January - February 2019

Grit

Rural American Know-How

Grit2 min read
New Year, Old Memories
The little Kansas farming community started by my immigrant ancestors kept up its German identity for decades after it was settled in the late 1800s. The foreign language eventually died out because of two world wars and younger generations wanting t
Grit5 min read
Mail Call
My wife and I really enjoy your magazine, and we loved the DIY article “Potting Bench Plans” in the July/August 2018 issue. Connecting a faucet to a garden hose and using a 5-gallon bucket as a drain to reuse the water was such a genius idea, and we
Grit2 min read
WIT & WISDOM
For a fragrant and colorful preview of spring, try your hand at forcing branches from flowering trees and shrubs into early bloom. The time to cut branches for forcing is usually from mid-January through early March, after the plant has completed its
Grit2 min read
Catching Up with Our Social Circle
(www.Grit.com/Travel-Back-Roads) Laura Barbaree Bowers: My favorite way to travel! You never know what beautiful sights you’ll come across, or what treasures you’ll find! William Laut: In Michigan, once you get into rural parts of the Lower Peninsula
Grit5 min read
The Scoop On Buying In Bulk
We all have a taste for good food, but quality groceries can come at a high price. Whet your appetite with this money-saving advice: Purchasing bulk food is a highly effective way to cut expenses and eat locally. You may already shop the bulk departm
Grit2 min read
Country Store
Based on more than 40 years of experience developing stone grain and flour mills, the Mockmill 100 Stone Grain Mill provides the ideal solution for anyone wanting to make delicious foods from freshly milled flour. Editor Rebecca Martin has used the M
Grit7 min read
Old-fashioned Root Crops For The Winter Garden
Serious gardeners, small-scale market farmers, and the managers of community-supported agriculture (CSA) programs are always on the lookout for unique crops — especially those they can harvest through winter. Many restaurateurs also support seasonal
Grit6 min read
The Pressure’s On
Versatile and useful cooking gadgets, electric pressure cookers make wonderful braised meats, will cook beans without soaking, and are great for stocks and most one-pot soups and stews. Dishes that traditionally take a long time to cook can be made i
Grit7 min read
SIMPLE HOMEMADE Sourdough Bread
For reasons I’ve never quite understood (having lived the first 45 years of my life in Seattle), I’ve always felt more at home in small towns. I was always drawn to traditional skills and crafts, always loved the idea of learning a trade or skill by
Grit11 min read
Restore Your STONE WALLS
In 1871, a national census of agricultural fences recorded more than 250,000 miles of stone walls in the northeastern United States alone — enough to wrap around the Earth 10 times. Two generations of farm laborers built most of these walls between 1
Grit5 min read
DIY Adjustable Livestock Gate
Moving livestock from one pasture to another should be a quick, efficient operation with no chance of animals escaping, no risk of injury, and no liability worries. That’s easy enough, except when you’re crossing a road. Wouldn’t it be nice to create
Grit8 min readAgriculture
Make your Markets
You’re all set to start producing vegetables, turkeys, apples, or milk for sale. But exactly what you ultimately decide to grow — when it’s in season, how difficult it is to harvest or process, how perishable it is, and how challenging it is to trans
Grit7 min read
Rainwater Projects for Off-Grid Homes
Since moving to our property, our main source of all drinking, washing, animal, garden, and orchard water has been rainfall. We have no well, not because we wouldn’t like one, but rather because rainwater makes good economic sense in our dry region.
Grit7 min readEarth Sciences
Raging Rinds of Fire
Each year, millions of acres in the United States and Canada are scorched by wildfires. In recent years, the wildfire problem has gotten significantly worse as the fires have become larger, more intense, and more destructive. Fires have occurred in p
Grit4 min read
Stockpiling for Winter
During the winter months, my wife always makes sure that our bathroom closet is filled to capacity with packages of toilet paper. What’s the reason behind this humongous stash of Charmin? She simply wants to avoid another TP emergency. We endured suc
Grit7 min read
In Love With LONGEARS
Stubborn, obstinate, headstrong — all words that have been used to describe mules. And calling someone “mulish” or “muleheaded” has never been intended as a compliment. Mules have a reputation for being difficult to work with. Stories abound about mu
Grit6 min read
Pungent Varmints
Anyone old enough to remember the classic Looney Tunes cartoons is familiar with Pepé Le Pew, the amorous French skunk in relentless pursuit of romance. In real life, skunks, which are about the size of a house cat, command deference from animals muc
Grit8 min read
Recommended Products for Wiser Living
MOTHER EARTH NEWS FAIR Best-Seller! Dry the season’s hunt or harvest for long-term preservation and snacking. Ideal for jerky, banana chips, fruit rollups, dried herbs, and more. Includes one netting sheet for drying herbs, seeds, and other small foo

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