| Section I: The newsletter |
| If you don't like the bad news, kill the messenger | 8 |
| What's a Y2K? | 8 |
| Facing the future with hope and courage | 9 |
| Fear of the unknown: Why that's impossible | 10 |
| Cycles | 12 |
| Defining "doom" | 14 |
| The ants and the grasshopper | 14 |
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| Departments: |
| Country conversation | |
| Feedback and commentary on Y2K, Indonesia, rural rebound, fire insurance, diapers (or no diapers), eye trauma and Visene, Fila Brasiliero dogs, okra, survival wall, chinking a log cabin, hens know a bad egg, a tip on Wall o' Waters, the simple life in San Diego, and more | 17 |
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| Special feature: Water on the Homestead |
| A 23-page primer for homesteaders | |
| How to dig a well | 34 |
| How to drive a well | 36 |
| Collecting rainwater | 37 |
| Rain traps | 38 |
| Storing water in a cistern | 39 |
| Water pumping windmills | 40 |
| An example of Yankee ingenuity | 41 |
| Understanding the hydraulic ram pump | 42 |
| A solar pump | 43 |
| Filtering water through sand | 43 |
| A commercial filter to conside | 43 |
| How to get water from a drilled well when the power is off | 44 |
| How to purify water in an emergency | 46 |
| Understanding and caring for a septic system | 48 |
| Water use increases with availability | 49 |
| Portable water filters | 50 |
| Distill water — out of the ground | 52 |
| Water from springs | 52 |
| A simple emergency still | 53 |
| Building a solar still | 54 |
| Using grey water | 55 |
| Acequia tradition lives on in New Mexico | 56 |
| Using water from swamp coolers | 56 |
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| Country kitchen |
| Peasant dining on a northwoods homestead | 57 |
| Feeding your family with sourdough | 61 |
| Some hints for the homestead cook | 61 |
| Woodstove cookery | 63 |
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| The garden |
| Grow "herbal vegetables" | 64 |
| Cordwood helps gardening success | 64 |
| Increasing the productivity of the small garden | 65 |
| Considerations when buying a greenhouse | 66 |
| How to buy a good garden tool | 67 |
| The most important tool | 68 |
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| Special 11-page livestock feature: |
| A Basic Guide to Dairy Goats | |
| Introduction to dairy goats | 69 |
| Buying a goat | 71 |
| Housing and equipment | 73 |
| Feeding | 74 |
| Breeding and kidding | 75 |
| Raising kids | 77 |
| Milking | 77 |
| Health care | 77 |
| Goat products | 78 |
| Glossary | 79 |
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| The family cow |
| A beginner's guide | 80 |
| Planning a watering system for controlled grazing | 81 |
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| The pig pen |
| Pig pointers for beginners | 82 |
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| The henhouse |
| Preventing egg-eating | 83 |
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| Health |
| Nature's remedies | 84 |
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| Country neighbors |
| An American homesteader in France | 88 |
| Strike threat got Nevada homesteaders thinking | 90 |
| Meeting new friends in the Ozarks | 91 |
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| The machine shed |
| Introduction to cultivators | 92 |
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| Your money |
| Getting the best deal on precious metals | 94 |
| Investing for the well-to-do homesteader | 96 |
| Save smaller bills | 97 |
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| Old-time skills |
| Making and using rawhide | 98 |
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| Modern methods |
| What you can do with a "space blanket" | 99 |
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| Domestic arts |
| Make mittens from recycled socks | 100 |
| Making corned beef | 101 |
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| News from Spaceship Earth |
| Interesting items from all over | 102 |
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| The Intentional Peasant |
| Institutions | 104 |
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| Section III: The 21st century and homesteading |
| Designing Utopia requires imagination | 106 |
| Confronting the ethics of Y2K | 111 |
| Is stocking up worth the trouble? | 112 |
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| The book shelf |
| Gaviotas: A Village to Reinvent the World; The Truth in Money | |
| Book; Country Garden & Smallholding | 113 |
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