience has been that root crops may not flourish in a first year sheet mulch bed, but once your pile of straw and manure decomposes into rich, dark soil, and the cardboard or newspaper breaks down, plants with long taproots will

penetrate the soil below.

After weeks of hauling and layering materials, my sheet mulch garden is almost complete.

If I reach down deep into the layers, I feel the warmth of decomposition.

Already we have planted onions, arugula, potatoes, corn, and some flowers into the beds.

Next spring, we will have a garden replete with rich soil, earthworms, and microbial life, ready for another year’s bounty.

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Story and Photos by: Teri Page 134 • from scratch magazine

Raising Cattle on Small Acreage

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Story by: Janet Garman

uring the last twenty years, our family has slowly increased the production of food for our dinner table. This includes veggies, eggs, berries, and now meat. We chose to raise beef cattle because we had the available space, and frankly, we love steak and roasts. There is nothing that compares with the flavor of fresh beef and previously we had been purchasing a half a steer at a time for our freezer, from a local farmer. Our first three calves were Black Angus feeder calves about four months old. We later added two more, another Black Angus and a Hereford/Angus cross. Starting with feeder calves, you can expect a minimum of one year to butchering, but the time is mainly dictated by the amount of space

you have to store the beef in the freezer.

It is possible to raise your own beef on small acreage. What are the factors to consider if you plan to add beef cows to your family homestead?

Space Requirements

The amount of acreage does not need to be large and extensive.

We are not talking about ranching or creating a South Fork here. If you are planning on grazing the cows on pasture you need about 2 acres per animal. Cattle can be raised in a feedlot situation where you provide all the roughage and

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concentrate feed for them in a smaller enclosed space. Neither of these situations fit our picture of how cows would fit into our homestead farm. We like our animals to have a bit of space for roaming around so we are using two separate one acre fenced in areas. Most of our acreage is in a Tree Farm program so we do not have a lot of cleared land. We also raise Pygora goats, sheep, chicken, ducks and turkeys so all the cleared space was not available for the cows. But we used to have horses so the two fenced in areas were already set up.

Having two separate fenced in areas allows us to move the cattle from one area to the other to let the ground rest and to help with parasite control. Each area has an open shed for shelter, although the cows seem to prefer being outside. Electric fencing was run along the inside of the post and board fencing.

control over your small herd. But beware! The cows will follow you, enthusiastically, for grain and you should know where they are in relation to you , at all times.

Have a plan in place should veterinary care be needed. A chute or some other suitable method of restraint should be thought out before disaster strikes.

Nutrition

Water is the most critical nutrient to provide for your cattle.

The average full grown cow will consume an average of twelve to twenty gallons of water each day.

We provide water in stock tanks in the fields. If you plan on relying on a stream or pond, be sure it doesn’t dry up in the heat of summer or freeze over in the winter.

Because our area suffers from frequent power outages, we keep extra tanks filled with water, in the event the power is out for an extended time. If the power goes out, the electric pump for the well does not work.

Grain can be costly but we feed a small amount once a day, mainly to keep the cows gentle and willCattle are large and considering to come to us. The majoration should be given to who will ity of their diet is hay, which is be taking care of them. While the provided using large round bales. cows may be docile, the size of With no real pasture, our cows any 1000 to 1500 pound animal eat through two large round bales should be respected. Animals each week.

You will probably react quickly and can seriously need to provide a salt or mineral hurt a caretaker if precautions block also. are not taken. Gentling the cattle with feed is one way to gain some

Safety Considerations

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Costs Since these vary greatly by region it is hard to give a good estimate of the cost to raise beef cattle on the homestead. In our situation, we try to barter for the needs using other products from our farm and businesses. I will tell you that I don’t think this is the economical approach to take to add meat to your freezer. But if you are looking to control what goes into making that meat, the peace of mind that comes from knowing no chemicals were used, and that the animals lived a good life before providing food for your family, then, the cost may be worth it.

To us, the answer was yes. It is worth every dollar spent.

Raising your own beef for the homestead may not be the most economical project you choose, but, to us it is a fair trade off for the knowledge that the animal was fed wholesome food with no chemical additives. The taste is above anything a super market can offer. If you haven’t had the pleasure of dining on fresh local beef, give your local cattle farmer a call and see if he has any to sell.

More on Fencing Good fencing is a must. The weight of cattle pushing against a flimsy fence is a recipe for … well, escaping cows. We learned this

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the hard way, early on. The first area we put the cows into had been used for years for our horses. Some of the fencing should have been replaced prior to the cows being placed there. They pushed on a section of fence and it gave way, allowing the cows to roam freely for an afternoon. By the time we realized they were missing it was evening feeding time. While we could see hoof prints at many locations, such as the vegetable garden, we could not find the cows. We looked for hours and even canvassed the two nearby neighborhoods. As darkness approached, I placed a call to the non-emergency number for the local police department hoping someone had seen the cows

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roaming and called in a report.

Our farm is in a rapidly growing suburban area and it took a few minutes to convince the dispatcher that I was not making a prank call. Guess that was a first for her. No one had called in reporting cows on the loose. Up until this point, we had kept the dog in thinking (mistakenly) that he would cause the cows to run if he found them. Giving up for the night, we let the dog out and he immediately found the herd not too far from the barn, hiding in some tall growth behind a shed.

The electric fence was added within a few days. Since then we have not had any roaming cattle.

A Chicken Story

The story, Once Upon a Flock, evolved from your popular blog, ScratchandPeck. Was that your intention from the start?

Yes, I actually did plan it that way. I had a story to tell – that I felt very passionately about. While I’m an illustrator by trade, I really didn’t have much experience writing. So I started the blog, began writing and illustrating the story in my blogposts, and I learned a whole lot about storytelling in the process. Blogging is a terrific way to learn how to write because when you write something that’s especially entertaining, you can get instant feedback from readers.

Which came first, the chickens or the coop?

To be honest, I was obsessed with coops long before I became obsessed with chickens. I love my power tools, and I love to build things. I’ve designed and made furniture, tree forts, doll houses… and the idea of a cute coop really tickled me. Of course, if I was going to build a coop, I figured I should probably put some chickens in it… from scratch magazine • 139

At what point did you realize that you had an epic tale evolving in your backyard?

It was after Lucy, my big gorgeous Barred Rock, came down with Marek’s Disease. She couldn’t walk. Couldn’t even stand up. It was awful. I decided to bring her into the house to keep her comfortable until she died…..but she just kept on living. Lucy proved to be a lovely houseguest. We hung out together. We had nice conversations… we bonded. Eventually her health improved enough for her to return to her outdoorchicken-life, so I built her a special-needs coop. But she still needed my help, so she willingly included me in her adventures and her life. She and I are buddies.

You describe Lil' White, your beautiful golden hen, as the Evil Orpington Is she really evil?

Well. Buff Orpingtons are supposed to be lovely, docile, even affectionate birds. I just happen to be blessed with a sociopathic lunatic Orpington She has no friends. A very aloof gal. She goes out of her way to peck at her flockmates, and when I’m in the coop, she tippy-toes around behind me and pecks mercilessly at my backside. Lil’White is a beautiful, horrible chicken.

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At first, your dog Marky wanted to eat the chickens. When did that change? Can you really trust him now?

One fateful day Marky got into the chicken enclosure. I was there, and I dived in right after him, and I screamed so hysterically that he ran right out again.

None of the ladies were hurt, but Marky was, well, transformed. And so was I. It was at that moment that I realized I had it all wrong. My backyard was one place, and we were one flock….or pack….or family.

Whatever way you want to look at it. So I changed everything.

I gave Marky a job. I offered him a handful of chicken feed and informed him that he was the leader of the flock. Over the course of a couple of months, he was transformed from predator to protector.

Will there be a sequel? What's going on in your backyard now?

I’m all itchy to be writing again, and I’ve got some stories a-brewing. I’m putting up a new coop in the backyard, and there are four chicks wreaking havoc right now in a box in the living room.

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Summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.

-Henry James

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