Storey M. John - Storeys basic country skills: a practical guide to self-reliance

Storeys Basic Country Skills

A Practical Guide to Self-Reliance

John and Martha Storey

Edited by Deborah Burns

The mission of Storey Publishing is to serve our customers by publishing practical information that encourages personal independence in harmony with the environment.

Editorial services provided by Greg Linder, Linder Creative Services, Mankato, Minnesota
Contributing Editors: Gwen Steege, Charles W.G. Smith, Dan Callahan, and Deborah Balmuth
Cover design by Meredith Maker
Cover photograph by Giles Prett
Cover illustrations by Linda Holt Ayriss/Artville
Part opener and Foreword photographs by Martha Storey
Text design and production by Carol Jessop, Black Trout Design
Illustrations edited by Ilona Sherratt
Technical direction by Leslie Noyes
Additional text by Greg Linder, Nick Noyes, Jim Sherratt, and Gail Damerow
Production assistance by Elizabeth Collier, Susan Bernier, Jen Jepson, and Erin Lincourt

A list of illustrators appears on page 542.
Indexed by Susan Olason, Indexes & Knowledge Maps

1999 by Storey Publishing, LLC

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without written permission from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages or reproduce illustrations in a review with appropriate credits; nor may any part of this book be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwithout written permission from the publisher.

The information in this book is true and complete to the best of our knowledge. All recommendations are made without guarantee on the part of the author or Storey Publishing. The author and publisher disclaim any liability in connection with the use of this information. For additional information please contact Storey Publishing, 210 MASS MoCA Way, North Adams, MA 01247.

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Printed in the United States by Versa Press
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Storey, M. John, 1943

Storeys basic country skills : a practical guide to self-reliance /

John and Martha Storey; edited by Deborah Burns.

p. cm.

Includes index.

ISBN 978-1-58017-202-8 (pbk.)

1. Home economics, Rural. 2. Country life. I. Storey, Martha, 1944

II. Burns, Deborah. III. Title.

TX147.S86 1999
640'.9173'4dc21 99-35895
CIP

DEDICATION

A number of our authors started writing about their passions forty or more years ago. Some of them are gone now, but many are still working and writing. Over the years others have joined us, offering new techniques and new solutions to the challenges of country life. Collectively, they have inspired millions of readers to do things for themselves, whether its home building, animal husbandry, growing and preserving food, composting, soap making, or countless other practical skills.

To this group of talented and inspiring authors, this book is respectfully dedicated.

For many people, the only place to live is in the country. They need to feel earth under their feet, to have the presence of wild nature in their lives, to experience the flow of seasons, to feel the freshness of a new morning and the peace of a quiet, starry night. But theres another key aspect of country life: self-reliance. Frequently you have to draw on your own skills and resources for solutions to problems large and small. Developing these skills is valuable, but even more important is having an attitude of confidence that you can solve your problems and learn from your mistakes.

Country publishers and part-time farmers John and Martha Storey

Dear Reader,

Martha and I hope that you enjoy this book and that it helps you in some small way in your journey toward greater self-sufficiency.

Ours has been a gradual journey, under way since the 1950s, when Marthas folks, cotton farmers from West Texas, found themselves in New Jersey, a few houses up the street from my parents home.

Suburban life at that time was pleasant, to be sure, but only a few people like Marthas parents, Aulton and Elizabeth Mullendore, were the real McCoys. While most of our neighbors still had modest victory gardens, the Mullendores had a small-scale farm! They knew how to provide everything for themselvesbuilding their own home, raising meat, and growing crops for sale and for the table.

After Martha and I married and found our first small home, we were eager to put in a vegetable garden. Armed with a six-pack of tomato seedlings and Taylors Garden Encyclopedia, we began. We quickly discovered Organic Gardening magazine, which seemed like a cult publication written just for us. We were hooked on gardening and on doing it all ourselves.

Soon I was working at Time-Life Books in New York City, and when the possibility for a garden encyclopedia written by James Underwood Crockett emerged, I enthusiastically supported it. Too narrow a subject, the old-timers said, but on publication we found a surprisingly dedicated audience, eager for information on everything from lawns and landscapes to water gardens and ornamentals. I met Crockett and some of the other grand old pros of the gardening world, and my love affair with gardening deepened in the process.

Problem was, at our home we had only a 60' 100' lot, most of which was covered by patio and shade trees, providing just enough light for a garden of three tomato plants. We soon decided to move to still-rural Ridgefield, Connecticut, buying two acres of land and an old colonial house that needed just about everything. It was here that the occasional ecstasy, and regular agony, of life in the country really began.

The quaint old furnace, resembling Jules Vernes diving bell, collapsed first. Then we gleefully discovered a modest pond at the back of the property, which turned out to be an immodest septic system failure. Our spick-and-span paint job began peeling almost immediately on one section of the house, revealing a moisture condition that required installation of a new drainage system. Was country life really all that it was cracked up to be?

At wits end, we discovered a couple of lifesaversthe Popular Mechanics Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia and Carla Emerys Encyclopedia of Country Living. The former was long on specifics, the latter on kindred spirit. They helped us through. And Aulton, Marthas father, visited often from New Jersey.

Becoming Entrepreneurs

Ever grateful for the help we received when we were starting out, Martha and I decided to start a publishing program to help others decipher country life. Drawn like moths to flame, we launched The Practical Gardeners Newsletter in the early 1970s. This led us in turn to Lyman Wood, the founder of Garden Way, and to nearly a decade of entrepreneurial life with this venerable man. We learned about Ed and Carolyn Robinson and their