DEPARTMENTS

6  Editor’s Note

7  Editorial:
The mainstreaming of self-reliance

60  Irreverent joke page

61  Ayoob on Firearms:
Getting the most from your support hand

76  Ask Jackie:
Raised beds, homemade pectin, spaghetti squash, canning taco soup, etc.

80  Letters

81  Advertiser Index

82  The last word:
Counterfeit junk silver

83  Classified ads (pdf)

83  Classified advertising form

85-96  BHM anthologies & books

97-98  Order form/Subscription Info

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Cover 147
ABOUT THE COVER
Our gardening season has finally started here in the Pacific Northwest, so we asked Don Childers, BHM’s long-time artist, to paint this cover. The mom in the picture is getting her garden soil ready to plant, while her little boy practices his gardening skills in his patch of dirt. In this issue, we’ve got information on growing green beans, pear trees, and even growing a garden in the desert.
FEATURES

Self-reliance

8  Annie on Everfree Farm
By Annie Tuttle

18  Balancing your high- and low-tech preparedness needs
By Patrice Lewis

Alternative Energy

68  Solar-powered electric fencing
By Jeff Yago, P.E., CEM

Farm and garden

27  Green beans — a garden staple
By Charles Sanders

31  Pears on your homestead
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson

42  Treating ear mites in rabbits
By Karen Marshall

47  Gardening in the desert using only rainwater
By Joe Mooney

49  Finding compost in nature
By Tincia Seginski

52  Gleaning: An old tradition made new
By Daniel Furtney

58  Build an automatic poultry watering system
By Jackie Clay-Atkinson