Innholdsfortegnelse for May - June 2018 i Grit

I remember the first article I ever wrote for GRIT. It took me a while to work up the nerve, but eventually I pitched the article idea to then Editor-in-Chief Hank Will, now Editorial Director of all of our magazines, and he liked the idea; he seemed excited. The basic idea was farm-pond management. You could write a book on the topic, but in order to keep the article to a manageable focus, I zeroed in on a few tips that rural property owners can implement to optimize their resource. A main piece of the puzzle is not letting cattle and other livestock have open access. I still remember on our farm growing up, during the heat of summer, there were a few pasture ponds where cattle would always be…

Spring Planting Festival MANSFIELD, Missouri—Head to Missouri for two full days of seeds, music, food, plants, and more at the Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company’s 18th annual Spring Planting Festival May 6 through 7. Celebrate spring in the Ozarks as you browse thousands of plant varieties, listen to acclaimed guest speakers, watch historic demonstrations, shop among vendors, and enjoy the community atmosphere at this annual event. Tickets are $5, and children 16 and under are admitted free of charge. Learn more about the festival at www.RareSeeds.com. Gardening With Ducks DECORAH, Iowa—If you’re curious about putting ducks to work in your garden, head to Heritage Farm on June 2 for the “Gardening with Heritage Ducks” workshop hosted by Seed Savers Exchange. Led by facilities manager Jim Edrington, the workshop will cover…

Visual excitement and practicality make container gardening a terrific choice, whether you choose to exclusively pot in containers or to strategically place them in areas that need an injection of “wow.” Whatever direction you take, remember that unique containers, be they in a suburban backyard or a rambling plot on a homestead or farm, can add a captivating and sometimes humorous touch. Inspiration is only a stroll away. Take a walk around your place with an eye fresh bent on discovery. Look in your toolshed behind the cobwebs to see what’s lurking there, and don’t forget the back of the garage where most of us store things that don’t appear to have much use anymore. Attics can also be a rich source for unique planters. Almost anything can be used…

Gardeners love to train their tomato vines into the air. Tomato vines produce better when we lift them off the ground for several reasons: The plants stay healthier, the fruits stay cleaner, and there’s less loss to pests and rot. Harvesting elevated tomatoes is easier on your back, to boot. There are several different ways to train your tomato vines, each with its own difficulties. The classic, staking, requires tying the vines to a tall wooden stake. Ties can slide down the stake or strangle vines, or the vines can snap at the ties from their own weight. Cages made from panels of hog fence or concrete reinforcing wire mesh contain rampant vines, but they also create an impenetrable thicket, hiding the ripest tomatoes in the exact center of the…

For the homesteader and small-scale ag producer, bringing home a heifer calf to raise for home dairy production and herd building is an excitement second to none. Such possibility! So many opportunities! Thousands of wholesome, nutritious gallons later, that heifer has morphed into a cow that is regrettably but undoubtedly past her prime. She is fixed in her opinions, sags a bit, has the temperament of a marshmallow—but heaven help you if she steps on your foot, because that thousand-pound marshmallow goes nowhere in a hurry. Nobody is ever ready to let dear old Bessy go, but here’s a little secret: You don’t have to. Keeping an older cow healthy and productive takes more work than it does to manage her younger sisters or even her calves, but it’s entirely…

Share your visual perspective with the Grit community. Post your photos at Facebook.com/GritMagazine, Facebook.com/CappersFarmer, or tag us on Instagram (@grit1882). We chose several images you see here from those platforms, and you can find more within the blogging community on our websites. Share your best shots, and we just might select one of your photos for a future issue of the magazine. To admire even more readers’ photos, visit Grit.com and CappersFarmer.com. Join our Social Circle at Grit.com Celebrating Rural America 24 hours a day JOIN THE CONVERSATION: Homemade chicken and noodles is the perfect pick-me-up on a blustery day. (www.Grit.com/chicken-noodle-soup) Rebecca Ballew Dockum: Mother rolled her dough up before slicing. My favorite job was dropping the noodles in. I can still see the noodles unwind as I dangled them over the…

Owner of Heirloom Cradle. Several years ago I purchased a cradle made of sassafras wood from an antique store. The owner told me that a young couple was traveling to the West Coast and the girl reluctantly had to sell the cradle for gas money. Her father had made the cradle for her when she was born. I gave the store owner my name and telephone number hoping that the couple might return someday for the heirloom, but they never did. This may be my last chance to find the girl, or maybe her father, to reunite this lost treasure to the family. Gary Kerbow 320 N. Neches St. Coleman, TX 76834-3531 Pen Pals. I am recently widowed, and my late husband and I have farmed and homesteaded for 45…

When we purchased our 80 acres, it was pretty raw land. The truck and tractor trails back to a few small fields were overgrown with brush and weeds, and the fence line that separated our property from others was barely visible through the tall grass. Trees lined the road into the property, but left unattended, they had started to grow over the road, and limbs needed to be trimmed and cut back. I was excited to start clearing and trimming, but I quickly found out that I would need a new set of tools much different than the kind I had hanging in my garage in town. Trying to clear the tall grass and weeds with my light-duty string trimmer soon turned into frustration with the weeds clogging the trimmer…

Clover Ain’t Over There was a time when most lawns had at least some clover growing; many were almost entirely clover. Although most folks don’t consider clover a weed, it is often killed inadvertently when herbicides are applied to lawns to control dandelions and other unwanted vegetation. Today, many lawn enthusiasts are trying to limit the use of pesticides and are again turning to clover. White clover (Trifolium repens) is a rapid spreader that crowds out broadleaf weeds while it grows harmoniously with grass. It will thrive in areas that are poorly drained or too shady for a conventional lawn. Being a legume, clover has the ability to take nitrogen from the air and convert it to fertilizer using bacteria in the plant’s root system, practically eliminating the need for…

Toboggan Used to Plant Big Garden When planting thousands of plants in his garden became more work than fun, Gene Preston pulled out a toy from his childhood. Twenty years later, at 76, the Rochester, New York, gardener still uses his 8-foot toboggan, only now to plant his garden. What’s even better is that the IH collector uses his 1981 Cub Cadet Hydro 682 to pull it. “I used to crawl along the ground planting,” Preston explains. “It was killing my knees.” The wooden toboggan, with its curled up front and ample length, has plenty of room for Preston, three flats of plants, a radio, water to drink, and cushions to kneel on. “I had to put wheel weights on the tractor because in the sand the wheels would slip…

There’s nothing quite as lovely and inviting as a bundle of fresh-cut blooms gracing the family meal table. I love them so much that I started my own little roadside business selling fresh-cut flowers and persuaded—possibly begged, maybe even nagged—my dear and gracious husband to expand my garden plots into his lush green grass to accommodate more posies. It’s incredible how a bouquet of flowers on the table can make even leftovers feel special. But flowers aren’t just another pretty face at the table. Many varieties of flowers can please our taste buds as well. Blossoms like lavender or rose can add a heady floral tone to some of our favorite beverages or comfort foods. The deliciously tart hibiscus flower will not only make a dish more savory, but can…

Growing your own fruit trees is much simpler than most folks realize. With few exceptions, there are varieties and types of trees that will grow and produce in most any area of North America. Whether you have a tiny lot in the suburbs or 150 acres in the country, there is most likely a fruit tree waiting at the local nursery with your name on it. Even if you live in an apartment with a small patio or terrace, there are miniature versions that will perform well in pots. While there is nothing complicated about growing fruit trees, there are a few simple things to remember that will help your crop turn out better. Three things I’ll cover in this article are fruit thinning, providing support for fruit-laden limbs, and…