Table of contents for Summer 2016 in Capper's Farmer

For the summer gardener-cook, every day brings an armload of beautiful vegetables and herbs, and the happy challenge is to make the most of them, especially those that thrive only in the warm season. Tomatoes, beans and basil are three perfect examples. Tomatoes A single cherry tomato plant will keep a family of two well supplied for snacking and for scattering over salads, but you’ll want a few of the indeterminate (vining) types with larger fruits for summerlong harvests. If you’d also like to dry, freeze or can tomatoes, grow a half-dozen determinate (bush-type) tomatoes as well. These ripen over a shorter stretch of time, which is just right for a few weeks of processing. Dense, meaty, plum-shaped paste tomatoes make the quickest sauce with the deepest flavor. Ideally, you’ll…

Spring and summer are accompanied by many beautiful and wonderful new living things in our barnyards. However, these seasons also usher in many unwanted pests, from mosquitoes and flies to fleas, ticks and lice. These pesky pests can make our livestock and pets miserable, contribute to disease, and reduce production. We often resort to using chemicals for pest control, but there are many issues with their use, especially if you’re trying to raise organic stock. Pests can develop immunity to pesticides over time, making them less effective. In addition, there are possible toxic side effects to chemicals, and many of us are eager to exclude or reduce them from our environment, our food and our water. So, before investing in any of the often expensive, potentially toxic chemicals this year,…

Yields 8 to 10 servings. 1 package (.25 ounces) dry yeast 1 cup warm water (120 to 130 F) 2 tablespoons olive oil 21/2 cups flour 1 pound lean ground beef 1/2 small onion, chopped 8 ounces tomato sauce 1 teaspoon dried oregano leaves Salt and pepper, to taste 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder Toppings of choice 4 ounces grated mozzarella cheese 1Heat oven to 425 F. Grease the bottom and sides of a glass 9-by-13-inch baking dish or a 10-inch deep-dish pizza pan, and set aside. 2In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Stir in oil and flour, and mix until smooth. Cover and let rise for 5 minutes. 3 In a nonstick skillet, cook ground beef and onion, breaking into crumbles, until beef is cooked through and…

A few summers ago, a visiting friend was aghast when I poured blackberry juice into a canning jar and screwed on a used lid before putting the container in the freezer. She said I had broken two rules: freezing in canning jars and reusing canning lids. Some rules, though, can be carefully broken. You can freeze in clean canning jars as long as you leave plenty of headspace, because liquids expand as they freeze. I leave 1 1/2 inches of headspace in pints and 2 inches in quarts. Used lids should never be reused for canning, as they can’t be trusted to form a sound seal. Since you don’t want a seal when freezing in canning jars, in this case it’s fine. I screw the lids on loosely at first,…

Tired of slugs and bugs destroying your garden? Tired of picking ticks off yourself, your children, and your pets? Did you know that birds on the farm aren’t just for décor or dinner? They can also play an important part in keeping all kinds of pests at bay. Chickens, ducks, turkeys and guinea fowl are not only entertaining and beautiful creatures, they can also supply fresh eggs daily, offer effective bug and slug control, and make charming gardening companions to boot. Ridding your yard and garden of pests with these animated insecticides is the ultimate low-cost, chemical-free – and fun – approach. Bizarre Birds Looking a bit like chicken-sized vultures, guinea fowl strut their stuff across lawns, fields and gardens – and pretty much anywhere bugs, snakes and rodents roam.…

Back in 1955, a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books followed in the My Folks series, all of them filled with interesting tales from our readers. This is one of those stories, printed as it appeared in the My Folks book decades ago, without any fact checking, which means that all the details may not be accurate,…

A System That Builds Yields THE Johnstone farms originally had been fertile. But a generation or so ago, folks weren’t concerned with soil maintenance. Several years of tenant farming had reduced crop yields below the possibility of profit. So fertility was the first problem G.C. Johnstone had when he took over the two places just after he graduated from college 19 years ago. He knew how to meet it. Corn and oats made 30 bushels an acre on one of the places. Today, that same place is making upwards of 75 bushels of each crop. Without those increases, the farms could not be operated at a profit under present conditions. It is unlikely that they paid any return 20 years ago. Mr. Johnstone knew that good yields are the foundation…

There’s no better way to celebrate summer than by firing up the grill for fresh garden veggies paired with favorite meats. Take it one step further with the addition of fresh herbs, and your foods are sure to be even more delicious and flavorful. Another great thing about grilling is that you don’t have to heat up the house, and it also makes clean-up a breeze. There are a number of ways to use herbs when grilling. You can add them to marinades or place them inside foil packets. You can soak whole bunches of herbs in water for a few minutes, and then place them over the ashen coals, which will give a smoky flavor to foods. Another option is to place a bunch of fresh herbs directly on…

A U-Pick business can be a fun and rewarding money-making venture. However, such a business takes hard work and dedication. Advertise heavily in local newspapers the first year. After that, the berries will sell themselves by way of repeat customers and word of mouth. In addition to having “berries for sale,” your patch should be large, neat, organized, and free of weeds. This attracts customers and ensures they’ll return the following year. We also offered “We-Pick” for those who were unable to do their own picking. It’s appropriate to charge quite a bit more per pound when the patch operator is doing the picking. Open every other day to ensure plenty of available berries for pickers.…

Through the years, we’ve published tens of thousands of recipes, and we have most of them archived. This section highlights those recipes, which appeared in previous issues of CAPPER’s and Capper’s Weekly. OATMEAL PIZZA CRUST Margaret Lane, Des Moines, Iowa, requested a recipe for pizza crust made with oatmeal. This recipe is from our September/October 2010 issue. 3/4 cup ground oat flour* 11/4 cups all-purpose flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon salt 2/3 cup milk 1/4 cup olive oil 1 Heat oven to 425 F. Grease a 14-inch round pizza pan; set aside. 2 Whisk together flours, baking powder and salt. Add milk and oil, and stir with a fork until mixture forms a ball. 3 Turn dough out onto a floured surface, and knead for 10 minutes. 4…

OVEN-DRIED TOMATOES You can make these in an oven or food dehydrator, or out in the sun on a dry, sunny day. Freeze half-dried tomatoes on cookie sheets, and then pack them into freezer-safe containers. Fully dried tomatoes take longer to dry, and won’t need to be frozen. OVEN DIRECTIONS: 1 Preheat oven to 250 F. 2 Wash and dry ripe tomatoes. Cut paste tomatoes and cherry tomatoes lengthwise in half. Cut slicing tomatoes into quarters. 3 Arrange prepared tomatoes, cut sides facing up, on baking sheets that have rims to catch any juices. Sprinkle with sea salt, and season with fresh herbs and a light drizzle of olive oil, if desired. 4 Dry in oven for 1 hour. Reduce oven temperature to lowest setting, and dry for 2 more…

When I was a boy, you didn’t spend an afternoon at the farm pond and go home empty-handed, talking about the crappie you’d caught. Catch and release wasn’t an option when the crappie switch got flipped to “on.” Had my brothers and I gone home empty-handed talking about the fish we returned to the water, my mom would have been disappointed. Crappie filets were a delicacy in our household, elevated almost to the same status as apple pie. Whenever my brothers and I were fishing, and one of us landed a crappie, we put it on the stringer, and then we would fish the rest of the day, hoping to catch more. If we didn’t fill the stringer with enough crappie to fill a skillet and make a meal, we’d…

There’s no doubt that farming has come a long way through the centuries. While everyone has their own opinion of what constitutes the best inventions, here’s a list of what I consider to be the 10 most significant developments in agricultural machinery through the first half of the 20th century. Some of these items can be attributed to an individual, but most were the product of many curious and ingenious people who made incremental improvements to the work of their predecessors. 1. Cotton Gin In colonial times, cotton cloth was more expensive than linen or wool because of the extreme difficulty of separating seed from the clinging fibers. One man could pick the seeds from only about one pound of cotton fiber per day. In 1793, Eli Whitney built a…

Heart of the Home What was your first big purchase as an adult? • What did you buy – car, house, livestock, education, engagement ring? • Did you save up the money, or borrow from a bank, a friend or a relative? • Were you happy with your purchase? • What happened to it? Send your stories, and photos (jpegs, at least 300 dpi) if available, to tsmith@cappersfarmer.com, or mail them via the USPS to Capper’s Farmer, Heart of the Home, 1503 S.W. 42nd St., Topeka, KS 66609. We’ll pay $25 for each story we print. Submissions must be received by September 2, 2016. Fan of Allis-Chalmers I read with interest the article “The Truth About Old Tractors” in the Summer 2015 issue of Capper’s Farmer. Back in 1971, my…

FOLKS who buy fruit at Sunnyside Farm sign an orchard register. That opens the way for acquaintance between A.F. Baker, Douglas County, Kansas, and his customers. It’s unusual, you know, and anything unusual breaks down the ordinary formalities between buyer and seller. Buyers like the friendliness of the place, and before they have been there very long, they feel as if they’ve known the Bakers for years. That feeling is a distinct asset to anybody who has something to sell. The orchard register was Mrs. Baker’s idea, and she is the public relations department of the partnership. That register is a source of future business. The Bakers know that folks are likely to forget from one fruit season to the next. So they have adopted an effective follow-up. The orchard…

In summer, the eating is easy. Step out to the garden, pick a few fresh veggies, and get ready for a mouth-watering dinner. This time of year, though, it can also feel a bit overwhelming to keep up with the harvest and to make good use of all the bounty our gardens are producing. This plant-by-plant guide will help you determine the best time and methods to harvest the most popular garden vegetables – and what to do to preserve your produce so none of your gardening effort goes to waste. Carrots HARVEST: Carrots become sweeter in the fall, when soil temperatures cool down. In some climates, gardeners leave carrots in the ground through winter, but it’s safest to harvest them before hard freezes become common. STORE: After pulling or…

Vegetable gardens are a thing of beauty and bounty. They please the eye, and they also provide families with flavorful, healthy vegetables all season long. However, if you’ve been vegetable gardening for awhile or have a large garden, you may wonder if there are other useful plants to add, besides those normal powerhouses like heirloom tomatoes, bush beans, and zucchini so bountiful that come July you’re hauling baskets to the doors of any neighbor not as lucky as you. There are, of course, ornamental plants that can be added for decoration, and there are also other plants used for more utilitarian purposes you may not have considered – until now. Attracting Pollinators As you most likely know, attracting pollinators to your garden is important if you grow insect-pollinated vegetables. For…

• Strawberries are a member of the rose family. • 1 1/2 pounds of strawberries = 1 quart = 4 cups, sliced • On average, there are 200 seeds in one strawberry. • California produces 75 percent of the nation’s strawberry crop. • In France, strawberries were cultivated in the 13th century for use as a medicinal herb. • Madame Tallien, of Emperor Napoleon’s court, was famous for bathing in the juice of fresh strawberries – using 22 pounds per bath. • The Romans prized wild strawberries for the fruit’s medicinal properties. They believed the berries alleviated such symptoms and disorders as melancholy, fainting, inflammation, fever, throat infections, kidney stones, halitosis, gout, and diseases of the blood, liver and spleen. • One cup of sliced fresh strawberries has 50 calories…

ROSEMARY CHICKEN, POTATO & CARAMELIZED ONION GRILLED PIZZA Yields 4 servings. 8 to 12 chicken tenders (about 1 pound) 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 1/2 teaspoon pepper, divided 4 tablespoons plus 4 teaspoons olive oil, divided 1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary 1 clove garlic, minced 2 medium sweet onions, thinly sliced 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar 4 baby new potatoes, thinly sliced 1 pound prepared uncooked pizza dough, divided into 4 portions 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese 1 Slice chicken tenders diagonally into1/4-inch pieces. Season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. 2 In a skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat. Add and sauté chicken until golden, 5 to 6 minutes. Stir in rosemary and garlic, and cook for 1 minute, or until…

Freezing is a fast and easy form of food preservation, and most crops, such as asparagus, broccoli, green beans, peppers, summer squash, dark leafy greens, and all types of juicy berries, will actually be preserved best if frozen. Part of the beauty of freezing fruits and vegetables is that you can easily do it either in small batches – making good use of odds and ends from your garden – or in one big batch with your homegrown harvest or peak-season crops from the farmers’ market. Unlike with canning, you don’t have to pay attention to acidity or salt when freezing vegetables. Instead, you can mix and match veggies based on pleasing colors and flavors – for instance, using carrots for color, bulb fennel for texture, and green-leafed herbs for…

Asparagus grows wild in some parts of the country, and in others it’s a significant cash crop. Word of its first appearance, whether in the garden, the grocery store, or a fencerow, creates a wave of whispers among friends eager to experience that sumptuous springtime flavor. A harbinger of longer days and delicious suppers, asparagus is a wonderful spring sight – and it has been for centuries. Records indicate that asparagus is one of the earliest vegetables humans ever cultivated. It is thought to have been first grown by the Macedonians in approximately 200 B.C., and appears in Egyptian tomb drawings as early as 4000 B.C. The ancient Greeks and Romans used it for medicinal purposes – the Greeks believed it was a cure-all for nearly every ailment. It spread…