Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden
By Jackie Clay
Issue #51 • May/June, 1998
Every person who is striving for self-reliance should, and most do, plant a garden from which to raise a good portion of their own food. But how many...
Jackie’s Garden Primer
By Jackie Clay
Issue #117 • May/June, 2009
The birds are singing. The sunshine makes the day feel soft and warm. The soil is mellow and damp. It makes us feel like being outdoors and doing...
Currants and Gooseberries
By Sylvia Gist
Issue #155 • September/October, 2015
Currants and gooseberries all belong to the genus Ribes (pronounced "rye-bees"). There are varieties of currants and gooseberries native to Europe and North America, along with some developed...
Tomatoes, the Essential Garden Crop
By Charles Sanders
Issue #123 • May/June, 2010
Tomatoes are one of the most favored of all garden crops. They originated in South America, but in the early 1500s were taken back to Italy. Today, many...
Growing Strawberries
By Patrice Lewis
Issue #162 • November/December, 2016
As you read this, the wind may well be howling and the snow piling deep, and you're likely curled up next to the woodstove with a mug of...
Home-Grown Eggs
By Allen Easterly
Issue #165 • May/June, 2017
Maybe you’ve thought about keeping a few chickens for their eggs but didn’t want to be awakened at 4:00 AM by a rooster singing “cock-a-doodle-doo.” At this time...
Slug Zapper
By Joel Winters
Issue #142 • July/August, 2013
I live in a small clearing in a big forest. This is on the rainy side of the mountains in the Cascade foothills. Slugs are underfoot nearly year-round...
Leaf Mold is Another Way to Build Your Soil
By John Fuchs
Issue #41 • September/October, 1996
Leaves are an excellent way to add organic matter to the garden. However, using rawor unprocessedleaves has some drawbacks. Raw leaves are more acidic than composted leaves, and...
Growing the Eternal Tomato
By Leonard Trebor
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
It's an old story to longtime gardeners (and a new story to novices): each spring you buy some superb tomato plants, set them out on May 1 (or...
Raised Bed Gardening — Neat and Productive
By Alice B. Yeager
Issue #74 • March/April, 2002
Are you tired of raising a big row crop gardenone that keeps you busy from dawn until dusk? Do you really need to raise enough vegetables to...
A Small Space Yields a Big Crop of Garlic
By Howard Tuckey
Issue #131 • September/October, 2011
In less than an hour last fall, I tilled up a 4x8 foot garden bed and planted 250 seed cloves of Chesnok and Russian Red garlic. I've been...
Elderberries — Hospitality, Health, And Beauty
By Gail Butler
Issue #124 • July/August, 2010
When friends stop by for a visit I like to offer them a hospitable and healthful libation of elderberry cordial. When served in a small aperitif glass or...
Gardening Tips and Tricks
By Charles Sanders
Issue #99 • May/June, 2006
Gardeners are an ingenious lot. Trial and error, time, study, observation, and experience all help us to come up with ideas that result in better gardens, more produce,...
Caring for your chickens in winter
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson
As winter approaches, we all are thinking of ways to make our livestock and poultry as comfortable as possible when the cold weather hits. Visions of blowing and drifting snow swirl in...
Hügelkultur for the Homestead
By Rose Shelton
Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019
Last spring, I finally completed a long-planned homestead project of constructing two hügelkultur beds. What is hügelkultur? It’s basically a method of recycling junk wood to make a...
Solar-Powered Electric Fencing
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #147 • May/June, 2014
A new electric fence attached to older traditional wood fencing
More and more people are turning to electric fences as the cost of standard metal and wood...






























