DEPARTMENTS

6  Editor’s Note

7  Editorial:
How a high school band triumphed over a bureaucracy and union that tried to kill it

42  Irreverent joke page

52  Ayoob on Firearms:
“Gun control” for dummies

68  Ask Jackie:
Storing potatoes, seed descriptions, making butter, etc.

71  Book Review:The Encyclopedia of Country Living

80  The last word:
A reason for the Second Amendment

82  Letters

75   Advertiser Index

84  Classified ads (pdf)

84  Classified advertising form

86-94   BHM anthologies & books

95-96  Order form/Subscription Info

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Cover 141
ABOUT THE COVER
This cover was painted by long-time BHM artist, Don Childers. The cover fits well with this issue’s lead article, Tomatoes — Queen of the garden, by Jackie Clay-Atkinson. You can learn how to choose the right variety, start your seeds, and care for your plants in order to grow luscious tomatoes just like these by reading her article.
FEATURES

Farm and garden

8  Tomatoes — Queen of the garden
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

22  Rotten luck: The skinny on composting
By Patrice Lewis

32  Make manure tea for great fertilizer
By James Kash

58  Drought tolerant landscaping
By Dorothy Ainsworth

79  Reviving heat-stressed plants
By Tom Kovach

Alternative energy

18  Use solar landscape lights for emergencies
By Jeff Yago, P.E., CEM

Food and recipes

34  Demystifying real rye bread
By Richard Blunt

45  Making túró — Hungarian curd cheese
By Linda Gabris

76  Delicious bison
By Habeeb Salloum

Health

73  Garden injuries, part 2
By Joe Alton, M.D.