Mother Earth News: August/September 2008
More Than a Magazine … A Way of Life
Top Story
Solar Energy: Why It’s Better Than Ever
Increased efficiency and better incentives are encouraging builders and homeowners to choose this cleaner source of electricity.
Features
Guide to Organic Pest Control
These 11 products are guaranteed to fend off the 26 most common garden pests, including Japanese beetles, squash bugs and hornworms.
Reap the Garden & Market Bounty: How to Dry Food
Dry the harvest to stock up on homegrown snacks and convenience foods for year-round eating.
9 Great Places You’ve Never Heard Of
Our third annual list of top towns that demonstrate civic energy and sustainability in action.
Do-It-Yourself Porch Swing
Everyone needs a cozy spot to relax and sip some iced tea,and this plan works even if you don’t have a front porch!
Here Comes the 100-MPG Car
Without any whiz-bang technology, we’re building a fun and superefficient car for the Automotive X Prize competition.
Departments
News from Mother
The homesteader as artist
Dear Mother
Feedback on “Despair? Determination? Delight?;” Corn ethanol; Mower tips; Cheese inspiration
Country Lore
Make Gourd Jewelry
How to Make a Gourd Birdhouse
A Recycled Raft
Super-easy, Low-cost Solar Dehydrator
Tiller-tine De-tangler
Stout’s ‘No-work’ Method Works
Peanut Butter vs. Chewing Gum
Leaves for Chicken Bedding and Compost
Low-cost Porch Light
Try Trench Composting
Green Gazette
Corn Ethanol: Hero or Hype?
Raw Milk Renegade
A Wonderful Watering Wand
Which Comes First: The Chicken or the Profit?
Get this Gardening Guide!
Singin’ ’bout Sustainability
Keep Pesticides out of Parks
Peckish for Natural Feed
What’s Your Makeup Made Of?
What Brown Can Do to Reduce CO2 Emissions
The Intertwined Tale of Energy and Water
Crop at a Glance
All About Growing Carrots
Learn how to grow several varieties of carrots, including nantes, chantenay and imperator.
Eat in Season
Dry and Freeze Tomatoes
Learn how to preserve four different kinds of tomatoes from Rosalind Creasy, writer of Recipes from the Garden. With these easy-to-follow tips, you’ll eat tomatoes all year round!
Firsthand Report
Harvesting Our Heirloom History
Learn how William Woys Weaver’s grandfather’s nearly lost seed collection led him to a passion for gardening and food history.
Garden Know-how
13 Ways to Beat the Heat
How to protect your crops from relentless radiation, plus simple late summer techniques for a bountiful fall harvest.
