Country Living & Farm Lifestyles E-zine

"When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, the moon laughs and whispers, 'tis near Halloween."
~Author Unknown

Editorial :

Welcome to Country Living and Farm Lifestyles' third e-zine.

Article of the Month : Vertical Farming - What is it and What are the Benefits?

Vertical Farming: What is it? This is the method of agriculture that has been proposed by Professor Dickson Despommier from Columbia University. He feels that there is a great need for inner city blocks to have their own immediate source of food where plants will be grown without soil, by means of aeroponics and hydroponics within buildings already known as "farmscrapers".

With the over-population of the world ever increasing, and water and land being a finite source, alternative options are being sought for feeding the masses, yet minimizing land use. How are we going to continue to feed and house everyone? If we need more land for housing, then farmlands and forests will shrink. And yet, one needs that farmland to feed the masses, and the forests to produce oxygen and to sustain other life forms that are all part of the ecology. So it seemed like a catch-22 situation until someone came up with the brilliant idea, or so it seems on the surface, of having city blocks of concrete and glass where you will be able to farm fish, poultry, pigs, fruit and vegetables all in a controlled environment. So what are the benefits of all of this? Read the full article.

Feature of the Month: A Country Halloween

It's nearly Halloween and time to dig out the witches' outfits and the pumpkins. Let's take a moment to see how we can celebrate Halloween if we live in the country.

Get into the mood by starting with your farm. Do you have scarecrows? Breathe new life into them by changing their farming dungarees with clothes that have a Halloween theme. Turn your scarecrows into witches and ghouls with brooms, black clothing and cloaks, pointed hats, ghoulish masks and bloodied bandages.

For those of you who have farm shops, now is the time to display your pumpkins and promote them for Halloween and increase your sales by getting those kids in! Think of a spectacular Halloween display corner for your farm shop that will get the community talking. Remember, the gorier the better and the kids will love it!

Pumpkin Carving is your next step closer to creating your perfect Country Halloween. Pumpkins come in all shapes and sizes and the one that you choose for your carving will depend on the shape and size of your design. So know what you are going to carve, and then buy your pumpkin accordingly. Get your pumpkin home and clean it with a damp cloth.

For those of you who want to leave the top of the pumpkin in tact along with the stem, then you will have to make an opening at the back of the pumpkin instead where you will scoop out the flesh. However, if you want to take the top off, slice off just a small amount with the stem and scoop out the seeds and fibrous material going in from the top, using a serrated spoon or an ice cream scoop. Take enough flesh away so that you have about a one inch depth of the flesh to work with. Once it is clean and free of seeds, make sure that you have a flattened area at the bottom of the pumpkin inside where you can place your candle.

Now take a marker and start sketching your design. If you prefer, you can sketch the design on paper, and then tape the sketch to the pumpkin. Now take a metal skewer and trace your pattern by making holes with the skewer along the drawn outlines. Once you have the dotted outline in place you can then start carving it out with a sharp knife.

For those of you who have done this year after year and feel that it is 'old hat', try something more sophisticated; the shading technique. Shading is when you don't just cut holes in the pumpkin but you also strip some of the skin away revealing the flesh, and other parts of the pumpkin you leave natural. By employing this technique you can make some spectacular pumpkins. The tools you will need for shading are your common old kitchen knives and also some small chisels and pottery tools for peeling the skin away. However, if you don't have these at hand, use a screwdriver, this works just as well. When you peel you want to get the effect of this with the correct lighting, so whatever you peel should be to a depth of a half inch. Those parts that are cut away completely will give you your candlelight shining through, the peeled areas will give you an opaque effect and the natural skin left behind will be your dark shadows.

Have a look at the pictures below. Hopefully they will give you some inspiration. If you want to submit any photos of pumpkins that your carved, please do so through the farm forum in the section where you can brag about your farm. I will then move them to another page. Happy Halloween!

Here are some examples of pumpkin carving, from the easy to the more adventurous.

Recipe of the Month : Vinegar Cake

Last month, if you remember, we looked at ways in which we can garden with vinegar. In the Frugal Living section, I expanded on the uses of vinegar. And today I am going to give you a recipe for vinegar cake! This is a great cake for those who do not eat eggs.

Method: Set oven to 350° F. Rub fat into the flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add the rest of the dry ingredients except the bicarbonate of soda. When well blended add the bicarbonate of soda mixed with the milk and the vinegar. Put onto a greased and lined 8½ inch cake tin and bake for approximately 1¾ - 2 hours.

Well, we hope that you have enjoyed reading the third issue of our e-zine, as much as we had fun writing it. We also hope that you will stay with us for a long time, visit our web site for updates, and feel free to contribute to the many forums we have created especially for you.

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