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DAILY CARTOON click to enlarge Cartoon by Andertoons

"Women who seek to be equal with men lack ambition." ~Timothy Leary

Tranquil Cottage Garden - Nancy Medina

"There has always been a female face to agriculture: the tough homesteader pioneering the frontier; the milkmaid; the tender of the flocks; the manager of records; the daughters and wives who pitched in with every chore known to farming and helped keep it all together.  Traditional attitudes however have undermined women’s contribution to the business of farming; ignored their history until it was virtually forgotten; restricted their access to resources; and have made them just about invisible...

     This is now changing.  Many roles remain the same, but attitudes are evolving.  For female farm owners (or the throngs of would-like-to-be's), resources are opening up in the form of support groups, educational programs, and importantly, mainstream finance that has begun to recognize women’s impact, skills and reliability."

The Farmer, Civilization, and Liberty

By Alexander Craig

"For most of its history America was predominantly rural in character, with farmers being the most active of political citizens.  Neither serving nor ruling, it was the independent farmer that came nearest to realizing the American dream.  You don’t have to subscribe to Marxism to agree that the dominant economic mode of life has a large impact on the character of a society.  Nor do you have to be a romanticist to feel unease about the health of a society that rests on ever centralizing, commercializing and impersonal urban centers.  The rural landscape acts as a mirror of the wider civilization, and the reflection cast in America is an unhealthy one."

Basement Bunnies and Grow-box Gardening

By Barbara Bamberger Scott

"Tammy is a sturdy woman with a clear gaze, a ready smile and a well-developed vision for her family.  Daughter of a Marine father and a hippie mother, who put Tammy to baking bread as soon as she could reach up to the table, Tammy is a domestic powerhouse who manages the homesteading side of the family income.

     But how does she balance all this - two kids, meat 'n' pet bunnies, chickens for eggs and baked bread and veggies for customers whose boxes must be restocked weekly - on a postage stamp of rented land?

     Answer: very well."

By Diana Barker

"I must admit that as bad as my summer seemed to turn out, it was better than when cold weather set in.  The water was no longer cool, but downright frigid, the only time I got a break was when the pond was completely frozen-over, but of course, that didn’t last very long since I had to break the ice for the goats and pigs to drink.  Just a small hole in the frozen ice was enough of an opportunity for Mister Turkey Goose to show off to his girlfriend.  He’d just jump right in that hole, feet first, and the promptly began to sink, so here I’d go, pulling out this half frozen, stinking turkey out.  Miss Goose cut me no slack just because it was freezing cold.  Nope, she’d just bite me even harder.  I then had to herd the extremely angry lovers to the barn so Mister Turkey Goose could dry off and warm up, so his little toes didn’t freeze off."

Tai Chi or Golf?

Zen and the Sport of Scything

By Chris Devaney

"His arms moved gently in a rather short, diagonal, almost lifting action as he crab-stepped down the aisle.  Swish, flip, return, step-step… swish, flip, return, step-step.  It sounded familiar but sure looked different.   A few moments later I was by his side crab-stepping down the aisle.  “Swish, flip, return, step-step... swish, flip, return, step-step…” we were past the peas and heading towards soup.  “Swish, flip, return, step-step...” in unison, arms moving and lifting, then heading back for the return stroke during the step-step, we looked like a couple of spent weirdoes doing some kind of new Texas tandem line dance in the canned vegetables section to some imaginary tune only evident in our heads.  Nobody else joined in."

Bream, Bass, & Butterflies

By Ed Mashburn

"Now here’s a picture for you...  Imagine looking out over a small pond on a warm summer evening.  Birds dip close to the surface as they fly over the water.  The family cows wade belly-deep on the far side of the pond as they cool off from the hot summer day just past.  At this moment, your red and white bobber dips suddenly below the surface and a fat, delicious bluegill is captured and added to the stringer of fish destined to be a delicious supper.  If this water-based picture sounds good to you, perhaps a multi-use pond built on your farm should be in your plans."

Ticks!

By Neil Shelton

"Sometime I ought to tell you about how many people buy a parcel of land, then, when they come to camp on it for the first time, find themselves coated head to toe with ticks.  This seemed especially true of those clients hailing from A Large Western State.

     I think that these dear souls in particular must immediately decide that living in the forest means being constantly consumed by ticks, and that we poor rubes just don’t know any better.

     Well, I have to admit that, when it comes to Not Knowing Any Better on most subjects, the Ozarks can field a team whose world-class naiveté is a match for any region on earth.  However, if there’s anything, ANYTHING Ozarkers know, it’s ticks... and the avoidance of same."

"Anyone who succeeds without some measure of failure first is either not trying very hard, or lying about it.

     Farming, gardening, homesteading, or crofting—all have their times of failure.  Weather, bad advice, or disease can all play a part.  Hasty and ill-thought decisions are equally culpable...

     Despite the many failures and disappointments, when one can settle in to the homestead, get things slowly in order, and fight year after year with the weeds, the rodents and the insects with some hope of winning, it is all worth it.  The disappointments fade; new ones will come along... Learn from your mistakes; the reward for facing failure is knowledge and success."

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