Tabla de contenidos para January - February 2021 en Grit

▪When I wrote this letter, it was still just warm enough in the lower Midwest to finish painting the shed we built last fall. It’s not a large shed by any means, at 5 feet wide and 8 feet long, but it’s plenty large enough to hold gardening tools and supplies, and the mower. As usual, there was lots of on-the-fly modification and running to the hardware store for “one last thing” during the build. Now, I have enough scrap siding pieces and leftover lumber to construct the lean-to chicken coop I’ve been eager to add to our tiny urban farm. With only two people to feed and a rapidly dwindling amount of space in the yard, I’m planning to keep a small flock, probably no more than six hens…

Although collards (Brassica oleracea) originated in Europe, they’ve become known as a specialty of the southern United States, where the cooking influences and preferences of enslaved or Indigenous communities made these leafy greens a regional specialty. Collards, or “greens,” have long served an important nutritional role for people in the Southeast and may have even saved lives over the years. They’re extremely nutritious (outpaced only by spinach in nutritional value) and will produce greens for up to 10 months of the year. They’re a biennial that’s both more cold-tolerant and more heat-tolerant than most other greens. But collards aren’t limited to the southern U.S., growing as well as or better than cabbage, kale, spinach, and turnip greens in most climates. A Road Trip to Remember Recognizing that heirloom collards were…

A goat’s hooves require proper care in order to keep the animal healthy and thriving. Left uncared for, lameness will occur via overgrown toes, hoof rot, hoof scald, and abscesses. With continued neglect, the pain becomes so great that the goat becomes incapable of walking on its feet, causing it to crawl along on its knees as it attempts to forage. Soon, starvation sets in as its feeble attempts at crawling become insufficient to sustain life. However, in most cases, these ailments are preventable through regular hoof trimmings, sound pasture management, and good nutrition. Types of Hoof Infection Hoof rot and hoof scald are quite similar and are often confused with one another for good reason. Both are the result of bacterial infections in the hoof, and both cause debilitating…

When Justin and Lucie Stephens settled on their property in Missouri, they wanted to raise an animal that could supplement their income. “We thought cattle, but everybody does cattle,” Justin says. In the end, the Stephens decided on a red-meat animal that provides large profits and fills a vacant niche in the meat market. However, this animal is so uncommon in the United States that few farmers consider it: ostriches. Ostrich Market Raising ostriches probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind for budding farmers. But Justin and Lucie did their research and found that ostriches are remarkably lucrative. “The benefit of farming ostriches is … supply and demand. There’s very low supply and very high demand,” Justin says. Lucie adds that there’s a high market demand for almost…

Waiting for Flowers Even avid flower gardeners have problems getting plants to bloom in their homes. Houseplants need just the right mix of light, temperature, and humidity for dependable flowering. Light is by far the hardest factor to control indoors. Choose the sunniest room, and place plants that need a lot of light — such as geraniums, crossandras, and kalanchoes — next to a window. Display plants that have lower light requirements, such as begonias and cyclamens, farther back in the room. Homes often lack the humidity that houseplants need, causing buds to dry up. An easy fix is to set potted plants on pebbles in a tray of water to create a moist minienvironment. Most houseplants will flower over a broad range of temperatures, but some have specific requirements.…

My wife, Elsie, and I have been reading GRIT for many, many moons — even back when it was in newspaper form. We both grew up in rural America on small farms in the late 1940s and ’50s. For 45 years now, we’ve had a birdhouse in our backyard. It’s about 5 feet off the ground, hanging on an old basketball goal post that’s been there more than 50 years. The birdhouse is just a little box that’s 6 inches wide, 5 inches deep, and 10 inches high. We had to replace the original birdhouse several years ago, because it had deteriorated through many years of weathering. This past spring, I peered in through the small entrance hole of the nesting box and saw five small blue eggs, the first…

Steamed buns, also known as bao (pronounced “bough”), hum bao, and other names depending on the part of the world, are fun to make and handy for a quick meal or snack. Almost endless variations are possible in the type of filling, method of cooking, and size. Baozi is the collective term for a wide range of leavened steamed buns. In parts of China, these buns are sometimes made without any filling, and called mantous. Steamed buns date at least as far back as the Northern Song Dynasty in 11th century China. Over time, Chinese immigrants brought the tradition to other Asian countries, where the buns were adapted and became part of the local food culture. Baozi are now made with an amazing variety of fillings, mostly savory, but also…

As the founder of the Taos Seed Exchange in New Mexico, I receive a lot of interesting seed donations for our annual seed swap. One year, tomato seeds came in from High Ground Gardens in Crestone, Colorado, a few hours’ drive north of my organic nursery in the Rocky Mountains. Owner Bryon Pike breeds short-season and cold tolerant tomatoes outdoors at elevations between 7,000 and 8,500 feet. I was excited to receive his donation, because I too live and garden in a short-season part of the Rockies. From Pike’s seeds, I grew and sold a handful of ‘Super Tomato’ starts with the understanding that the buyers would return fresh seed for the seed exchange. One plant went to a woman who had just moved to the Rockies from Florida. That…

Many people hunt, fish, and forage for food to feed their families. A great deal of the food my family eats is obtained this way. This is a good thing. Now, for those of us who do this, how many of you have heard, “I don’t like that,” “It has a gamey taste,” or, my favorite, “It doesn’t taste like beef (or chicken)”? For many, eating wild-harvested game and fish is a new experience, one that takes a little time to get used to. Sadly, many Americans have gotten used to meat, fish, and vegetables found on the shelves at grocery stores, and they think that’s what food is supposed to taste like. I hope the following recipes will keep your family happy and introduce new people to eating wild.…

For centuries, the village blacksmith was the local hardware store, contractor, and mechanic all rolled into one. Blacksmiths helped shape their communities through making the hinges, hooks, brackets, and tools their neighbors used every day. In a twist of irony, blacksmiths helped usher in an age of mass production that almost led to their demise. Yet blacksmithing today is enjoying a resurgence. Our modern society has discovered that no amount of technical perfection can replace the feeling of picking up a handforged object and knowing someone’s creativity and effort went into shaping it. Like-minded tinkerers have not only revived the craft, but they’re also taking it in new and exciting directions in maker spaces, art schools, blacksmith associations, online forums, and makeshift home forges. Traditionalists enjoy the history and culture…

Few plants are as useful to humanity as flax. For 10,000 years, people have woven flax into linen fabric for clothing. Paints, varnishes, and enamels made from flaxseed oil – also known as linseed oil — have decorated and protected homes and furniture for centuries, and strong rope and twine have long been made from flax fiber. From medicine and food to fine linen papers and durable floor coverings, flax has been an essential part of our lives. Archaeologists have discovered evidence that 10 millennia ago the prehistoric Swiss Lake Dwellers spun and wove flax. The Book of Exodus mentions the cultivation of flax, as does the Talmud, and both forbid the blending of flax with “impure” wool. Ancient Egyptians grew flax along the Nile and wove linen fabrics for…

Did you know that trees have their own beauty pageant? Well, they do. In 1940, American Forests (called American Forestry Association at the time) spearheaded the National Register of Champion Trees to locate the largest living trees throughout the United States. The goal was to raise awareness of the importance of preserving mature trees, not only for their beauty, but also for their ability to protect watersheds, absorb greenhouse gases, and provide habitats for wildlife. More than 75 years later, this program is still running strong, with more than 700 Champion Trees registered to date. However, nearly 200 species are still not accounted for, and you can help fill that gap. All you’ll need is a measuring tape, a ruler, and a big tree. You don’t have to look far…

CUPCAKE RECIPE I would love to get the Super Chocolate Pecan Cupcake recipe from a Kitchen Klatter cookbook published in the 1960s. Mrs. John Buller 12424 E. 75th St. N., Apt. 5 Owasso, OK 74055 PEN PAL I currently live in Arizona, and I’ve spent a lot of time in rural Nebraska and Alaska. I'm a mom to eight kids and three “fur babies” (one canine and two felines). I love canning and freezing, cross-stitching, reading, writing, gardening, and cooking. Karen Perlmeter 7818 E. Camino Vivaz Scottsdale, AZ 85255 HOLIDAY ORNAMENTS I'm looking for old papier-mâché and plastic Christmas ornaments to display on a 50-year-old tree. Dianna Walston 2210 S. Courtland Ave. Kokomo, IN 46902 PEN PAL I’m a 60-year-old married female. I’m looking for a pen pal with similar…

Sweeping with a handmade broom can connect you to the long history of brooms made out of natural materials, from improvised brooms crafted from broken branches to rural artworks featuring decorative stitches. I’ve been making brooms for several years, and one of the most common questions I hear while demonstrating my craft is, “What plant material is used for the bristles?” The answer is broomcorn (Sorghum bicolor, also called Sorghum vulgare), which is a variant of the sorghum grown for sorghum molasses. Broomcorn is an annual, and it looks like sweet corn from a distance. Upon close examination, however, you’ll notice it doesn’t have cobs along its stalk — just a large tassel on top, with a swollen knuckle at its intersection with the stalk. That tassel is what you’ll…

Even in the Upper Midwest — not known for severe summer storms — we occasionally suffer major damage from tornadoes and straight-line winds. Two years ago, heavy rains combined with winds in excess of 80 mph caused the loss of four large trees on our property. Thankfully, the falling trees missed our house and outbuildings, but they left us a huge mess. When our 70-foot-tall pine tree blew over, the entire root ball was pulled out of the ground. I knew a lot of work was in my future as I surveyed the damage the next morning. But I wasn’t prepared to remove a root ball from a tree more than 5 feet in diameter. My options to remove the root ball were somewhat limited: I could hire someone with…

People often ask me what I consider my most important tool. I’ve learned that the most important tool is the one you need at that moment. One item that could be useful to many people is a canoe or kayak. When a disaster hits, your life may depend on your ability to move quickly and silently. A canoe or kayak will allow you to do this. Since neither needs fuel, they’re always ready to go. Historically, waterways were the highways, and canoes the vehicles, long before pavement crisscrossed the landscape. Both canoes and kayaks have been around for thousands of years. These watercrafts were used to haul people and supplies from one place to another, and no home was without a canoe. In the case of Indigenous peoples in the…

Versatile, fuzzy mullein is a gardener’s friend, an herbalist’s delight, and an engineering marvel all on its own. The genus Verbascum consists of about 300 species that are native to Europe, Asia, and northern Africa. It belongs to the snapdragon family, but the flowers are flat and open, unlike the irregular “dragon faces” of snapdragons. Most species are tall, stout biennials with large leaves and flowers in long terminal spikes. The best-known species among herbalists is the homely but useful common mullein, V. thapsus. Naturalized mullein is a common weed in most of the United States and Canada, growing in dry fields, waste areas, and dry soils along roadsides. Plant History First-year plants form a rosette of large, velvety leaves up to a foot long. In the second year, a…