| Departments: |
| Country conversation | 8 |
| Coming events | 28 |
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| Special feature: |
| The Greenhorn's guide to homesteading, Part III: |
| Location, location, location! | 30 |
| Earth stewards: Erasing the human footprint, one step at a time, How we built Rainwalker Mesa | 34 |
| Off-grid homesteading...On a barrier island | 37 |
| Geography and culture are considerations | 38 |
| Mental and physical preparation required | 38 |
| Lesson #1: Don't give up | 39 |
| Plan for obstacles: He's been working on his ideal homestead for 8 years—now he's 84 | 41 |
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| Life on the sunny side: |
| Investing wisely: Install solar and wind electricity for a secure and sustainable future | 42 |
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| Alternative energy: |
| Electronic entertainment off-grid requires some planning, but it's possible | 44 |
| Can gas forced-air and wood furnaces share a chimney? | 46 |
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| The garden: |
| Don't leave tender seedlings out in the cold: Cover up! | 47 |
| Caring for carrots | 50 |
| The three cent row maker: Eliminate back breaking work & save time with this simple device | 55 |
| Save money on your garden! What treasures can you find? | 56 |
| Effective gopher control | 58 |
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| The orchard: |
| Pick a peck of pears | 59 |
| Grow pears on your homestead | 60 |
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| The rabbitry: |
| Hooked on Dutch: Give this delightful old breed a try | 61 |
| Rabbit meat sources are hard to locate in Alabama | 62 |
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| The goat barn: |
| Assist kidding with "careful confidence" | 64 |
| In defense of the Pygmy goat | 64 |
| Any phosphorus alternatives for my neighbor? | 64 |
| Cooling milk fast & "Killer" goat doesn't like women and children, why? | 65 |
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| The henhouse: |
| Roasting soybeans for your birds | 65 |
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| The cow barn: |
| How much should a dry cow eat? | 66 |
| What is the value of cattle manure? Putting a price on your "black gold" | 67 |
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| The homestead kitchen: |
| A gourmet Sunday dinner on the homestead | 68 |
| Don't buy "cheap" food: Plant, barter and trade to get the most nutrition for your food dollar | 71 |
| A brief course in homemade wine-making | 73 |
| Wine making, simple, easy & cheap! | 75 |
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| Book excerpt: |
| Made From Scratch: Discovering the Pleasures of a Handmade Life | 77 |
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| January 1, 2009: Welcome to the New Year! (How bad will it get?) | 80 |
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| Homestead health: |
| Baking soda: Dirt cheap, simple, amazing | 89 |
| Home birth responses | 92 |
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| The hapless homesteader: |
| Smalltown entertainment | 99 |
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| Poor Will's Countryside Almanack | 102 |
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| After chores: |
| Good-bye gated retirement communities | 114 |
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