The Good Earth Handbook

Insulating with snow, growing healthier, fuller strawberries, vegetable planting guide, compiling compost.

By the Mother Earth News editors

May/June 1976

Insulate with snow.

Compiling Compost

Strawberry Short Cut

When we first launched THE Mother Earth News (restricted) almost seven years ago, we contacted all the large manufacturers of farming equipment in the United States.

"We're going to publish a magazine devoted to the back-to-the- land movement," we said, "and we'd like to know about anything you market that a subsistence or part-time farmer might be able to use."

"Get lost," we were told. "There's no back-to-the-land movement in this country. We're phasing out all our little stuff in favor of bigger equipment. Go away. You bother us."

It certainly brightened our day, then, when we recently received notice from the public relations department of International Harvester of the availability of a 16 page, full-color catalog/brochure entitled The Good Earth Handbook.

Now this little booklet, as might be expected, is basically designed to sell IN lawn mowers, garden tractors, roto tillers, hedge trimmers, shredder/grinders, and related equipment. But it's interesting (at least to us) to note the manner in which International Harvester has chosen to promote this gear: With tips about controlling pests without using pesticides. With instructions for making compost. With recipes for down-home dandelion wine. With-in short-the very kind of do-it-yourself, live-in-harmony-with-the-planet information that all the big farm machinery manufacturers told us would never sell just a few years ago.

Which makes us very happy, in at least two ways: [1] we're pleased to see IH beginning to develop a line of small-scale farming and gardening tools expressly for the self-sufficient homestead and [2] it's nice to know that at least one of the "biggies" is beginning to take us back-to-the-landers seriously enough to attempt to speak "'our language".

So our hat is off to International Harvester for its new awareness of all us "less is more" eco-freaks. If you'd like to take a gander at The Good Earth Handbook, stop in and pick up a copy from any IH Outdoor Power Products Dealer ... or write to The Good Earth Handbook, c/o THE Mother Earth News (restricted) International Harvester Advertising Department, 401 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, Illinois 60611. Tell 'ern MOTHER sent you, ask for your booklet, thank 'ern for acknowledging our existence, and encourage 'em to add even more products (such as a homestead-sized grain thrasher or a good cream separator) to their line.

Many older houses aren't well sealed against the weather. Especially around the base. When the snow falls, a quick once- around the house with a snow blower throwing snow up against the base of the house can cut down on your heating bills.	Compost is simply decayed organic matter Leaves make good compost. So do coffee grounds. Grass clippings. And kitchen scraps. (Avoid meat and fat ... they smell.) Turn your pile with a pitchfork once a week and keep it damp. When you add finished compost to your garden, it adds nutrients to the soil and creates rich organic humus.	For strawberry plants to thrive and survive, they should be planted at the proper depth. Dig a hole to accept the full depth of the roots and then plant so the crown will be even with the ground surface.
Broccoli Start indoors and transplant into garden in early spring. Very sensitive to extreme heat. Matures in 60-70 days	Carrots Sow thickly (20-30 seeds per foot) and thin later. Won't grow well in rocky or clay soil. Matures in70-75 days.	Corn Sow in parallel rows so wind can spread pollen effectively. Thrives on plenty of water and heat. Maturesin 70-90 days
Lettuce Sow rows of different kinds at intervals throughout the season for continual supply and varieties. Matures in 45-60 days.	Onions Plants sets ( baby onions) from late winter to early spring. They're slow but easy to grow. Matures in 90-120 days.	Peas Plant in fall, winter or early spring. They like cool weather. Matures in 60-70 days.
Radishes Plant several times during the season - they grow fast. Needs plenty of water. Matures in 25-35 days	Tomatoes Start indoors and transplant outdoors when two or three inches high. Three to six are usually enough. Matures in 100 days.