| Departments: |
| Country conversation | 8 |
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| Special feature: |
| Off-the-grid alpaca farm | 28 |
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| Alternative energy: |
| Solar cooking | 31 |
| Hanging solar mood lights | 34 |
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| Life on the sunny side: |
| Going solar in a small way: Pint-sized inverters | 32 |
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| Hands-on homesteading: |
| Build a low-buck DIY portable fire pit | 35 |
| How the Recycle Ranch came about | 36 |
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| Your homestead business: |
| Time for a crafty harvest | 38 |
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| Sit back and relax: Comfortable bicycling | 42 |
| A closer look at your binoculars | 43 |
| Fake 'em out! Deer don't mess with this twine fence | 45 |
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| Notes from the Northwoods: |
| Start spring in the fall | 47 |
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| The garden: |
| Picking for perfection: Deadheading increases production | 51 |
| Crabapples: More than just jelly! | 53 |
| Perennials in the garden save time and money | 54 |
| Shagbark hickory: Neglected nut of the central woodlands | 55 |
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| The homestead kitchen: |
| Kraut korrections | 57 |
| Warm up with horseradish this winter | 58 |
| Thank the bees: Honey | 59 |
| Tomato preserves and other tips | 64 |
| Chuck wagons past and present | 65 |
| Eggs: Making the grade | 67 |
| How to scald a chicken | 71 |
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| The milk parlor: |
| Make your own milking machine | 73 |
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| The cow barn: |
| Bony lump jaw in cattle | 79 |
| Do milking and calving schedules matter? | 81 |
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| Crops & soils: |
| Out to pasture: Nutrition more important than rotation | 82 |
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| Country neighbors: |
| A little green amongst the browns | 85 |
| Homesteader in the past: Longing for the "good old days" | 92 |
| Landlord helped her dreams come true | 94 |
| Timely tips to help save money | 99 |
| She longs for the return of cloth flour sacks, and other rememberances | 99 |
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| The hapless homesteader: |
| Benedictine Journey, Part II | 100 |
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| Poor Will's Countryside Almanack | 103 |
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| After Chores: |
| Stop playing the blame game | 114 |
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