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Countryside Contributor
Articles by Countryside Contributor
How to Add Calcium to Soil
Ensuring your soils have an adequate level of available calcium should be an essential part of your field fertilization practices for several reasons. Here’s why and how to add calcium to soil on your homestead.
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Are You Stumped?
We have had plenty of old tree stumps on our tiny farm over the years. In fact, there have been as many as a dozen stumps scattered all around the property at one time.
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Collecting Wild Mushrooms
Collecting wild mushrooms is a fascinating hobby rewarding us with tasty wild food. Nature’s bounty is endless.
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Life on the Homestead Post COVID-19
The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted many lives and livelihoods. Many of us have spent time hunkering down in our homes, eating too many goodies, wearing jammies and sweatpants with t-shirts, and swiping online apps, only to see hundreds of messages accumulate while we quarantine ourselves.
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Growing Fruitful Apple Trees
Forget pumpkin spice. Apples are where it’s at in autumn. It’s too late to get your apple tree to produce a bountiful harvest this year, but growing fruitful apple trees next year can be a whole new story.
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Our Artesian Well: A Deep Subject
An artesian well is a very handy water source to have on the homestead. Long ago, my wife and I visited our little homestead for the first time on a warm September afternoon.
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Shed and Pasture Lambing
The sights and sounds are familiar to shepherds, whether shed or pasture lambing. But which system would bring you the most profit? Both have their advantages and challenges.
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Homegrown Herbs: Growing Herbs Outdoors In Pots, Raised Beds and Gardens
Add to Favorites If you want to learn about growing herbs outdoors in pots, in raised beds, or in your vegetable garden, this book is for you! Homegrown Herbs is …
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Lambing Problems Can Arise from Abnormal Birth Positions
Lambing is always an exciting time on the ranch, but it can also be a scary time for the first-time shepherd. What are the things we want to see; what are the signs that there could be a pending lambing problem?
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The Beautiful Black Welsh Mountain Sheep
A remarkable characteristic the Black Welsh Mountain sheep, at least within our flock, is that they are happy to cooperate and very glad to do what we’d like them to do.
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Tips for Successfully Raising Bottle Calves
When raising cattle, you may encounter the challenge of a young calf orphaned or rejected by mama, needing a bottle from you.
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Manna Pro® Extends Its 4-H Partnership
As part of the partnership, Manna Pro will donate $1 to National 4-H Council for every $1 coupon used on select Manna Pro products from Feb. 1 through Aug. 31, with a minimum $50,000 match donation guaranteed in 2021.
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When Limping is Not a Sign of Sheep Foot Rot
Don’t you just love how sheep keep teaching us what we never knew we needed to know? The past lambing season was one in which I got an advanced education in “Sheep Feet 101.”
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Poultry, Goat, Sheep, Swine, and Cow Gestation Calculator
Where can you find an all-in-one lambing calculator that also works to factor a pig’s gestation period and a cow’s pregnancy length? Here!
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Fiber Festival Fun
One way to maximize your wool value is to target fiber festivals which include spinners, weavers, and dyers. As a small producer specializing in fine wool sheep, our business depends upon finding innovative and profitable ways to market our wool.
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