Innholdsfortegnelse for November - December 2019 i Grit

Of the more than 1 million firefighters serving the United States, 65 percent are volunteers, and nearly 95 percent of those volunteers protect rural communities with fewer than 25,000 people. Volunteer firefighters, as the name implies, are unpaid, yet their training requirements are similar to career firefighters. This includes hundreds of hours of training and continuing education in hazardous materials handling, EMT training, and confined space training. The paperwork and compliance testing are just as relentless. While all firefighters serve their communities, volunteers do so for free, in their spare time. A Conflagration of Challenges Rural volunteer fire departments face many obstacles, with one of the most obvious being funding. City departments are funded by tax dollars, the largest portion of which are property taxes. While no one likes to…

What began as a hunt for oyster mushrooms turned into a much bigger adventure when my wife, Elaine, and I spent a chilly day outdoors with Jim Crumley, a wild food enthusiast, in a winter forest in Botetourt County, Virginia. Our objective was to gather oyster mushrooms, one of the relatively few fungi that can be collected this time of year. But Jim also showed us how the winter woods brims with other nutritional, tasty, and free edible wild foods. Oyster Mushrooms Our first stop was at a creek that meanders through Crumley’s land. For many wild food gatherers, mushroom season takes place during spring and summer, but Crumley doesn’t restrict his foraging to the warm-weather period. Oysters (Pleurotus ostreatus) are one of the rare mushrooms that can grow year-round.…

As homesteaders, we have a never-ending list of chores. There’s food to harvest, wood to cut, and buildings to repair, and that’s just the beginning. Faced with this endless list, we sometimes forget about the dangers we face every day. How many times do we get up in the morning and head out to tackle the next task without thinking of our own safety? Inherent dangers come with a homesteading lifestyle, such as a careless mistake with a chainsaw, a tumble from a barn roof, or an encounter with a bear. Every year, thousands of people find themselves unprepared to handle an emergency situation and in need of rescue. The ability to build a shelter, make a fire, or render first aid can make all the difference. When I was…

EXTRA WINTER CARE Once you have your winter layers settled, follow these tips to reduce stress from the cold, which can have a negative impact on winter production: ▪Ensure coops have plenty of thick, deep bedding across the entire floor to trap in the heat from the hens. Deep bedding also offers a cozy place to peck and scratch when the weather outside the coop is too nasty for the girls’ taste. ▪While all coops need to be well-ventilated for a safe and healthy roosting environment, make sure to seal off any drafts, which can lead to increased stress and illness. ▪Inexpensive windbreaks and covers just outside the coop door afford many benefits that keep the birds warm and healthy. For instance, they reduce the impact of wind, keep coop…

“Grandpa Roo used to tell me a little rhyme: ‘With a peach tree branch, cut from the ranch, pushing my skills to the brink. I’ll traverse the ground, mosey around, and find us cool water to drink.’ With my divining rod and natural skills, we’ll find it in no time!” “As soon as that limb touches the ground, open the water valve.” Our Store HEY ROO, WHAT’S A WHEELBARROW? A Beautifully Illustrated Farm Story for the Kiddos ▪Get kids excited about life on the farm! In this quirky tale, author and illustrator Michael Haun recounts the adventure of Roo the Rooster as he takes his friends on a trip around the farm. Through fun, beautifully drawn illustrations, this book answers several questions kids ask about everyday experiences on the farmstead.…

Rebecca Martin’s “Little Shop of Disorder” editorial (July/August 2019) inspired me to write about my dad’s workshop, a repurposed chicken house where chrome-plated Craftsman tools hung on the walls. Poultry netting covered the window, and clumped together nearby were a sea of pliers, hammers, screwdrivers, and clamps. The gigantic bench vise was used for bending metal and wire, and for holding a garden hoe, scythe, or sickle while we sharpened them with a flat file or whetstone; that was one of the many jobs I helped Dad accomplish. I also helped keep the shop organized, which wasn’t one of Dad’s strengths. A disarmed World War II pineapple grenade hung alongside the tools in the window, and in the corner sat another World War II relic: an empty 88mm artillery shell…

Share your visual perspective with the Grit community. Post your photos at www.Facebook.com/GritMagazine, 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 www.Grit.com.…

Espalier is a strange topic. Either you’ve never heard of it, you’re too intimidated to try your hand at it, or you’re obsessed with it. There isn’t much gray area on the subject. Those of you in the first category may be wondering: What is an espalier, anyway? At its most basic, an espalier is a small fruit tree or bush trained to grow flat on the side of a building, along a fence, or as a fence or screen. Technically, espalier (ess-PALL’-yay) is the method of training the tree into growing in a flat form, not the tree itself. But most people call the whole thing an espalier, a bit like a bonsai tree. Espaliers are typically found growing against medieval castle walls, in estate conservatories, or in the…

For two tripods, you need 6 straight branches or saplings (1 to 2 inches in diameter and about 40 inches long) and 2 sets of natural fiber cord (10 feet long). Tripod lashings begin and end with a clove hitch on each outside pole, and consist of 6 wraps and 2 fraps (see photos below). Wraps weave the poles together. Fraps secure and tighten the wraps. CLOVE HITCH: Make 2 loops in the cord. Position the first (left) loop on top of the second (right) loop. Push the pole through the loops and pull the ends to tighten the loops. WRAPS: Tie a clove hitch near the end of the cord and about 8 inches from the end of the pole. Lay 3 poles side by side, and then line…

Generally, a small engine is defined as a gas- or diesel-powered engine of 25 horsepower or less. There are two basic types: two-stroke and four-stroke engines. Two-stroke engines are usually found on handheld equipment, such as chainsaws and string trimmers. For this equipment, the fuel is a mixture of special two-stroke oil with fuel in a precise ratio. Four-stroke engines are typically found in larger equipment, such as lawn mowers, garden tractors, pressure washers, and generators. “Two-stroke” and “four-stroke” refer to the number of times the pistons must travel up and down the cylinders to complete a power cycle. This cycle consists of intake, compression, power, and exhaust. A two-stroke engine completes this cycle in two piston strokes, while a four-stroke engine does it in four. One of the most…

Holiday Houseplants Three plants that appear around the holidays to add cheer to any room are the poinsettia, Christmas cactus, and amaryllis. Poinsettias can flourish for up to 8 weeks in your home. To rejuvenate for next year’s holiday season, move the plant outdoors when night temperatures aren’t apt to fall below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, and prune to keep it bushy and compact. To initiate flowering, the plant needs long nights in complete darkness starting in early October. Cover the plant with a cardboard box or keep it in a closet overnight, and water sparingly. When buds form in early December, bring the plant into the light. After its holiday display, you can force the Christmas cactus to bloom again the next year by ensuring dark nights starting October 1,…

Of all the breeds we work with at The Livestock Conservancy (TLC), the Meishan is among the oldest and most unique. Dating back thousands of years in central China, they were a classic “village pig,” treasured in the countryside of the Taihu Lake region, near the city of Shanghai. Meishans’ wrinkled face gives them the appearance of a Shar-Pei dog, and the curve of their jaws makes it seem like they’re always smiling. These smallish, grey-colored pigs reach a mature weight of 350 to 400 pounds by about 3 years of age. Perhaps the most well-known value of the Meishan is its prolificacy: Sows can produce enormous litters of more than 20 piglets. They typically have 16 to 18 teats (though some have more than 20), which allow them to…

CHAINSAW CHECKUP For most of us who live on farms or homesteads, the chainsaw is the modern equivalent of the pioneer’s broadax: a multiuse, indispensable tool. Probably the most vital part of chainsaw maintenance is keeping the chain sharp. However, the overall performance of the chainsaw depends on proper engine operation. Here are a few simple maintenance tasks that are essential for your chainsaw’s successful operation. ▪AIR FILTERS. Keep them clean! A chainsaw can quickly get coated with sawdust and wood chips, to the point where it starts clogging up the air intake and affects engine performance. Along with other two-stroke engine equipment, chainsaws operate at a very high rpm and are therefore more vulnerable to overheating than cooler-running four-stroke engines. Check the air filter frequently. Clean it regularly, and…

12” SHORT HANDLE WEEDER & CULTIVATOR Gardeners love the CobraHead Weeder & Cultivator! This tool does it all: weed, cultivate, scalp, edge, dig, furrow, plant, and harvest with ease. It features a comfortable and efficient handle and a sharp blade that cuts through tough soils. The Wisconsin-made tool comes with a one-year unconditional warranty. Please allow two weeks for delivery. Available for shipment to continental U.S. addresses only. #6551 $27.95 $25.95 HOMESTEAD IRON SMALL TROWEL Spend some time in the garden this summer with hand-forged Homestead Iron tools. Try the Small Trowel for digging around in the soil. It features a sharp, high-carbon steel blade that’s mounted on a forged steel shank. Its versatility allows for weeding, cultivating, digging, and furrowing. It also makes transplanting hot pack plants a breeze.…