Keep Going and Growing Throughout the Decades
Ed Block: Community is necessary, whether it’s a neighborhood, a village, or an activity based group. You find working with others, ideas are shared, hands are shared effort, labor is shared. So design systems that work for you. I, I can’t say that enough.
Josh Wilder: Hello and welcome to this episode of Mother Earth News and Friends. I’m Josh Wilder, and with me, I have Ed Block who’s gonna be reading his article from the latest edition, February, March 2026 of Mother Earth News. Thanks for being with us, Ed. [00:01:00]
Ed Block: Well you’re welcome. Thanks for having me. I’m very excited.
Josh Wilder: After you’re done reading, I’ll come back in here and we’ll chat a little bit about it and look at some photos. How’s that sound?
Ed Block: That sounds great.
Josh Wilder: Thank you, Ed. Appreciate that. That’s great. So you know, a couple follow up questions on that. You mentioned your shed and you called it a museum. Is there a tool in there that you’ll never get rid of even if you don’t use it anymore?
Ed Block: I do have a sod cutter, which is my favorite. it’s a clunky thing. I act as a mule because I have to hold onto these giant wooden handles, and you have to kick this crossbar while you’re pushing this roll with a blade behind it. Cutting the sun and it’s like, why would anybody wanna do that? Well, I used to love the exercise and, and if I sold it, I wouldn’t get much for it.[00:20:00]
It’s probably bring me in a hundred bucks or so. But I do find that every now and again I decide, you know, I think I’m gonna make this bet a little larger or. Maybe a neighbor needs it to use it for a while. So I would rather just provide that for people and for the, just knowing that I have it so I’m not getting rid of them.
It takes up some space too.
Josh Wilder: That’s understandable. Your fence it is recycled and it serves three different growing conditions. How long did it take you to observe the sun and wind patterns on your lot before you realized that spot was perfect for the setup?
Ed Block: Well, it didn’t take long because what I do is I examine the space first and I say it is kind of a two-way street.
I look at the space and I go, what is, what is best for this spot? I look at the sun, I check the wind conditions. You know, I just am aware of what’s going on and I know, for example, this is a really windy spot. This is not a good place for this, or this spot doesn’t have enough [00:21:00] light. It’s not a good place for that.
What is it good for? So I, I ask, what is it not good? You know, I do both sides. In that particular spot, it was conveniently located. It was a very sunny spot for the garden. And I said, this is where I and I, this is where I wanna see my garden and, and where am I gonna create the borders? And it’s like, I think this is about as far as I wanna go out of the garden.
So I, it just kind of flows based upon what exists by, from nature.
Josh Wilder: Sure. That makes sense. Getting your setup together. You talked about the square foot method, and a lot of people think that’s just for beginners but you’re a master gardener.
Ed Block: I think it’s a fine method. For some people it is the best way. It depends on the individual. It’s, it’s the, the trick is learn all the different methods and then you decide which is superior for you. I mean, I do like the concept and it, it does make working.
I can’t, I’m not gonna go into it because that’s a whole topic by itself, but [00:22:00] learn about permaculture. What is it? What is it? The, the concept? What is square foot gardening? What is monocropping? What are all these different things? And then decide which ones apply for you the best. It’s a great system.
Nothing against Mel Bartholomew. I do keep up with this stuff and I do use the square foot method, but I do suggest that other people decide what’s gonna work best for them.
Josh Wilder: You also talk about how living on a double lot a small town offers you more space than in a suburb, but less than a farm and.
When you’re balancing your desires to fill every inch with plants versus conserving energy, how do you how do you make those decisions?
Ed Block: Well, I used to like to fill in every square inch, and I kind of do that with my garden beds, but I’ve decided on the property overall, you can’t just have a, just everything filled in because then [00:23:00] it becomes cluttered. And I like my, I like the property. Not only be functional, but I like it to feel, you know, feel comfortable and be artsy.
I like it to be whimsical. I like it to be a little, many things, you know, in, in a smaller space like this, you have to think more to be, to create that effect. Hmm. So I, I have the beds and I will usually jam pack a bed. But then there’s green space, the grass in between. And I’m not a big fan of grass, but it is nice to have as a, as a, you know, something to separate the, the beds.
But I also find if you try to plant things too close, like with vegetables they won’t get as big as they could be. So space is important.
Josh Wilder: Yeah. And, you know, talking about space, you’re, you’ve, you’ve worked with community gardens in the past. There’s obviously a lot of you know, getting a community together around that [00:24:00] space can, can prove difficult in a lot of different ways. But when you’re talking to different people interested in gardening, whether it’s through that community garden or you write a column, folks that might respond back to you from that column, what do you find that is the most common piece of advice that you’re giving out?
Ed Block: I hate to say nowadays, but in our current situation, you know, learning from COVID in particular, I think, and I’ve always thought for, for decades, that everybody should know how to grow. You know something, they should know how to take care of themselves. We should, and maybe in schools they should teach people gardening as a class, as kids.
They should teach people dental hygiene. They should teach people about nutrition. You know, things like that. So it evolved to me into the garden when somebody is just getting started with gardening. I just suggest learn to [00:25:00] grow one thing, pick something simple. Maybe it’s radish. Maybe it’s peas.
Something you like is, is preferable, and just get good at that. Expect failure, but keep working at it until you become a master of that one plant. Once you have that one plant down, now you take another plant and you do the same thing with that. Now you’ve learned a system and that works for pretty much anything and you can just keep doing that on and on and on for any kind of plant you want.
And same. And that also applies to any kind of knowledge you want to attain. Pick out something of interest and do a deep dive and just become a master of that one item, that one subject. It doesn’t matter if it’s gardening or horticulture or, or drawing, or sewing or whatever, woodwork. So I, that’s how I do it.
Just start with one. And [00:26:00] with the community gardens, it’s a little bit different because. There’s a lot of social stuff going on. There’s a lot of political stuff going on, and all these things are, you have to get through all those layers and find the people that are really gonna work on it.
Josh Wilder: Yeah. Yeah.
And it, it really does come from that passion, I think, like you were talking about, and, and it’s honestly something that comes up when I’m working with contributors. To Mother Earth News, whether that’s you know, people like yourself that have written an article or folks that are just gonna be on the podcast or speak at our events.
I mean, I suggest talking about something that they’re passionate about because, you know, that’s the thing that not only is gonna get you to finish the project, but also like it’s gonna come through in the presentation, that it’s something that you really care about and that’s what people are gonna pay attention to.
Ed Block: Passion. I think the word could be overused sometimes. You know, what’s your passion? What’s your [00:27:00] passion? You know, I just got interested in gardening and one thing led to another. It’s more, it’s also about awareness. Mindfulness, I guess, is the popular phrase now, just paying attention to your life to reality.
And all of this, you know, as I’m working in the garden. What else? When you’re out there, you’re paying attention to the seeds and the ground, and then all of a sudden you hear a, a bird, well, wait a minute, I’ve never heard of that sound before. So I stop what I’m doing and I’m looking up trying to find out where is that bird, what kind of bird is that?
So now I’ve, I’ve paid attention to that thing, and, and then that, you know, sometimes my mind just goes off in a thousand directions. Like, is the wind changed? Am I feeling heat coming? Did the, did we get a South breeze all of a sudden? It’s kind of cool, but it’s,
Josh Wilder: It kind of goes back to what you’re talking about, about like your 15 minute rule planning.
Like if you take a break and have a cup of coffee or take a walk around or just take a look [00:28:00] around to see what catches your attention. And write it down. And the more you write, the more you write the same thing down over and over, that’s your passion, that’s your interest, that’s your focus. It might take some time to, to decide. But you’re gonna appreciate it more.
Ed Block: I find that it’s better to create those little compartments or it’s like taking steps. You can put one foot in front of the other. If you only take one foot and you’re just hopping on one fall all a time, it’s not gonna be the best way of proceeding forward. So by knowing that, for me, having a, a sketch pad or a notepad or just, you know, just a blank little piece of paper and a, and a pen, and I just start jotting things down, just doing a little chicken sketch here and there or an idea.
That works. And, and also taking time every day to go out in the garden. I like to go out in the morning and just look around the garden and especially on the nicer weather. Not, not, not when it’s below zero, but [00:29:00] I miss going out when it’s below zero. But so I go out in the garden on a nice day and I just look around.
I walk the whole thing. Look at the trees, I look at the plants and I see uhoh, this bed needs a, needs some new screws in it. And, and oops, something got into this one and I, I gotta put up another fence. And, you know, you just make notes of what’s going on. Sometimes it’s just a, just a relaxing cup of coffee out there and, Hey, everything looks great.
I’m gonna, I’m gonna go take a walk or a bike ride or something. It’s so, I like doing that. It’s very meditative and it’s like a mini vacation. I haven’t gone on a, you know, like cruises or European travel or any of that kind of stuff. I haven’t taken any kind of vacation in since several years before COVID.
But I don’t miss it because I consider myself living on vacation, working out in the garden, playing with the colors and the plants and you know, you get to be the artist in the garden. Yeah, [00:30:00] you get to be the boss of your mini farm. However big or small it is. You know, you get to choose. I’m gonna grow colored carrots this year.
I love doing that stuff. One year I just decided to grow everything I could find. It was purple another year. I just decided to grow all kinds of carrots another year. It’s, you know, tomatoes, it’s, it just goes on and on. It’s all up to the individual. Find the things you like to do and make it fun. Yeah, yeah,
Josh Wilder: You sent a photo of those carrots. What’s your favorite variety of carrot? Is there a specific one that you go back to?
Ed Block: Kuroda, I think it’s called K-U-R-O-D-A. And it was a really big carrot and I keep trying out new varieties.
You know, sometimes I’ll buy a hybrid, but, you know, I’m not a fan of hybrids, but I will try them. Oh, I hope that that doesn’t offend anybody that’s in my, that’s in my neighborhood.
Josh Wilder: Controversial. It’s controversial, but I think I’ll allow it.
Ed Block: When I grow [00:31:00] carrots, for example, some of the food I grow like, like the cherry tomatoes pop up.
They volunteer. Volunteer food in my yard is always welcome and it never gets taken down until end of season. So if you’re seeing, I see you see the photographs up there. So the upper left is just a, a berm that I built out of compost, and I just throw a few things in there. I’ve got some those are the red, the reddish plant is a species tulip that is one of the few tulips that will actually multiply naturalize and multiply in the upper Midwest.
And then you’ll see the yellow at the very top up there. Those are species daffodil. They’re miniature daffodils. They also naturalize and there’s some rocks in there, and I just threw that piece of wood in there because you gotta have some wood with rock and plants and things. That’s how I artsy it up a little bit.
And then sometimes I’ll jam a character in there. I have a, a wiggling dinosaur made out of [00:32:00] colorful metal and a couple of flapping things that I pick up at this garden show coming up in Madison Next two weeks. The middle picture. Actually, I’m, I’m gonna, yeah, the, the one right below that is just one, is one of my little decks and that’s when I just started bringing my house plants out.
Then, you know, I just, I, I’d rather have plants than anything else, so there’s no room for people, just plants. So you wanna come over and have a bite? Well, we’ll have to go sit on the grass or I’ll find a chair, but the table’s full of plants. In the middle there, those are three different sweet potatoes and I, I start them from scratch.
Also, I, I have to usually go buy tubers at the food co-op not far from here to get organically grown produce. And there’s an orange, a purple, and a red. I have one of each, and I just have ’em sitting in a little bed of cedar that I made up and filled with some potting mix. And I just keep [00:33:00] ’em wet until they start.
You know, they will shoot roots now, which takes weeks, and then all of a sudden you’ll see shoots come up, and then after a couple weeks, the shoots are pretty good size. Then I cut the shoots and then I put the shoots in water, and after a couple weeks, I’ll get roots on those. That’s what you plant. Those are called the slips because you slip that chute off of the potato, the mother plant.
And that, that whole process takes about, it can be a couple months down, up here anyhow, with the kinda light that I have. Yeah, you’ll see more of that later on, but that way I just keep, you know, it cost me a couple dollars to grow 20, 30 pounds of sweet potatoes. And I and sweet potatoes are healthier for me than the regular potatoes.
’cause that’s a different family. This is ipoa. And sweet potato and regular potatoes are an so family, and that’s nightshade tomatoes, deadly nightshade and [00:34:00] potatoes. This is a different family. This is the Morning Glory family. And then you’ll see that box that’s just sitting on my rain barrel. It’s a rain bucket, actually a rain box, and it holds 55 gallons of water.
And that little funnel I just hooked it up to a gutter and just let the water run in there. So I try to do as much off grid stuff as I can. The lower the, the right hand picture is a shot of my garden. There’s that fence we were talking about earlier, and you’ll notice oh, you see the clothes hanging in the back there.
But that’s, you know, I do everything outside. I don’t have a dryer. In the summertime, I hang it outside. In the wintertime, I’ve drill. I, I took down the ceiling. I have exposed rafters and I drilled holes through there, and I ran cord. So I can hang my laundry inside and get that free humidity to counter effect the effects of the wood stove.
So I do all kinds of stuff like that. This first raised bed here, those are, they’re the two tall plants. There’s two [00:35:00] tall plants, and there those are carrots that came back. They’re carrots are biennials, so they will make their seed in the second year. That’s them. There’s, there are a couple of perennials that you, it’s hard to see back in here, an herb and a bun.
A perennial onion called an Egyptian onion or walking onion. And then the little light green things that you see in the front here, those are all volunteer lettuce plants. I didn’t put any of that stuff in there that just volunteered. So, and, and that bed has its run. It does whatever it wants. I don’t, I just pull weeds.
Keeps coming back.
Josh Wilder: Nice.
Ed Block: Oh, here we are. Okay, so now this, you see the, the grapevine on the left, the big picture when that, that fence will be completely covered with vines by the end of summer. And I get lots of bunches of grapes on there. I have two varieties growing and if you see the upper right picture, that white row cover that is [00:36:00] covering that those grapevines because otherwise the birds are gonna clean me out in a matter of days.
And they, they get in there and you don’t notice ’em at first, ’cause they will fly in underneath the leaves and they’ll just pick off the ones that are, you know, e that you can’t spot ’em. And then all of a sudden I see a bird fly out of there and I’m like, oh, birds, how nice. And then I say, wait a minute, wait a minute.
Whoa. No time to get that roll cover up. And then the lower picture is one of the little, the little poly house that I built. It’s a little, little greenhouse. It’s about eight by 10, I think. Maybe eight by eight. Six by eight. I just built that and it’s attached to that garage, which is actually a mu, the museum as I, that I was referring to.
And then to the left, here is my apple tree, and you can see the street up there in the upper, about one third down to the left. So I’m, I’m right up on the road. I’m, I’m on a [00:37:00] corner. Okay. There’s a shot of the greenhouse that’s with the door open, and you can see things growing in there. On the bottom, there’s a tomato plant in there and a pineapple sage.
And in the wintertime I just go in there and I have a, I have a lawn chair. I just go in there in the wintertime and just catch a few rays. You know, it’s, it’s always a much warmer in there than it is outside. And to the right of that same picture, there’s another poly house. That was my first attempt at a greenhouse.
It’s only four feet wide. And I realized, eh, it’s not big enough. So I just keep lumber in there that I use to make tables and chairs and things. If I need a, you know, whatever, I need wood, it’s, I just go in there and grab some wood. Right below that is a little cold frame. Just, it’s just cobbled wood.
And extra piece of polycarbonate, it doesn’t take much to, to build these devices. And that’s facing south and it’s got a little berm [00:38:00] behind it so it’s protected. And I can continue my harvest well into the off season. And my little chimney, as you see, I got a small there. And then the picture on the right, I love fire.
You know, I think the garden should have a variety of things. So I have a fire device in each area of the garden. And then there’s also some seeding in each area of the garden. And I’ll also put art in each of the area of the garden. So wherever you look, there’s colors, there are things moving. I have the, the, the whirly gig things.
And I and I like wind chimes, so I like having sound. I like having visuals, colors, fragrances in, in, during the season. And, and I mix food with ornamentals. For example, the photograph on the right to the left of the large chim, there are some yellowy flowers, which is actually a coreopsis, that’s a perennial.
It’s just for looks and for pollinators. [00:39:00] And to the right of that, it’s oregano. That’s oregano that has reached the flowering stage. Yeah. And if you get there at the right time of the day, it’s just covered in all sorts of little bees and all, you know, they just love it. Yeah. And I should clean up that lumber pile.
Whoops. Okay, here’s my, oh, some of these tools I was talking about. This is where I get excited. On, on the left, on the bench up there. That tool on the left is the dewitt diamond hoe. You can see that shape up there. And that thing is just a beauty, and it is so sharp. If you touch a plant with that little tip, you might think, oh, I just nicked it.
No, you just killed it. Because it is that sharp. It will just just make it go away. And then to, to it, to the Dewitt hose, right, is the stir up hole. And they, it’s not like the kind you find in the stores. The ones in the stores are much larger. And I [00:40:00] think they’re more poorly made. This is very well made and I think I got this, I dunno, can I say the name?
Josh Wilder: Yeah, that’s fine.
Ed Block: I believe I got this from Lee Valley. So up in Canada, there like an online company down here and I’ve had that thing for years and it cuts both ways. I, I love it. Next to that is a it’s a, a pole pruner, but it’s, it’s, I think it’s Fiskars is the brand. The one with the orange on it.
And that’s my second one. That was, that was a little disappointing because it, one of ’em broke and I thought they were never supposed to break, but it did. But it’s, it’s a very necessary tool for pruning large shrubs or small trees without having to do ladder work. And then I’ve got my Falco pruners.
I’ve had those for decades. And this little pouch up above it. And I usually just carry that on my hip whenever I’m walking around the yard or you know, at the library. I also take care of the landscape at the library. And, [00:41:00] you know, you just, sometimes you just see a branch that needs, needs some tending.
To the right of that are two augers, which you see in the picture to the right that lo that long shovel like device that is a trenching shovel. It’s about four inches wide. And if you think about that blade, as I mentioned earlier, when you’re using a sh a regular spade, you probably have about 10 inches of surface that you’re trying to push into hard soil.
Sometimes this thing, you’re only pushing four inches, so it takes less than half the energy and the the benefit is, you know, you get to lift less, which is good, but you get more repetitions. And as we age, we, you know, we gotta keep everything flowing and so it’s actually beneficial. And it’s a perfect size for a lot of things that you, if you have to buy a plant at the store, it’s a perfect size for a four inch pot, dig a hole, plop a plant.
To the [00:42:00] right of that is a a, a tool you can’t quite see the definition on, but it has a serrated edge for a sharp, serrated edge. It has a, a blade edge on the other side, the center has got a little trough in it, and the front has a, a prong, so it can be used to pry out weeds like dandelions, or it can be used to cut something vegetables.
You wanna harvest something. So it’s a very multipurpose tool. And then to the right is my, I think it’s a Smith and Hawkin. I bought that probably 40 years ago. It’s a, it’s a hand troll and I just, it just, wherever I happen to be, if I need to just do it, dig a quick hole or pull something out, it’s just easy to use.
Alright. The center picture, the picture of my foot where everything else happened to get in the way that, no, that was, I put my foot in there so you could see what the proportion was of all these devices. There’s a pulse hole digger that’s also good for digging holes. And there’s a piece of wood because I was [00:43:00] about to drop that in there.
And then there’s an auger with my cheap little portable drill attached. It’s just so easy. I did not much else to say about it. And then to the right, you’ll see three holes that I dug in the corner of that garden bed you showed earlier. So this is just some things these are some color flowers. One year I just decided, look at all these beautiful colors I’ve got growing here. Wow. Maybe I can make some watercolor paints out of these. So I was hoping to get pigments out of these.
So I had asclepius, which is the butterfly wheat on the top to the right, the lavender is the hosta flour. The one, the, the bluish one in the center is flocks. To the right of that was a geranium. Lower left is a miniature rose. I think rainbow is the color or something. And then to the right is Bellum Kanda or Blackberry Lilly.
And [00:44:00] I just put ’em in the, the containers like that and I thought, I’ll just wait till they dry. And I waited and they waited and they waited until they turned to dust. And so, whoops. That does a failed experiment. But it sure looked nice. The center photograph is the kale that keeps coming back. It’s a monster.
It lives through winter. I, I’m waiting to see this year if it’s gonna make it through our. 10, 20 degree below winter that we just had here in Wisconsin. If not, I’ll probably see some seeds that have self sewed and to the right. That’s, I, you know, also I mentioned getting out of dodge a little bit, not having a vacation.
That’s a friend of mine’s cold storage. That’s their it’s a walk-in outdoor cold storage, root cellar, that’s what it’s called. And they had that built. They’re much more skillful than I am. So they’re, you know, we have some friends out here that are pretty handy with stone [00:45:00] and I mean, it’s not only functional, but it’s beautiful.
And I love looking at other people’s yards and other gardens and such. For inspirations, it’s, it’s a vacation for your mind. Oh, and you get to go talk to friends. So here are a few more places that I go for inspiration. The one on the left is a private residence. Yes. And, and just outside of Madison, I think some of the folks, you know, they’re not hurting, but it, the, the botanic garden in Madison, Wisconsin hosts a garden walk every year.
And I go to that religiously since they, since as long as I found out about it. I go. And that was one. So you get to, you get to see what other people do and yes, I can’t afford to have a botanic garden, but maybe I, maybe I want to use flagstone in my yard. Maybe I want to have a path. Whatever you can clean from wherever you go, it just [00:46:00] food for your mind.
The one in the middle is a concise garden in Madison, Wisconsin on the campus of University of Wisconsin. It’s called the Allen Centennial Gardens and I go there a couple times a year. That is done. It used to be the Chancellor’s residence, now it’s a public garden. Oh, it’s free. And it is in this garden.
It’s so concise, and I believe it was designed by landscape architecture students over the years. And when you walk through this place, every, every step you take. You turn your head and it’s like another little vignette, another miniature scene with another rare plant, and it’s growing right here in our region.
It’s like, holy cow. The garden on the right is in La Crosse, Wisconsin, right on the riverfront. It’s a small garden and it’s, it’s the public garden. It’s called the Friendship Gardens, and it is a spectacular place to go Wherever I go, I look for Botanic Gardens, I [00:47:00] look for public gardens. I also do art museums in the wintertime.
You know, just, just look at art and nature and yeah. I can’t recommend going to these kind of places enough. Ah, well there’s one of my garage sale finds you’ll find if you come to my house. That’s the guy that greets you, except I took the sticker off his his butt there. And, and then. You know, sometimes I just go out and take a look even in the wintertime.
This is not far from my house. This is about a 10 minute walk or a a two minute drive or a five minute bike ride. And I go out there and I just look at the conditions of the river. This is the back waters of the Mississippi sippy. And you know, you can just see how the, the ice is melting and the ducks are just hanging out there.
And then that, that final sunset scene is just, it’s just, to me, it’s just the peacefulness and beauty of [00:48:00] nature. Just gotta find it. Wherever you live, you gotta find that beauty and, and yeah.
That’s good.
Josh Wilder: I appreciate that. And I, I think I got that last image that you had mentioned.
Ed Block: Oh yeah, so those are sweet potatoes are my sweet potato plants in there. It’s hard to see the one in the middle. But yeah, so I drilled the holes and I plop my sweet potato slips in there, and I got a huge sack of sweet potatoes down in the kitchen.
I’m still eating them. I’m still eating squash as we go into February. I’m still eating much, but I used to, but I just don’t anymore.
Josh Wilder: Wow. That’s great. Thanks so much for giving us a virtual tour of everything you’ve been working on.
Ed Block: Very glad, I’m glad. Thank you for the interest and thanks for, you know, I’m, I, I’m just thrilled. After 50 [00:49:00] years yeah, I, I still have my first editions, my first year of Mother Earth News magazines.
When I got out of the service in 1972 you know, I, one thing led to another. I just decided to start growing things and I ended up living in a mobile home. And I remember I, I wanted to see if I could grow something there. I started reading the magazine when I was still in the service and.
I remember I grew carrots and lettuce outside a mobile home. It was a nice little park. It was a neighborhood. We had lawns and driveways and things, but, and I grew vegetables. And then as I got to another place, I started growing more things and the more places every time I changed my residence.
I grew more things and I’ve done windowsill growing in an apartment in Chicago on 2000 North Fargo, I believe was the address on the windowsill and I in [00:50:00] Northbrook. Yeah. So everywhere I, yeah, but I, I’ve had my mother Earth News. I don’t think I’ve missed an addition in since they started in 1970.
And I still have the early, like I said, the first years, and I have all the special editions because those things are timeless. But sometimes I’ll see, I’ll get ’em other Earth News and I’ll look through it and it’s like it has one article that of interest to me, maybe a recipe or something. I’ll, I’ll tear that out and I will keep that.
And then the rest of the magazine gets passed on to a friend. Or we have a spot at the library where you can drop off your magazines.
But it’s, it’s the only magazine. I used to get Organic Gardening magazine and a few others as well, backwards home and nothing against any of those magazines, but I found that some of them disappeared. And some of them changed their format. One of them started advertising All Natural Cosmetics, and I’m like, it’s a [00:51:00] gardening magazine.
Why are you advertising cosmetics? And so I stopped subscribing to that. I don’t know if they’re around anymore, but Mother Earth News has been consistently providing this quality information about all sorts of homesteading since the beginning. It has not changed a bit. I mean, the magazine’s gotten nicer and more thought out, but it’s, the type of information and the quality of the information is always good and not, not because I’m in it, but I was just, that’s what made me, it doesn’t hurt though.
The fact that I was in it was an honor because I couldn’t believe it. It’s like me, but thank you and, and thanks for publishing and it’s just a thrill to be involved in it.
Josh Wilder: Well, we’re glad to have you and, and I really appreciate that. Certainly something that we’re, we’re hoping to you know, continue and, and spread to, like we were talking earlier about, you know, the next generation and, and folks who are, you know, [00:52:00] wanting this information and, and, you know, need these sorts of insights from folks like yourself.
Ed Block: Yeah. I’m, I really hope, you know, I, I read about and hear about. The generation Z and gen Z, and, and I see people I just started classes at, at uw university of Wisconsin, playfield. I still take classes and I started yesterday with my first day, and as I’m walking between buildings, I’m noticing I saw one other guy my age and he’s walking around, you know, and he’s just, he’s walking briskly from wherever he is going.
And I watched all the younger people like this. They all are looking down at their gadgets, and I, it was like watching something out of a, a, a science fiction film for me. So I, I really hope that nobody learned during COVID, you know, that supplies get shut off and, and, and we see violence happening. You know, nobody [00:53:00] learned that bad things can happen and you, you know, who’s, there’s nobody gonna take care of you if you don’t know how to take care of yourself first.
It’s okay to learn self-reliant. You know, do that first, then you can go off and, you know, shop at the store and go whatever, wherever you wanna do, knowing that you have that knowledge. That’s what I write about my column every week. I just keep telling people every week, ’cause it’s, here’s what’s going on now think about this, here’s what’s going on next week.
Just,
Josh Wilder: it’s a process. It’s a process.
Ed Block: Yeah.
Josh Wilder: But we you know, it’s a matter of time for, you know, more and more people find out the best way forward and we’ll be there to help.
Ed Block: Well, I’m glad. I’m still, I’m glad I’m still subscriber. I’m gonna stay that way.
Josh Wilder: I appreciate it. Thanks again and love to have you back on again sometime.
Well I’m sure our, our editor, Anna, [00:54:00] will take a look at this and I’d be surprised if she didn’t come up with another assignment for you.
Ed Block: Well, that would be fantastic.
Josh Wilder: That’d be great.
Appreciate it.
