Tabla de contenidos para July/August 2022 en Grit

As high summer settles in over North America, we often have to deal with the weather extremes of heat waves and droughts. Although these are distinct events, heat waves do tend to occur when conditions are dry, and drought in summer is associated with high temperatures. Heat waves and droughts also have the same meteorological parentage, an upper-level ridge of high pressure thousands of feet above the Earth’s surface. A ridge is a huge mound of warm air that effectively blocks storm systems from bringing precipitation. The air sinks, warming and drying as it descends to the ground, and few clouds block the sun’s hot rays. For heat waves, the ridge moves out in a matter of days. For droughts, the pattern is more permanent; often, one ridge may dissipate…

Not that long ago, horses were an integral part of everyday life in the United States. From transportation to field work to moving herds of livestock, these animals played such an important part in society that the purchase of a new horse was taken quite seriously. Times have changed now, and many tend to favor the trusty all-terrain vehicle (ATV) for such tasks, but some ranches still use stock horses in their everyday operations. At our family farm, horses have made jobs that were once challenging and drawn-out, such as sorting cattle, much simpler. Most cattle will respect a horse and be less stressed and fearful than they would if they were moved around by men on foot or on an ATV. As the feed truck makes its rounds among…

■ The internet is a wonderful asset to gain knowledge on just about anything. But it can also lead you astray, as I found out the other day. My recent preservation experience started with a YouTube video on “dry canning,” a type of oven canning. Although I can many of my own fruits and vegetables, I never thought too much about canning dry foods. I’ve always put my flour, cornmeal, and some other dry goods in the freezer, because of the bugs that can get into those items if not stored correctly. Unfortunately, this takes up a lot of freezer space, so I was thrilled when I came across a video on dry canning. I thought I’d found a new way to store bulk dry goods without worrying about spoilage.…

“‘Berry’ Sweet Rewards” in the May/June 2022 issue brought back a lot of memories. Today, to cook a blackberry pie, we go to the freezer and pick up a package of berries. I grow the thornless berries on the part of our farm I reserve for fruit trees and berries. That was not always the case, however. Growing up, blackberry picking meant following the rules set by my aunt, one of my father’s older sisters. Early on a Monday morning, meaning 5:30 a.m. in order to beat the heat, she would arrive at our house to pick up my mother and me to drive 4 miles down the road to my grandfather’s farm. Before leaving our house, everyone was inspected for proper attire, including heavy pants of some sort to…

■ Strawberries are easy to grow in almost all climates, and they’re an ideal plant for gardeners and small farmers across the United States. Strawberries fruit year after year and can be harvested from midsummer all the way to the first frost. They’re convenient to have in the garden, because they only take up a little space. Strawberries grow quickly under the right conditions, and a patch of strawberry plants can produce hundreds of delicate berries. This combination of rapid and plentiful fruit production makes strawberries perfect for making cakes, pies, and ice cream, and for preparing jam, jelly, and juice. It also makes them the ideal candidate for a profitable enterprise. Selling strawberries can be as simple as placing a sign near the road to bring customers to your…

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Chicken Tub This is our chicken, Nevermore. She got a case of bumblefoot that required soaking in Epsom salts. My husband and I created this chicken soaker out of a kitty litter container and pool noodles. We only fill it 3 inches and never leave a chicken alone while soaking! KAY STOEPKER VIA EMAIL Plant Peas on St. Patrick’s Day I have a garden tip that might be of interest to your readers. When I was a child, my maternal grandmother told me to plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day. I am now in my 60s, and I still have success with this advice. I get my garden ready in autumn (digging rows) so that on March 17th in snowy, cold Indiana I’m not out for long periods of time.…

■ My family enjoys preserving our own food to savor throughout the year. Jams and jellies are among the easiest foods to put up in your home kitchen, because you don’t need any expensive equipment (such as a pressure canner) to save the harvest. Glass canning jars and lids, plus a large pot that can be used as a water-bath canner, are just about all you really need. Here are a few of my favorite jam and jelly recipes, paired with some of the baked goods that show them off to great advantage. Feel free to come up with your own combinations, based on your personal preferences. Note that foam can form on top of jams and jellies in the cooking pot, and is traditionally removed for aesthetic reasons. If…

A garden is a powerful tool in the search for self-reliance. Properly planned and maintained, just a 20-by-40-foot plot can be enough to feed a family of four yearround. Our gardens shouldn’t only cater to human tastes, however. The same areas we use to feed ourselves and our families are also powerful for attracting and fostering populations of native pollinators, predators, and other beneficial wildlife. These local animals have spent millions of years honing their skills and are important to have around the garden. North American pollinators, such as bees, flies, and butterflies, can ensure your plants are properly fertilized, in some cases even improving both fruit set and size in the plants they pollinate. While these pollination agents help your garden operate at its maximum efficiency, garden predators, such…

Lisa and I own 21.5 forested acres in western Washington state. As retirees, we maintain a small hobby farm, grow vegetables in raised beds, and care for our 20,000-square-foot garden specifically designed for the benefit of native pollinators. And although our 65-foot well taps into a shared aquifer with ample storage, collecting rainwater for non-potable use made sense for long-term sustainability. Rainwater-collection kits sold by vendors for the do-it-yourself homeowner were too small or impractical for our needs, so we decided to start from scratch with our own design. A year after our initial installation, and with a few adjustments along the way, our system works wonderfully. The only required maintenance is cleaning debris from the gutters and draining the underground pipes and pump in fall. Running the Numbers To…