Innholdsfortegnelse for April - May 2017 i Country

“HEY, MAMA, LOOK what I’m doing for the earth,” my son says, digging into the dirt with a toy shovel. He’s pretty serious as he plants an imaginary garden with rows of carrots. I love his optimism. This little boy is so amped up for springtime and new beginnings. Here at Country we’ve caught the fever for new beginnings, too. This is our 30th anniversary year, and we’re celebrating by giving the magazine a new look that will make your heartfelt stories easier and more enjoyable to read. And per your suggestions, we’ve added more photos and more content about life in the country. Here’s a preview of what’s new. ♦ The Country Almanac is a calendar chock-full of useful information, including time- and money-saving tips and events. Start planning…

AMERICAN PRIDE From American flags to fireworks and Fourth of July parades, capture and share the spirit of America in your best patriotic photos. Make sure to include details about when and where you took the photo and why you are proud to call this big, beautiful country your home. VIEW FROM OUR PLACE Fresh air, friendly folks and wide-open spaces make life in the country so rewarding. Country celebrates good values and simple pleasures. Tell us why roots in the land matter your family, and send photos of the beauty in your neck of the woods. MAKE US LAUGH Country life produces more than its fair share of sidesplitting moments. Here at Country and Country Extra, we love nothing more than a good laugh. Share your silliest stories and…

IN THE HILLS AND VALLEYS around Caledonia, Minnesota, miles of dusty gravel roads wind through acres of corn, soybeans and alfalfa. Wildflowers such as pale purple field thistle, Queen Anne’s lace and red clover cover the prairie. It’s all quite a treat for the eyes. But for a real adventure, behold the weathered barns. High up on those walls you’ll see colorful painted quilt blocks in patterns such as Maple Leaf, Sunbonnet Sue, Thistle and Gentleman’s Fancy, to name a few. The quilt blocks were installed on barns in Caledonia in 2007 as a way to preserve the area’s rural heritage. At that time, Minnesota was losing 1,400 barns per year. About 60 barn quilts grace the tour through Caledonia and Houston County. Download a driving map at visitcaledonia.com. After…

Where do I start with this story but at the beginning? My Uncle Roger is 93 years old and lives on a farm outside Nashville, Tennessee. He has a miniature horse, Little Bit, who is in charge of the barn lot, plus two other horses and a cat named Barn Cat. How cool is that? Uncle Roger is one of the hardworking folks who made this country great. Raised on a tobacco farm in Tullahoma, all he wanted was the American dream: a car, a home and a business for himself. Back then, people did not mind working hard for what they wanted in life. Uncle Roger was one of thousands of southerners who migrated to Detroit to work in the auto plants in the ’50s. He worked and paid…

Enter the Our Country Home Contest and you could win $500! Submit at least six photos of your home (high-resolution JPEG files, please) along with a 500-word essay explaining why it’s the best place in the country. Here are the four categories: 1. Gardens 2. Interiors 3. The View 4. Farmland The grand prize is $500, but there are more ways to win! The first-, second- and third-prize winners will receive $250, $150 and $100, respectively. Here’s how to enter: 1. Go to country-magazine.com/contests and click on the link. 2. Fill out the submission form and upload your photos and essay. 3. Click Submit. 4. To enter another category, repeat steps 1, 2 and 3. The contest ends July 7. For complete rules go to country-magazine.com /contests.…

1 APRIL FOOLS ’ DAY 4/ 3 Do something nice and be the rainbow on someone’s cloudy horizon on Find a Rainbow Day. 10 Just after sunset, bright Jupiter and the full moon rise together in the sky. “I always love it when the oak tree in my front yard starts putting on leaves.” Lisa Allen Joppa, Alabama 16 EASTER SUNDAY 22 Join folks in Brown County, Indiana, in the hunt for delicious morels. hoosiermushrooms.org “At the first signs of spring, a lot of Hoosiers start mushroom hunting. There’s nothing better than a plate of fried morel mushrooms.” —Jill Thomas , Washington, Indiana MAY 14 Mother’s Day MAY 29 Honor our fallen military heroes on MEMORIAL DAY 4.22…

I can’t be the only girl in the whole world who believes that muck boots are the “little black dress” of rural footwear. These rubber boots are watertight, warm and shiny (when clean) in that just-sprayed-with-a-hose sort of way. And they will never let you down. As a country girl, I relied on my boots for just about everything: wading in a crystalline river to catch crawdads, hurtling through white fields to avoid an onslaught of enemy snowballs and, believe it or not, some actual mucking around the yard of our home. Though my farmstead soul has since been plopped down in the middle of a subdivision, I remain a country girl at heart and, perhaps unconventionally by city standards, a country girl in footwear. That’s right: My muck boots…

RUB MY BELLY! Is this not the cutest puppy on earth? He’s an 11-week-old blue heeler named Waylon Blue Shugart, surrounded here by spring flowers in bloom. SANDRA SHUGART Brentwood, Tennessee A CARPET OF BLUEBONNETS My wife is a native Texan, and without question, bluebonnets are her favorite wildflower. On a spring break trip to Big Bend National Park, we had the pleasure of seeing the wildflowers of Hill Country at their peak. DAVID MIFFLIN Warsaw, Missouri PRETTY IN PINK I love that my daughter gets to channel her inner flower child. AMANDA WALLACE Mandeville, Louisiana MOTHER’S DAY BOUQUET While out for a walk, my grandson Brady and I came across this field of dandelions. Brady decided to pick some for his mommy. What…

Our backyard is full of life, with beautiful flowers, bright green grass and lively birds. But I never expected to see what I did one day last spring. My husband, Kevin, and I were moving patio furniture when I saw a male bluebird making a distress call. He was flapping his wings and squawking. I knew something was wrong, so I checked our bluebird house’s built-in camera. To my horror I saw a female bluebird being pinned down and attacked by a sparrow. Quickly I went to open the box, and the sparrow flew away. The bluebird flopped to the ground. She tried to fly, but her wing had been damaged in the attack. Kevin and I monitored the bird for a while before realizing she would not survive if…

Bill and Beth were two of the dearest people I’ve ever known. They walked into my church one Sunday morning and, shortly thereafter, into my heart. They were gentle folks—quiet and unassuming—simply loving the Lord and looking for ways to serve Him. I was in my mid-40s, and Bill and Beth were just entering their winter years. We became fast friends, and before long I found myself wanting to extend to them the same sweet love I had seen them extending to others. It was an early spring day when I finally got my chance, or so I thought. I dropped by for a visit and discovered Bill tilling the soil. Though he seemed to be managing quite well, to my way of thinking it was a bit much for…

1. Share photos and stories with us using the online form at country-magazine.com/submit. 2. Note which department you are submitting for, and whether the material has been published before. However, your item may be selected to run in any section of our magazine, or elsewhere. 3. We do not return submitted materials . Although we are unable to acknowledge receipt of a submission, we will let you know if it is published. 4. We accept high-resolution digital images. Digital images should be about 4x6 inches at a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch, or about 1200x1800 pixels. Photos must be in focus and of good quality. Please send submissions only through our online form. 5. If we print your submission in the magazine, we will send you…

We rely on readers to tell us what’s going on in rural America. There’s a lot to say about the beauty and values of the country. That’s why we’re bringing back volunteer Field Editors. What does a volunteer Field Editor do? Submit gorgeous photos and heartfelt, true stories. Share insights about the country way of life. Get active in online conversations. Share and comment on stories and photos on our Facebook and Instagram pages. Spread the word. Get friends, family and neighbors involved with Country. Here’s what you’ll get as a thank-you for your time: • A free subscription to Country • Occasional books and other products as they are available • Our enthusiastic gratitude—we love our Field Editors! How to apply: For more details and to apply, go to…

Yellows of Spring THERE IT IS, nestled deep in the fresh new grasses of the warming earth—a bright dandelion, the first one I see this sunny, warm spring day. It is such a joy to spot that first yellow blossom after a long, cold winter. The color alone makes me smile. So many joys of long ago flash into my mind as I look at it, seeing its narrow petals pointing out and upward in every direction. Its long green leaves still look as if it needs to hang onto the ground. The leaves also point outward as if trying to reach something still farther away. Memories from childhood come back to me—finding the first yellow flower of spring and running home to tell my mother. I felt so proud…

I didn’t plan on ending up back in the country. After college, where I studied linguistics, I spent a year abroad in Scotland. After that, I attended graduate school in Manhattan. My husband, Rylan Coker, and I had other plans—and they didn’t include staying in my hometown of Tunkhannock any longer than necessary. Strictly temporary. A year or two, and we’d be on our way. In the meantime, in exchange for living on the family farm, which by all accounts hadn’t been a real farm for 30 or 40 years. We were asked to breathe life into the place; leave it nicer than how we found it. Our first investment was a pair of red currant bushes that bore so heavily the first year the branches were in danger of…

TUSCAN-STYLE ROASTED ASPARAGUS JANNINE FISK MALDEN, MASSACHUSETTS PREP: 20 min. • BAKE: 15 min. • MAKES: 8 servings 11/2 pounds fresh asparagus, trimmed 11/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved 3 tablespoons pine nuts 3 tablespoons olive oil, divided 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1/2 teaspoon pepper 1 tablespoon lemon juice 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 400°. Place the asparagus, tomatoes and pine nuts on a foil-lined 15x10x1-in. baking pan. Mix 2 tablespoons oil, garlic, salt and pepper; add to asparagus and toss to coat. 2. Bake 15-20 minutes or just until asparagus is tender. Drizzle with the remaining oil and lemon juice; sprinkle with cheese and lemon peel. Toss to combine. HAM & COLLARDS QUICHE BILLIE WILLIAMS-HENDERSON BOWIE,…

1. PISGAH PIKE Pigsah, a settlement established in 1784, took its name from Mount Pisgah, a location referenced in the Old Testament. The narrow pike, just west of Lexington, is shaded by a canopy of Osage orange trees; Pisgah Presbyterian Church, built in 1812, offers a look at the area’s history. 2. SHAKERTOWN ROAD Follow U.S. Highway 68 and head southwest from Lexington to Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill. The restored and developed property covers 3,000 acres and includes a sustainable farm, nature preserve and living history museum. On the drive, admire the meticulously hand-laid stone fences. 3. BOONE CREEK SCENIC BYWAY Just southeast of Lexington, hop on Kentucky Route 418 until you reach Grimes Mill Road. This mill (above) on Boone Creek was built in 1803 and is now…

Surrounded by acres of farmland, forests and meandering streams, Scheie Lutheran Church is in picturesque Mabel in Fillmore County. When the first Norwegian immigrants arrived here in 1853, they set up homesteads, farmed the land and established a small congregation. Accounts vary slightly, but it appears that the first organized group met on June 8, 1857, in the home of Thore Olson Faa. Soon after, the families worshipped together in a log cabin on Jacob Elefson’s land. They named their congregation the First Evangelical Lutheran Church. Though the pioneers faced many challenges, such as harsh, freezing weather and disease, they dreamed of building a church. By 1863, they had built an A-frame structure with a steeple and gallery on half an acre of land donated by Jacob Elefson. The cost…