MOTHER EARTH NEWS October - November 2019

On a recent evening, Joanna (my wife and farm partner) and I found ourselves with a rare bit of free time, so we loaded up a small picnic into our utility vehicle and went to look for new calves, and to study what the sheep were selecting and in which pasture they were selecting it. With our building site located at the northwest corner of our home farm, we generally look over the place while leaning on either the south or east gates. We recognize all the tree groves, swales, rises, and dips in the pastures and meadows. We know where the other gates and ponds are, even the ones we can’t see. That evening, we found the cattle and calves to the southeast, and then spotted the sheep deep in…

The MOTHER of All Memories The year Jack Henstridge gave a seminar on cordwood building, my family went to the MOTHER EARTH NEWS Eco-Village to see him. Our twin sons, John and Dan, were 8 years old that summer. The day of the seminar, my husband and I went off to attend the cordwood workshop, and the kids and their leaders went on a nature walk. During the seminar, we worked on a cordwood structure. Afterward, we saw all the kids and their leaders gathered around a kid on the ground. It was John. Dan said they were walking along and somebody remarked, “Oh, a bird nest.” John picked it up, but it was a hornet nest, and all the hornets flew out and stung him. One of the leaders scooped up some mud…

“I wish more people could be fulfilled by leading a simpler life. Mother Earth News can act as a bridge between their current life and one of self-reliance.” From Korea, with Love My name is Minju Kim, and I’m an enthusiastic reader of MOTHER EARTH NEWS from South Korea. I became interested in — and concerned about — the environment when I was in college. One of my college friends had a small organic garden called Gong Garden, located in Fredonia, New York. At the time, I was living in a trailer without water or electricity. The couple at Gong Garden taught me how to grow plants and, eventually, helped me realize the grace of nature. We also regularly sold our produce at the local farmers market. Since then, I’ve tried to live…

Readers, we received a number of responses to Joel Salatin’s “Faith-Based Farming” in the June/July 2019 issue. Joel wrote about how his faith informs his farming. Here are our favorite letters from you.— MOTHER Time to Take Charge I want to thank you for Joel Salatin’s “Faith-Based Farming.” I’ll be 80 years old next month. I’ve had to change the way I grow my crops, because I now use a walker. Instead of growing them in the ground, I now grow my food in large containers that are 3 to 4 feet off the ground. My aim in writing this is to encourage all people to take charge of their own lives and live to the fullest. I’ve read MOTHER EARTH NEWS from the first year it was available. For 50 years, it’s…

According to Natural Start Alliance, forest schools vary in the amount of time children spend outdoors, what they study, and how they’re assessed, but all forest schools put nature front and center. They have the same standards for child development as traditional schools do, but their methodologies are rooted in exploring and conserving the natural world. Being outdoors has numerous benefits for young children; the National Wildlife Federation says a connection to the natural world can offer children stronger immune systems, improved attention and depth perception, enhanced critical thinking, lower stress levels, and better sleep. Khavin Debbs, the partnerships manager at Tiny Trees Preschool in Seattle, Washington, says one of the benefits of a forest school is how it can adapt to students’ unique needs. High-energy students can run and climb.…

Choosing organic foods from a standard grocery store’s shelves — lined with numerous options that brandish an array of labels and certifications — often requires consumers to do some sleuthing beyond the price point. Even among brands labeled Certified Organic, the principles and processes that led to their creation vary. Marie Burcham, Director of Domestic Policy for The Cornucopia Institute, says, “Once industrialized food producers realized consumers were willing to pay a premium for organic food, corporate interests turned their attention to the lucrative market. The resulting change in the landscape of organic agriculture left ethical, organic family farms without a level playing field, and consumers ill-equipped to make the best choices about the food they feed their families.” To cut through some of that confusion, Cornucopia provides scorecards that rank…