conservation
Winter Bird Feeding Tips
Winter bird feeding is a fun activity for the whole family to enjoy at a time of year when outdoor chores are at a minimum. It’s a great way to help nature and stay connected to the wild world around us.
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What is the Best Mulch to Prevent Weeds?
Add to Favorites All Photos By Shelley Dedauw The best mulch to prevent weeds depends on where the mulch lies, what else you need it to do…and, of course, cost. …
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Garden Hoops: Low Tunnels for Frost and Insect Protection
Add to Favorites When you’re itching to get your hands dirty, garden hoops can extend the season enough to avoid disaster. Midway between full-sized greenhouses and the gamble of throwing …
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Building Elevated Planter Boxes for Easier Gardening
Add to Favorites By Anita B. Stone Building elevated planter boxes helps bring plants closer. They’re great for children, disabled gardeners, or the elderly. Gardening can be an incredibly rewarding …
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Holistic Management On A Pasture Dairy
Add to Favorites By Heather Smith Thomas Ron Holter is the fifth generation on a dairy farm near Jefferson, Maryland, in Middletown Valley. “The land was originally purchased in 1889 by my great-great-granddad,” he …
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From Famine to Feast
Add to Favorites By Annie Flanzraich, Nevada The sun beats down on Laura Leonard’s toned, tanned arms as she rips a three-foot tall weed from the ground. She tosses the gnarly …
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Igniting the American Dream
Add to Favorites By Lori Davis, New York Changes are underway as the country’s demographics shift in significant ways, casting shadows on the traditional American Dream and transforming it into something …
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Surviving A Water Shortage
Add to Favorites Even the best water system breaks down now and then. Pumps fail. Electricity mysteriously goes off and stays off for long periods. Bulldozers diabolically seek and destroy …
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How (And Why) I Moved To A Straw Bale House
Add to Favorites By C. Gonzales, Port Republic, Maryland By August 2010, I had had enough. My home was lovely, warm when needed, cool when needed, pretty, functional, and safe. But it lacked natural …
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The Countryside Tale
Add to Favorites Around 1969, JD Belanger, the founder of this magazine, combined Rabbit World, which was 32 pages long, with Dairy Goat Guide, which was 12 pages, and Countryside, which …
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The Catastrophic Dust Storms of the 1930s, in Retrospect
Add to Favorites By Karin Deneke — More than eight decades ago, a serious transformation took place on the grasslands of the Midwest, commonly known as the Great Plains. Thousands …
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Igniting the American Homesteader Dream
Add to Favorites By Lori Davis, New York Changes are underway as the country’s demographics shift in significant ways, casting shadows on the traditional American homesteader dream and transforming it into …
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Solar Energy Efficiency Offers Better Power
Add to Favorites In America, the ever fragile electrical grid has caused more people to consider alternative power sources. Solar energy efficiency has made powerful strides in the effectiveness of …
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10 Homesteading Blogs That Inspire and Educate
Add to Favorites Are you on the hunt for helpful homesteading blogs? You’re in luck. The Countryside Network features some of the most influential homesteading bloggers today. You’ll hear from these knowledgeable bloggers (and …
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Fighting to Save a Homestead Heritage in Salmon, Idaho
Add to Favorites Nestled in an isolated river valley, Lemhi County’s homestead heritage hadn’t changed much in a century. Sacajawea, Shoshone guide for the Lewis and Clark expedition, was born …
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