Surprise From Mother Earth
I must say I was very happy when I opened my mailbox yesterday and found that my first copy of Mother Earth News had arrived. It’s been a fairly long wait since I ordered my subscription (along with ‘Natural Home Magazine’) back at the end of October - and even involved some email exchanges with their customer support people. All griping aside, the important thing is that it’s here - whoohoo!
I was surprised by the thickness of the magazine, yet unlike some of my wife’s hefty magazines it is jam-packed with lot’s of interesting articles (ok, so maybe I’m a little biased). That’s not to say there aren’t a lot of advertisements, but the key is they don’t overshadow the rest of the content. Aside from that, I actually found myself fascinated with many of the interesting/quirky products & services being showcased on the ad pages.
The Dec/Jan issue of Mother Earth News covers a wide range of topics, such as DIY solar heating, organic gardening, energy-efficient washers and dryers, among many others. You can even read quite a few of the articles online so be sure to check out the Mother Earth News website if you are not a subscriber.
One article of particular interest to me is entitled “Our 21st Century Homestead: By working together we can produce more of our own food“, by Harvey Ussery. Unfortunately it’s not available online, but I was happy to discover that the author has his own website: The Modern Homestead. Unfortunately it doesn’t seem to have any photos, but there is announcement on the homepage indicating that photos will be added very soon. Cool!
The introductory paragraph of the article made me laugh a little:
“Ellen and I met at a Zen monastery in the Catskill Mountains of New York state more than two decades ago. The initial spark of interest flared into true love when we discovered a mutual passion for compost.”
[emphasis mine]
Love sparked by a mutual passion for compost? You don’t hear that every day! These are definitely people I can relate to.
The article goes on to describe the homestead that Harvey and Ellen have nurtured over the years on their 2 1/2 acre property. I haven’t actually read it all, but the first couple pages have been fascinating. One thing that certainly caught my eye was mention of their vermicomposting efforts (surprise surprise!). A series of bins (close to 300 sq. ft total) are located beneath the wooden walk-way in their greenhouse - this is a great idea, although I might opt for not using bins at all. Just dig a trench and use it as a giant in situ worm bin - this way the plants would be able to extend their roots directly into the compost as it is created. But I digress…
Judging by my enjoyment of this first issue, I have a sneaking suspicion that Mother Earth News is going to be a continuing source of inspiration on my journey towards a self-sufficient, sustainable lifestyle.
[UPDATE]: The 21st Century Homestead article is now available to read online: 21st Century Homestead
Technorati Tags: mother earth news, self sufficiency, diy, organic gardening, vermicomposting, composting, sustainable living, homestead, low impact living, self reliance, off the grid, solar power
Written by Bentley on January 11th, 2007 with
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