April/May 2021

MOTHER EARTH NEWS

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MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
A Bit of Preparedness
Time is flying faster than I can ever remember, and I’m sitting, somewhat unexpectedly, in front of a woodstove beating back subzero temperatures and a snowstorm outside. Our part of Kansas has rarely seen zero degrees Fahrenheit in the past seven or
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
Mother Earth News
ISSUE EDITORS Lead Editor CAITLIN WILSON Editor at Large OSCAR H. WILL III EDITORIAL GROUP Technical Editor REBECCA MARTIN Group Editor, Special Content Team JEAN TELLER Group Editor, Collectibles LANDON HALL Managing Editor CARLA TILGHMAN Senior Edi
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
New National Park and Preserve
Legally, the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve has been under the protection and management of the National Park Service (NPS) since 1978 as a National River. In her statements, Capito has emphasized economics as a key component of the decis
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
America’s Diverse Family Farms Report
A majority of the approximately 2 million American farms are still family businesses, in one finding from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s annual report “America’s Diverse Family Farms,” which contains the latest government statistics on U.S. far
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
Sweet Potato Biodiversity for Climate Resilience
Sweet potatoes are one of the most-grown crops globally, making them a staple of diets around the world. They’re also hardy and highly nutritious, stocked with vitamins A and C, calcium, iron, dietary fiber, and protein. Recognizing their importance,
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
Editors’ Pick
This year has been hard on everyone. Our small city in Massachusetts was hit with COVID-19 and the unemployment and food shortages that came with it. Meatpacking facilities shut down. Trucks stopped rolling. Each family, no matter its size, was limit
MOTHER EARTH NEWS3 min readArchitecture
Small Farm, Big Impact
Our journey began when I was a young girl spending time with Granny in the hills of Appalachia. Granny had no money, but she had all the “things.” It was there I learned to garden; make soap, salves, and tinctures; and quilt. The pathway around her h
MOTHER EARTH NEWS5 min readArchitecture
My Natural Building Journey
Building my own straw bale guest house was the culmination of one journey and the beginning of another. After graduating from college in 2005 with a fine arts degree, I decided to pursue a career in environmental conservation. I worked at different n
MOTHER EARTH NEWS9 min read
Comparing Heritage Chicken Breeds
Small-scale broiler chicken enterprises are often competing with large commercial companies for a share of the consumer market. Many smallscale producers use the same fast-growing chicken found in most commercial operations: a hybrid Cornish-Plymouth
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
Native Plant Trust Online Courses
Plant conservation organization Native Plant Trust has long offered educational opportunities, with partnerships and programs throughout New England. But at the start of the pandemic, like so many others, the organization began to transition its prog
MOTHER EARTH NEWS7 min read
Dear MOTHER
I’ve been reading your articles online for years now. My husband and I moved out to a “farmette” to let our kids grow up in the country and to grow our own food, just like we did as kids. Sustainability has always been at the forefront of our endeavo
MOTHER EARTH NEWS8 min readArchitecture
Challenges with Cultivars
When the native plant movement began in the 1970s, one of its goals was to educate the public about landscaping and gardening in an ecologically sustainable way. A half-century later, the buy-in has been more than anyone bargained for. The growing nu
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min readArchitecture
‘Nativars’: A New Name for Native Plant Cultivars
The term “nativar,” which refers to cultivars of native plants, seems to have snuck its way into the horticultural lexicon. No one really knows when or how it came into use — not even the person who coined the term, Allan Armitage, professor emeritus
MOTHER EARTH NEWS9 min read
Bloomington Community Orchard Prosperity for the Commons
Photos courtesy Bloomington Community Orchard Picture a pasture open to all. A group of shepherds stocks the pasture, each introducing a single sheep from their herd. A bit of time goes on, and one of the shepherds notices that while they keep all th
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
8 Principles for Managing a Community Orchard
Adapted from economist Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel Prize-winning work on common-pool resources, Bloomington Community Orchard exhibits the eight design principles of stable management of common resources. 1 Define clear boundaries. 2 Address local needs. M
MOTHER EARTH NEWS7 min read
Grow Your Own Supply of Sponges
You may recognize luffa sponges (Luffa aegyptiaca, synonym L. cylindrica) from health-food stores, where they’re sold as exfoliators and displayed next to soaps, shampoos, and other bathing supplies. It’s easy to assume a luffa is a sea sponge, but i
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
Build a Copper Trellis
Trellises, by their very nature, are meant to support climbing plants. Although this copper trellis can do just that, it also aspires to do more, all by itself. Whether leaning against a wall or standing erect in a more natural backdrop, the trellis
MOTHER EARTH NEWS4 min read
How to Make Homemade Mozzarella Cheese
I don’t get into the kitchen very often, but when I do, pizza is almost always involved. Recently, I decided it would be fun to make the cheese for my pizza from scratch. I already had premade dough and marinara sauce, and since cheese pizza is my fa
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min readArchitecture
DIY Projects for Functional, Fabulous Gardens
Growing your vegetables vertically is not only functional, but also beautiful. In Vertical Vegetables, author Amy Andrychowicz shows you how to build nearly two dozen growing structures (such as trellises, arbors, and archways) that will produce bigg
MOTHER EARTH NEWS6 min read
Small-Batch Barley
Barley is a cereal grain, in the same botanical family (Poaceae) as wheat, maize, rice, oats, rye, and sorghum. A cool-season crop that matures relatively quickly, barley grows best in climates where highs reach 70 degrees Fahrenheit in the weeks bef
MOTHER EARTH NEWS6 min read
Vermicomposting Basics
Vermiculture, or worm farming, is the use of worms to break down organic material. It’s a simple way of turning table scraps into compost. The end product is a nutrient-rich natural fertilizer called “worm castings.” A vermicompost bin can maintain t
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
Malting Barley for Brewing
Barley, like other grains, must be malted before it can be used for brewing. Malting is a process in which grain seeds are steeped, sprouted, dried, and kilned. The sprouting process activates the seeds and leads to the production of enzymes required
MOTHER EARTH NEWS7 min read
Build a Bee Vacuum
Afew years ago, my son and I purchased our first nuc of bees for $50. These days, hive nucs can go for $150 or more. With a rapid increase in the number of beekeepers in the United States, demand has driven up the cost of all things necessary for thi
MOTHER EARTH NEWS5 min readDiet & Nutrition
Wildcrafted Lilac Vinegar
To make vinegar, you can simply pour fresh juice into a widemouthed vessel, top it with a cloth, and let time and microbes happen. In my experience, though, this works perfectly about as often as it doesn’t work at all, most often because of harmless
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min read
Flower Power: Wild-Fermented Floral Vinegars
You can harness wild yeasts from domesticated plants in your garden, or from foraged blossoms. Each blossom vinegar has its own spirit and quality. Because I make a lot of these, I have the luxury of comparing them side by side, and I’ve found that t
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Lilac Vinegar Recipe
Because of their evocative scent, lilacs might be the first flower I fell in love with as a girl. As an adult, I’ve planted one near a window wherever we’ve lived. This flower and its scent bring me comfort, and so does the lemony floral vinegar it m
MOTHER EARTH NEWS6 min read
Animals on the Farm A Holistic Approach
Around the world, people are demonstrating how to manage animals in harmony with land and culture. Recognizing their innovations and adopting their practices are key steps toward lessening the problems of industrial animal agriculture. Whether you’re
MOTHER EARTH NEWS4 min read
Multipurpose Pig Tiller
When we purchased 12 acres near York, Pennsylvania, the land came with a hoop house frame. I walked out to the area and decided it would be the perfect spot for an acre of veggies. The only problem was that we didn’t have a tractor to till it up. We’
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
Mother Earth News Fair
Seven Springs Mountain Resort SEVEN SPRINGS, PENNSYLVANIA Bell County Expo Center BELTON, TEXAS MOTHER EARTH NEWS Herbal Living Conference Tickets Available Now! Visit www.MotherEarthNewsFair.com www.MotherEarthNewsFair.com Mastering the money-saving
MOTHER EARTH NEWS8 min read
Homegrown Tea
The past couple of years, I’ve experimented with making tea using leaves from my own Camellia sinensis shrub, and I’ve been rewarded with lovely, fragrant brews. The process is quite simple. I begin by pinching off all of my shrub’s new, tender tips
MOTHER EARTH NEWS3 min read
Gardening
The Growlight Garden Micro is a complete indoor garden! The reduced footprint of this garden, measuring 18 by 8 inches, makes it ideal for growers with limited space. This product includes a T5HO 12-inch, 11-watt 6400K grow lamp and ballast, a 12-inc
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Real Food & Cooking
Where there’s smoke there’s fire! And where there’s fire, there’s Steven Raichlen. Drawing on a combination of classic and boldly contemporary techniques, Raichlen presents 100 inspired recipes that capture the full range of what grillers want to coo
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min readDiet & Nutrition
Grow Sprouts for Year-Round Freshness
Yes, growing sprouts for you and your family is much the same as growing fodder for livestock! Sprouts are exactly what they sound like: seeds sprouted for consumption. I’ve sprouted alfalfa, red clover, and radish seeds. Also common are bean, pea, k
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
DIY & Herbal Health
Whether you’ve been intimidated by modern homebrewing’s cost or the seeming complexity of brewing or are boldly looking to expand your current brewing and fermentation practices, Make Mead Like a Viking shows different techniques for brewing all diff
MOTHER EARTH NEWS2 min read
Homesteading & Livestock
Follow the life of Stewart and Shannon Stonger, as they move away from their home in the city to an empty plot of land with hopes of building a more sustainable way of life. Learn how their years of research, limited budget, creativity, and pursuit o
MOTHER EARTH NEWS3 min read
Waste-Free Alternatives for Household Items
Reducing our consumption should be our first focus. We shouldn’t be introducing so much plastic and waste packaging into our households, our stores, or our world in the first place. We must rethink our actions and admit the existence of the consequen
MOTHER EARTH NEWS3 min read
Super-Small-Scale Solar
From 2011 to 2018, my family and I lived electricity-free, aside from headlamps. Then, in early 2018, desiring some of the trappings of 21st-century civilization, such as a laptop, cellphone, and cordless power tools, we decided to get a small solar
MOTHER EARTH NEWS1 min readInternet & Web
Photos From The Field
Share your unique perspective with our community by submitting photos of inviting gardens, nutritious foods, wild animals, and more to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Photo Group on Flickr (www.Flickr.com/Groups/MotherEarthNewsPhotos/Pool). We’ll feature our f

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