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Issue 4 - July/August 1970

How Many Harvests Have We Left?


by MARTIN JEZER from EVO

Despite highest crop yields per acre in history, American agriculture is in a state of acute crisis. Farmers have been treating the soil the way speed freaks treat their bodies - with similar results. The Meth that is used down on the farm is artificial fertilizer, an "upper" that stimulates rapid plant growth without contributing anything to soil health. In the short run, as with speed freaks, crops grow at a frantic pace. But in the long run, the use of these artificial and inorganic chemical fertilizers destroys the soil and saturates the ground with chemicals that do not break down or decompose into the earth. Nitrogen in the soil is vital to plant growth, but when huge doses of this element are shot into the earth as an ingredient in artificial fertilizer, the results are often disastrous. The crops absorb some of the nitrogen, but much of it seeps through the soil into the ground water to pollute rivers, lakes and drinking water. According to Dr. Barry Commoner, director of the Center for the Study of Biology Systems at Washington University in St. Louis, excess nitrogen in drinking water can cause a serious infant disease, methemoglobinemia. A number of public wells in California have been closed by health officials due to high nitrate content in the water. Says Dr. Commoner: "The agricultural wealth of California's Central Valley has been gained at a cost that does not appear on the farmer's balance sheets - the general pollution of the state's huge underground water reserves with nitrate." Nitrate run-off in the ground water also encourages the growth of algae, which removes oxygen from water. These "algae-blooms" turn lakes and rivers into cesspools which, lacking oxygen, are unable to sustain aquatic life. This is happening in such cornbelt states as Illinois where, according to Dr. Commoner, "Every major river is overburdened with fertilizer drainage."

Dependence on artificial, inorganic fertilizers has also diminished the mineral content of the soil. Consequently, the food we eat is lacking in nutritional value - at least in comparison with the farm produce of yesteryear when good crops were dependent on healthy soil and farmers put back into the soil what the year's crop took out. (Refining and processing food also robs it of nutritional value; by the time we get to eat it, losses may be as high as 50%.) Agricultural research is directed at bigger and prettier crops for supermarket display. Soil health is virtually ignored. Our agriculture is based on the faith that, no matter how depleted our soil, it can continue to produce bountiful crops year after year if shot up with massive doses of chemical fertilizer. American farmers are encouraged by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and by trade publications like Farm Journal to accept the necessity of chemical farming for high yields, even at the acknowledged expense of healthy, balanced, nutrient-rich soil. Dr. Commoner has said: "We cannot speed up the biological cycle, as USDA policy has tried to do, without getting into serious trouble." Dr. Commoner has also noted that nothing will change this absurd farming system except ". . . afundamental revision of the entire economy of agricultural production in this country." What does that mean? 1 - Agriculture must be viewed in social terms and not as a business. We must support marginal and subsistence farms and encourage people (with financial grants) to move back to the land and return fallow fields to cultivation. This would ease pressures on the cities, lead to a more evenly balanced population and create the possibility for further change. 2 - We must decentralize our entire agriculture system, so that local areas can raise their own produce.

With thousands of small farms in operation this would be feasible. It isn't now. 3 - USDA research should be redirected towards organic farming methods. This would include developing new farm machinery (mulchers, shredders, etc.), recycling garbage (turning organic wastes, autumn leaves, etc. into compost) and making these machines available to all farmers. This will be no easy task. Both government and business are committed to large-unit, mechanized, chemical farming. The better farmers are as concerned with the environment as we are but they are exposed only to USDA information and trade journals which serve the interests of corporate agriculture. What can we do? Probably, farmers can be most easily reached by professional scientists like Dr. Commoner but rural communes can provide worthwhile examples too. The communes can do this by getting involved in organic farming and marketing their produce in ways that educate the public and create a demand for organically grown food. (For instance, distribute literature with the produce; "compete" by comparing the poison-free vegetables with the crap that passes for food in supermarkets: supply urban communes and food-buying cooperatives with low-priced, healthy foods.) Ecology-action groups on campuses can help by demanding organic food in eating halls, cafeterias, student unions, etc. And, finally, groups can start "People's Gardens" in parks, abandoned lots, in the suburbs, on campuses, etc. They can grow food for the community and hold free feasts at harvest time. People with other suggestions and ideas should put them into practice and get the word around. The Movement has ignored the farmer and U.S. agriculture policy for too long. How many harvests have we left?

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

The Plowboy Interview


The following PLOWBOY INTERVIEW originally appeared in ZYGOTE, a new Rock-Culture magazine (out of New York recently and, while there, stopped in to get acquainted with the ZYGOTE staff. During that visit, I asked Allen Richards, the turned-on young writer responsible for this piece, if Arthur Shaw and his theory were really on the level. Allen immediately made arrangements for me to visit Mr. Shaw and his family in their apartment on Manhattan's upper west side. There, over a late Saturday breakfast and a magnificent view of the polluted Hudson River, I got to know Arthur Shaw just a little bit. He's a fascinating individual with an elusive ability to seemingly offer answers while actually pulling new thoughts and clarified visions out of minds and - particularly - the hearts of those around him. After four hours with Arthur I was so turned on that I walked and thought myself completely across Manhattan from the Hudson to 1st Ave. and south from 92nd to 67th St. If you know the territory, you know that's a "fur piece". Arthur Shaw does things like that to you. - JS

There is a plan, there is a theory, there is a man who is trying desperately to shake the course of the world from what he feels, and what many ecologists have predicted, is the path leading to race suicide. There has been extensive research and mathematical planning and there has even been a word invented to describe his labors: Copionics. Copionics is the theory that is being preached relentlessly by Dr. Arthur Shaw in an effort to make the "aware" people of our world realize the true situation on earth. Copionics is the theory of economic abundance . . . it is the plan that may possibly save the world from its fate. I met Arthur Shaw about six months ago, and initially thought he was a deluded quack who must have gone mad sometime during his research and planning for this theory of Copionics. But that was before I really got acquainted with his life-style. He is not mad. He is definitely not mad. Arthur is a soft-spoken, deliberatelyworded and prophet-like man, who has been involved with many inventive projects in the past. Here's some of his biography: Shaw attended Brooklyn College, New York University, and St. John's University, where he received a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree. He has worked with his own organicchemical production company and headed a public corporation in plastics, where he did work on expandable plastics. He has been in construction and he did experiments in new forms, particularly in a concrete of his own design and invention. Arthur once devised a scheme in communications called "envelets" which he proved would reduce the cost of letters by one-third. He's also done research in underwater craft. But Shaw's most important endeavor - and the exigency of this can not be stressed enough - is Copionics. Exactly what does Copionics mean, what does it do, how will it help us? I can't give an all-inclusive, detailed report of this economic theory but I can offer this introduction to Dr. Arthur Shaw and his plan. Copionics is something 1 believe in, and that I feel is a valid offering to our society by a brilliant and devoted man. This is something I trust. I hope we will be witnessing Copionics in practice soon. Plowboy: What is Copionics? AS: Copionics is the theory of global sufficiency. It's both an idea, a theory, and a means of effectuating plenty on a planetary basis. Plowboy: What are you trying to expound with the theory of Copionics besides plenty? What are you trying to tell the people of this planet that we have to do?

AS: The information about the plenty is becoming more and more general, a statement that there was enough for all on Earth was greeted with a good deal of doubt, questioning and - even - scorn not too many years ago. Plowboy: Were they questioning your statement? AS: Yes. I have been indicating global abundance as a mathematically provable fact. Something we can inventory and show for over a score of years. Plowboy: Twenty years? AS: Yes, more than that. Now at this point then, just the statement of plenty adds to existent growing knowledge. The idea to implement this plenty, and to implement it and effect it, is the contribution specifically of the program, World Economic Organization. W.E.O. is an expression and a program to demonstrate and prove Copionics. Your question is how does it operate, what does it say, how does it propose to effect plenty. Copionics is a negation in itself of the very basis for our present scarcity - economics. It negates scarcity in that it states that the sufficiency of the planet can be made available to all its inhabitants. Moreover, the distribution and the satisfaction and fulfillment of all mankind can be accomplished gainfully. Perhaps this is the key: That we are not talking about a charitable or a give-away program - a program of "foreign aid" - but, rather, the expression of natural exchange. Plowboy: What do you mean by natural exchange? AS: We find that the processes by which man lives, whether they are technological or processes of nature or anatomical functions, are al l- in effect - natural in exchange. For example, our exchange with plants . . . the C02 oxygen cycle . . is a free and gainful exchange between the parties to the "trade". There is no tariff, there is no charge and both plant and animal gain in the relationship. The nitrogen cycle, the formation of crystals in a supersaturated solution, are all examples of the largesse - of the abundance - in natural functions. The scarcity premise, the scarcity concept with which man has somehow burdened himself, is an unnatural precept. It does not sit with, nor is it normal, to natural life. Plowboy: It's not in the natural way of living. AS: It's not in the natural way of living nor is it consistent with fact. We have presupposed that there is not enough and the laws of the market have been devised to accord with this idea of "not enough" . . . which is wrong. We're challenged. As soon as we have begun to talk of sufficiency, and this is the nature of our present knowledge, we are faced with a challenge. Plowboy: How do we effect it then? How do we deal with this sufficiency? AS: In World Economic Organization - which, again, is the demonstration of Copionics - we take factual and actual data and conditions and assemble the data into a flow chart, a visible directive for our actions. To be more specific, we know what's produced in various areas of the globe. Certainly we know the need - need which we somehow accept today - in terms of two-thirds of the world's people being hungry and 10,000 starving to death per day. We note these two series of facts - free availability and need - in the W.E.O. computer-programmed flow chart and, in the expression of the satisfaction of the need, we demonstrate the feasibility of free-flow exchange. The prime question that occurs and will occur to any economist is, "how to effect payment, how to make free exchange happen, how to motivate free exchange." And here a notion of Copionics called resource credit is employed. Plowboy: Could you give us some figures of the abundance of the food that could be distributed? How much do we waste, how much is there . . . how much most people don't even know about? AS: The first expression of Copionics, in W.E.O., is in food, the food program. For there is the most apparent area for us to demonstrate sufficiency. The isolated pieces of news we have about the glut of wheat in Canada or the oversufficiency of potatoes plowed under out west is not persuasive enough. However, we have arbitrary and

objective data. For instance, the amount of cultivation on this planet - in terms of vegetation per day - comes to something in the area of over 200 pounds per capita. This represents vegetation which can be reprocessed, which can be extracted. Plowboy: Over 200 pounds a day? AS: Yes, per person. Presently, we share (or fail to share) two-thirds of a pound per person per day, and you and I know that when we eat one and a half pounds of food per day, we've lowered the amount for someone else, elsewhere. This cultivation I refer to, by the way, is an unplanted amount of vegetation. This does not come by man's hands or effort. It is indicative of the abundance of nature itself. Plowboy: Can we eat this vegetation? AS: This can be recovered. There are known extraction processes, yes. We have a figure of one-half million square miles of cultivated land in the world which is devoted to wheat and soybeans and oats and so forth. We know that there are 5.5 million square miles of acreage suitable for immediate cultivation. That is to say, with the appropriate water, the right kind of soil and so on. So there is a reserve of 11 times what we presently use as cultivated land. Moreover, we are increasingly familiar with hybrid seeds that are five-fold productive - wheat, corn, rice and others - which, alone, can be a total solution to man's hunger. Plowboy: Why is this not distributed? Why aren't corporations doing something about it? AS: There's no profit in it. If people can't pay, then the exchange doesn't happen. Plowboy: Do they know about it? AS: They know that there's sufficiency or they certainly should know. This is their responsibility if they are in government, in the agri-food business, etc. These are items of knowledge that are available to anyone. The politicians certainly should know. Again, it comes back to our constraint: There is an economic premise of scarcity and, somehow, that premise of scarcity has governed our decisions. This is the way it is! And once the premise is accepted, all of the laws of economics automatically evolve - The Law of Supply and Demand, The Law of the Least Useful Unit - all things we learn at school and accept and nod our heads to. This is the shape of the world. This is the existing situation and we accept it. We're conditioned to this and not only in school. I mean, this is the way our parents react becausethey accept this. No one denies this total commandment. We are all 'hooked' on scarcity . . . There's a definition of the Law of Supply and Demand that I think I should give. One economist, Samuelson, puts it, "When the rich man's dog gets the milk that the poor man's child needs to avoid rickets, is the system working badly? No. It is working as it is designed to do - putting goods in the hands of those with the most money or dollar votes." This may sound reprehensible. Actually, it is colloquially well put and it represents the accepted economics - the exchange situation - in our world. We have given up. Since we all accept the false premise - there's not enough - since our world is so governed, the gaps increase between nations, as they do between races and peoples. And, of course, the gap between generations and minds seems equally to conform. It is this gap, with its many faces, that is our threat today. Because it is this gap expressed in environmental destruction, expressed in war and violence, which represents the many faces of our fixed system. Plowboy: Does Copionics require violence or revolution? AS: For some of us, angry and committed to deep change, there may be at first some disappointment. For

Copionics requires no violence, no expropriation. Copionics is deep change. The realization of sufficiency can be effected and expressed and accomplished with no harm to any group or any class. Plowboy: Wouldn't this radically change our society though? I mean, there's some guy across the street who must be watching his color television.and dreaming of his freshly polished Cadillac. Would he have to worry - I mean would he say, "I can't let this happen, what about my TV and Cadillac?" AS: Well, the super-abundance of our world - of our life - the amazing sufficiency expressed in the comprehension that there is limitless energy flowing into our world, puts the Cadillac in an appropriate perspective. No one need want more than that . . . the lives of us all would be full and fulfilled. You ask how all this will change our lives? I think the expression of free-flow that man will see and enjoy will create for him the realization that he can enlarge himself in terms of feeling, in terms of idea; in terms of expression. In matters that have real meaning . . . Plowboy: We're so restricted . . . AS: Yes. Plowboy: We should stop listening to all the ideas that have been put down, that say, "Do it this way." We're asking - and you're asking - for what appears to be a human revolution. AS: Yes, I think that is the fundamental thing. If we break through this basic constraint which is something we've been saddled with - the acceptance of scarcity - I think the implications will free us in every way. And I think the students, the young people, sense this - realize this, feel this - and that Copionics provides them with a program, a tangible device to show this to all people, to show this to their parents, to show this to the businessman, to show this to the technician, to show it to the world. Plowboy: You mentioned college students growing more aware of Copionics. What has been happening on college campuses with it? AS: At one campus, Queens College, an Abundance Club has been started with the idea that the information - the facts that "we have it made" - can be told at the school level, as well as at all other levels of life. You must remember that we are attempting to make pragmatic the facts of availability. Just to express it might mean continuation of our present affairs. What can we do? You know we're restrained by the Law of International Balance of Payments: Capital formation . . . growth for the Have countries, while the Have-Not countries become increasingly Have-Not. What good is this information of sufficiency if it is not effected? And this is our challenge: To put this into program form, to put this into computerized statement. This is our work and objective, presently. Plowboy: Could you mention where else there is work and consideration of Copionics occurring? AS: The program has been discussed - not only with students - but with members of faculty, heads of universities and economists such as the heads of graduate schools at Columbia, Ohio State, etc. More than one university faculty member is a trustee in World Economics Organization. Presently, there are many professors and graduate students working on models for this program. It's not the ecologists alone who pointed out that race suicide is our terminal point. All strata indicate the exponentially increasing danger to us all. We've all read the predictions that society is headed for a disaster. Plowboy: I want to ask you about the computer system - how does this function in solving our problems? You said you feed in the data of abundance and scarcity and compute a "free-flow" or, I suppose, a nearly ideal distribution. Is this feasible? Can it be done? AS: Yes, it can be done. Primarily and particularly because we are relying on the gain factor, the multiplier theorem which has acceptance and economic recognition. The expression of resource credit that I previously mentioned is the method and the means for justifying the exchange for "payment". With that credit provided, which in itself is backed by the true facts of global plenitude, It happens, It occurs: We have the balance of Supply with Need. I like to state this in present tense because this is something which is accomplishable NOW.

We do have it made. I mean, abundance is the condition of our world as an object, as an ascertainable, as a mathematical, as a realizable fact. And perhaps the word realization is the key. Because, in our knowledge that all men can benefit, we are presently divided. The fact of accumulation and its need is the cause for our wars and our dissatisfactions. Plowboy: Well, how would you then distribute . . . who would distribute this abundance of food? AS: If you look at the total idea as one of enlarging trade, I think the accomplishment becomes, not formidable, but easily comprehensible and assimilable. This, in effect, is what we do. We set forth that all the world is the market and that there is availability to supply all the world. The present channels, the present means, are continued. The mechanisms for distribution continue. It's as though we come to you and say we can enlarge the Gross National Product of each country and the global product of the world. We are enlarging the market to encompass the two-thirds of the world that is not considered a market. Plowboy: Don't you think it would hurt the present market system . . . keep it from functioning properly? AS: No. There would be no alteration of our methodology for trade. Certainly there would be a greater assurance for those who produce because of an assured market. This is a gain over present technologies. The larger gain is in the profitable enlargement of the total market. Plowboy: With this increase of distribution - where everyone, everywhere would receive food - do you think it would be possible to maintain a constant level? I mean, there would be no famine or wasted harvests? Could we actually have one constant level? AS: Yes, that is our goal: Homeostatic balance. Plowboy: Arthur, how do you think these economic changes would affect politics? What would be the political implications? AS: I think political forms - the ones based on scarcity - will be varied, will be altered. I think they will coalesce and all forms will become one. Politics and political forms are economic expressions, and this is what we should stress. With the alteration of economics, political forms will alter too. And if scarcity is obsolete, of course these forms will convert over to something much more fulfilling to man. If I can add something too, Allan: Many young people are concerned with "the computerized society". There's a large fallacy there, and a large need to get rid of: The fear that a machine will be running us. It's hardly that. I mean, we merely turn over to a very efficient device, the computer, the rote and mechanical and ministerial functions of food-getting and the like. It's similar to our own body organization. We don't protest breathing or osmosis by our body mechanisms. Because of them, we're free . . . to think, to ideate. In a sense, this ought to and can occur between men. Things which occur naturally, automatically, in our own anatomy will be occurring between men and we'll be free for the first time. Really free. To live, make love, create, play the guitar, whatever. Plowboy: This may be very difficult for people to accept and to believe as a practical theory. It may sound too idealistic to many. How has the World Economic Organization been received? AS: Well, the reaction has been pretty negative - up to the last three to five years. Plowboy: Exactly how long have you been pursuing this plan? AS: About 25 years. But today there is a growing kind of acceptance instead of the resistance (and that's putting it mildly) I met before. There are people now who just recognize and realize and feel and comprehend Copionics . . . and these are people not only in ecology or in mathematic sciences, but economists! And there's a feeling that there can be a break through this indomitable wall - this indomitable creation of scarcity - economics.

Plowboy: Do you think it's the growth of the ecological movement that's helped you, or is it just the growing awareness that we are in real trouble? AS: I think ecology and awareness of trouble are really one. They represent a threat. I think Copionics will develop because of its promise, rather than as a result of any threat. Man's hope is the thing to look to. Plowboy: Do many people tell you you're crazy? AS: Oh yes, yes. Plowboy: What's your reaction to that? AS: There are people who find abundance a threat because scarcity is their accustomed way of thinking. Freud says the threat of health, the threat of success, is an awful one for many of us. Not only for the so-called "sick" people, but for most of mankind. Plowboy: Arthur, I want to ask you one last question: Do you think you're crazy? AS: (pause) Well, if man is bent on his own destruction, if the predictions of many of our best minds are correct and this species is coming to its end - inevitable end - then I think the criticism would be valid . . . I am crazy. I offer an approach that is contrary to all our scarcity conditioning, an approach against the awful "design" of our present system. It would be the madness, then, of optimism, if you will. The madness of life against death. The madness of health against sickness. "When the rich man"s dog gets the milk that the poor man's child needs to avoid rickets, is the system working badly? No. It is working as it is designed to do - putting goods in the hands of those with the most money or dollar votes. " Is Arthur Shaw crazy? I know he's not. What about you? If you are interested in saving our world... if you want to help spread the ideas of Copionics . . . ifyou are an economist, a mathematician, a lawyer, a systems-analyst, a writer, a filmmaker (a film is in the storyboard stage) or a human being . . . call, wire or write Allan Richards in care of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS.
The above interview is reprinted with permission of ZYGOTE Magazine, 80 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10011. For more heavy articles on the alternative life as viewed from Fun City, thirteen issues of ZYGOTE will cost you only $5.00. If you're a media freak, hung up on Rock and appreciate a broad (including How-To) view of the New Life Styles, you'll like ZYGOTE.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

THE GATLINBURG FOLK FESTIVAL


R.MAURER - NASHVILLE BREAKDOWN

You know what commercialism in the music industry is after you've been to the annual Folk Festival of the Smokies in Gatlinburg, Tennessee. There's no commercialism there. When Libba Cotton appeared from behind the curtain and sat down on a metal chair in front of a microphone, you just sensed something genuine was about to happen. She played and sang her famous "Freight Train" as if she were playing for grandchildren on her back porch. Libba then talked to the audience - young and old, long hair and short - the way she would talk to them in her living room. The festival had the air of one huge commune, with good things happening - on schedule and off - inside the Gatlinburg auditorium, outside on the grass and in the nearby parking lot. The original Scottish Highland fling was taught to a small group one afternoon on the grass. That night - in the parking lot - when a band with bass, guitar, banjo and mandolin got together to play old style country songs, the spirit got to a couple of bystanders who suddenly started clogging. At one point, Paul Simon was spotted in the audience and several eager guitarists approached him. They talked Paul into listening to their songs but never asked him to play for them, or for the audience. The "star system" was never more absent than it was in Gatlinburg. The other half of the festival was the giant display of mountain crafts. Good conversation - rather than sales - was the primary commerce among the people. Names and addresses were exchanged with promises of "let's get together". The spirit was moving all three days. A large group of craftmakers came from Murray, Kentucky. One woman brought her art work, mainly prints, which she said represented her various moods. Her hand was a certain translator of those moods as it ranged over the canvas with great expressiveness. Somehow the festival was the same way, with a mixture of informality and deep creative currents. The humor of the mountain culture was coupled with its poverty; the great accent on the family unit (represented by the Berger Folk, whose smallest child sucked his thumb as the rest sang), coupled with the isolation of the mountain culture. The most important parts of the festival, however, were the workshops and the informal meetings among musicians who swapped stories, lyrics and picking techniques. Not being a musician myself, I couldn't get into this scene as well as the others, but friends said these exchanges were why they had come in the first place. "Of course," joked a guitarist who played for Paul Simon, "he may have had a tape recorder in his lapel to rip off my music. " But then, this mountain culture has withstood a lot of ripping off by musicologists, song writers and the lot. The Gatlinburg folk festival not only shows its endurance, but also demonstrates that the culture is really in the spirit of the people: Old and young. Long hair and short.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

HOW TO SET UP A direct-charge CO-OP


R.S. STAPLES REPRODUCED FROM A BOOKLET PUBLISHED BY UNITED COOPERATIVES OF CANADA 35 Oak St., Weston, Ontario, Canada In case you haven't noticed, there's a small revolution taking place in food distribution. All over this continent, groups of folks are setting up co-operatives, bypassing the local supermarket and dealing direct with wholesalers, farmers and food processing plants. Why? Well, Gordon Inkeles, who helped set up the original San Francisco coop, once gave this comparison: When Safeway was selling oranges for 15 each, the co-op was offering the same oranges for 3 to 5 cents a throw. The average U.S. co-op, so far, has been rather free-form (a few are described in this issue) but, in Canada, some really business-like cooperatives have been organized. This article gives all the specifics:

After two years of study, the first direct-charge co-operative in Canada, Co-operative Supplies Depot of Ottawa Limited, was incorporated in June of 1968. Growth was rapid and - by January, 1969 (when the report was written from which the following information is taken) - CSD had 970 members and was on the verge of setting up a second depot. At that time the success of CSD in Ottawa had already inspired the establishment of 13 other such Canadian co-ops. We do not have any recent figures but we understand that the direct-charge co-operative idea has continued to mushroom at an increasing pace in Canada.

I-WHAT
In briefest terms a direct-charge (d-c) co-operative is an organization established by a group of people to purchase groceries from wholesalers or other sources at the lowest possible cost. A direct-charge co-operative is not a business in any ordinary sense of the term. It does not buy at one price and obtain its income by selling at a higher price. A direct-charge co-operative provides a service, a purchasing service, and the members pay the cost of that service by dividing it among themselves. (Incidentally, no directcharge co-operative should be required to pay business tax because of its operating methods.) In most respects, a direct-charge co-operative is not different from a conventional co-operative. It follows democratic principles by limiting each member to one vote. It eliminates profiteering by paying no dividend on the share capital contributed by the member. When a direct-charge co-operative incorporates it does so under the usual legislation in its province thus becoming subject to the rules and regulations which govern all co-operatives. Under the legislation the cooperative establishes its by-laws, arranges its financing and holds its annual meetings of members. The annual meeting elects the board of directors. The board engages a manager and guides the organization throughout the year. But the direct-charge co-operative has added two principles which are very basic to its function. The first concerns its policy on pricing and is often stated thus: There are no hidden charges. This means (a) there is no markup on merchandise; the price for an article is established when the co-operative makes the purchase and it turns over to the member the merchandise at that price; and (b) pricing does not include provision for accumulation of capital. This is in contrast to private-profit business and many conventional co-operatives which accumulate capital from the gross margin. The second basic principle which distinguishes a direct-charge co-operative concerns operating revenue. In a direct-charge co-operative expenses are collected directly from the member; that is, each member undertakes to pay his portion of operating expenses as long as he is a member. There is no relationship between the operating

charge he pays and the amount of merchandise he buys. Indeed he pays his operating charge even in weeks he buys nothing on the grounds that the expense has continued. There are other important points. Value to the members is the prime consideration in the selection of merchandise and not profitability from a merchandising standpoint. Since a member must pay his portion of operating costs he is involved in all decisions which affect those costs as far as possible. Voluntary work is encouraged on a wellorganized basis to provide members with opportunities to learn more about the co-operative and to reduce costs. In a direct-charge co-operative members also undertake to make investment in share capital at a stated rate in order that the co-operative may have a fund to equip the depot and acquire inventory. Steady accumulation of capital will free the co-operative in time from the necessity for borrowing money and provide funds for expansion. In summary then if you find an organization established under co-operative legislation to procure merchandise for its members, each member having undertaken to pay his portion of operating expenses as a direct charge rather than in the form of a markup you will have come upon a direct-charge co-operative, for this is its distinguishing feature.

II-WHY
GENERAL CONDITIONS In general there are two sets of reasons for the move toward direct-charge co-operatives. One is found in the general conditions faced by consumers in Canada, the other lies in the history of the co-operative movement itself. It took the women's protest movement of 1966 to demonstrate clearly that many Canadians are seriously concerned about the high cost of things that their families need. The expensive methods used to persuade us all to buy more and the bad taste and questionable morality of much of the advertising to which they are exposed is resented by many. One of the best ways for conscientious consumers to control the highly questionable influence of advertising is to take control at the source. A direct-charge co-operative does not have to advertise its products to maximize income because its income does not depend on an increased volume of sales. Indeed this is one of its great strengths as compared with private-profit business. A typical chain store for example, is caught up in a bad situation which it is powerless to change. Real money must be spent in efforts aimed at persuading consumers to come to its stores and not to patronize other stores. At the same time the other chains are doing the same thing, resorting to all kinds of advertising, gimmicks, specials, stamps, contests, games. From the standpoint of any particular chain this seems to make sense, from the standpoint of consumers it definitely does not make sense, it is mainly waste. A consumer-oriented distribution industry with direct-charge co-operatives as its base could bring great simplication and distinctly lower costs of distribution. Furthermore the consumer has a basic right to know what he is paying for. At present he has no idea what the costs of manufacture and of distribution are. How can he make an intelligent choice if he does not have access to such basic information? Why all the mystery? Isn't freedom to know what they are paying for one of the freedoms consumers should insist upon having? Wouldn't this one step clear away much of the present consumer unrest? Consumers have to buy, just as they have to breathe. At present price is the big factor in decisions about the purchases they choose to make. But though price is a main consideration in determining value it may include charges for unnecessary costs. In a direct-charge co-operative every feature of financial transactions is known to the members. And as the principle of direct-charge extends farther and farther back toward production the area of mystery will diminish. There is another point. If present trends continue the food industry in Canada will be dominated by a very few very large firms. Already the combination of a large food manufacturer and a large advertising agency is almost irresistibly powerful. A new product can be conceived, produced and marketed successfully without much reference to its value from the consumers' standpoint. It doesn't have to be that way. There is no reason why consumers have to spend their money the way they are spending it now. The co-operative approach has been available. People can have their own stores, their own

purchasing service and eventually the products they want. The money consumers are spending for food and other necessities creates the huge and powerful industrial complexes which confront the consumer. He can, if he wishes, use his own money to create his own system. The ultimate power is his. CO-OPERATION Co-operation is such a beautiful and sensible idea that it is pertinent to ask why it has not gone further. Consumer co-operatives have been known in Canada for 60 years or more and there are quite successful co-operative stores in most parts of Canada. But in the total picture, consumer co-operatives could only be described as insignificant. Value of merchandise handled is around 2% of the Canadian total. Surely it is not unreasonable to conclude that generally speaking the present operating methods of consumer co-operatives, with their roots in Europe in the previous century, are not being accepted by Canadians under present-day conditions. The reason is that, typically, the successful consumer co-operatives of the conventional type find it necessary to operate in a manner calculated to attract people in off the street as it were. Some are building strong institutions and saving money for the members too, but since orthodox methods of merchandising are being used costs of operation are much the same as in other stores. It becomes apparent that the weakness in consumer co-operatives lies mainly in the connection between the cooperative and the member; obviously consumer co-operatives are not capitalizing on their one great potential strength-membership. To remedy this situation the direct-charge co-operative has appeared. It provides its members with merchandise at cost and expects these members to pay the operating expenses, whatever those expenses may be. This means that there has been a rather clean break with the inadequate operating methods used in the past. Those methods were based on the theory that returns paid out of hoped-for surpluses were the main advantage for the members, and assumed that most of the necessary equity capital could be collected by adding to the price of the merchandise. The necessary volume of business was to be achieved through orthodox sales promotion. In summary then here are some of the advantages of the direct-charge method of organization. 1) It is not necessary to attract customers through advertising, stamps, specials, loss leaders, contests, games or gimmicks, so costs are less and annoyance reduced. 2) The requirement that each member must pay his portion of operating costs is understandable and acceptable. 3) Since the co-operative adds no markup, prices can be much below prices in other retail stores. 4) High financial reserves will not be necessary; reliance is placed on share capital as equity financing. Capital is provided by all members at the same rate. 5) Purchases per average member will be relatively large because prices are so low. 6) Because of the more rapid turnover, inventory will be relatively low reducing the need for capital and floor space. 7) Operation is simpler. For example, pricing is merely a mathematical calculation, records of purchases by individual members will not be necessary. 8) Because members will be anxious to keep costs within reasonable limits the number of brands and lines can be reduced and shopping times spread throughout the week. 9) Each member assumes his fair share of financial responsibility but with a maximum of freedom; as he is paying his portion of operating costs weekly he is under no moral obligation to buy from the co-operative. 10) Management is under pressure to get prices to members lower, not higher. 11) "Service-at-cost" is not just a watch word; it is applied literally and openly.

12) Since the direct-charge co-operative is not dependent on gross margin for its revenue the risk of loss or failure is greatly reduced, provided, of course, that budgeting is sound. 13) The direct-charge co-operative is a simple and direct plan of organized purchasing which represents purely the consumer interest.

III-WHERE
It is sometimes said that before a certain type of co-operative is organized the need for it must be ascertained. This is no problem in connection with consumer co-operatives for there is always need. The need finds expression in different ways. In the first place distribution costs are high, there is convincing evidence that if consumers will organize their purchasing along direct-charge co-operative lines they can save more than 10% of what they are spending for groceries as compared with ordinary retail stores. As growth occurs and they reach back through production to the sources of supply it is likely that costs can be reduced by considerably more. It is the paradox of our economy that production can be so efficient and distribution so costly; it is quite common for consumers to be paying a price which is double the cost of manufacture. But in the long run the social aspects of this question are even more significant. Alienation is the curse of our age. The modern little man and his little family finds himself lost in the forest of big governments and monstrous corporations. His only hope of staying sane is to organize; so he has the church or his fraternal society or his professional association or his labour union. He should also organize as a consumer; the power of consumers is potentially by far the greatest of all. Social needs may be more compelling than appears at first glance. We find many of our well-placed and welleducated young people who are not satisfied to be lost in the forest and they would like to cut it down. One family of Canadians in four lives under conditions of poverty by any reasonable definition of that word, with many of the Indians and the city slum dwellers at the bottom of the scale. The direct-charge approach to consumer organization is so simple and effective that perhaps at long last even poor people can begin to get value for the money they spend. But to say that there is always a need is to beg the question to some extent about exactly where a direct-charge co-operative should be started. After all, people are everywhere and they are all consumers. The first requirement as we shall examine more closely in the succeeding chapter is a few people in the community who will give the necessary leadership. Because of its nature a direct-charge co-operative can only be undertaken by the people themselves; the idea can come from outside, outsiders can provide assistance, but the drive must come from within. One of the most important points has been left until the last. Some direct-charge co-operatives have found it very difficult indeed to find space for a depot which is consistent in size and in cost with the number of members likely to be involved at an early stage. This possible difficulty has to be taken into account when a decision is being reached as to where a direct-charge co-operative should be situated. To summarize this section briefly here are the main considerations when deciding where a start should be made. 1) Leadership, both locally and regionally. 2) Members. It is necessary to know at the beginning how many members will be actually involved in the early stage. You can't set up a direct-charge co-operative which is capable of serving 300 members and expect the expense to be carried by an initial group of only 50. 3) There must be appropriate space in a suitable building, and in most cases parking will be necessary. 4) Financing is an important consideration. It is not likely that the members can provide the necessary investment capital from the start. In most cases a small loan is necessary and security is not usually too good. 5) There must be a source of supplies at fair prices, so far this has not presented any great problem.

IV-HOW
ORGANIZING If a person wishes to explore the possibility of organizing a direct-charge co-operative the steps to be taken are clear enough. The objective has to be to find a basic group of interested people. The group does not have to be large, but it must be well-informed, enthusiastic and broadly representative of the community as a whole. It will be necessary to distribute written material and carry on discussions until the members of the group have a clear understanding of direct-charge co-operative principles and their implications. Each member of the group should be able to describe how a direct-charge co-operative operates and to defend its methods. If it is the intention to organize a direct-charge co-operative to serve the interested citizens of an entire city or town, care must be taken to ensure that the organizing group represents informally the various social organizations which are active in the community. To a greater extent than one might expect, the makeup of the basic group determines the makeup of the membership in the early years. If the citizens in general get the idea that, for example, the new co-operative is of interest only to labour union members there is evidence that it is not easy to interest the community as a whole at a later stage. On the other hand, if the leadership is made up mainly of professional people it may not be as easy as one would suppose to interest the wage earner. A few key people from all community groups should be involved in the early meetings. As far as techniques are concerned, there is no good substitute for informal and friendly discussions over a cup of coffee in the home of an interested family. These small exploratory discussions could spread through the territory. It is not usually difficult to find a few interested women, each of whom would be quite prepared to invite a few of her neighbors in for an interesting evening to talk about what might be done through co-operative organization. A very brief description of the basic characteristics of a direct-charge co-operative should be distributed at these meetings as a basis for discussion. In this way a desirable level of uniformity in the presentation of the idea can be achieved even though different leaders attend the meetings throughout the community. PUBLICITY At about this stage it would be a good idea to give general publicity to the proposal under discussion as a newsworthy development. People are likely to take more interest in such a move if they have encountered references to the idea through the usual sources of information. A reporter could be invited to a meeting or two. Radio discussions in the hours when women are likely to be listening have proven to be a very effective means of communication. The start is the difficult time and this of course is the reason why a basic group of enthusiastic leaders is indispensable. HOW LARGE? Since in most cases the board of directors will wish to engage some person as manager who will be responsible, at least on a part-time basis, for certain aspects of the operation, perhaps 50 members could be regarded as the practical minimum with 100 members a more viable objective. In some cases the problem has been tackled from the other end. That is, conveniently located store space has been found at a reasonable rental. A monthly budget of expenditures was prepared. That total was divided by four to obtain weekly costs and the result again divided by an acceptable weekly operating charge (usually in the $1.75 to $2.00 range). The number of members which it is necessary to have at the start thus became apparent. Basic groups which are organizing direct-charge co-operatives at present have one advantage. Though the trail is still rather uncertain some pitfalls can be avoided on the basis of the experience of the earlier groups and every effort should be made to obtain the benefit of this experience. There is plenty of indication that a group will find it advantageous to get in touch with other direct-charge co-operatives. There is no reason why a small group cannot commence operations informally, that is without a charter, but before

too long it is desirable that incorporation be applied for. Only through incorporation can the financial liability of the directors and members be limited and full authority be extended to officers to enter into arrangements for renting property, borrowing money and the like on behalf of the co-operative. The group will seek to incorporate under the appropriate legislation in its province of course. The cost varies from province to province but is not prohibitive. FINANCING When a new direct-charge co-operative is being incorporated the authorized capital will likely be the minimum provided for in the provincial legislation. But in the case of direct-charge co-operatives starting on a large scale, care should be taken to ensure that capitalization is adequate. A careful study of financing methods in use by direct-charge co-operatives indicates that the following plan is best. When a person applies for membership he is required to purchase two shares of $5 each (installment payment of the $10 may be arranged if necessary), and at the same time the member undertakes to buy an additional $5 share each quarter after the first. That is, the member invests $25 in share capital of the co-operative in his first year of membership and $20 in each succeeding year. There should be no limit mentioned in the by-laws or in the undertaking given by the member. A limit can be established based on the needs of the organization by a recommendation of the board, endorsed by resolution of a meeting of the members. This method provides for a desirable level of flexibility because no one can foresee the capital needs of the organization through the years to come. The required investment in share capital can be adjusted from time to time as the years pass, if necessary. A copy of the membership application form in use by CSD Ottawa is attached as Exhibit "A". Improvements may have been made by others. The by-laws should provide that no interest or dividend is paid on share capital. This is justifiable because members are investing in share capital at the same rate. To pay a dividend on shares would only raise operating costs and mean that the members were taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other. It seems equitable to permit a member to withdraw from membership and to recover the investment in shares if he is moving away from the area which the co-operative can serve or on proper notice, say two months. Legislation regarding the purchase of shares from a member by a co-operative is not the same in all provinces. As an example in Ontario a co-operative can use only surplus funds to purchase shares from members; so, since a direct-charge co-operative will not have surplus it cannot redeem shares. However, a direct-charge co-operative should undertake to assist the retiring member by transferring his shares to another member thus ensuring that he gets his money back. Perhaps without realizing it at first direct-charge co-operatives appear to have solved the problem of equity financing. Though a co-operative requiring the investment of only $10 at the start will be very short of money to cover the cost of equipment and inventory, the steady inflow of new capital will correct that situation before too long. It is a simple matter to spread the operating costs among the members. In a very small operation with the depot open only, say, a couple of days a week, an inventory of merchandise carried over can be taken at the close of every weekly operation and the financial position readily ascertained. In a larger operation it may be sufficient if a budget is prepared based on an inventory taken at the end of each three-month period. (Operating statements will need to be prepared much more frequently of course.) On the basis of the expenses in the previous quarter the board will prepare a budget for consideration of the membership in meeting. The budget of expenditure should include all possible expenses including provision for expenses like insurance, auditor's fees, and taxes which may occur only once a year and for an allowance to cover inevitable breakage and loss in merchandise. Once the budget of expenditure is established for the succeeding quarter the total is divided by 13 weeksand by the anticipated number of members; the result is the weekly operating charge. This is the sum which each member must pay weekly. A specimen calculation for a hypothetical co-operative which has achieved 300 members is appended as Exhibit "B". There are several operational methods which need to be watched very carefully from the very beginning. We will

deal with these only briefly. BUYING A direct-charge co-operative is an organization which purchases merchandise on behalf of the member. It is when the merchandise is coming into the store that the effective purchase is made. Once it is in the store it is owned by the membership as a group and must be paid for by them. The selection of lines to be handled and brands to be stocked involves numerous difficult decisions. If the co-operative is going to stock all the brands found in a large supermarket it will need a relatively large store, relatively high capitalization and its costs will be higher than necessary. Careful consideration must be given to the brands which are to be purchased. Committees of members should be involved in these decisions. CONTROLS An inexperienced group which is opening up a direct-charge co-operative may not understand the necessity for carefully controlling delivery of merchandise. As the operation grows there are rather sophisticated procedures for this, but here it is enough to say that no merchandise should be paid for until the bill has been endorsed by a representative of the co-operative after an actual count of the delivery has been made. Similarly, merchandise which is being returned, e.g. stale bread, must not be removed from the co-operative until it has been checked by staff. Historically one of the most neglected areas of operation in a new co-operative, whether conventional or directcharge, is in the field of accounting. The organizing group may not appreciate the importance of good records (many small business men have the same attitude) and the result is that the co-operative is in financial difficulty before anyone knows. Accounting is one thing that cannot be improvised. The group simply must find a person who can and will make certain that there are adequate records from the very first day. Furthermore, it is not enough that the information be recorded, there must be provision for making up statements at the end of accounting periods very promptly. Obviously a board of directors cannot intelligently prepare a budget for a month or a quarter unless it knows with reasonable accuracy what the costs were in the previous period. Some of the provincial central co-operatives operate bookkeeping services which should be considered by any direct charge co-operative in the area.
MANAGEMENT

It is imperative that adequate provision for competent management be made from the very start. Even in a very small direct-charge co-operative operating on a part-time basis, someone must be responsible. It is one function of the board of directors to name such a person and clearly outline his duties and provide him with clear policies under which to operate. Such policies will concern accounting, purchasing, receiving, displaying and necessary controls of cash and merchandise. As the co-operative grows its success will depend on employees to a very large extent. The board must develop progressive policies on employee development and benefits. PRICING EXHIBIT "A" Establishing the prices which appear on the merchandise in direct-charge co-operatives is a crucial area of decision which CO-OPERATIVE SUPPLIES DEPOT OF has received a great deal of thought. The principle is that the co- OTTAWA LIMITED operative sells at cost without markup and this is widely 1383 Clyde Avenue, Ottawa 5 accepted. One of the great strengths in a direct-charge is its ability to say honestly to the members, "this merchandise is APPLICATION FOR MEMBERSHIP being turned over to you at the price which was paid for it." Never should a direct-charge co-operative get into the position where it cannot make that statement without qualification. If I hereby subscribe for two shares of $5.00 each members ever have reason to think they are being charged two in Cooperative Supplies Depot. A remittance ways, paying both a weekly fee and a hidden markup, they are in the amount of $ accompanies this likely to lose confidence in the operation. application. I will pay the balance of the $10.00 owing within one month. I understand But what is meant by the phrase "at cost"? The following are that no interest or dividend will be paid on

suggested as acceptable and perhaps necessary modifications. a) When the case-lot price divided by the number of units in the case results in a fraction the unit is to be priced at the next higher one cent point. Thus a case of 24 tins, costing $5.40 would result in a price of 23 cents on each tin. (In some instances low-cost items could be grouped in multiples, e.g. 2 for 15 cents).

shares. If this application is accepted, I will comply with the By-laws of the Depot as may be properly enacted from time to time. I realize that the following are among the requirements of membership:

b) Fresh fruit and vegetables may be sold at a price increased to include truly unavoidable spoilage as a part of cost, but the (a) I am required to pay $5.00 for one increase should be no more than a small and stated percentage of additional share in each quarter year, not the original cost of any item, e.g. 2%. including the current quarter.

c) Fresh meat presents a special problem because when a co- (b) I am to pay a service fee each week to operative is cutting its own meat the purchase price will be based cover my portion of the operating costs in an on the cost of the carcass. The various cuts of meat would be amount to be established from time to time; priced at a level which recovers the original cost but no more. this fee is to be paid throughout my membership regardless of the extent of my d) The "at cost" price is usually interpreted to be cost at the co- patronage. operative door; that is including any delivery charges. (c) Because the Depot serves only memberPricing policies are crucial indeed and in no other area is the families I am to take no merchandise from the distinct outline of the direct-charge approach so clearly Depot for others unless they are members of demonstrated. For example, there is always a temptation to add a my household. small markup in order to recover some of the operating cost. No doubt faced with the necessity for greater revenue as services This application is tendered on condition that broaden out some co-operatives will make this move, but if they the Depot will purchase for me selected items do so they will cease to be direct-charge co-operatives under our of merchandise and turn these over to me at definition. The reason is clear. The distinctive feature of the the price which it paid for the same; and on the direct-charge co-operative is the undertaking which each further condition that I may resign from member makes to pay his portion of operating expenses. If those membership if 1 move away from the Ottawaexpenses are to be recovered through adding a percentage to the Hull area, or at any time on two months notice. price of merchandise purchased by the member there would be no basis for this undertaking unless the member were required to Date ........................................ buy from the co-operative. Such a requirement would likely be Phone..................................... quite unacceptable. Name EXHIBIT "B" Calculation of weekly operating charge in a direct-charge co-operative having reached a membership of 300; example only. Estimated expenses for next quarter (1% of sales to cover inventory losses; salaries and wages, rental, taxes and licenses, auditor, interest, repairs, depreciation, supplies, in surance, etc.) Allowance for expenses 10% unforeseen $8300.00
........................................................................................ Address ..................................................... Zone................... Signature ................................................................................. Membership Number assigned ............................................
As revised in April, 1967

830.00

Budget of expenditure Surplus from previous $ 250.00 quarter Discounts and rebates in previous quarter 800.00 1050.00 To be collected in next quarter Per week for 13 weeks For each of 300 members weekly

9130.00

1050.00 $8080.00 622.00 2.0733

Therefore the weekly operating charge would be $2.10 CONCLUSION TOWARDS ECONOMIC DEMOCRACY The direct-charge approach to consumer purchasing is potentially a very powerful tool. If, as now seems likely, increasing numbers of Canadian citizens will agree voluntarily to cover the cost of the services they want to have they can save themselves a lot of money and they can assert a measure of effective control over the economic processes on which their lives depend. If, following direct-charge principles, they insist that each member contributes towards the capital fund as long as necessary, that there are to be no hidden charges and that each member must pay his equitable portion of operating costs the influence of the consumer can be felt throughout the whole economy in a very fundamental way. At the same time insistence on the same fundamentals will ensure that control and direction of the co-operative will remain with the members. The direct-charge co-operative holds its members in a highly responsible relationship for it will always be directly dependent on the members for the money with which to operate. Economic democracy is difficult to create, but it can be done this way.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

. . . and here's how they do it in California, as reported by the Berkeley People's Office. See, there's nothing to it!

THE GREAT FOOD - BUYING CONSPIRACY


PEOPLE'S OFFICE
BERKELEY, CALIFORNIA

The food-buying co-ops take cooperation among members to make them work but savings are really something (20-50%). They function this way: 1. Neighborhood groups of five to eight living units get together and send representatives to a Thursday night central meeting. Every adult pays a non-refundable, one-time kitty fee of $2.00 or more as a cushion for fronting the money to buy things. At the meeting, orders are taken from the representatives of each group for fruit and vegetables. At 6:00 AM Saturday morning, three or four people go down to the Farmer's Market in San Francisco and buy organically grown fruits and vegetables in boxes or crates and save lots of money. Between 10:30 and 12:30 everyone comes and gets his stuff at a central location. The price per lb. is a bit marked up to cover waste - there's always left-over stuff since you have to over-buy a little (crates come in standard amounts). Markups might be 1/lb. for items under 10/lb., 2 under 20/lb. 3 under 30/lb. etc. You'll need: 1. large vehicles (two if over .30 living units are buying). 2. Two bookkeeper-cashiers and a table. 3. Space-two or three spaces in your parking lot. 4. Two or three scales ($1-$3 used at Value Village in Richmond or Oakland or at Flea Markets, baby scales are best). 5. CASH to pay the farmers - no checks accepted. 6. Paper bags and boxes so people can carry their stuff home. 7. One person to dispose of left-overs (see "Dry Goods' below). 2. Domestic and imported cheese at a 20% discount (on 20 lbs. or more) is available from the CheeseBoard on Vine near Walnut in Berkeley. The order, composed of each group's orders combined is phoned in on TUESDAY MORNING (make sure and tell them you're a new group), and picked up at 8:00 PM Friday night. It is paid for then. The cheese is cut up and weighed on Friday night, and put into packages for each group. It is distributed TO GROUP REPRESENTATIVES on Saturday morning with produce or dry goods (see below). Group reps pay the cashier for their group's order. You'll need two-three people to handle cheese. 3. Once a month or so you may want to buy good, organic dry goods. The prices are well below even nonorganically grown things bought in the supermarket. You may want to contact Bill O'Connell or Marcia Binder at FOR THE LOVE OF PEOPLE, on Telegraph in Oakland just this side of the new freeway overpass on the right as you head south. (No phone). They are a health food co-op and they get good things at low prices if you buy in large quantities (like 100 lbs. of flour, 30 lbs. of raisins, etc. FOR THE LOVE OF PEOPLE needs our help in going and getting the stuff, as their truck can't hold too much. Contact other co-ops to find out when everybody's going, and a caravan of People's Co-ops can go together to the wholesalers.

Sometimes dry goods can be purchased in large quantities at very reasonable prices therefore: 1. Storage space is needed, preferably a kitchen or room with a sink. Maybe you could wheedle out a basement room from your landlord or manager (ask the latter to join, if he's a resident!) near where you distribute produce. You also need plastic-bag lined garbage cans and five gallon ice cream containers for storage, as well as ladies, scoops (cut out plastic bleach bottles are great!) and funnels. Also jars for honey, peanut butter and oil. 2. Lots of front money is needed - one way is to sell $5.00 or more worth of SCRIPT to members, enough to cover the cost completely each time you make a dry goods run. Members then pay in script for dry goods! The same price mark-up system as for produce is advised. There is always waste. Dry goods are distributed at the same time as produce. Bookkeeping for dry goods is easy with script. Script in $1.00 amounts can be used, with purchases which come to under or over the even dollar being paid in script and change. You'll need one or two cashiers, and one or two people to help weigh things out. (P.S. Script could be paper, coins, special stamped objects, you name it.) GENERAL HINTS: In the case of produce and dry goods, everyone weighs his own and tallies his bill, with the cashier checking the addition. Equal participation and equal responsibility. It works if you're careful to be accurate. Cheese is another story. Cutting is tricky as cheese varies in density from one kind to another. Waste is more costly at 70-90/ lb. Produce buyers should try to get to know the farmers and should draw up the price list on the way back. A blackboard is handy for listing prices.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970 One old store + 500 members

THE WILLA-METTE CO-OP


CYNTHIA ANDERSON Originally published in the February 25, 1970 EUGENE REGISTER-GUARD. Photo by Paul Petersen of the REGISTER-GUARD.

"Dan's wife" makes the bagels; Mrs. Neusihin makes the pickles. Granola - "a cereal that really stays crisp" - is 60 cents a pound packaged; if you bring your own container it's 55 cents and you can buy as much or as little as you need. Willamette People's Cooperative, the corner grocery store which sells these items, is a booming business. Two months old, the grocery at 22nd and Emerald has over 500 members (at $5 a share) and is grossing $700 to $800 a day. Already there is talk about starting another co-op to handle a volume which surprises even the organizers. The place was started by a group of University of Oregon students and their friends who wanted to sell groceries at lower prices and to sell an idea - that a sense of community can be created through common cause and need. Transportation problems have blighted that community spirit somewhat but volunteer sales help (20 to 30 clerks who work without pay) continues strong behind the counter. The co-op buys a lot of its stock in Portland and from farmers, slaughterhouses and wholesalers around the country. People have given cars (some of which won't run) to the store for pickup runs by volunteer drivers. But occasionally you won't find the Tillamook cheddar which sells at 81 cents a pound or fresh eggs for 66 cents a dozen. You usually can find a good supply of fresh mushrooms at 62 cents a pound; olives at 75 cents a pint; brown rice, soy flour, wheat flour, and three varieties of beans - all sold at bulk prices. Whole milk is 88 cents a gallon (used to be 83 cents but inflation hits co-ops, too). After two months of successful operation, the co-op membership has voted to shift the emphasis to more natural and health foods. At a meeting last week members decided to stop the sale of cigarettes because smoking is "a filthy, addicting habit;" to stop the sale of "garbage" sweets and stock healthful candies for the school kids; to limit stocks of certain packaged foods which aren't particularly healthful; and to emphasize the sale of fresh fruits and vegetables over canned goods. Jack Corbett who works afternoons at the co-op says rumors that the store is being harassed by food licensing agencies are untrue. He said the clerks who cut the cheese and meats for customers have to have food handlers licenses and Corbett agrees they should. He said he's found the food inspectors helpful and it's simple to meet health requirements if you're willing to listen to inspectors. Willamette People's Cooperative gets crowded most afternoons and insiders recommend you shop early or late. Hours are 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. You can buy at the store even if you're not a member but it isn't encouraged. Shoppers include everyone from youngsters who pay 7 cent cents to help themselves to one of Mrs. Neusihin's pickles to old timers who like the atmosphere. Browsers read signs explaining the benefits of natural grains and poly-unsaturate oils, the average wage of Guatemalan farm workers and the number of war victims in Vietnam.

Buyers help themselves to flour from wooden barrels and grind their own coffee. The adventurous can even take home a piece of horsemeat to try out on the family.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

One of the first of the "new" co-ops was organized in Madison, Wisconsin. Here's how they did it and what they learned.

BILL WINFIELD:

THE PEOPLE'S GROCERY


Originally published in VOCATIONS FOR SOCIAL CHANGE canyon, california 94516

When we first started the Mifflin Street Community Co-op, our subtitle, "The People's Grocery", was more of a riff than a statement of our intentions. Now that such terms have gained concrete meaning with people's parks sprouting up, this title has become more descriptive of what the store actually is. Although the grocery is a co-op in structure, its relation to the community that has developed around it has made it a possible model for starting other community controlled services. I guess it was the closing of the old corner grocery last fall that catalyzed our thinking by providing an ideal location for a community store in a student area. From the original excitement of having our own food store, we moved on to conceive of a cooperative that would both be owned and run by the community and serve as a focus for organizing the people around larger issues. The Mifflin Street neighborhood was a typical student apartment area with no real concept of itself as a community with its own economic and political problems. Though most of our time has been spent building and running the store itself, I think its total effect on the area has been profound in catalyzing some kind of community identity and consciousness. The original idea of the store moved very rapidly from talk to action. We, fortunately, had several people out of school who had some experience with eating and housing co-ops on the University of Wisconsin campus and who could put full time into the project. We got through the first step of incorporation by working with a movement lawyer who volunteered his help free of charge. Once we were legal as a "cooperative corporation" under Wisconsin law (Wisconsin has a special law just for co-ops), we were in position to sign a lease and raise money without any personal liability on the part of the organizers. We were fortunate in having good relations with the landlord-owner of the former store (we gained much good advice from him) and negotiated a temporary lease which gave us a couple of weeks before we were bound to any long term contract. Incidently, I recommend getting all money and length-of-lease terms set right at the beginning if you're going to start a store; landlords might get greedy when they see how well you're doing. Having accomplished these first two steps as a small group, we felt strongly that the raising of capital had to be a full community organizing project. Community cooperative stores are best organized out of an already-strong community organization and we feared that we might soon find ourselves without the participation and full support of the neighborhood. We held a meeting in the empty store shortly before Christmas and divided the hundred or so present into groups. Each group was responsible for selling $5 memberships on its block. Though we knew nothing about running a grocery, we knew even less about how much it would take to start one. Our goal was one thousand memberships at $5 each but, by Christmas vacation (when we had to decide to go ahead with the lease or not), we had only $1500 together.

Although we were far short of our goal we decided to take the chance. We hoped the interest and participation we had generated would pull us through: With only $1500 and a two year lease in our hands, we had to completely refurnish the store and buy our initial stock. At this point we were extremely lucky to learn of the auction of a bankrupt store just out of town. The three display freezers, two dairy coolers, three rows of shelves and a Toledo scale we got for $200 was a real windfall. If we had bought this equipment new or used, it would have cost us ten to fifty times as much. During Christmas vacation we spent another three hundred or so fixing up the floor and painting the entire store. A second windfall came when we got about $800 worth of groceries at half price from another store that was going out of business. (The mortality rate of small stores is quite high today with all the discount supermarkets coming in - the downfall of the petty bourgeoise!) Running the store was the next problem. From the beginning, we had been asking for advice from everyone we knew. Some told us it took all kinds of business expertise to run a low mark-up food store. Others said we'd never be able to have low prices because we couldn't be part of a large supermarket supply system. After rapping with small grocers and using our own common sense, we became aware of certain important points: (1) We would have to have the full participation and loyalty of the community in order to run the store on a volunteer basis and, therefore, be able to use all income to expand the stock; (2) We'd also have to maintain close contact with everyone who came in and explain our problems to them until we could fulfill their expectation of a full store (when I use the term "we" from now on, I am actually talking of a much larger group than started out; we were becoming a community force). We had only a small amount of goods and we knew we would have to turn it over very rapidly and restock only the items that sold. This is the whole secret of a store of this type: Be very careful how you spend your money and buy only what the community wants (canvassing with a food questionaire, large suggestion meetings and bulletin boards are ways of learning this). The philosophy of most food store owners is "buy everything and anything that is advertised on TV or in magazines in order to please everyone and anyone." Being an integral part of the community makes the philosophy of a people's store much different: To be a service to the genuine needs of the community, not to the fabricated necessities pushed by mass media. In ordering and stocking, we found it better to run out of an item than to have too much on hand. Everything that wasn't sold right away would take up precious money and space. From my experience working for a poorly-run book co-op, I knew that it was absolutely essential to keep track of all money coming in and going out. We didn't open the store until we had a good cash register (buy one on time, don't rent) and a system for counting and recording the day's sales. We had another important principle: All our buying and selling was done on a cash and carry basis. Buying stock on credit is both more expensive and dangerous to the stability of the whole operation. Bills pile up like mad at the end of the month. Selling on credit is against traditional co-op principles and should be avoided, especially at the beginning. All this financial analysis may sound overly capitalistic, but I've learned that, if you keep all petty money and core business systems well in hand, you can be flexible and experimental with the other aspects of the co-op. Being a People's Store, the atmosphere had to be human and conductive to bringing people together. We painted the place white at the beginning to make it look clean and open. All shelves were kept low so as not to cut space into long columns of goods. We banned all advertising from the store, inside and out; we weren't pushing anything on anybody. A lounge area, with free coffee, was set aside so people could feel comfortable sitting and rapping or playing cards at night. We were fortunate in finding a small bakery from which we got fresh, uncut homemade bread (without preservatives) that became immensely popular as our specialty. The store hours were set from ten in the morning to midnight: This made us one of the only (and the cheapest) late night stores in a wide radius and really identified us as part of the student community we served.

There were two major problems that I might mention: (1) Wholesale suppliers and (2) Pricing policies. As for wholesalers, we really didn't have one the first month. We used individual suppliers for things like beverages, dairy products, eggs and bread (make sure you don't let independent suppliers push things on you most are competitive people and understand little about co-ops) and increased our stock by going to the "cash and carry" outlet of a large wholesaler in Wisconsin. This outlet, however, was too far away to be of much good to us. A local wholesaler charged three thousand dollars just to join but we finally found one about a hundred miles away that charged only a delivery fee (some pass advertising and bookkeeping costs on to you) and dealt on a cash-on-delivery basis. That fit our policy of not buying on credit. Figuring out how much to mark up goods was another real mystery. We were aware that many co-ops are short lived because they try to be miracle stores in the beginning and inadvertently put themselves out of business before they fully understand how much money it takes to run the store. A number of small grocers in town told us we couldn't survive on less than twenty per cent mark up. Yet, at that rate, we would be pricing ourselves at least five per cent above the average supermarket. We didn't know how much our overhead was going to be, so we couldn't calculate from that. So we ended up taking a chance: If we could operate on volunteer help for several months, we could charge supermarket prices and try to get a lot of people to continue buying at the store out of something more than simple loyalty. Using every night's receipts to increase the stock, we managed to attract even more people by having a larger and larger stock every time they came in. We also compensated for marking staples down by keeping luxuries at about a 20 per cent mark up. Having volunteer help made the co-op a real community project with many different people working in the store day and night - a constant party or freak show depending on what time of the day you came in. I won't mention any more of the details of how we learned to run the business except to say that we found business to be neither mysterious nor alienating because we were working for and among our own people. The staff presently consists of four full-time paid workers plus a completely volunteer cashier crew. We've kept the cashiers volunteer despite all sorts of inefficiencies because it is a very important way to involve new and interested people in the mechanics of the store. Our staff has turned over a few times since we started and we try to be very particular when picking new workers. Each one has to have motivations far beyond just monetary compensation ($50 a week for about 70 to 90 hours of work). The philosophy of the co-op has become one of being careful with the core systems (money, ordering, stocking), so we can be flexible and experiment with new ways of buying and selling. We found that running a store suggested all sorts of ways of changing people's heads. At one point, someone had the idea of turning the cash register around and teaching people how to ring up their own sales and give themselves change. We did this for only a couple of days (it turned out to be very slow) and it helped to get across the message that this was a community store and there should be no division of roles or trust between those who worked in it and those who bought from it. We are very careful to keep close contact with almost everyone who comes into the co-op and explain to them how pricing; etc., works if they complain or inquire. Unfortunately, the store is small and we can't stock large amounts of different items. We started selling fresh vegetables and meat on a limited experimental basis, stocking only small amounts so we got no overnight spoilage. We have talked about setting up an independent supply network with local farmers but haven't had a chance yet. Dealing with salesmen and delivery men is always interesting and inevitably we manage to get them into a political rap before they leave. The younger delivery men really dig being in the store and some of their heads have been changed just through their contact with us.

These are just a few of the experiences that have given us a feeling for how experimental a true community store can be. I'd like to make a final point about the political relevance of this project. I think we found several things to be true: First, this undertaking - involving people in service to their own neighborhood - is really needed at this point in time. Especially in student areas. Many people are hungry for some active, building way to control their own lives and participate with others on more than a head level. Bringing people-even transient students - together through a project like this seems to be ideal for building community identity and power. Working with and for your own community makes earning a living a meaningful experience. Second, the potential economic base co-ops could have in student areas makes them relevant to a larger movement. Providing subsistence for local organizers is only one possibility. If a number of small, decentralized community coop stores (forget big projects like the Berkeley or Hyde Park co-ops) could be started near a number of campuses, a sizeable amount of capital could be generated and used to help low income black and working class co-ops get started. If people could get themselves together and build their own community stores, in other words, they could both save themselves money and generate capital to aid other communities with less income and less privileged backgrounds. And that could be the beginning of an intercommunity support system set up to do away with the government and foundation grants that buy off low income projects.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

. . . but whattaya do when the gang doesn't all show up to get their orders? Stephen Salaff laid down one idea in a recent piece for the San Francisco GOOD TIMES

STEPHEN SALAFF

LEFTOVERS
GOOD TIMES, $6.00/YEAR 2377 Bush Street San Francisco, California 94115

One Saturday afternoon in March, I met a bunch of people standing around a parked station wagon. It seems that the wagon had returned to Berkeley from early morning shopping at the San Francisco Farmer's Market with a load of vegetables. The people were part of the Food Conspiracy, which provides food to neighborhood groups at wholesale prices. One of them said that some co-conspirators had failed to collect their food at the assigned hour, and so it was decided to give away all the extras right out of the station wagon. This illustrates one of the problems of such a food distribution system - the members have to get to the distribution point on time. I helped myself to the assorted vegetables, picking three medium-sized onions, eggplants, tomatoes, zucchini, and green peppers - fifteen in all. The dish I cooked with them is a vegetable stew from the French Provence region, called a ratatouille. It is, in one or another variant, a natural and colorful way to utilize a windfall of fresh vegetables. To make a ratatouille for six to eight persons, you will need, in addition to the above vegetables, two cloves of chopped garlic, at least one-half cup of olive oil, and one or more "tomato" spices, like basil and chopped parsley. Here's what you do with each vegetable: Onions: slice thinly Green Peppers: halve, remove core and seeds, and slice into thin strips (julienne slices) Eggplant: cut into one quarter inch rounds, and then into one inch squares; no need to peel Zucchini: peel and slice into half-inch pieces Tomatoes: quarter Heat one-half cup of olive oil in a wide, heavy pan. Saute the onions and chopped garlic until the onions are soft but not brown, and then add the green peppers, eggplants, and zucchini. Pour a little more olive oil over the top, cover, and cook gently for 40 minutes. (Feel free to vary the proportions of the vegetables used, according to what you have on hand. Bear in mind that eggplants soak up a lot of olive oil; if you have fewer eggplants you may cut down on the oil). Add the quartered tomatoes and your spices. Cook 20 minutes more, or until the vegetables are quite soft but not mushy. The texture should be that of a thick, coarse puree. Uncover and continue to heat 5-10 minutes to reduce the amount of liquid remaining in the pan. In a good ratatouille, each of the vegetables is distinguishable by sight and taste, so proceed gently without overcooking. This dish can be served hot or cold, and if you add a little more oil, it takes kindly to reheating.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

The C-W CO-OP


Just like light shows and sideburns, the co-op idea is spreading from the alternate culture into straight society. Lynn Sherr reported on the trend in a recent Associated Press story: "There's a grocery 'store' in a Brooklyn garage which scrimps on brown bags, charges two cents each for egg cartons and sells top quality sirloin for 98 cents a pound. "At the chain supermarket three blocks away, brown bags and egg cartons are free, but sirloin costs $1.49 a pound. "The 'store' is the Cuyler-Warren Consumer Buying Club - a food cooperative in a racially mixed area where shoppers claim to save up to 30 per cent a week on meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables." The syndicated article goes on to say that New York Mayor John Lindsay's Commission on Inflation and Economic Welfare has praised the C-W co-op and recommended that the city encourage and assist similar food buying clubs. Five housewives, under the direction of Mrs. Kittie Brown, organized the C-W co-op over a year ago in Gowanus, a hardcore poverty section of Brooklyn. Mrs. Brown says, "I didn't know how bad conditions were in our neighborhood until, 1968, when I found some mangy-looking fruit surrounded by green flies in a local store. Then a friend and I discovered the wholesale food markets and bought a basket of really good tomatoes for a fraction of the neighborhood grocery's price. That did it! Five of us put up $5 each and, with the original $25, started buying and reselling peaches, stringbeans and tomatoes." The co-op originally weighed all produce on a set of bathroom scales and sold it at night in a church kitchen. Now the garage store is open all day Friday and serves 67 members and a number of non-members who are permitted to shop without paying the co-op fee. The C-W operation is pretty typical for a food co-op. Anyone who wants to purchase must fill out an order blank and turn it in by 5 p.m. Wednesday. On Thursday, members of the co-op staff tally up quantities and place bulk orders for meat with a wholesale butcher for Friday delivery. Mrs. Brown and a volunteer or two usually buy all fruits and vegetables from one of New York's wholesale produce markets at 6 a.m. on Friday morning. The purchases are hauled back to Brooklyn in a faded green station wagon. By 9:30 a.m. all the food is neatly stacked along the walls of the former garage. At 10, the doors are opened and black, white and Puerto Rican housewives begin wandering in to pick up their orders . . . and, maybe, something extra. The co-op makes it a practice to purchase more than the total of Wednesday's orders: The dewy freshness and low prices of CW's produce almost always guarantee a sell-out. A recent comparison of C-W and local supermarket prices is quite interesting: At the co-op extra large eggs were 69 cents a dozen; lettuce, 25 cents a head; yams, 2 for 29 cents; tomatoes, 30 cents a pound. Three blocks away, the chain store was charging 89 cents a dozen for jumbo eggs, 35 cents a head for lettuce, 19 cents each for yams and tomatoes had a price of 49 cents a pound. Price alone does not tell the whole story, however. Quality is just as important. Mrs. Brown says, "What we really want is good quality food at a price people can afford. And our quality can't be beat."

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

. . . and for the folks who want to see a thousand co-ops blossom, or who want to set up a homestead, raise organically grown food and be assured of a market, here's news of . . .

THE DEVCOR FARMER-CONSUMER CO-OP


ROGER WILKES
GREEN REVOLUTION, $5.00/YEAR, FREELAND, MD. 21053

A serious attack on the high cost of food, land and money is being made by a group of School of Living members. Don Newey, a member of the board, has formed an organization to establish a series of farmer-consumer cooperatives based on the principles he's developed for egg buying co-ops in various cities. The consumer end of the operation is simple. Anybody who is interested can start a buying club and arrange to purchase food direct from the producers at substantially reduced prices. Most buying clubs start with a single item of produce and gradually expand as their organization and understanding of the operation grows. It will be possible to commence operations with more than one product now because of the new organization which can arrange all the needed paperwork and other details. This new organization, called Devcor, is a part of the International Independence Institute. During 1970, Devcor will be able to offer at least the following products: apples, peaches, oranges, eggs and some vegetables. The buying clubs will take orders for the produce at prearranged prices and collect money for the shipments. There will also be a service charge to cover the cost of delivery and administration, and each member of the buying club will be required to subscribe an additional 10% of the produce price as a capital contribution. For example, apples are $3.00 per bushel at the orchard. The buyer wishes to have one bushel. There is a service charge of $.50 for delivery and administration. The savings investment will be $.30. This makes a total price of $3.80 per bushel. The basic $3.00 will be paid with the order, the service charge will be due on delivery and the savings investment will be paid with the next order. At present in the Baltimore area apples are selling at about $.12 per pound. On a forty-five pound bushel this amounts to $5.40. Thus the total saving, including investment, would be approximately $1.90. It should be emphasized that organically grown fruits and vegetables will be supplied. There are three ways in which a person may become a co-op shareholder: The first is through the purchase of shares by investment when buying through a buyers club as already explained. The second method is through investing money in cash in a lump sum. This is not an investment in the normal sense of the word as the shares are non-interest bearing. The final way in which people can invest is in the form of work. The various co-op groups have a great deal of work which needs to be done and while you can be paid for doing them you might like to take shares in place of some of the money. The farm end of the project involves being able to give the farmer a guaranteed market for all his produce at a good rate of return, thus removing him from dependence on a varying market with all its hazards. Prices negotiated with a farmer are being carefully calculated to ensure that he will be able to produce the highest possible quality and enjoy a good living from his labors. Each farmer in supplying Devcor with the produce will be requested to contribute a similar savings element to that made by the consumer clubs. This investment will be available to the farmer in the form of loans at the cost of administration or about 1% to purchase additional land or to improve his farm and home.

Money accumulated in this way will also be used to establish packing houses and other distribution facilities. When sufficient capital has been contributed - and the amount will depend on local needs to a large extent - the local group of farmers will form their own wholly owned co-operative to handle all the details with Devcor only retaining one seat on the board of management to act as a co-ordinator for all the groups. The same principle of capital accumulation will be followed by the various consumer buyers clubs who will be able to establish their own distribution points and similar facilities. They will also be able to use capital funds for home purchase and other improvements. Again these loans from their own capital will be made at cost or about 1%. If you are thinking of moving into the country and establishing your own community, Devcor - through this program - will be able to help you obtain cash income for your support and give you advice on the planning and growth of your community. Included in Devcor's plans are the establishment of rural communities which will have both an agricultural and an industrial base. We hope to create markets for many industrial products which can be produced by small rural communities when they have an assured market for their product. Any land purchased for a homestead community through the assistance of Devcor will be held in trust and will not be resold, although individuals who have built their own houses and made other capital improvements will, naturally, be free to sell them. The organizers of Devcor do not want to become controllers of vast enterprises. Each local group will be locally controlled; indeed we would not even want to see a buyers group operate more than one store or distribution point. Our objective is the creation of an. alternative economy in which each individual is able to control the actions of those who supply him with his needs. This is in contrast to the present situation in which we are all at the mercy of large scale enterprises which treat us merely as consumers or suppliers without any consideration of our unique individuality. If you would like to know more about Devcor and its plans or would like to participate in some way, write to Devcor, c/o Rt. 1 Box 129, Freeland, Md. 21053. We are very interested in hearing from people who have products that they would like handled and from those who would like to organize buyers clubs and homestead communities. Naturally money is always needed and Devcor welcomes contact from those who are interested in making loans or subscribing to the capital funds of the co-operatives which are being formed.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

RIVENDALE
TEXT AND PHOTO BY DAVE JOHNSON AND ARAGORN
ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN THE EUGENE, OREGON AUGUR

Rivendale is a commune of 20 adults, five children, two dogs, too many cats and a pony living on four acres close to Eugene, Oregon. Named for a mythical elf city in Tolkien's Middle Earth, the commune was started in August, 1968 by "Pip" Cole and John Butler. The primary goal of Rivendale is to provide a large family unit in which all members work for a common good. The secondary goal is a move toward self-sufficiency. Although some members have a strong desire to be relatively independent of the consumer society, others are less concerned with disaffiliation. Many members work in Eugene and the commune buys much of its supplies. But most of the food is grown in the community's two gardens. The meals consist of vegetables, nuts, fruits, rice and homemade bread. Little meat is eaten, but a strictly vegetarian diet is not stressed. In theory, everyone is expected to work according to his ability. But the commune has learned that some people naturally "pull more weight" than others. This and other day-to-day problems that exist in society have to be coped with at the commune. Because it is a microcosm, the community feels these problems more acutely. When a hassle develops, a general meeting is called. The gathering centers around what Tony Cole calls a "dialogue". This is a talk session in which the problem is brought into the open and discussed by all members. An attempt is then made to get general approval of a solution. This dialogue form of problem solving is one of the commune's many experiments in group living. Another experiment was a marathon in which members stayed in one room for three days. Led by an advisor from Senoi Institute, the family tried to communicate through all the senses. The commune is not accepting applicants at this time. Members feel there is neither actual nor emotional room for new people. They are planning to move to a more rural area and, as an incorporated non-profit organization, they hope to purchase some land. Due to exploitation by news media, Rivendale is leary of exposure and publicity. But its members also try to avoid an atmosphere of mystique. Recently, they held an open house, inviting neighbors to come and ask questions about the commune. Many members feel that Rivendale has developed a personality but the individuals who live there are a mixture of opposites. Some are actively involved in politics, others are apolitical, a few are into personal hangups and still others are concerned with society's problems. Their one common ground is Rivendale.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

MISSISSIPPI CANOE TRIP


CINDY COOPER

I'm a big Mark Twain fan and I think Huck Finn was a good guy but - when my husband, Steve, suggested that we canoe from upstate Ohio to New Orleans - I thought he was making some kind of outlandish joke. It took some time for me to stop laughing and really consider the idea: A canoe trip down the Mohican, Muskingum, Ohio and Mississippi Rivers all the way to ole New Orleans. Nineteen hundred miles. I soon quit chuckling altogether and adopted the idea as my own. There was one still - funny part, however: Neither of us had ever canoed before. As with most projects, the hardest part of this one was in the "getting going". Equipment and money were not easy but, with two months earnings and a little savings, we were ready to shove off. The biggest single item - a $250, 17 foot Grumman canoe - was a gift. If you'd like to duplicate our oddessy and money is a large problem, there are some workable solutions. For one thing, if you don't mind exposing yourself to "advance" publicity, people will donate all sorts of equipment. It also would be fairly easy on a journey like this to get odd jobs, especially at the numerous yacht clubs, harbors and homes on the Ohio River. If time and momentum are of no concern, you can work on farms or in towns along the way. I even read a dusty old book about a guy who built a houseboat and took a similar journey in a couple years' time - growing his own food on the way! Another method of obtaining funds - more likely after the trip is completed - is by writing stories for magazines and journals. National Geographic, True, sporting publications, wildlife and conservation magazines and newspaper Sunday supplements are excellent targets, especially if you manage to get some good photographs. We took no cash with us. We did have $350 in traveller's checks and we spent only about $200 of that. Total expenses for both of us were under $3 a day-cheap living by any standards. Yet, even a large part of that money was unnecessarily expended, especially on the earlier parts of the trip when we were less disciplined to the ways of the wild. After searching out every possible Army-Navy store bargain and squeezing through some homestead hassles, we finally plunked our canoe into the Mohican River at Loudenville, Ohio. A lot of rented canoes float down the Mohican River and the people in them with whom we communicated couldn't believe we were undertaking such a long journey - especially when they saw how we canoed! But, believe me, we learned the practicalities of river navigation quickly. There are two main premises that one should accept before attempting a trip such as ours. One is: Do not plan. Plans mess up everything. Too many beautiful trips have been ruined by planning when, where and what. Let things happen as they may and leave the planning to Greyhound. The second rule is: Accept every offer of assistance or kindness. When people are doing something unusual, others are interested in helping and becoming part of it. Furthermore, people-especially those in the country are often unusually generous. People offered us free meals, overnight stays, water skiing rides, loads of beer, money, a jaunt to the county fair, barge tours, clothes, decent advice and a lot of cheering on. So never turn down an offer - they are often exciting, extremely interesting . . . and almost always satisfy a hungry belly.

Our equipment consisted of a tent, jumbo sleeping bag, tarpaulin, cooking utensils, fresh water carriers, maps, camera, and a lot of garbage. Upon entering a camping store, you will be amazed at all the wonderful equipment you can buy. Don't do it! If you think you might need a piece of gear sometime - forget it! Purchase only those things you are certain to need - anything else you can buy along the way. Detailed maps for the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers are available from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Cincinnati and New Orleans, respectively, at a cost of five dollars. These maps are not only very useful, but highly interesting. They are designed for precise navigational use by barges (although many captains know the river by heart) and power boats. The two books differ somewhat. The Ohio maps illustrate only a five mile river span per page and show the towns right on the river as well as buoys, terminals, marinas, dams, and other markings. The Lower Mississippi (from Cairo, Illinois to the Gulf) maps present 15-25 river miles per page plus vast detail of a large surrounding topographical area, the river's former courses and much other information. Both map books are useful in showing accurate mile markage (markers are on the river banks also but they are often too far away or too high to be seen from a canoe). The maps will also help you determine a good place to camp, approach locks (on the Ohio), discover towns behind clumps of trees and find numerous short cuts. For example - on the Mississippi where the river curves and winds, travelling at one time or another in every direction - our map told us that a huge horseshoe bend was 22 river miles around, while the land distance across the narrowest point was under one-half mile! We put down our paddles and, with some assistance, lugged the canoe across the portage. Unless you are a geographical wizard, the maps are a necessity. And they make great fire starters! Amongst some of the more necessary equipment are canoe paddles. Since none cost over five or ten dollars, it is wise to get the best quality available to prevent breakage and excessive wear and tear. Grumman brand, which we used, are usually pretty reliable. A paddle, stood on end, should reach as high as the shoulders and no higher than the eyes of the paddler who will use it. Chin high is ideal. An extra paddle is often recommended and we started out with one. It was quickly lost. Many canoers use gloves. We also started with some and, of course they were quickly lost. An ample amount of callouses soon developed on our hands to protect whatever was left underneath. We brought two foam cushion "life jackets" which served mainly to prevent blisters on our bottoms. The important thing to remember with an aluminum canoe is that it has air pockets and will float under any condition. If you tip one you should automatically try to grab the canoe as you go over. You can practice maneuvers if you feel shaky about this, but life jackets, per se, are pretty useless despite what the red cross manuals say. Our tent was a 5' by 8' outside frame. It was adequate for our uses and cost about $25. The shelter was fairly light and had a floor. This is a valuable asset when the best camping place for miles is on a hill, slope or mountain, leaving one susceptible to rain water. The floor will also keep out snakes, rats and other pests. Our tent was sturdy but - once while camped on a sandy island - a Mississippi River rain and sand storm broke all the poles. During that storm we tried to make repairs but the fierce wind and blinding sand made it impossible. We have to wait - with the mass of smelly, soaked and sandy cloth that once was a tent cozily pressed against us until the storm passed. After we dug ourselves out in the morning, we were able to patch up the shelter. Our sleeping bag (which was really two identical bags zipped together) was large and well-insulated . . . for which we were thankful on many cold nights. The bag was made of cotton with flannel lining and we quickly learned to keep it covered and off the floor of the canoe while paddling. Otherwise, at night, the splashed water and rain of the day make it as snug as a WWII movie's trenches. Although we foolishly packed too many clothes, you should be equally as careful not to take too few. At least one change of clothing should be kept in a (hopefully) dry area. Otherwise, after a heavy rain storm, you may find yourself very cold and miserable . . . rain ponchos do not always do their job. We also encountered vast weather changes, and I suspect this would be the case during every season of the year. One day we would be hot in bathing suits while the next, fierce cold and wind would have us bundled in two or

three layers of clothes. Hats are very desirable for heavy sun and pounding rain. We went through five sets that blew away or were left behind. One piece of equipment that we found particularly useful was a heavy repellent treated canvas tarpaulin. This can be used very effectively during the day to cover gear in the canoe and at night as additional buffering under the tent or over supplies left in the open. Another handy product is Sterno, or other canned heat. Although one can cook over Sterno exclusively, we mainly use it to start damp or wet wood on fire. A burning can of Sterno, placed underneath a stack of campfire material will dry the wood and start a fire. By the way, keep plenty of matches in watertight containers. Periodically, we pulled up on a bank and stopped to shop at riverside towns. We carried mainly canned food. Fresh foods spoiled too easily in the heat and the special dehydrated camping packs were costly and hard to purchase along the way. There is a sizeable variety of canned foods and they are simple to prepare . . . just don't lose the can opener! Canned foods are heavy, though, so distribute the weight evenly and be careful not to overload your canoe. Since we normally did not stop to cook lunch during the day, we made peanut butter-and-jelly-on-stale-bread sandwiches (I have not been able to stomach one since) for our daily nourishment. We also tried to buy a certain amount of "energy" foods, usually vanilla wafers because they are so cheap. No matter what rationing method we used, however, these goodies were inevitably eaten on the first day after shopping. Although we are not meat (or fish) eaters we found some great fishing and hunting opportunities all along the way. On the smaller streams, the lower Ohio near Indiana and Illinois, and all of the Mississippi the fishing seemed especially good. Fishermen were particularly ample on the downstream end of locks, or in idle lock chambers (the lockkeepers being the prime fishers) and we noticed numerous traps and nets which farmers emptied frequently. The fishing was productive on the Mississippi as it entered Louisiana that the guard at the ferry to Angolia, the riverside prison farm, let inmates guard themselves while he checked his various traps. Many happy fishermen offered us part of their catch to cook. As for game, there are numerous open-hunting state parks along the way in season. Gulls and other birds are easy prey, as are squirrels and a variety of other game. But be cautious. We met one game controller on the lookout for gun-happy hunters. One of our greatest concerns was ample drinking water. We usually filled two of our five-gallon containers every two days at whatever was closest: Boat, home, dock or ferry. Mark Twain claimed you could always tell the true riverman because - after he dipped his cup in the muddy river water - he stirred it vigorously before drinking so as not to lose any of the grit through settling. Back in Twain's day that was, perhaps, OK but we were never quite convinced that the river water was anything close to suitable for drinking. Finding a camping spot on the rivers takes keen observation and an ability to compromise. It is best to start looking for a site about an hour before you actually intended to quit for the day. Start looking while there is still daylight. On the smaller rivers and on the Ohio, the banks are solid ground - usually covered by heavy foliage and often steep. The Ohio, because it is dammed, is extremely wide and it's best to concentrate camp hunting on only one bank. The best, and sometimes only camping spots are cleared areas. This occasionally means someone's lawn or boat ramp. The forested areas can be miserable. I will never forget that sleepless night on what was later dubbed Mosquito Island. By the way, bring a good deal of mosquito spray as well as Calamine lotion if you wish to sleep at all. Other than bugs and animals, it is sometimes just impossible to find a square foot or two on the timbered banks in

which to set up a suitable camp. The areas aren't exactly the local metropolitan parks. On the Mississippi, though, the camping situation vastly changes. The banks are often mucky and swampy - even, deceptively so - but there are numerous sand bars and "beaches". These are shown on the maps so you can decide early where you might camp. The sand bars are the best and most comfortable spots providing you use long sticks, instead of pegs, to hold down the tent. On the islands there is usually plenty of dry driftwood for a fire and few bugs. Remember to pull your canoe out of the water when camping or else you'll wake up stranded some morn. It's best to load the canoe with rocks or to turn it over, and then tie it to something - even if you have to drive a stake. When stopping at a town, tie the canoe well or you might, like us, stroll back from Columbus, Kentucky to find your transportation in the middle of the river. Incidentally, don't get uptight about things being stolen - it just won't happen. I mentioned that the Ohio River is dammed - is it ever! From where we entered the Ohio at Marietta, to Cairo where the river ends - 800 miles - we passed through about 19 locks and dams. One every fifty miles. And we had already gone through nine locks on the Muskingum. The Muskingum locks, which lower boats to the next "pool" of water created by a dam, are very small and operated by hand-cranking the lock doors open and closed. They are used solely by pleasure craft. Since there are no maps for this river, it is best to ask motorboaters or the lockkeeper for the distance to the next lock. Then watch carefully for the dam since it will be marked only by two buoys and being whished over even a six foot drop is not good for one's welfare. However, the main problem with these small locks is finding the lockkeeper who is usually asleep, fishing, grumpy or interested only in a fee. The Ohio River locks and dams are in a different league. They range in heighth from 10 to 100 feet, are open nearly all year and at all hours, are built for commercial boats and the chambers range from the size of a football field to three or four times that. They make a canoe look pretty puny. Maps are highly useful in approaching these dams because it is necessary to determine in advance which side of the river the lock is on. The Ohio is between a half and one mile wide and if you come too near the dam on the wrong side of the river, the current may push you over. With the river maps, the Army Corps sends out all sorts of literature about lock procedure, tooting your horn one mile in advance and waiting at designated spots until given the "go" signal. We naively took these instructions a little too gravely when we approached the first lock on our map of the Ohio River. We conscientiously layed over at the marked area, waited patiently for the "go" signal and tried bravely to reread and follow all directions. It was one hour later and after three motorboats had zoomed over the supposed dam - to our amazement - that we finally discovered the dam had blown out a week earlier (the lock was left standing). Nonetheless, we soon learned the best locking procedure for a canoe. First one should paddle up to the bank wall of the lock, which juts out quite a distance from the actual chamber. There you'll find an iron ladder, usually slippery (I made a regular habit of falling into the water from them), that leads to the top of the wall. After a nice half-mile walk, you will discover a lock worker who will tell you what to do next. Locking takes a minimum of an hour and a half and can take up to a day depending on whether any barges must lock first (they have precedence, but one can lock through with all barges except oil and chemical carriers). There is one simple way to avoid this whole locking mess: Go in spring or high water when the dams are let down! Portaging - carrying the canoe and equipment across land - is rarely necessary on a trip such as this since most of the waters are navigable. On the earlier rivers (Mohican, Muskingum) we did have to portage five times, mainly across dams that did not have locks or where the locks were not operating (i.e. the lockkeeper was indisposed). On the Ohio, we portaged once at a lock to avoid a long wait. Let me point out, though, that at most of the Ohio locks, this is impossible because the land around the lock is extremely steep and craggy. But if you are a mountain climber as well, on the Mississippi we had to portage a couple of times out of sheer stupidity, usually when we decided to take an "intuitive" shortcut that deadened into a sandbar.

We usually paddled about ten hours a day - or 30 miles on the Ohio and 40 on the Mississippi (the currents varied). Paddling is very simple and it soon became an automatic and subconscious motion. The stronger, and (hopefully) heavier partner should be seated in the back of the canoe. If the more powerful paddler weighs less than his partner, equipment should be arranged so that more than half of the total load is behind the center of the canoe. There are merits to both the front and back positions. The back paddler must learn various extra motions, such as the "J-stroke", since he is the one who controls the direction of the canoe. However, he has a more comfortable seat and much greater leg room. The front paddler, who often kneels rather than sitting on the seat, is more cramped, being directly in the bow. On the other hand, he is the less essential of the two and needs to learn only one basic stroke. Once paddling is mastered, about the only other skill necessary is learning to get into the canoe from deep water (i.e. after a swim) without swamping the craft. This might take some practice, but merely involves pulling one's body up over the canoe with a pushup-like maneuver, and then sliding in. When paddling, the only stops we made other than shopping trips or special visits were basically what we termed "pit stops". Otherwise, we became fairly deft at doing just about anything and everything from the canoe. I, for instance, became particularly adept at sleeping. Before we saw for ourselves, we heard numerous horror stories about the big, bad barges. They were mainly tall tales. The barges are flat, rectangular slabs which sit only a few feet above water level. Anywhere from two to 54 are pushed by a "towboat" which, unlike lake and ocean tows, is square both front and back. When these "trains" pass, they create waves - but rarely problems - for a canoe. Motorboats, which ride the waves like surfboards, have more trouble. The only time problems arise for a canoe is when it comes too close to the barge or when the water is already particularly turbulent. For example, where the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers meet there is considerable turbulence and eddies and a passing barge jolted us harshly and emerged us in some good river water. It was a wonderful greeting to the Ol' Miss'. At any rate, barge crews - which one mate told me were composed of "lunatics, criminal, beatniks and malcontents" - are extremely friendly and very generous with handouts. At their worst they continually scrutinized us with high-powered binoculars, which only occasionally give us a sense of paranoia. Every now and then we undertook night canoeing. This can be both fun and dangerous. Although the barges have radar, a canoe looks like a piece of driftwood to them. If they do catch your canoe on radar, the barges will use brilliant carbon beams to search the area but, more than likely, never find you. Normally, though, a string has only two small colored lights on the front end of the first barge and they move very quietly. Thus the canoeist beware! Between Baton Rouge and New Orleans huge freighters travel at night at deceivingly fast speeds and they can't see a canoe if they try. We did, however, meet a barge mate who had made a somewhat similar journey in a rowboat years earlier and he preferred to travel mainly at night to avoid the intense heat of the day. So the final choice is up to you. We had one major disaster about 4/5 of the way through our journey. It all stemmed from committing a Super nono: Never pull (paddle) the canoe up to another boat, especially a large one, on the river side, especially in fast current. Otherwise - like us - you are likely to be sucked under the barge by the swift current and - like us overjoyed to come out alive even if all equipment (except the canoe which always floats) is lost. Therefore, it is extremely important to follow this simple rule of the river. And by the way, if you ever reach Rosedale, Mississippi, revere it - a small fortune lies there at the bottom of the river. The "whats" and "how" of canoeing on major rivers - such as the Ohio, Missippi, or Missouri - are easy to verbalize. However, the experience itself cannot be related so simply. We passed through ten states and areas that are rural, urban, resort and wild. We saw some of America's great contrasts - the most beautiful natural landscapes and the ugliest most obnoxious pollution. We met hundreds of people who helped us understand what small towns, the Midwest, countryside, the South, this nation and the land itself are all about. We learned as never before.

We got to know, not only ourselves and each other, but a river with a vast history that is so grand and unpredictable that not even modern man - with all his technology, revetments, cement banks, dikes and dams - can intimidate, stifle or tame it. But mainly, we experienced an adventure that - like the water - cannot be constant, must always be flowing and dynamic in format and will necessarily be vastly different for each individual. We paddled for 67 days to reach our New Orleans goal. One could continue for pages about those days and write about that Old Man River and phlegmatic weather and sore muscles and blue Ohio water and canned spaghetti and singing and yacht clubs and dead fish and thirsty cows and the sun rising over a silver canoe with a couple of people just discovering America's oldest highway. After 9 1/2 weeks spent not too outlandishly, we finally paddled into New Orleans, Louisiana . . . So now move over, Huck - we made it!

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

Here's another installment of Jeanie introduction to organic gardening. If you last issue and you like what you see in hurry and get your own personal copy They're going fast!

Darlington's warm little liked what you read in the this one, we advise you to of GROW YOUR OWN.

If you've been working very hard on your garden, planting, cultivating, weeding, watering, etc., you can relax now because your work is done. If your seedlings are up to at least two inches or so, apply a mulch and then forget about garden work except for picking harvest. A mulch is a layer of usually but not always organic material laid on top of all the exposed soil in your garden. Hay or straw, grass clippings, leaves or leaf mold; shells and hulls of rice, buckwheat, cottonseed, cocoabeans, oats and peanuts; seaweed or kelp, pine needles, sawdust, newspaper, old carpets and even black plastic. Any of these will do. The purposes of a mulch are to conserve moisture, regulate the soil temperature so it stays cool in summer and warm in winter, discourage weeds, prevent a hard top crust from forming, prevent erosion, and eventually to decay and add a rich layer of humus to your soil. Since we don't get rain in this part of California between May and October, mulches are a must in my opinion. Last summer, I applied a mulch and then watered my garden deeply once a week. (Frequent and light waterings cause shallow feeder roots and this in turn causes PLEASE NOTE: During the makeup of our last plants to wilt easily if these roots do not receive moisture.) I never issue, proper credit to the publisher of GROW cultivated or pulled a single weed. For my mulch, I used hay that I YOUR OWN was inadvertently obmitted. Here it is, gathered from the vacant lot next door. The hay kept the vegetables both for now and as it should have appeared then: from getting muddy when I watered, and it kept things like squash and tomatoes from rotting since they were not touching the wet soil. Copyright 1970, Jeanie Darlington.
All rights reserved. Published by the BOOKWORKS, 1611 San Pablo Avenue, Berkeley, California. Reprinted by permission.

This year I tried out cocoa bean hulls which I bought from the Guittard Chocolate Factory for $1.00 per 75 pound sack. Not only did they smell and look beautiful, but when they broke down, they added 1% nitrogen, 1.5% phosphorus and 2.5% potash to the soil.

However, within a month and a half they had already decomposed, so then we laid down a nice, thick six-inch layer of hay from the vacant lot like we did last year. I used the cocoa bean hulls more successfully as a mulch on the flower and herb gardens. There was a smaller area to cover, so I applied them more thickly and therefore they lasted longer. Ruth Stout, an 84 year old gardener, has been mulching year round with nothing but hay for 25 years. (See page 81 and 82 in the Bibliography.) She never uses any fertilizer except what the rotted hay contributes, doesn't maintain a compost pile, and never tills or cultivates. Her soil has been analyzed several times and has always been found to be very high in every necessary element and of course very rich in humus. With oak leaves and pine needles, it is perhaps a good idea to lime them a bit in the fall as they tend to acidify the soil. With sawdust, some people like to add a nitrogen fertilizer such as blood meal when applying it, because sawdust robs nitrogen from the soil when it decays. (See chapter on fertilizer, page 25.) Some say this is

unnecessary. The other mulch materials I've mentioned should be all right on their own. But don't expect black plastic to decay and add nutrients. Plastic is plastic. Stone mulches are effective, especially around flowers, and as the earthworms rub against them, they slowly add valuable mineral content. (See Bibliography, page 81.) River rocks, smooth round pebbles, or bright red orange bricks from one of San Francisco's freshly demolished buildings are all useful and beautiful too. The only drawback with mulch is that snails and slugs (our most persistant and abundant problem) love to live under it. They come out at night and feast. This isn't too disastrous for a full grown garden, but it is an instant wipeout to a tender new row of succulent one inch seedlings. (See chapter on snails for ideas about snail control.) However, I feel that the advantages of mulching far outweigh this one disadvantage and I am certainly a confirmed mulcher. So go out and use what you can find in your area. Mulching may be the biggest discovery of your life. Between July 15 and August 15, you can plant seed for later summer crops in any available space you have. Try cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, winter and summer squash, bush beans, carrots, beets, turnips, etc. Anything that will mature in 60 days or so and doesn't need too much heat. Before planting, remember to enrich the soil with compost and manure and a good sprinkling of blood meal or other nitrogen-rich organic fertilizer. Here's a way to get a bumper crop off your pole beans. When the leaves begin to fall off and look tired, take off all the leaves and add a lot of compost around the base of the plant after loosening the soil around the thick stalks. Fill a few buckets with manure, add water, stir well and allow this tea to brew a few days. Then pour it around the beans. Allow this to soak in and then give a good deep watering. After a few days, there should be a whole new show of blossoms and soon more beans, giving about a 60% second crop. It's worth a try. If your onion tops have toppled over, it means the neck is dry and they should be harvested. Pull them out and let them dry a few days in the sun and wind. Then make them into a braid and let them finish curing in a cool place such as a shed or back porch. Sunflower seeds are ready to harvest when the seeds start to fall out around the outer rim. Cut off the flower head now before the birds get to it. They'll get their share later, but they pass the word around fast. Hang the head up in an airy place to dry. When the seeds are dry, sort them according to size and keep the small ones to feed to the birds in wintertime. Roast the large ones on top of the stove in a small pan for 10-15 minutes. Stir to keep from burning. When they smell like roasted nuts, they're done. Then shell and eat. Save the sunflower stalk for supporting next year's beans, peas, etc. II. In the Bay Area, the first killing frost comes around November 30. This means that you can plant fall vegetables between September 1 and October 1. Many good sized seedlings are available at the nurseries; broccoli, cauliflower, collards, red and green cabbage and kale. It is too late to start these from seed. Get them in by September 30. The nursery will also have swiss chard and lettuce seedlings for your convenience, though you can still start these from seeds. You'll have to sow root crops and greens from seed, but there's still time. Radishes are ready to eat in 21-30 days. Plant beets, carrots, turnips, rutabagas, kohlrabi and peas. For greens, try spinach, mustard, chinese cabbage, endive, escarole, lettuce, parsley and swiss chard. You can sow leek and onion seed now too. Or if you wait till October, use onion sets or seedlings. I prefer sets. Plant the sets two inches below the ground level and two inches apart. Or put them one every inch and a half and pull every other one for use as green onions when they are the right size. Chives may be planted now from seed or clumps of bulbs. And if you have large clumps of chives growing, it's time to divide them. When planting onions and root crops, mix some ashes in the planting row to discourage root maggots. Before planting anything, be sure to renew your soil with plenty of well rotted manure and compost. If it has been a year since you last prepared your soil, it's also wise to replenish the nitrogen with blood meal or hoof and horn meal, the phosphorus with bone meal or phosphate rock, and the potash with wood ashes, granite dust or green sand. Otherwise, be generous with the fish emulsion. And plan to do a good soil renewal program in November or

December, such as I described in the soil preparation chapter. Always apply the phosphate rock, granite dust and green sand along with manure and compost, because organic matter increases their effectiveness. These natural mineral fertilizers should be applied at a rate of 10-15 pounds per 100 Sq. Ft. There is no need to worry about applying too much as the plants can only use what they need. This application is good for a year or more, depending on how much you grow in how large a space. If you tend toward close planting for maximum production in minimum space, use the larger recommended amount of fertilizer and use plenty of compost all year round. Plant flowers for winter bouquets. From seed, sow calendula, sweet peas, and alyssum. At the nurseries, buy stock, such as lobelia, pansies and violas, nemesia, petunias, snapdragons and primroses. If you sow seeds for money plant (lunaria) now, you will be able to harvest the pretty, silvery dried seed pods next fall. And strawflowers are best sown now for next summer's flowers. HUNGRY GARDENS During the middle of July, I noticed that one of my squash plants had a nitrogen deficiency - the blossom end of the fruit was pointed. I gave it a good dose of compost, manure, and some blood meal, and I watered it - with diluted fish emulsion. Now the fruits are filling out nicely. Once you learn to recognize the basic signs of malnutrition in plants, it's easy to correct them. Even if you can't diagnose, it's wise to add compost and manure liberally. Nitrogen deficiency; slender fibrous stems, slow growth, foliage and stems that fade to yellow. In cucumbers and squash, the blossom end is pointed. Corn plants will be yellowish-green instead of deep green. In tomatoes, the tip of the leaves at the top of the plant are lighter green than they should be. The leaves do not get larger and the veins turn purple. The flower buds turn yellow and drop off. However, if you are using overhead watering, this may be knocking the blossoms off and curling the leaves. (Sun on a wet leaf will cause it to curl and burn.) Always water vegetables at ground level. The blossoms will also drop off if a large part of the root area dries out. Water deeply once a week. To correct nitrogen deficiency, add manure and compost and some blood meal (15% Nitrogen), or hoof and horn meal (12.5%). As these are slow acting, add a good dose of diluted fish emulsion. That goes to work immediately. Do not use ammonium sulphate. Phosphorus deficiency: the under side of the leaves take on a reddish purple color, plants are slow to mature and set fruit. In cucumbers and squash, the stem end is narrow and blossom end bulging. In corn, the tip of the corn ear will not be filled out with kernels in each row. In tomatoes, the plants look all purply and are very slow to set fruit. To correct add some bone meal, or phosphate rock (not superphosphate or ammonium phosphate!) plus manure and compost. Potassium deficiency: the leaves turn ashen grey and develop curled brown edges and later a bronze effect. In cucumbers and squash, the leaf margin becomes brown and dies. The blossom end has an enlarged tip. In tomatoes, the young leaves crinkle, the older leaves turn ashen grey-green and then yellow on the edges. Bronze colored spots develop between the longer veins. Fruit ripens unevenly. To correct,.add wood ashes or granite dust and compost and manure. Heavy mulching maintains potassium supply. Calcium deficiency: The plants are slow to grow and have woody stems. In corn, the tip ends of the leaves are stuck together as if glued. In tomatoes, the upper leaves are light yellow in color. The plants are weak and flabby. The terminal buds die and the nearby stem becomes spotted with dead areas.

To correct, add some natural ground limestone. Magnesium deficiency: The areas between the leaf veins turn yellow and then brown, while the veins remain green. In corn, the older leaves develop a yellow or white striping effect and in cucumbers the leaves have a yellow and brown mottled effect. In tomatoes, the older leaves develop a yellow color. It is a deeper yellow further from the vein. To correct, add a quart of sea water to each 100 pounds of compost and apply, or add dolomite limestone. As for other trace element deficiencies, such as boron, iron, copper, zinc and manganese, all of these are most easily corrected by adding plenty of manure. In general, whenever a plant looks unwell, always give it compost and manure first. Then if you can diagnose further, give it whatever else it needs. The best protections against malnutrition in the garden are good soil preparation at the start or end of each growing season, and thick mulching. MESSAGES FROM EARTH GODS I. April It's not so easy to figure out sometimes. One afternoon around five, when I was at the library, a bird ate a whole baby lettuce plant that was growing on our front porch. At least I assume it was a bird. Sandy saw a bird come hopping pleasantly along the walk up to our front steps, digging the plants and taking little nibbles like it was a smorgasbord. What to do about aphids? I tried washing them off the plants with a strong jet of water from the hose. But it didn't help much. In early April, I ordered a half pint of lady bugs from the Bio-Control Co., Rt. 2., Box 2397, Auburn, Calif., 95603, for $2.00 postpaid. They ship the lady bugs the day they receive your order and money, and they arrive within two days in a little box with a screen on one side so they can breathe. That freaked our mail lady when she reached in her mail bag at six a.m. to start sorting her parcels and came up with a whole box of creepy crawleys. They smell beautiful, like messages from earth gods. We released them that night after sundown according to instructions, sprinkling them around the plants, so they would have a better chance to forget their fright at being handled and could settle down a bit. They don't fly at night. These were old lady bugs as young ones will not be available till after May 15. Nevertheless, they started gobbling aphids and mating first thing next day, so we will soon have some hardy young ones too. I also ordered four Chinese Praying Mantis egg cases. Their virtue is that they love to eat insects, from flies to aphids to caterpillars . . . but not ladybugs, unless they are starving. They are the only known insect that can turn its head and look over its shoulder. Paranoia? They're supposed to make good pets and can be trained to eat out of your hand. We'll see. The purpose of all this is to arrive at an ecological balance in your garden, yard, or nature area by introducing more life rather than by killing it with poison. There are now over a billion pounds of DDT or its toxic derivitive in our environment. DDT doesn't break down, so it's all there in our bodies, and in animals and fish. That thought is disgusting in itself, but when I think of the smell, the delight and the wonder of putting ladybugs and praying mantids into your environment, it's impossible for me to understand why people so often choose such sick solutions to their problems, ones that harm the planet we live on. II. June By early June, I was able to see how effective the half pint of ladybugs had been that we released in early April. Most of them died soon after we released them because it was the end of their life cycle. But before they did, they mated and laid lots of eggs. Imagine Volkswagens humping. That's what ladybugs look like when they mate. The larvae have been growing from microscopic size to a half inch in length and have now hatched. The larva is black with some orange spots and looks like a tiny alligator. When it attains full growth, it goes into a moulting condition, clinging to weeds and grass stems. Then the back splits open and an adult ladybug is born. Its life span is about a year.

Now they're eating like they've got the munchies, grazing up and down the sides of the plants. They seem to like it here. I had heard of people who brought a lot of them down from Tilden Park, only to have them all fly away home the next day. But if they're born in your garden, they're more apt to stay. The Praying Mantis egg cases hatched at the very end of May. It was far out. Looking like mutants from a former atomic age, they came tumbling out of the little round 1 and 1/2 inch egg cases, about 200 from each, 3/4 of an inch long, and went streaming across the landscape. Invasion from outer space! The egg cases were hanging from bushes about one foot from the ground. The babies look exactly like the adults except that they're transparent. As soon as they hit the ground, they went hopping and running in all directions and were almost immediately hidden in the foliage. Their legs, thin as silk threads, must be incredibly strong to withstand the falls and leaps. III. August By the middle of August we began to see quite a few mantids. They are now 2 and 1/2 inches long and their color ranges from pea-green to brown. They camouflage so well its hard to find them. They're a lot of fun to play with. They love to run up our arms and hop about. Every once in a while, they sit back and wave their front feet about in the air like a begging dog. When I put one back where I'd found it, it immediately licked the bottom of its ridgy front and back feet just like our cat would do. I suppose our skin oil made its feet slippery. The Chinese make pets of them. But how? We tried to feed them. They turned down chicken and cat food and most bugs, but once one took an earthworm. IV. September One mantis has made his home in a basil plant on our front porch. He's been there three weeks now and seems quite happy, having shed his skin twice. We say hello as we go by. "Hello Manty, how's it going?" He turns his head and peers up at us with iridescent froggy eyes. His inscrutable look and exotic shape, usually hanging upside down, is like a silent haiku. We hope he sticks around for the winter, although Harry Mantyla from the BioControl Co. says they usually die in the winter unless it is very mild. PEST CONTROL I hope you won't have much trouble with bugs in your garden. But if they come, it's good to know what you can do about them without resorting to chemicals and poison sprays. The first step in pest control is to have healthy plants growing in fertile soil that is rich in organic matter. Then they are more resistant to virus and to insect invasion. Insects tend to attack the weaker plants which have diseased tissues and an imbalance of nutrients. So if your soil is poor, add compost throughout the summer and be sure to put down a mulch. Step Two: Restore the balance of nature. The reason there are so many aphids in relation to other bugs, is that DDT has wiped out all their predators. So encourage and import predators into your garden. Ladybugs, praying mantids , ichneumon flies, lacewing flies, toads, lizards and birds all like to eat a wide variety of insects. (See page 84.) The summer diet of most birds consists of 2/3 insects, plus salad. Step Three: Outwit the insects. Here's where your ingenuity comes into action. Companionate planting is the first thing to consider. The idea is that certain smelly flowers and herbs repel insects when planted next to susceptible plants. The flowers: marigold, calendula, nasturtium, geranium and chrysanthemum. The herbs: tansy, wormwood, chives, onions, garlic, sage, savory, coriander and hemp. Yes that's right: cannabis. Any of the above plants are also useful for concocting sprays such as the onion-garlic-pepper spray I've mentioned before. Grind the leaves and add water. Strain it and you have a spray to dribble on the plants or to spray through a sprayer. Although I have a lot of aphids in the yard, there's not one on the chinese pea pod plants which are supposed to be susceptible to aphids, nor in the whole vegetable garden for that matter. The peas are right next to a row of onions

and next to that are four marigold plants. I suppose that helps. More outwitting: Hand pick and remove first generation bugs from your plants. Do this in the early morning when the insects are slow and not very alert. If the pretty white cabbage butterfly has laid her dusty grey eggs on the leaves of any of your cabbage related plants such as broccoli, cauliflower or collards, get to work fast as there are about five generations to a summer. Wipe the eggs off the leaves with a wet Kleenex, wet the leaves, and sprinkle them with ashes. If the worms have hatched and are eating, try sprinkling them with flour to dry them up. When the leaves are covered with a fine dust such as ashes or flour, the worm doesn't like the taste and the butterfly doesn't like to land there. When the cabbages have headed, a good cabbage worm repellant is sour milk. Add a little vinegar or lemon juice to fresh milk. Spoon a bit of this into the center of each cabbage. Lasts about a week. Also, birds and baby birds love cabbage worms, so help is on the way. The Mexican bean beetle looks like a brownish-yellow ladybug with black spots. It eats the bean leaves till there's nothing left but the veins. Handpick and destroy yellow egg clusters on the underside of leaves. I had these last summer but still ended up with plenty of beans. You might get leaf miner on your beet and spinach leaves. Pick off bad leaves and make sure there is free circulation of air around the plants. If you have lamb's quarter (a weed) growing in the immediate area, pull it up and cook it for dinner. It's a host to leaf miner and more delicious than spinach. Curcurbits (melons, squash and cucumbers) have related problems. The cucumber beetle is yellow with three black stripes, and is 1/5 inch long. The squash bug is brownish black, 5/8 inch long, and smells bad. Hand pick, look for eggs, wet the leaves well, and dust with a mixture of ashes and lime. The squash borer gets inside the vine and sometimes kills the plant. As the vine lengthens, root it in several places so that if the center dies, the branches will take over. If you get a corn borer in the base of the ear, run a wire in the hole to kill it. For corn earworms in the tip of the ear, drop some mineral oil in under the silks. Flea beetles are little round black beetles that eat pinholes in leaves, especially seedlings. Put out containers of old soot and lime to repel them if you have them. Hand pick tomato horn worms. They look like dragons. Don't smoke tobacco in the tomato patch and don't handle tomato plants with nicotine fingers. It could spread mosaic (something to do with nicotine). Centipedes look scarey but it turns out they're on our side. They eat slugs, and other harmful insects, plus a few earthworms, unfortunately. Sow bugs or pill bugs, those little grey things that curl into a ball when you touch them are a favorite food of toads and lizards. I can't see that they do much harm. I have them mostly in the compost where they are helpful because they live on decaying organic matter. Ants are beneficial in the compost pile and soil because they help aerate. They do however transport aphids from one plant to another. Bone meal is supposed to be an ant deterrent, and you can pour boiling water down ant hills, but I still haven't found an effective way to control ants where I don't want them. Birds are good friends to the organic gardener. If you feed them seed this winter, they'll stick around and eat their share of bug kingdom baddies next summer. We made a nice bird feeder which hangs 3 feet outside our kitchen window in a big rose tree. We nailed 2 and 1/2 inch edges around a 2 ft. by 1 ft.redwood board. It was all free scrap lumber from a lumber yard. If the feeder should attract cats, you can cat-proof your tree by nailing along piece of thin sheet metal around the trunk, or by making a wide funnel of metal around the trunk that the cat can't jump over. Finally, there is a very good organic spray available called Tri-Excel DS. It is made of the ground flowers of chrysanthemum, the ground roots of rotenone, and the ground stems of ryania, three natural insecticides. It can be used as a dust or a spray and costs $1.98 for a one pound can. See the resources section of this book for information on how to find it. It controls a wide variety of pests and is very effective and it is non-toxic to humans. I hope this list isn't too scarey, but it's better to know what you might be faced with ahead of time.

SNAILS & SLUGS We seem to be waging a never ending battle with snails and slugs. A frenchman originally brought a few to the United States in the 19th century so that he could continue to eat his beloved escargots. Merci bien pour ca, hein! The first step in controlling these little gluttons is to go on snail hunts at night in your garden area, armed with a flashlight and a coffee can. You will be amazed at the amount that live in your yard. The next best time for hunting is early morning. Some people take along a salt shaker. It works, but it's too gross for me. If you worry about the human population explosion, watch snails for a few weeks. If only they could develop a birth control pill for snails. In the spring, when you plant your garden, rake off or turn under all the winter mulch if you are plagued by snails and slugs. Clear away all brush and other snail hideaways around the edges of the garden. A ring of ashes or lime around the edges of the garden provides a helpful but not fool proof barrier. Their soft bodies are sensitive to sharp materials like sand, and to dry alkaline substances like ashes, lime and cinders. The next thing to do is to protect rows of young seedlings with a chicken wire frame covered with cheesecloth or nylon net. (See page 62.) Make a frame the length of the row, bending down the edges so that the frame sits about 4 to 6 inches high. Cover it with the cheesecloth and secure it well on all sides. We anchor ours with dirt all around. The sun and rain can come through, but nobody else can, and the seedlings can grow 2 or 3 inches without a care, by which time they are more able to fend for themselves. When you remove the frame, you can still throw a length of cheesecloth over the row at night if there's still trouble. A frame can also be fashioned from wire coat hangers bent into U-shaped arches. Slugs love beer. Even the cheapest kind. Put down jar tops full of beer at night and there will be many slugs there in the morning. Snails also congregate under boards and shingles. Check each day. Buy a pair of geese. Or find a few toads and lizards. They love snails and slugs. You can also surround individual plants with sand or ashes. I wouldn't use lime in the garden as a device because it would upset the pH balance. Or cover individual seedlings with a tin can at night until they are large enough to have more woody and less tender juicy stems and leaves. This is how I finally got my sunflowers going after the first few were demolished. If you think that letting snails gorge themselves to the point of indigestion will make them change restaurants, you're wrong. Green Thumb tried it. Snails can travel a mile in 15 days, slugs in 8. Don't underestimate the intelligence of a snail. SNAIL AND BIRDPROOF PROTECTION FOR YOUNG SEEDLINGS

1. Cut chicken wire to length of row.

2. Bend sides 4-6 inches in length. 3. Place frame over 2 rows, 1 ft. apart of seedlings. (Wider chicken wire should be used for rows that are further apart, or the frame can be used for just one row.) 4. Cut the cheese cloth 15 inches longer than the length of row and cover the frame with it. 5. Anchor the cheesecloth well on all sides with dirt to complete the frame.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

How To Be a Fruit Tramp


SPOKANE NATURAL , $5.00/YEAR P.O. Box 1276 Spokane, Washington 99210

The average American adult seems to believe that laziness rates high on the list of musts for being a (cringe) hippie. Actually, though the majority of heads shun the typical nine-to-five mind-shrinking drudge, most members of the disestablishment not only find it necessary to search out some gainful employment . . . but can really dig working. Under the right conditions. Unfortunately, the number of jobs available to young people even verging on freakiness is quite limited. Especially around Spokane. Those jobs that are open are often quite distasteful and short-lived. Since many heads like to work hard for part of the year and reap the benefits the rest of the time, the ideal job for such people would be a seasonal occupation. One that pays proportionately to the amount of labor involved. A job open to anyone capable of handling the work - freaky or not. We've found one occupation we'd like to recommend to those of you looking for this sort of deal. Last year, a couple we know decided to pick apples for the fall and were so monetarily successful and spoke so highly of the experience that this year, prompted by a fruit growing co-op's ad in the Spokane papers, we decided to try it ourselves. We ended up driving from Wenatchee up the Okanogan Valley nearly into Canada, looking for the Right Place to work. After stopping several times, we landed four miles out of Tonasket at a place next door to the farm the fruit co-op sent us to. Wildly enough, we really lucked out. Because we were a couple, the fellow who hired us decided to let us live in a small housetrailer that he and his wife use on weekends during the winter. Though we had only cold running water and an outhouse, we soon found that we were much better off than the pickers who end up in clapboard cabins, possibly woodheated, often rather grungy. Also, it turned out, our boss was an extremely nice guy, and we became quite friendly with him and his wife. I guess this is what really turned us on an awful lot about the whole apple-picking deal. You see, it was not only our boss and his wife who were friendly, but everyone we met, all around this apple area. Everyone was SUPERfriendly, nice and open with us. No standoffishness because of long hair, beards or obvious hippiness. It really freaked us out, but it was great! We finally figured that those people must see so many oddies - winos, fruit tramps, greasers - coming every year to pick, that we were nothing new. There were even a few heads, but there could be a lot more. Pickers are getting harder to find every year. This is due, in part, to the dying out of the traditional wino fruit tramp (or fruit removal engineer, as the joke claims he's called during picking season). The orchardists will hire anyone, experienced or not. And, if you like the work, you can come back next year and get preference from your boss: Better trees, higher paying apples, etc. Picking season starts about the middle of September on the southern edge of this region and begins progressively later in areas farther and farther north. The season lasts four to six weeks, depending on weather and quantity of crop. During that time, if you're working a good orchard (one that's well kept, well thinned, pruned and mostly younger trees on reasonably level land), and if you work your tail off seven days a week (most places, you set

your own schedule, within reason), you stand a chance of making $800 to $900. Maybe more, if you really hustle. Now that's optimum conditions. Facts to remember are that you'll be toting a bag - that, full, weighs about 30 lbs., strapped around your shoulders, up and down ladders to the bins - a good part of the day. It's not easy work. Also, until you catch on to the gentle - but quick - touch, or if you get bad picking (big trees, small apples), it can be pretty discouraging when you get only two bins a day. Or less. Most bins used now hold 25 bags. Bins pay from $5 to $6 on the average, depending on the type of apple. If you've got good picking (small trees, big apples), you can average 6 bins a day. Some oldtimers get 10 or 12 (don't let the old guys bum you - they'll just drink it up). The best way to find apple-picking jobs is to come over just before the season and ask around. The Farm Labor people have orange information trailers parked in nearly every town. They also have labor camps in many places where you can eat and sleep for a minimal fee. Most orchardists provide housing, though, especially if you get there early in the harvest. Even if you don't, the turn-over is fantastic (because the winos go on benders and split), so there's almost never a lack of jobs. Start looking anywhere in the Columbia Basin or the Okanagan Valley, from Yakima to Wenatchee up to Canada. And if you really like apple picking, or you find you have a talent for it, you might like to explore the possibility of other fruit-picking jobs. Arizona and California have lemons, oranges grow in California and Florida (these are wintertime best bets), and all sorts of other fruits and vegetables are begging to be harvested, too. It's hard work but the people you'll meet are fascinating, the whole area is fantastically beautiful, you'll be working outdoors among orchards of peaceful, happy trees . . . and the money you earn could keep you warm through a long, cold winter.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

You Can Drive Your Own Well

TO DRIVE A WELL you need quality equipment shown above. You'll speed up the job by first boring hole with a post-hole digger (above right). A sledgehammer can be used for driving, but a tripod and pulley arrangement (shown at top) saves arms and provides superior driving with less chance of damaging the pipe

Several new back-to-the land communes and couples have asked about low cost methods of drilling a well. Here, from the April POPULAR MECHANICS, is about the lowest cost solution to the problem that we know. It won't work for everyone, but it might for you. And, to find that vein, we've got a feature coming up on water witching. Watch for it!
1970 by POPULAR MECHANICS reprinted by special permission

MANY PEOPLE who own rural and country homes, lake cottages and even suburban homes install their own primary or secondary water-supply systems. If WITH TRIPOD ERECTED, new the soil formations permit, driving a well is a relatively easy, and possibly, one- section of pipe is added. Notice that day chore. But to avoid frustration or disappointment, it is wise to check with your two wrenches are used to prevent the state geological survey office before starting. If you submit a legal description bottom section from turning. For

(survey) of your property, it will advise you if the conditions in your area are smoother driving, coat each of the sections liberally with soap suitable for a well. Where to drive a well. It is important to locate a well away from any source of contamination such as marshy areas, cisterns, septic tanks and the like. And the well should be situated on higher ground than any of these areas. If a sewer line is present, stay at least 50 ft. away. Also, check with your utility company to make certain that you do not start your well on top of underground service lines. Before beginning construction, check your local building department. In many communities, this work requires a building permit. It is wise to use the best possible equipment. You will need a pump, a wellpoint (1 1/4-in. diameter recommended), lengths of galvanized steel riser pipe, couplings, a drive cap, and pipe-thread compound. Tools include an auger or a post-hole digger, a driving device and pipe wrenches. A hand-operated pitcher pump is sufficient for driven wells when the water lift does not exceed about 22 ft. at sea level. At 5000 feet above sea level, the limit of water lift is about 20 ft. Pitcher pumps depend upon a partial vacuum to operate; it is essential that all joints TO DRIVE PIPE, simply raise the weighted section and let it fall (left). be airtight. Pipe compound helps achieve this. Periodically, stop and use a weighted line to test for water level. When If the water lift in your the desired water level has been reached clean (purge) the pipe by surging with stick and rags, or with water pressure from hose lowered Of three basic wellpoint area is greater than the to the wellpoint tip types, one has three sets of limits mentioned, a holes; round holes or slots power-driven centrifugal in the pipe, a metal screen pump and 2-in.-dia. equipment must be used. Normally, 40 ft. is about the limit to over the pipe and a jacket which a 2-in. well can be driven with hand tools. A 2-in. well is not only more -in., drop-pipe with holes over the screen. difficult to drive than a 1 1/4-in. well but, also requires that a 1 1/4 (with turned couplings) be permanently installed inside. The second has screen inserts behind holes in the pipe. I chose the third type; Driving can be done with a heavy maul or sledge or with a tripod as shown. Since a nonclogging point of it is difficult to deliver square, solid blow, with the maul, this is not recommended continuous V-shaped slot Glancing blows may break or bend the pipe or strip the threads. Whichever method design. In addition to being of driving you decide to use, remember that the riser pipe must be kept perfectly nonclogging, its maker vertical. (U.O.P. Johnson Div., 315 The first step is to dig a hole in the ground. The hole can be made with a post-hole N. Pierce St., St. Paul, digger or hand auger. Here, again, the hole should be vertical and should be dug as Minn. 55104) claims it deeply as possible to cut down on driving distance. provides four times more open area than other points. Assemble the wellpoint, using R & D couplings and pipe-joint compound, to one or The design is available more lengths of riser pipe, depending upon the depth of the hole. Fasten a under the Red Head brand malleable-iron drive cap to the top of the riser pipe. Make certain that all joints are name through hardware as tight as possible. To avoid breakage of the pipe or splitting of the couplings it is dealers or by order from advisable to use pipe wrenches no longer than 24 in. Montgomery Ward. Insert the assembly into the hole and begin driving. Check frequently to insure that Since it is of double the pipe stays plumb and that the threaded joints remain tight during driving by galvanized steel you will giving the riser pipe a half turn with a wrench. Always turn to the right, but do not not have to worry about twist the pipe severely. Use the wrench just enough to take up any slack. When the galvanic corrosion when it driving tool will no longer strike the cap, add another length of riser pipe. is used with galvanized Pour water into the well, and alongside the drive pipe, at regular intervals. It makes steel pipe. driving easier, and tells when you have reached a water-bearing sand formation.

Which wellpoint-size opening to use is determined by the sand in which it will operate. Screen-type wellpoints use 60-gauze for coarse sand, 80-gauze for medium and 100-gauze for fine sand. With a nonclog, V-slot wellpoint, use No. 10 slot for all conditions except where the sand is so fine it is practically quicksand; in that event use a No. 6 slot. Pipe sections five to six ft. long are generally used in driven wells. Make certain you use galvanized pipe and couplings with good clean threads free of defects. Couplings should be of the reamed and drifted (R & D) variety.

When the wellpoint reaches water-bearing sand, you will notice an increase in the rate of descent of the drive pipe. It can be as much as 6 in. with each blow. When you think the point is in waterbearing sand, pour water into the pipe. If it stays in the point you guessed right. If it drains out, it's back to the driver. If the point is in clay, or other nonwater-bearing material, the water will either remain in the pipe or the drop in water level will be extremely slight. Another method used to check for water is to lower a weighted line into the pipe. When you've hit water, the wet portion of line lets you know how deep the water stands in the well; the dry portion is a measure of depth from top of well to water level. In some instances a greater length of the wellpoint can be brought into contact with water-bearing sand by raising or lowering the assembly about 1 or 2 ft. When the wellpoint is at desired depth, it must be cleaned of sand and muddy water. Cleaning also helps to properly position loose material around the outside of the point which in turn brings the well up to maximum yield ability. Use either method shown ( top of this page ) and then remove the fine sand from the well with a pump. Probably the better purging method is to jet water into the well with a garden hose inserted to the bottom of the well. The dirty water and sand will wash up and out around the hose. Repeat this flushing procedure until no more sand is obtained by pumping. Before final installation of the pump, remove all sand particles from its interior, paying particular attention to the valves and plunger. Before drinking any water, contact your state health department to see if it will test the water for you. If not, use a commercial laboratory. They are listed in the Yellow Pages under "Laboratories, Analytical" or "Laboratories, Testing."

These couplings will provide tight joints since they have more threads than conventional couplings. The additional threads help prevent the coupling from becoming loose during driving. They also have a COOL, FRESH WATER is the fruit of your labor. Before drinking, recessed design feature water should be laboratory tested which aids in preventing corrosion of the male pipe threads. The drive shown in the sketch is easiest to construct. Basically, it consists of a length of capped pipe with an inside diameter just large enough to slip over the capped riser pipe. The driver is partially filled with enough lead (lead wool can be used) so that it can be handled by one or, two men.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

getting into the tao of hair


KARY MIDDENFEARN
BROADSIDE/FREE PRESS, $4.50/YEAR

Two years ago I walked out of a barber shop, ticked off at the whole barbering trade and swearing I'd never pay a professional to cut my hair again. I was so mad at the butchering I'd just received that I planned a one-man campaign against the haircutting trade: I would learn everything there was to know about cutting hair, get really good at it, cut anybody's hair the way they wanted it cut and do it for free. I was hoping that other people would pick up on the idea and, together, we'd put the barbering and hairstyling people out of business. It was a mini-gesture of dissent against the technocratic society that insists we have to go to an expert for everything we need rather than learn to do whatever needs to be done ourselves. My roommate at that time was holding down a straight gig and had to keep his hair beaten back to a reasonable level, so I began to learn on him. My first efforts were major disasters so I went to the library to see what there was on haircutting. Most of the barbering books I found were written in 1843, but I did pick up some information: How to hold the scissors, how to aim them, what a blunt, shingle and layered cut was. Modern treatises were available for women's hair styles, but most of these were more concerned with how to use human hair as a raw material like plastic (endless information on setting, teasing, lacquering, glueing, etc.) than with giving simple advice on cutting.

P.O. Box 65

Cambridge, Mass. 02139

So I learned by doing.

I've now hacked away at men, women and children and I'm just getting into the tao of hair. This article is an attempt to lay some of the things I've learned on anyone who's interested. Hair grows out of little holes in your head: The only place it's alive is at the root, in those little holes. The stuff that waves in the breeze is made up of dead cells and anything you do to it will have no effect on the live part down below. Cutting your hair will not make it grow faster. If you have really long hair and want to cut out the split ends, go ahead. Keep in mind that you're only improving the appearance, not the "health" of the hair. Most shampoos on the market, like so much else pushed at us in the consumer society, are junk. The weavers of Northern India have hair that is never cut their entire lives. They keep their heads clean by massaging sawdust into the scalp and brushing it out. (I've never tried this. If you do, let me know how it works.) A mild castile soap will do anything that the most expensive shampoo will do. My personal preference is for tar soap, a mildly medicated product (dating back to my grandmother's time) which leaves you smelling faintly of pine forests. Books like Joseph E. Meyer's The Herbalist list many natural plants which may be used as shampoo. If you're into a rural trip, experiment with some of them. If your hair is very long and very fine you will have hassles with tangles after you wash it. These hassles will increase the longer it gets. Unless you enjoy ripping out your hair in clumps every time you comb (if you still comb it), you might want to try a cream rinse.

All cream rinses - expensive commercial ones or cheap ones you make yourself - do one useful thing and one thing only: They coat the hair with something which keeps the tangles down. Stale beer poured through your hair and rinsed out might work as well for you as the costliest bottle of glop on the shelf. Again, natural plants might be used. If you really must set your hair, remember that the only difference between the twenty-nine-cent bottle of wave set and the three-buck jar from somebody's "house" is largely in the perfumes. And stale beer works fine, too. A few words on diseases of the scalp: White flakes of dandruff are more or less natural; wash your hair more often. Dandruff that is reddish - often accompanied by itchy scalp - indicates that your head has something growing there besides hair. See a doctor. If you're a woman and your hair is falling out, see a doctor: Something is wrong. If you're a man and your hair is falling out, take a look in the mirror. If it's going at either side of your forehead and/ or the top of your head in the back, chances are you've got male pattern baldness about which you can do the following: (1) Get a wig; (2) Get hair transplants at the cost of several thousand dollars; (3) Take female hormones which, besides causing your hair to come in vigorously again, will aid you if you intend to enter the transvestites' Miss America contest; or (4) Realize that you're a male who's getting older and get behind and groove on the natural phenomena. If your hair is going in irregular patterns, there's something wrong: See a doctor. Now to cutting: In a sense the simplest, most natural and easiest thing to do about your hair is . . . nothing. Wash it when you take a shower, massage your scalp with your finger tips (not nails!) to increase the blood circulation down where the hair is still alive and, beyond that, let it alone. If this is your bag (for a year and a half it's been mine), you can stop reading. Go in peace. Stay out of Mississippi. If, however, you'd like to get into cutting your own or your friends' hair (unless you've got hair which grows naturally into an afro, you will find cutting your own maddeningly difficult), you will need two pairs of scissors: One that looks like "A" for blunt cutting and one that looks like "B" for thinning. If you pay more than six bucks for either pair, you've been taken. Four is a good price at a discount house that specializes in hair products. You will also need a comb. Any comb that is long. That's all. The "trimcomb" that was given a paragraph in the most recent Whole Earth Catalogue is no general solution to haircutting problems. If you don't know what you're doing, you can take off huge clumps of hair with it before you get it under control. It's useful for blending a finished haircut, but for little else. The most important thing about cutting hair is understanding its tao. When you build on land, you can go in with bulldozers, push down the hills, tear up the trees and throw up anything you want: Skyscraper, parking lot, mausoleum. Or you can look at the land, live on it, walk over it, then - gradually - come to understand its tao and build your building to be part of what's already there. Similarly, by thinking of hair as something akin to dynel or nylon, starting with a preconceived notion of what it should look like, you can - by cutting, setting, spraying, etc. - get hair to do anything you can dream up. I'm not down on that kind of trip as theatrics but as a way of life I find it a bit obnoxious. What interests me in all of this is the understanding that comes when you look at hair, feel it, comb it, watch it move, then - gradually - begin to cut . . . with respect. The first thing you learn is that hair is not a static sculpture. It's more like - to continue the art analogy - a mobile. Hair is meant to move. It's got to be cut that way. The best way to begin thinking your way into the hair is to cut it moving. Don't just stick your scissors in, line them up like daddy on the golf course getting ready for a putt and SNIP. Instead, start the hair moving, across the line it needs thinning. You do this by combing up under it with the comb in your left hand. As the hair fans, you move the scissors (in your right hand) into it, cutting lightly as you go. This technique is terribly hard to describe on paper, relatively easy to pick up from watching.

Another useful thing to do is have your friend (or victim, depending on how experienced you are) shake his head frequently during the hair cut. You can then see how the hair falls, naturally, when left to itself. The curlier hair is, the easier it is to cut. With intensely thick and curly hair, it's impossible to make a mistake:Your errors get lost immediately in the curls. Fine, straight hair is the most difficult to cut. The slightest hesitation of movement on your part will cause a blur in the line that will show forever. Hair wet, or very dirty or oily, does not look like hair clean. If you can get straight, thin hair to blend wet, it will look outasight clean and dry, as the additional "fluff" covers mistakes. For the same reason, always cut wet hair somewhat longer than you want it. The fluff will add body, but decrease length. The accompanying cartoon strip illustrates the most difficult hair cut I can imagine (one just like this took me about six hours): Cutting a woman's long, straight hair into a short English schoolboy cut. This style (also known as a Prince Charlie or Early Beetle) is now popular with pre-teen boys around Harvard Square and pre-teen girls in the North End of Boston. It's also a relative of the Sasoon worn by adults of both sexes a couple of years ago and cut in "salons" for too dang much money. The accompanying cartoon strip illustrates the most difficult hair cut I can imagine (one just like this took me about six hours): Cutting a woman's long, straight hair into a short English schoolboy cut. This style (also known as a Prince Charlie or Early Beetle) is now popular with pre-teen boys around Harvard Square and pre-teen girls in the North End of Boston. It's also a relative of the Sasoon worn by adults of both sexes a couple of years ago and cut in "salons" for too dang much money. It's a good cut for people who have gotten sick of hassling with long hair. There's enough still left so you look like a human being rather than a Marine recruit, but it's short enough so that all you have to do is wash it occasionally. The straight-across bangs stay out of your eyes. All of the specific techniques of cutting are illustrated in the cartoon. If you're into learning the tao of hair, study the cartoon, then go out and practice on anyone who will let you. Before I sign off here, though, I've got a few more comments I hope are of some interest. The current teenage boy hair style of eyebrow-length bangs swept to one side strikes me as about the most ridiculous thing to come down the pike since the Mohican. Not only is this style attempted by every male adolescent in the Boston area - whether or not his particular head of hair grows that way - but it is giving rise to an entire generation with a peculiar twitch of the head which comes from tossing their hair out of their eyes nine million times a day. If you haven't inherited your father's masculinity hangups, you can help keep the bangs out of your eyes by combing stale beer or waveset through them, scotch-taping them in place, letting them dry and combing them out. Of course. if you didn't wear this non-functional hair cut, you wouldn't have to worry about hair in your eyes in the first place. If you're a male who's fleeing the narks, attempting to cross the border to or from Canada or applying for a straight gig, you can disguise fairly long hair. (Not shoulder-length, but shorter fuzz tops disguise pretty easily. . The Man, in whatever guise, worries about two things: Do your ears show? Is the back of your neck clean? Dump something into your hair to hold it (try stale beer, the greasy kid stuff or wave set), comb it into a reasonable facsimile of the standard Establishment male style, part and all. Sweep the hair back to let your ears show. Put enough gunk in it to make sure it holds. Then take a razor and shave the back of your neck and around your ears. Add a suit and tie, and you've got it made. When you get back into a sympathetic environment, wash your hair, give your head a couple of shakes . . . and you're a human being again. One of the things I learned when I got into this trip is that hair doesn't come labeled "male" and "female". It's just hair. I've cut long, feathered bangs on boys and short, no-nonsense styles on girls (and vice versa). In every case, if I was doing what the individual wanted - respecting the tao of their hair and their persons - my haircuts were, for all the technical imperfections, better statements of who they were than the most proficient barbering job of

some bored scissors-wielder who learned one way that hair should be cut, period. I'm glad to do my little bit to break down all these old sick sex role distinctions: To help people see each other as human beings instead of as dead stereotypes (aggressive, short-haired, sadistic MAN vs. compliant, longhaired, masochistic WOMAN). And I'm glad to do that little bit to get rid of the specialists in the barber shops and beauty salons. It may seem like a small thing, but we don't need some expert to tell us how to wear our hair any more than we need one to tell us how to live.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

FOOD THING
MICK AND LINI You know the story: You're concerned about the chemicals and pesticides and preservatives and pollution in your food and you'd like to do something about it. Maybe even switch to a completely organic diet . . . or something. But there's so many sickly looking nuts pushing pet theories over there in the "health" camp that you're not too sure about that either. What you'd like to see is kind of a good, sensible, middle-of-the-road approach to health foods - one that both worked and tasted good, right? Well, Mick and Lini - who write ECOLOGICAL COOKERY for the L.A. FREE PRESS - may have that theory. Although I take mild exception to a couple of their blanket statements I think - in the main-they've done one of the better jobs of linking the daily ration to an overriding ecological viewpoint. See what you think as you read Mick and Lini's . . . "Food Thing". Today, every American - from the President to our greyhaired grandmother - knows the meaning of the word ecology. The national media are filled with glaring, glossy feature articles on the subject. Invariably these articles all read the same and the advice they offer is predictable: unless America changes its basic approach to Nature there are grim times in store for us all. Suggestions are offered, commissions appointed to study the matter, laws passed, law suits filed but . . . interestingly enough . . . nothing really changes. There is a very good reason for this. So far, all approaches to the problem of Man's ecological relationship to the earth have followed the traditional pattern of Western science: The microscopic classification of objects and events into tiny categories and the inability to form a conception of something without tearing it to pieces. It is precisely this type of thinking that has produced the ecological problems in the first place, and only a re-examination of our most basic approaches to Nature can rectify the crisis that confronts us today. The ecologists are - for the most part - sincere, dedicated and genuinely concerned with the biological disaster that faces Mankind. Yet they have somehow overlooked the most basic facts and have been unable to find the source of the problems that confront us. They have not realized that the environment, in the fullest sense of the word, begins inside the human body and reaches to infinity. Before we can begin to deal effectively with the problems of the world around us we must go to the source of the problem . . . ourselves. The only way to change the world is to change ourselves first. Everything, including ecology and pollution, begins and ends within us. Everything we love and despise including pollution and the proclivity for destruction - has its origin in our hearts. Air pollution is not an isolated phenomenon that has been done to us by industry. The blame for the destruction of our nation's health and natural resources rests - at least in part - with every individual. In the same manner in which we judge a person who lives in a filthy house we must judge the human race as a whole. If our lives and bodies are chaotic, polluted and ugly then we cannot help but produce an external environment of the same nature. Mankind is an organism composed of individual cells. What each cell does affects the total organism. If one cell becomes sick, physically or mentally, it affects all the surrounding cells. If two cells become ill, the organism grows sicker. If more and more cells fall victim it is an epidemic and the entire organism becomes diseased. The process works the other way too: As the quality of each individual is improved, the quality of the whole

society is improved. If you honestly want to change things in the world, then, change yourself first. Changing our biological condition can change the world from the bottom up and from the inside out and the only way to change the biological condition is to change the food we eat. This fact is so simple, so basic, that it is ignored by nearly everyone. America is deteriorating both physically and mentally for exactly this reason. Our diet today consists largely of devitalized industrial food, imported food, and food out of season and climate . . . and our society has become so sick that it may not recover. Perhaps it's time we learned to respect and honor the laws of Nature. You can begin changing yourself - and therefore the world today . . . with your next meal. You do not need to be an expert to become healthy and happy. Simply follow the laws of Nature and eat good quality, fresh, natural food and within a very short time your life will be richer. But what constitutes good food? First, try to realize that there is no bad natural food. At the same time, however, remember that Nature provides different foods in different geographical areas. There are several very good reasons for this but you'll be hard pressed to find any books that supply reliable information on the subject. SODIUM AND POTASSIUM To understand why Nature provides a differing variety of indigenous foods in different climates it is necessary for us to take a quick, simplistic look into the fascinating world of chemistry. All life processes are based upon the complementary biochemical polarity between sodium and potassium. Animal cells generally contain more sodium than potassium and the reverse is true with plants. In addition, the ratio of the two chemicals in both plants and animals varies greatly according to the climate in which they live. Tropical fruits and vegetables contain a great deal more potassium than fruits and vegetables grown in a temperate or semi-arctic climate. There is a definite natural purpose for this: potassium balances tropical heat. Conversely, the inhabitants of arctic climates eat a great deal of animal food, since the high proportion of sodium in meat produces a constriction in the body which helps counteract the cold. This simple yet all-encompassing relationship between food and climate is one of the most basic laws of Nature. Only when these laws are broken do diseases and unhappiness occur. Unfortunately, man has violated these laws almost constantly since the beginning of recorded history. While it is very much in accordance with Nature to eat meat in an arctic climate, it violates the natural order to eat meat in a temperate or tropical climate. When a person ignores this order curious changes take place in his body and his mentality is altered. He becomes narrow-minded, materialistic, aggressive and preoccupied with gold, possessions and machines that kill. This is no idle speculation or fantasy. If you doubt it simply eat nothing but meat for a month and observe what happens to your mentality. A friend tried such an experiment and at the end of three weeks he had degenerated into an animal. All he could think of was sex and violence. If this seems a bit incredible, by all means try the experiment suggested above. It is very practical and much more convincing than anything we can say. And stop to realize that the average American diet consists of 48% animal food and we are the most war-like, aggressive nation on earth. (The per-capita consumption of meat in Australia and New Zealand is much higher than in the United States yet neither country is particularly aggressive nor war-like. - JS) VEGETARIANISM One of the most highly pitched battles in nutritional theory is the conflict between the vegetarians and the advocates of eating meat. In order to develop a real understanding of what constitutes a good diet it is necessary to take a moment to survey this conflict more closely. The advocates of meat-eating insist that, in some as yet unexplained way, the human race has differentiated itself from all other animals by losing the ability to manufacture protein from the raw material it consumes. What this

means is that Man was created deficient and is incapable of performing the basic biological functions that most other animals perform with ease. On the other hand, the vegetarians maintain that quality vegetable food is superior to animal food in every way and is all that is required for health. This is correct, to an extent, but it fails to comprehend the true nature of Man. It is a mistake to assume that Man can subsist only on vegetables, fruits and nuts and still fulfill his highest potential. Although these items play an essential role in any good diet, they are not made to be eaten exclusively. When people consume only these foods they inevitably become passive and spiritually oriented. India is a classic example of this thinking carried to an extreme; it is one of the few nations on earth where a man can see God and at the same time remain oblivious to the misery of his fellow man. GRAINS It is essential for us to find a balance between the two extremes and this balance can be found in grains. If an individual makes that first all-important decision to stop eating animal food it is necessary for him to replace meat with another principal food. Grains and beans supply as much protein as meat, are more easily digested and of a much better quality. All the major civilizations of the past have used grains as their principal food, supplementing them with vegetables, nuts, beans, fruit, seeds and, occasionally, small amounts of animal products. It is in this exact proportion that foods occur in Nature and the cultures of the past followed this ratio intuitively. The Egyptian, Chinese, Hebrew, Aztec, Mayan, Inca, Japanese, Russian, Roman and Greek civilizations used grains as their principal food during the highest and most enlightened periods of their culture. Only by once again turning to grain, the true food of Man, can we attain happiness and health and develop a true comprehension of the orderly workings of Nature. As Michio Kushi, one-time professor of Oriental philosophy at Harvard, has said, "Grains are a unique product of the vegetable kingdom which combine the beginning and ending, the seed and the fruit, into one compact unity. Some say that eating grains develops an embracing view of life which includes everything because of this wholesome structure. Perhaps this is really true, for all great religions and cosmologies were born in countries which depended on grains." WHOLE FOODS It is vital for us to develop a concept of whole food. Choosing a part of any food and discarding the rest is unwise since it is not only an unsound ecological practice, but is also detrimental to health. Nature provides food in whole form and it is in this manner that it should be eaten. A classic example of the failure to comprehend Nature's workings is the milling of grain, a process which robs the cereal of much of its nutritional value. Grains are Nature's most perfectly balanced foods when eaten in whole form and they provide a complete nutritional package. The hull of all cereals, for instance, consists of six separate layers, each of which contains minerals and vitamins. The inner core is composed mostly of carbohydrates, yet one of the outer layers is designed to aid in the digestion of carbohydrates. If grain is stripped of its rich outer layers and bleached, the resulting product is a totally inferior food. The ideal should be to use foods in the same proportion in which they occur in Nature, and in the form that Nature provides. Since grains are the most abundant food, they should make up at least 50% of our daily diet. Twentyfive to 30% of our food should consist of well-cooked vegetables. The remainder can be raw vegetables, sea vegetables, beans, nuts, seeds and fruits. If animal products are desired they should only compose about 10% of the total. It is preferable to choose fish rather than meat or dairy products, since many fish - especially small fish and shellfish - contain unsaturated fats, are more easily digested and - therefore - less detrimental to health. As long as food can be stored naturally, it is good to eat. Grain will keep indefinitely without spoiling if it is kept dry and cool. Rice 4,000 years old, discovered during archeological excavations in Asia, sprouted when planted. It is natural to eat grain at any time of the year.

Most green vegetables, providing they are fresh and in season, can be eaten during the spring, summer, fall and well into the winter . . . providing they have been stored under natural conditions. Squash, pumpkin, Brussel sprouts, carrots, onions and cabbage are good winter vegetables since all that is necessary to preserve them is a cool, dry storage area. Perishable vegetable, such as sweet corn, string beans, sweet peas, beans, spinach, cucumbers, radishes, celery, cauliflower, broccoli and kale are primarily meant for spring, summer and early fall use. Dried beans and split peas, of course, can be eaten year around. Fruits that are especially suited to a temperate climate include apples, cherries, strawberries, chestnuts, plums, currants, peaches, pears, apricots, and the indigenous North American berries such as blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. You can eat any of these in season, cherries in June and apples in late summer and fall. If fruits are desired during the winter the best ones to choose are those, such as apples, which will store naturally for a very long time. Although modern transportation methods have made it possible for us to import tropical fruit and vegetables, these foods are not at all suited to a temperate climate and are usually extremely high in potassium. Certain varieties of such foods are cultivated in temperate zones but they should be avoided or at least used very sparingly. These foods include avocados, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, sweet potatoes, taro, tomatoes, yams, bananas, carob, all citrus fruits, dates, figs, guava, kumquats, mangoes, papaya, passionfruit, pineapples and pomegranates. The purpose of this article is not to frighten you or tell you that you should not eat any of the above foods which you may dearly love. It is simply to help you become aware that these foods do not occur naturally in your area and they are specifically designed by Nature to be eaten in the climate in which they do grow. If your goal is to become healthy and happy it is best to choose foods that grow in a climate similar to the one in which you live. If you eat imported foods . . . and who doesn't these days . . . it is preferable to choose those that are imported from east and west, not from north and south. This important concept was practiced by most civilizations in the past and cannot be stressed too firmly. COOKING FOOD Why do we cook our food? Cooking facilitates the transformation from plant to animal within our bodies. Chlorophyll is transmuted into hemoglobin soon after it is ingested and the heat of cooking aids in this process. Vegetarians and raw food eaters claim that cooking destroys the nutritional value of food and " kills" whatever life it may possess. This claim overlooks the fact that, once picked, food is "killed" and that our present mental and physical development is due to our ancestor's use of fire and salt to cook food. Throughout history the majority of mankind has cooked food . . . and thrived! Vegetable quality food is created by photosynthesis: the sun's intensive heat imparts energy to the food. Man uses fire to develop this energy even further: We cook our food to extend digestion beyond our bodies. ORGANIC FOODS It is good practice to eat organically grown foods whenever you can. If you cannot obtain them, use the produce that is available and - if you eat well - the effects of chemicals and sprays will be at least partly negated. There is no escape from pollution and few truly organic foods are grown today. The world is too small and we cannot avoid coming into contact with the poisons disseminated by civilization. Even penguins in Antarctica are contaminated with DDT. Ideally, one should eat organic vegetables and grains whenever possible, but you should strive to become so healthy that pollution has a minimal effect upon you. You can conduct simple tests to determine if what you eat is really organically grown: Take a small amount of food and place it in a bottle barely covered with water. Seal tightly and keep in a dark place for a month.

When you open the bottle you will be confronted with one of two distinct odors. A putrid odor indicates that the contents of the bottle is definitely not organic. If, on the other hand, there is a fermented smell it is organic. Try this experiment with the so-called organic food that is available today and you will be surprised to find that much is of very poor quality. AMERICAN NON-FOODS Man is a free being who can eat whatever he wants. He should be wise enough, however, to choose foods that contribute to his health and happiness. The following list of commonly used American foods cannot be recommended. COFFEE Coffee is a tropical bean that is not indigenous to temperate zones. It produces a highly acid condition in the body and this in turn leads to many ailments. Excessive consumption of coffee leads to nervousness, heart palpitations, headache, insomnia, digestive disorders, diarrhea and vomiting. According to the French encyclopedia Larouse Medical Illustre', Librairie Larousse, Paris, 1952, even a moderate amount of coffee (3-4 cups per day) can cause the following symptoms: perspiration, hallucinations, dizziness, shaking, convulsions, fumbling actions, loss of weight, fatigue, cramps, nightmares, prostate trouble, inflamation of the sex organs and depression. After a period of prolonged use, coffee causes anemia and produces sweating and rapid heartbeat. This leads to arteriosclerosis and cachexia (general ill health and emaciation.) Even when taken in moderate amounts it produces accelerated heart beat and excites the nervous system. Caffeine has an effect similar to tanic acid and thus has adverse effects on the intestines. It is especially dangerous for children. If you feel that you must drink coffee, why not try some of the tasty natural grain and herb coffees available in the stores that carry quality food? Not only do they taste like ordinary coffee but they are good for you. DYED TEA Since many of the dyes used are carcinogenic all teas containing them should be avoided. There is no reason for dyeing or otherwise altering the appearance of any natural food. If you are in doubt as to whether tea is dyed or not, put a clean dish towel into a freshly brewed cup of tea. After a minute, remove it. If there is a stain on the cloth the tea is dyed and should be discarded. CANNED, PRESERVED, PROCESSED FOODS Foods selected for canning are invariably of poor quality and lacking in nutritional value, tests and. aroma. Minute amounts of lead from the can may have entered the food, and - even in small amounts - lead is highly toxic. Nearly all canned products and pre-packaged foods contain preservatives and additives. They are also packed with socalled "flavor-enhancing" substances such as Monosodium Glutamate, which is a known carcinogen. In addition, many canned foods are overcooked which results in the loss of valuable vitamins. It is not within the scope of this article to delve into the dangers of chemical additives, nor is it our intention. Adequate information is already available in many fine books, the best of which is The Poisons In Your Food, by William Longgod. CHOCOLATE Chocolate is manufactured from the tropical cocoa bean. It contains theobromine which is a substance similar to caffeine. This substance forms colorless crystals that, although not as toxic as caffeine, are powerfully diurretic. This in turn produces constipation, arthritis, rheumaticism and hepatitis. Chocolate also contains an acid which leaches calcium from the digestive tract. Further, much of the chocolate available contains artificial coloring and sugar, since pure chocolate is extremely bitter. It is best to avoid chocolate completely. COLA AND DIET DRINKS

Excessive consumption of cola drinks leads to palpitation, insomnia and constipation since they contain caffeine, theobromine, tanic acid, glucose, starch and sugar. All of these substances interfere with the internal working order of the body, especially the heart and nervous system. All diet drinks are detrimental to health and should be avoided. They contain a great deal of sugar or artificial sweeteners, carbonated water and many harmful chemicals. If you pour cola on concrete it will eat a hole in the surface. If a tooth is placed into a glass of cola and left overnight it will partially dissolve. Try to imagine what such liquids do to your stomach and intestines. SUGAR There are three varieties of natural sugar: Monosaccharides which occur in honey, molasses and cane and beet sugar that has been refined.
Disaccharides which can be found in vegetables and fruits. Polysaccharides which occur in grains.

Although the body eventually breaks down all sugars into monosaccharides it is dangerous to eat monosaccharides in pure form. Of all the foods we eat, sugar is one of the most harmful. Industrial white sugar is not a whole food, but rather the extract of a tropical variety of cane or beet. All of the vitamines and minerals have been removed and the remaining pulp is 99.96% sucrose which is potentially dangerous when taken into the body. Although sugar produces a burst of energy it does so only by disrupting the metabolism. It also produces hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) and several other ailments. Almost all sweets available in the so-called "health food" stores contain brown sugar, yellow-d-sugar or Kleenraw sugar. There is an erroneous belief among health-minded people that these sugars are in some way superior to refined White sugar. In reality brown sugar is simply refined white sugar mixed with molasses to give it color. Sugar is sugar, and all brands are equally harmful. FROZEN FOOD Manufacturers claim that frozen foods are as fresh as anything from the garden, but carelessly overlook the fact that nothing in the Universe is constant and that everything changes. When food is frozen it contracts and this produces a change in the quality of the food and a loss of important nutrients. SPICES AND CHEMICAL SEASONINGS The majority of the spices used in cooking are of tropical origin and should be avoided or used sparingly. Spices that can be used in moderate quantities include cinnamon, bay leaves, ginger and thyme. Chemical seasonings and flavoring agents, such as Monosodium Glutamate are synthetic and must be avoided since they are both unnecessary and detrimental to health. MOLASSES Molasses is nothing more than the pulp that remains after sugar has been refined. It is filled with chemicals left over from the refining process. BAKING SODA Baking soda or baking powder produces a rapid reaction similar to yeast and interferes with digestion by stimulating the production of gastric acid which unnaturally shortens the period of time that food stays in the stomach. MEAT During the past few years science has gradually become aware of the direct relationship between meat eating and heart disease. Saturated fats (large molecules which are difficult for the body to break down), such as those found in animal products, gradually accumulate in the arteries and around the heart. Unsaturated fats, which occur in vegetable quality food and in some fish, are more easily digested and do not accumulate in the body to any great

extent. Meat also contains more protein than our bodies can utilize. This excess protein is stored in the muscles, which become hard and inflexible. Since we don't really chew it, meat reaches our stomach in large chunks. The stomach makes attempts to digest these chunks by secreting an overabundance of gastric acid but the meat is passed on to the large intestine largely undigested. At this point two things happen: The large intestine secretes uric acid which produces a fermentation that putrifies the entire body . . . but still leaves the meat undigested. Since minerals neutralize acid, the body is forced to draw on reserves in the bones and teeth and a mineral deficiency results. Uric acid that has become putrified produces an effect similar to caffeine, and anxiety is usually the result of eating meat over along period of time. The mentality becomes constricted and materialistic, and invariably, we become angry. In addition, putrification produced by the uric acid causes body odor. When you have stopped eating meat you will find that body odor disappears. Most meats available today are virtually saturated with antibiotics, hormones, tranquilizers, pesticides, dyes, deodorants and radiation. It is common practice for ranchers to inject the female hormone, stilbestrol, into the necks of meat and poultry animals to produce abnormal growth. The animal swells up with water and therefore weighs more at market time. Even though this drug is said to be assimilated before the animal is butchered, significant traces often remain in many meats. The law prohibits the use of food coloring and deodorants in meat but there is no way of preventing an unscrupulous butcher from using them to brighten discolored or stale meat. The majority of processed meats such as hot dogs and cold cuts - contain preservatives, stabilizers, dyes, plastic residue and other harmful substances. POULTRY Even though poultry should not be eaten for the same reasons as meat, poultry is more easily digested and is therefore preferable. Whenever possible, try to obtain wild fowl rather than chemically or even organically fed birds, since these will seldom be as heavily contaminated with chemicals and poison as domestic birds. EGGS Eggs are an animal food and while not as detrimental to health as meat and dairy products, should only be used infrequently and sparingly. Eggs cause putrification in the intestines in a manner similar to meat and sugar. This, in turn, produces constipation. According to the French encyclopedia Larousse Medical Illustre, many individuals cannot tolerate eggs. In such individuals, eggs may cause the following symptoms: Skin eruptions, nausea, vomiting, liver trouble, enteritis and kidney stones. Raw eggs should be avoided at all times since raw egg whites go through the stomach very rapidly and produce a reaction with pancreatic acid in the intestines. When raw egg whites break down they form a mild poison and this can lead to feelings of fatigue or mild intoxication. Eggs should only be used infrequently in cooking. Soft boiled or poached eggs are the least harmful. If eggs are cookedfor a long time they loose whatever value they may have. When purchasing eggs look for shiny, heavy, full eggs that make no noise when shaken. The yolk should not break and the white should form a circle around it when you crack a fresh egg gently. If the egg is light and dull it is old and should not be used. When an old egg is cracked the yolk spreads and the white is watery and thin. If you must use eggs, purchase only those laid by organically-fed hens. These birds have been fed naturally on the ground rather than stuffed with chemical laying food. The best eggs to purchase are oganically-fed, fertilized eggs since these are a whole food from the biological standpoint. DAIRY PRODUCTS Man is the only animal that continues to drink milk after it has been weaned and has developed teeth. Milk is a

good designed by Nature for infants. All arguments in favor of milk disregard this basic fact, and are indicative of a mentality which sees nothing amiss when humans suckle on a biologically inferior animal. Cow's milk is not only poor quality food, but "progress" has succeeded in making it worse. Pasteurized milk is subjected to two processes that destroy what little value it has. It is sterilized to destroy the coliform organism by heating it to 140 F. This also destroys lactobacilli, a valuable enzyme that is found in milk. Lactobacilli assist in decomposing sugars, producing lactic acid, causing growth in children, producing vitamins B1, B2, B3 and B12 and preventing food poisoning and various diseases. When preservatives are added to pasteurized milk, they destroy or paralyze lactobacilli action. Even if lactobacilli are added to the milk afterwards the preservatives kill them. Recently the Department of Agriculture conducted an experiment on calves, feeding them only pasteurized milk. The calves died within three months. Milk is highly praised by nutritionists because it contains calcium. The amount of calcium is small in comparison with other foods such as some land and sea vegetables. Milk contains 100 micrograms of calcium per hundred grams. Sea vegetables, on the other hand, contain from 2 1/2 to 14 times as much calcium as milk and are a more ecologically balanced food. Butter, yogurt and cream contain a high amount of saturated fats, as well as dyes, artificial flavoring, sugar and preservatives. Cheese generally falls into the same category with the possible exception of goat cheese made from raw milk. The saturated fats in these dairy products interfere with digestion and produce acne, exzema, obesity, heart disease, hardening of the arteries and many other ailments. If you must drink milk, it is preferable to drink raw milk purchased from a local source. Goats milk is more easily digested than cows milk. SALT All commercial table salt has been refined and baked at high temperatures in kilns. It is of very poor quality. When salt is dehydrated and purified by filtering through a soft water solution, only the sodium chloride remains. All of the other trace minerals - so vitally important to health - are lost. Use of refined salt produces a retention of water in the tissues of the body and around the joints. This inevitably leads to discomfort and disorders of the vascular system, eyes, kidneys, heart, digestive organs and skin since the forced retention defeats the purpose of natural elimination. The best salt to use in cooking is pure sea salt. Ground quarry salt should be avoided since it contains gypsum. When purchasing sea salt, avoid fancy names and labels. Try to get the grey variety which is commonly called bath salt and is sometimes labelled "Not for human consumption". Do not be disturbed by the message on the label. This is a regrettable indication of our country's mentality when a fine, natural sea salt cannot be sold without restrictive labelling. An alternative white sun-dried salt which has been dried naturally is also good. These salts contain all the trace minerals that remain after sea water has been evaporated including magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, iron - all of which are vitally important for health. Natural unrefined sea salt also helps the body produce hydrochloric acid which aids in digestion. Dry roast the unrefined salt in a frying pan over a medium high flame for at least 10 minutes, while stirring occasionally, to expell excess chlorine. Then grind the salt into a fine powder in a stone maize grinder or mortar and pestle. Use sea salt sparingly in your cooking. It will give a much better and more natural taste to your food. OIL Hydrogenated oils should be avoided since the heat of the hydrogenation process destroys the oil's nutritional value. In addition, the body is incapable of digesting hydrogenated oil. The best oil for cooking is sesame oil. It contains sesamolin, a natural anti-oxident which acts as a natural preservative. Breads baked with sesame oil keep a long time without turning rancid. Sesamolin also contains

vitamin E and F. All vegetable oils have a flash point at which they change into saturated fats. Sesame oil has the highest flash point (500) and will thus withstand very high cooking temperatures. When rendering, after the oil is removed, the sesame seeds that remain can be made into sesame butter. This is a sound ecological practice because the whole food is utilized. All other grains and seeds that are used to make oil must be discarded or fed to animals after the oil has been extracted, and this results in unbalanced, devitalized food. In its raw state sesame oil cannot be used for deep frying since it will foam when heated. It must first be heated until it begins to smoke and then cooled. It is now ready for deep frying. Corn oil should be used in deep frying only where the high cost of sesame oil prohibits its use. You can add a small amount of sesame oil to corn oil to improve the flavor. Corn germ oil is a rich, dark yellow oil used in pastries and in sauteeing. When fresh it has a delightful aroma and is delicious but it is not a satisfactory oil for deep frying. When purchasing oil, accept only unrefined oil, since the refining process removes the lecithin and vitamins from the oil. Now that we've covered some of the reasons for eating natural food, it's time to get more specific. The remainder of this article will be devoted to discussing the properties of various natural foods, listing methods for cooking them and giving a few samples of the many delicious recipes that are possible with grains and vegetables. BROWN RICE Rice is the staple food of the majority of the world's population and more arable land is devoted to its cultivation than any other crop. The cultivation of rice is older than recorded civilization. Brown rice is one of Nature's most perfect foods. Yet, paradoxically, a large percentage of the population who depend upon rice as a staple food are suffering from malnutrition. This is not due to some inherent deficiency in the rice but rather to the loss of nutrients that occur when the rice is milled. Fifteen percent of the protein, 90% of the calcium, 80% of the thiamine, 70% of the riboflavin and 68% of the niacin is lost when rice is milled. White rice consists of an undigestible pulp of carbohydrate that is lacking in protein, vitamins and minerals. For this reason, only unrefined brown rice should be used. organically grown, of course, is best. When purchasing rice, pay close attention to its appearance. It should be of the best quality available and the short grain variety. The smaller the kernel the better. The grains should be uniform in size and color and free from cracks, chips and black discolorations. There are virtually hundreds of delicious ways to cook and serve brown rice. Its hearty flavor combines well with many other foods. Not only can brown rice be served as a main dish, but it is equally good when used in soups, breads, cakes, cookies, puddings and teas. It can be boiled, baked, fried, pressure cooked, roasted, steamed and even popped. When cooking organic rice it is necessary to add more water and increase the cooking time. It should usually be pressure cooked for at least 1 1/2 hours. SWEET BROWN RICE This species of rice is quite different from ordinary brown rice, and is sometimes known as "glutinous rice". Its origins lie in the Far East where it is used as a special holiday food. The flavor is sweet and it is used mainly in desserts and baking. CORN Corn is a member of the cereal family and is a close relative of grass and bamboo. It has played a vital role in the history of the ancient American civilizations. Geographically originating in tropical America, its use spread to the entire Western Hemisphere. When the first settlers from Europe arrived they found corn in full cultivation.

The corn commonly cultivated today is much different from Indian corn and is classed as a vegetable rather than a grain. Indian corn is now called "Feed Corn" and is fed to domestic animals or used to make corn meal. When purchasing corn to grind into meal this is the variety you should obtain. Both white and yellow varieties are suitable, but the white variety has a sweeter taste. If you do not have a flour mill, purchase only a small amount of corn flour or meal and use it as soon as possible since it spoils quite rapidly. Avoid purchasing any meal or corn products that contain lime since it is very dangerous to health. WHEAT Wheat originated somewhere in Asia and was extensively cultivated by prehistoric man. Kernels of wheat have been discovered in Switzerland amidst Stone Age relics. The early cave paintings in Greece show wheat being grown. The protein content of wheat is relatively high, varying from 9 to 16%, depending on the type of wheat and the locality where it was grown. When wheat is eaten in conjunction with beans it provides a source of protein that is equal to meat and more easily digested. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture: "If the entire calorie requirements had to be supplied by one cereal, wheat alone would provide more than the minimum amount of protein needed". Of all the good food provided by Nature, wheat is one of the most superior, both in nutritional value and in taste. RYE Southwestern Asia and Russia was the original home of rye. Today this grain is cultivated in all the Northern Hemisphere and is especially prized in Scandinavia. It will grow in any soil if well supplied with water, but when planted in good soil - it will have a higher food value than wheat. Rye develops strong muscles and is considered a good blood cleanser. It is important to avoid storing rye for too long. All stored grains eventually become infested with worms and moths, but these can be easily removed by washing. In the case of rye, however, the worms produce a reaction that makes the rye poisonous. BARLEY The cultivation of barley is older than civilization itself. Its origins are lost in the dim recesses of prehistoric time, although recent investigations in the Middle East indicate that is originated in Northern Egypt and Syria. Barley represents one of the best sources of vitamins and minerals of all the cereals, and is delicious when prepared with vegetables, mixed with other grains, served in soups or made into tasty breads. OATS Oats have been grown in Northern Europe since prehistoric times. Kernels of fossilized oats were discovered among the relics of the Lake Dwellers. In modern times the cultivation of this grain has spread to all parts of the world. Oats are a good cold weather food since their fat content is very high. Their protein content is rather high also . . . oatmeal sometimes containing as much as 15% protein. BUCKWHEAT Buckwheat is a strong, vigorous species of grass that is very resistant to blight and, for this reason, it seldom is sprayed. Buckwheat will thrive in almost any soil or location. It is native of Asia, although it has been grown in Europe since the Middle Ages. While not actually a grain, it can be eaten as a principal food. Buckwheat forms the staple diet of the people of Brittany, Russie and Northern China, where the climate is cold and the winters long. This is an exceptionally good winter food since it constricts the capillaries and produces as much body heat as meat. Buckwheat should, therefore, not be eaten too frequently in warmer climates or during the summer. MILLET Millet is one of the traditional foods eaten by the people of Northern China, Greece, Manchuria, India, Russia, Germany, Austria and Italy. When prepared improperly it can be quite bland and, for this reason, it should be

toasted in a small amount of oil to bring out its natural flavor before cooking. Millet blends well with almost any vegetable or vegetable sauce, and that's where your imagination can come into play. FACTS ABOUT FLOUR Purchase only small quantities that can be used within 3 months. Flour that is kept longer than this becomes stale, tasteless and, in some cases, rancid. To improve the quality of old or moist flour, toast it over a medium-high flame in a small amount of sesame oil until it is slightly browned and fragrant. It is also good to roast freshly ground flour when you plan on using it as a thickening agent for soups or when making creams. This improves the flavor by giving it a nutty quality. When grain is ground into flour the heat of the milling process and the resulting oxidation produces an immediate loss in nutritional value. It is therefore preferable to grind your own flour and use it immediately. If you do not have the resources for grinding flour, purchase only fresh stone ground flour.

GRAIN RECIPES
BOILED RICE This is the base of many delicious dishes and is probably the most important recipe of the article. 1 cup rice 2 cups water Pinch of salt Bring ingredients to a rolling boil, lower flame and simmer 1 1/2 - 2 hours on an asbestos pad or flame tamer. Mix and serve. Variations: Add roasted sesame seeds, 1 Tbs. Tamari soy sauce or 1-2 Umeboshi plums. PRESSURE COOKED RICE 1 cup rice 1 1/2 cups water Pinch of salt Place ingredients in a pressure cooker. Let pressure come up, lower flame and cook 45 minutes. Turn off heat and let the pressure return to normal. Leave on stove 10 minutes, mix and serve. ROASTED RICE 1 cup rice 2-2 1/2 cups water (boiling) Pinch of salt 1 tsp. sesame oil Roast rice in oil until color changes and it begins to pop. Pour roasted rice and salt into boiling water. Lower flame, cover and simmer 1 1/2 hours. BAKED RICE 2 cups rice 3-4 cups boiling water 1/4 tsp. salt Roast rice in oil until color changes and it begins to pop. Put in a casserole dish with salt and boiling water. Bake about 1 hour at 350. Variations: Add roasted sesame seeds and/or Tamari soy sauce. CHICK PEAS AND RICE 2 cups rice 1/4-1/2 cup chick peas (soaked overnight)

1/4 tsp. salt 4 cups water Bring chick peas to a boil in 1 cup of water, cover and simmer 30-45 minutes. Add partially cooked chick peas and salt to rice and the remaining 3 cups of water. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer at least 1 1/2 hours. Variations: Cook chick peas and onions together. Pour cooked chick peas over rice. You can also use Aduki beans, black beans, pinto beans, lentils, etc. RICE PORRIDGE 1 cup rice 5 cups water 1 onion (slivered) 1 tsp. sesame oil Pinch of salt Saute onions until transparent. Add sauteed onions and salt to rice and water. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer at least 3 hours or overnight on an asbestos pad or flame tamer. Mix and serve. This can be garnished with roasted seeds, dry toasted sea vegetables such as Wakame or Nori or chopped roasted nuts. Variations: Try adding oat groats, barley, rye and wheat. Toast lightly before using to give them a more pleasing flavor. FRIED RICE 2 cups cooked rice 4-5 scallions (chopped) 1 onion (chopped) 2 tsp. sesame oil Deep fried cornmeal chunks (optional) Sesame seeds (roasted) Sunflower seeds (roasted) Tamari soy sauce Saute onions, scallions, seeds and cornmeal chunks, adding 1 at a time. Add rice and mix well with a wooden spoon to break up all lumps. Make sure that rice is not too moist as this causes the fried rice to become soggy. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Add Tamari soy sauce to taste. Variations: This is just a basic recipe . . . you can make a thousand and one variations by adding shrimp, oysters, crab, clams, green peppers, a scrambled egg, chopped noodles, any kind of cooked bean, fresh cooked corn, cabbage, carrots, almonds, currants, raisins, ad infinitum. Experiment with them all, but remember that the simplest recipes are usually best. DEEP FRIED RICE Using leftover rice, form into any compact shape desired. To prevent rice from sticking to your hands dip fingers into salted water, taking care not to get them too wet. Deep fry rice until it forms a golden crust. Dip into Tamari soy sauce as soon as you take it out of the oil so that it sizzles. Drain onabsorbent paper. POPPED RICE 1 1/2 cups rice 1/8 cup salt Water to cover Rinse rice, cover with water and soak 2 days. Drain in a colander, add fresh water and salt. Let soak 1 more day. Drain again. Using about 1/2 cup of rice at a time, roast in a dry pan. Shake pan continuously so that rice roasts evenly. Continue roasting until rice pops and can be chewed easily. GRAIN PATTIES There are innumerable ways to make patties and they are all very tasty. You can use different grains or

combinations of grains, add sauteed vegetables, creams, bechamel sauce, roasted seeds, cooked beans or bean puree, Okara, Tofu, etc. You not only have all these different ingredients to work with, but the texture as well. The consistency of your mixture can be anywhere from very thick (and therefore easily formed into patties) to a bit sticky, like a better and dropped into the pan with a wooden spoon. The differences in the texture make for a wide variance of taste. RICE PATTIES 2 cups cooked rice 4-6 cabbage leaves (chopped) 1 carrot (chopped) 2 scallions (chopped) Roasted sesame seeds Whole wheat pastry flour Water Tamari soy sauce Saute chopped vegetables in 1 tsp. sesame oil for 5-10 minutes. Add them to cooked rice and sesame seeds. Combine. Blend in enough flour and water to form patties that hold together. If a nice crust is desired, you can dust your patties with flour before frying. Pan fry in sesame or corn germ oil until done in the center. While still in the pan, sprinkle patties with Tamari. Remove from pan and serve plain or with any vegetable sauce, cream or puree. Variations: Add boiled barley or buckwheat to the patties and proceed as above. CREAMS If you have a flour grinder you can improve the taste of any cream tenfold. Take approximately 1 cup of any grain and roast in dry pan over a medium-high flame until the grain changes color and gives off a fragrant aroma. Then grind. If you don't have a mill use your blender. Add 4-5 cups of water to freshly ground flour and bring to a boil while stirring. Add small amount of salt. Cover and simmer at least 1 hour, preferably longer. Creams can be cooked overnight on an asbestos pad or flame tamer and will be ready to serve for breakfast. Not only do creams make a good breakfast cereal, but they are great as a sauce over grains, patties and vegetables and are ideal for babies. Variations: Try using all your different grains and changing their texture and taste by varying the grind. Barley tastes superb when it is coarsely ground instead of fine. You can add roasted sesame seeds or sunflower seeds or even sauteed vegetables, such as finely chopped onions or carrots, to any cream. CREAM PATTIES Using any leftover cream, form into patties and pan fry in sesame or corn germ oil until golden on both sides. Sprinkle with Tamari soy sauce while still in the pan. Serve plain or with a vegetable sauce. Variations: Add roasted sesame seeds and/or sauteed vegetables to your cream. BASIC CREAM RECIPE 1 cup grain 1 tsp. sesame oil 4-5 cups water Pinch of salt. Dry roast until grain changes color and begins to pop. Grind to a medium-coarse texture in a flour mill or blender. Add water and bring to a boil while stirring constantly to prevent lumping. Lower flame and cook covered for at least one hour. When buying prepared creams, saute in a little sesame oil until fragrant and then proceed as above. '

Variations: Add roasted sesame seeds, or for a different taste, add about 1 Tbs. powdered lotus root tea. Serve garnished with sesame salt. MILLET BECHAMEL CASSEROLE 1 cup millet 1 tsp. sesame oil 3 cups boiling water Pinch of salt Bechamel sauce Bread crumbs Tamari soy sauce Saute millet in oil until lightly golden and fragrant. Add to boiling salted water and simmer 30 minutes. Bechamel Sauce: 1 cup rice flour 3-4 cups water 1/8 cup sesame oil 1/4 tsp. salt Heat oil, add flour and saute. (Do not brown flour since this is a white sauce.) Let flour cool before adding water to prevent lumping. Gradually add water and bring to a boil while stirring. Lower flame and simmer 1/2 hour. Add salt towards end of cooking. (Bechamel sauce has many varied uses, all of which are delicious. You can also use whole wheat or buckwheat flour for a darker sauce and add roasted sesame seeds.) Mix cooked millet with bechamel sauce. Pour mixture into a casserole dish, sprinkle with bread crumbs or toasted oats and Tamari soy sauce. Bake at 350 until top is browned or place under the broiler. Variations: Add any sauteed vegetables or cooked chick peas and onions. BUCKWHEAT GROATS WITH ONION CREAM SAUCE 1 cup buckwheat 1 tsp. sesame oil 2 cups boiling water Pinch of salt. Roast buckwheat in 1 tsp. sesame oil over medium-high flame until it has a nut-like fragrance. Pour roasted buckwheat into boiling water and add salt. Lower flame, cover and cook 10-15 minutes. Pour onion cream sauce over the groats and serve. Onion Cream Sauce: 2-3 onions (slivered) 1/8 cup sesame oil 1 cup rice or whole wheat flour 3-4 cups water 1/4 tsp. salt Tamari soy sauce: Saute onions in hot oil until transparent. Add flour and blend. Cool. Gradually stir in water. To prevent onions from sticking to the bottom, continue stirring until mixture boils and begins to thicken. Simmer 30 minutes. Last 5 minutes of cooking time add salt and/or Tamari soy sauce to taste. Variations: Combine cooked buckwheat and onion cream sauce and place in a casserole. Top with bread crumbs or lightly roasted oat flakes and sprinkle with Tamari soy sauce. Bake at 3750 F. until the top is brown.

WAFFLES 1 cup rice flour 1 cup barley flour 1 cup oat flour 1 cup buckwheat flour 1 cup whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour 1 tsp. salt 1 Tbs. sesame or corn germ oil Water Combine flours with salt. Add, enough water to make a batter that is heavier than pancake batter but that still pours easily. Let the batter sit overnight for best results. Before cooking, add your oil and combine well. Drop onto waffle iron and cook until golden. Waffles taste great served with sesame butter, vegetable purees such as squash or carrot, cooked whole beans or puree, apple butter or apple sauce. Variations: Use any combination of flour with the exception of millet and buckwheat which do not mix well. For dessert waffles add roasted and crushed sunflower seeds, chopped roasted almonds, roasted sesame seeds and currants. Try serving topped with bechamel sauce made with half apple juice. Delicious! To make pancakes, use the same recipe but make a thinner batter. VEGETABLES Canned and frozen vegetables have little resemblance to their fresh counterparts. The main reason many people do not like vegetables is because they know only the overcooked, stale, tin-tainted, chemicalized variety which lack both taste and nutritional value. Even fresh frozen vegetables come nowhere near having the delicious flavor of really fresh produce. Unfortunately, many American cooks do not know the first thing about preparing fresh vegetables properly. Throwing a bunch of vegetables in a pot of boiling water not only renders them tasteless but it also destroys much of their nutritional value. If you like to boil some of your vegetables then be sure to add salt to the water, keep the cooking time at a minimum and use the remaining colored water for soup stock. This water contains important nutrients from the vegetables. CUTTING VEGETABLES Never peel any vegetable. Try to use the whole food whenever possible. When preparing an onion, for example, only the gritty part of the small roots needs to be discarded. Simply scrape with a knife, leaving the rest of the root intact. Peelings and roots are invariably rich in minerals and these minerals are lost and wasted if they are not used. Nature has provided us with whole, nutritionally balanced foods which we should use in totality. For cutting vegetables, a heavy, square, sharp knife is desirable. This will make the vegetables easier to cut and will prevent tearing and cutting pieces unevenly. It takes a while to learn to cut vegetables properly but once mastered, the job becomes easy and fast. To prevent the loss of finger tips and nails pull the fingernails in and rest the first knuckle above the nail against the knife while holding the vegetable. Cut straight down in an even motion . . . not back and forth. It will seem awkward at first, but once you get used to it you will be able to handle the knife safely and rapidly. It is important to remember that all vegetables that are to be cooked together should be cut in the same way. If they are not, vegetables will not cook evenly; some will be too well done and others raw. When cutting vegetables, the idea is to get a little of the top and bottom in each piece. This provides more nutritional balance. Therefore, for long root vegetables such as carrots, burdock, Daikon, etc., slice diagonally, not straight across. For other vegetables such as pumpkin, squash, turnips and onions, slice from top to bottom.

COOKING VEGETABLES Sauteeing : There are many factors that must be considered when sauteeing vegetables. For instance, when sauteeing more than 1 vegetable the order in which they are sauteed is of the greatest importance. Here are general rules to consider: 1) It is best to saute onions first, since they have a strong flavor which should blend with the other vegetables. 2) Leafy green vegetables which have a high water content should be sauteed longer to expell excess water than root vegetables. 3) Root vegetables which are fibrous, such as burdock, are harder and therefore need to be sauteed the longest. They also require slightly more oil to prevent sticking. To sautee vegetables, heat a small amount of oil (usually about 1 tsp.) in a pan. Add vegetables one at a time and gently toss so that each piece is coated with oil. This seals in the vitamins, minerals, aroma, color and flavor. Cooking chopsticks are especially good for this process since they prevent vegetables from breaking up or tearing. Each vegetable should be sauteed until it changes color before adding the next vegetable. There are two basic ways to continue cooking the vegetables once they have been sauteed. One is to gently stir vegetables for about 15 minutes over a medium-high flame until tender. The other is to cover vegetables with 1/21 cup of water, depending upon their moisture content, covering and letting them simmer for 30-40 minutes or until tender. Since salt draws the liquid and juices from the vegetables, it is desirable to add salt only towards the end of cooking, usually about 5 minutes before the vegetables are done. The same applies for adding Tamari soy sauce. DEEP FRYING This is one of the most delicious ways to prepare vegetables. Because of the amount of oil used it is advisable to eat only a small portion at a time and not too frequently. Prepare batter from flour, water and a pinch of salt. Dip vegetables into batter and deep fry until golden. BAKING There are different methods for baking vegetables and each depends upon the particular vegetable you are using. With squash or pumpkin, for example, cut into any size pieces, brush tops, sides and bottoms lightly with oil, sprinkle with salt and bake on a cookie sheet or in a baking dish. Broccoli can be left whole and placed on a lightly oiled baking dish with about 1/4 inch of water and then baked. Carrots cut in quarters lengthwise, can be baked in a similar manner.

VEGETABLE RECIPES
DEEP FRIED CARROT BALLS Carrots (finely grated) Whole wheat pastry flour Water Pinch of salt Combine grated carrots and salt with enough whole wheat pastry flour and water to be able to form into small balls. Deep fry until golden. Drain on absorbent paper. Variations: Add roasted sesame seeds or grated squash such as banana, acorn or butternut. These can also be made into small patties about the size of a half dollar, dusted with flour and pan fried. When patties are done, sprinkle with Tamari soy sauce before removing from pan and serve. STUFFED ACORN SQUASH 1 carrot (chopped fine)

1 onion (chopped fine) 5 cabbage leaves (chopped fine) 2 acorn squash (cut in half) Whole wheat pastry flour Water Bread crumbs Salt Cut squash in half, remove seeds and cut off a small portion of the bottom so that they stand up by themselves. Sprinkle with salt and place upside down on paper towel. Save the seeds. Later you can roast and eat them. Saute vegetables in 1 tsp. oil. Add enough whole wheat pastry flour and water to form a thin paste. Continue to saute. Add salt to taste. Stuff squash with vegetable mixture and sprinkle tops with bread crumbs. Brush edges and sides of squash lightly with oil. Bake at 450 for 45 minutes. Variations: Use different vegetables for a stuffing. Add roasted sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or Tamari soy sauce. Use different binders such as leftover creams, bechamel sauce, etc. CAULIFLOWER BECHAMEL 1 cauliflower Bechamel sauce (see recipe above) Steam cauliflower in about 1/2" water for 20 minutes. Pour half the bechamel in a casserole dish then add the cauliflower. Cover this with the rest of your sauce. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs and Tamari soy sauce. Bake until top is brown at 350 or place under the broiler. Variations: Add pureed banana squash or carrots to your sauce; use other vegetables such as broccoli, summer squash or Swiss chard; sprinkle top with toasted rolled oats; add roasted sesame seeds, sunflower seeds or whatever else sounds good to you. BEANS The general rule for cooking beans is to use 3-4 cups of water per cup of beans. For pressure cooking, use 2-3 times as much water as beans. In order to insure tenderness, first soak beans overnight. To speed up this soaking time, cover washed beans with water and bring to a boil. Cover, lower flame and cook about 2 minutes. Then let the beans stand for a few hours. Remember that beans are rather difficult to digest and need to be cooked for along time. To prepare the soaked beans, add them to the required amount of water and bring to a boil. Cover, lower flame and cook for 2-3 hours, depending upon the beans. During the last hour, add salt and cook uncovered so that excess liquid evaporates. If pressure cooking, lower flame and cook 1-2 hours, again depending upon the beans. Let pressure return to normal, add salt, and continue cooking uncovered until liquid evaporates. BEAN PATTIES Cooked beans Bechamel sauce (see above recipe) Whole wheat pastry flour Mix cooked whole beans with bechamel sauce and add enough flour to form a mixture that holds together. Drop about 2 Tbs. at a time onto hot oiled skillet. Pan fry on a low flame until crust is golden brown. Variations: Instead of using bechamel sauce use any leftover cream. Wheat cream is especially delicious. Lentils can also be used to advantage in this recipe. LENTILE AND BARLEY 1 cup lentils

1/2 cup barley (soaked overnight) 5-6 cups water 1 burdock (gobo) root (sliced on diagonal) 1 onion (slivered) 1 tsp. sesame oil 1/2 tsp. salt Saute vegetables in oil. Add to lentils, barley and water. Bring ingredients to a boil, lower flame and simmer, covered, until tender (1-2 hours). Towards end of cooking time add salt. Variation: Instead of using burdock, add 1/4 bay leaf and a pinch of thyme. RE-FRIED BEANS 1 cup kidney beans (soaked overnight) 4 cups water 1/4 tsp. salt 1 onion (slivered and sauteed in sesame oil) 2 tsp. sesame oil Add beans and sauteed onions to water. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer 2-3 hours until tender. Last 1/2 hour of cooking add salt and cook uncovered so excess liquid evaporates. When beans are done, puree about 3/4 of them in a Suribachi or blender. Put whole beans in oiled frying pan and saute for 5 minutes. Mix in pureed beans. Cook until crisp and dry. Variations: Cook beans with a pinch of thyme and 1/4 bay leaf, or 1 sprig of parsley. Try this recipe using different beans. SOUP There are 1001 ways to make soup. Any vegetable or combination of vegetables is a good start. You can use fresh water, soup stock or water reserved from cooking vegetables. For variety, add leftover grains such as barley, rice or millet. Cooked beans and noodles are also a welcome addition to many soups. Soup can be as clear as a broth, thin, creamy, thick or any shade between. To achieve these various consistencies try using roasted flour, leftover creams, rolled oats or natural corn flakes. You can make your soup stand out as the main dish of the meal by adding strongly flavored vegetables. BLACK BEAN SOUP 2 cups black beans (soaked overnight) 8 cups water 1 stalk celery (chopped fine) 1 onion (chopped fine) 1 1/4 Tbs. whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour 1/4 cup sesame oil 1 leek (sliced thin on diagonal) 1/4 bay leaf 1/2 tsp. salt Bring beans and water to a boil, lower flame and simmer 1 1/2 hours. Saute celery, leeks and onions in oil, add flour and blend until smooth. Add parsley and cook gently until well blended. Add beans, water and bay leaf to this mixture. Simmer until beans are tender (at least 1 1/2 hours.) Last 1/2 hour of cooking, add salt. SPLIT PEA SOUP 1 cup split peas (soaked overnight) 4 cups water Fresh peas 1 onion (slivered)

Croutons Bring water, split peas and a few handfuls of fresh peas to a boil. Lower flame and cook covered for 1-2 hours. Add salt last 1/2 hour of cooking time. Serve garnished with croutons. Variations: Saute 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped burdock root, 1 stalk celery chopped. Add split peas and water. Cook 2 hours, add salt and Tamari soy sauce. For a different texture, blend in a blender. KALE SOUP 1 bunch kale (chopped) 1 onion (chopped) 1 tsp. sesame oil 2 cups water 1/2 cup roasted cornmeal 1/4 tsp. salt Saute onions and kale in oil 10-15 minutes. Add water and salt and bring to a boil. Simmer 5-10 minutes. Dilute cornmeal with some of the water from the vegetables and add slowly to the soup. Simmer an additional 20-30 minutes. Serve with croutons or bread crumbs. FRESH CORN SOUP 3 ears corn 1-2 onions (chopped) 4 cups boiling water 1 1/2-2 cups natural corn flakes or corn meal 1/4-1/2 tsp. salt Prepare corn by scraping kernels off the cob. Saute onions in 1 tsp. sesame oil until they become transparent. Add corn kernels and continue to saute. Pour boiling water over vegetables. Simmer 20 minutes or until tender. While soup is cooking, saute corn flakes until they change color, in 1 tsp. sesame oil. Last 10 minutes add salt and corn flakes or meal to soup and continue cooking until thickened. SQUASH SOUP 1 lb. winter squash (cut into 1 inch pieces) 2 onions (chopped fine) 1 tsp. sesame oil Salt 2-3 Tbs. whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour Tamari soy sauce Saute onions and squash in oil 5-10 minutes. Add enough water to cover vegetables completely. Bring to a boil, lower flame and simmer 1-2 hours until tender. Salt to taste. Place ingredients in a blender or food mill and puree. To every 4 cups puree add 1/2 cups of water. Put puree in a pot and set aside. Saute flour in 1 tsp. sesame oil until fragrant. Cool and add 1 cup water to form a paste. Gradually add to squash puree, stirring constantly. Season with Tamari soy sauce and cook until thickened. ONION-OAT SOUP 3 onions (slivered) 1 Tbs. sesame oil 4 cups boiling water 1 cup rolled oats (toasted in 1 tsp. sesame oil) Tamari soy sauce Saute onions in oil until golden. Add boiling water and toasted oat flakes. Cover and simmer 30-40 minutes. Season with Tamari soy sauce. Saute onions in oil until golden. Add boiling water and toasted

Variations: Make a soup using other vegetables such as Chinese cabbage, leeks and carrots and thickening with rolled oats. Leftover barley made into a soup thickened with oat flakes and garnished with chopped parsley is delirious. THE ART OF MAKING BREAD Making good bread is indeed an art . . . especially when you don't use yeast, sugar or bleached white flour. These ingredients make a large, puffy white loaf of bread, but are unnecessary and detrimental to health. All grains possess natural leavening agents which only require a little skill and knowledge to use. Bread made with yeast, sugar and bleached flour may have an attractive appearance but is seriously lacking in nutritional value. Yeast - being sugar based - and sugar itself, is definitely harmful. Bleached or unbleached white flour is totally lacking in vitamins and minerals. It is made from the endosperm of the wheat and consists mainly of undigestible carbohydrates. The bran, or outer layer of the kernel, is removed and used in cereal products or fed to animals. The wheat germ is also removed and falsely pandered as a "health food". A food should not be eaten unless it is good food. White flour, whether bleached or unbleached, is purely a devitalized non-food with no nutritional value. Wheat is specifically designed by Nature to be a whole nutritional package. Makers of white bread offer no explanation for their use of white flour other than their claim that the bread is more "aesthetically pleasing". They readily admit that the milling process robs the flour of most of its nutritional value. They claim, however, that this has been rectified by adding synthetic vitamins and minerals and would have us believe that this adulteration is as good as anything direct from Nature. Many nutritional experts recommend using only whole wheat flour. This is well meant, but if yeast is still used the problem will be compounded. Recent studies have shown that during yeasting action most of the vitamin K in whole wheat flour is absorbed by the yeast. This produces a radical change in the chemical composition of the wheat and the pH factor drops to the incredibly acid figure of 1.6. The result is anemia and an overall dyspeptic condition, which manifests itself in heartburn, stomach pains and - in extreme cases - ulcers and stomach cancer. This occurs because the phylic acid in the yeasted whole wheat combines with calcium to produce an insoluble and indigestible calcium phylate salt, which in turn brings about decalcification of the entire organism. Remember now, we're discussing whole wheat breads made with yeast, not to naturally fermented breads or breads using natural starters. Although bread fermented naturally is more acid than yeasted bread, it is more easily digested. FLOURS There are many varieties of flour from which to choose: Whole wheat flour. . . One of the few flours that can be used by itself although it combines well with all other flours. Buckwheat flour . . . Delicious but heavy and, therefore, only a small amount should be used in combination with other flours. Rye flour . . . Too heavy to be used alone and should be combined with whole wheat flour. Rice flour . . . Sweet and tasty. Generally used in combination with whole wheat flour to give a smooth texture. Corn flour . . . Very light. It can be used by itself to make corn bread or combined with whole wheat or rice flour. For variation, rolled oats, cooked cracked wheat or any whole or cracked grain can be added to the dough. If you do this you will find it necessary to use less water. The possibilities for combinations are innumerable, but it is best to use whole wheat flour as the base for all breads and work from there. Combinations that we've found to be particularly good are barley, oat and wheat flour, and wheat, corn and rice flour. The important thing is for you to develop your own skill at baking bread and discover your own combinations. KNEADING The most important technique in making good bread is kneading. If this is done properly . . . and for a long

enough time . . . your loaf of bread will rise by itself without the use of yeast. After you decide on the combination of flours you are going to use, the next step is to make the dough. For a small loaf of bread, 2-3 cups of flour is usually sufficient. Since all flours are different, it is nearly impossible to give an exact recipe; you will have to use your own judgment. Just be sure that you add water a little at a time, and mix it in with your hands before adding any more. This will prevent the dough from becoming too thin. When the dough has the consistency of an ear-lobe, stays together, and no longer sticks to the sides of the bowl, it is ready for kneading. Generally, a quarter teaspoon of salt per cup of flour is about right, but again, this varies according to the needs of the individual. For best results, mix salt with the flour before adding water. Now you're ready for the most strenuous, yet most important part of making bread . . . kneading. If you get tired easily and need to stop occasionally, try kneading the dough at least 300 times, but it is best to knead vigorously for 10 minutes. A good procedure follows: Flour your hands and board lightly. Flatten the dough on the board. Pick up the edge of the dough which is farthest away and fold it toward you. Then press down 2 or 3 times with the heels of your hands, pushing the dough away. Turn the dough a quarter turn, fold it, press, and push again. Dough should become satiny, smooth and elastic. Remember . ..this is the most important part of bread making because it stimulates the formation of gluten, which brings about the natural yeasting action of the flour. Place dough in a pan, cover with damp cloth and let it rise overnight. In the morning knead dough 100 more times. Shape into loaves and place gently in lightly oiled pan. It's a good idea to heat the pans on top of the stove so that the oil will spread easily. Do not pack the dough down. Cover with a damp cloth and let dough stand for at least another hour, preferably longer. Slit loaves down the middle. For a nice crust, lightly brush the tops of the loaves with oil or an egg yolk. Do not preheat oven. If you do, the bread will burn on the outside before getting done on the inside. Bake at 425 degrees for about an hour. Test by inserting a toothpick into the middle of the loaf. If it comes out dry, the bread is done. Remove loaves from pans immediately and let them cool, that is, if you can wait long enough before digging in! If you've kneaded properly you will now have the chewiest, most flavorful, most nutritious bread you've ever eaten. This bread will not dissolve instantly in your mouth like store-bought yeasted bread. In fact, it must be chewed to bring out its finest flavor! The longer you chew it the sweeter it becomes. Keep the bread in a cool place. If it gets moldy just pop it in a toaster or under the broiler and the original flavor will return. Once you master the basic techniques of making real bread you will begin to see that the possibilities for variations are endless. UNYEASTED BREAD (Makes 2 large loaves) 5 Ibs. whole wheat flour 6'/z cups water 2 Tbs. salt Prepare as explained above. Variations: A) 3 Ibs. whole wheat flour. 1 lb. rice flour 1 lb. millet flour B) 3 Ibs. whole wheat flour 1 lb. rice flour 1 lb. oat flour

C) 3 lbs. whole wheat flour 1 Ib. rye flour 1 lb. oat flour BATTER BREAD (Makes 2 small loaves) 6 cups whole wheat flour 4 Tbs. sesame oil 1/2 tsp. salt 3 cups water Combine salt and flour. Thoroughly blend in oil with your hands. Let the flour and oil slip through your fingers until there are no lumps. Gradually add water, folding in small amounts at a time. Do not stir or turn over. When batter no longer sticks to the sides, tip bowl and roll into oiled bread pans. Smooth tops of each loaf with a wet spatula or knife, then slit down the center. Brush tops lightly with oil and bake 2 hours or until done at 350. Do not preheat oven. DESSERT BREAD 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cups cornmeal 1 1/2 cups buckwheat flour 1 1/2 cups chestnut flour 5 Tbs. corn germ oil 1 1/2 tsp. salt 3-4 Tbs. currants 3-4 Tbs. chopped roasted almonds 1/4 tsp. cinnamon Water Combine flour, salt and cinnamon. Blend in oil thoroughly. Add currants and enough water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Proceed as for plain bread. Knead and let rise twice. CROUTONS Cut whole grain bread into small squares. The drier your bread is, the better. Deep fry until crisp and golden. Serve as a garnish in soups or on salads. PUMPKIN MUFFINS 2 cups whole wheat or whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 tsp. salt 2 1/2 cups water (approximate) Pumpkin puree Combine dry ingredients. Slowly add water and blend. It should be like a cake dough, quite thin. Oil muffin tins or use baking cups and half fill with dough. Add 1 or 2 spoonfuls of puree and top off with more dough. Bake in a 350 oven for about 45 minutes. Serve hot or cold. They taste great in the morning when heated for a few minutes under the broiler. Variations: Sprinkle tops with sesame seeds. Use any of the numerous fillings such as chick pea puree, aduki bean puree, carrot puree, any fruit in season or apple sauce. ONION ROLLS 4 cups onions (slivered) 3 cups whole wheat flour 1 tsp. sesame oil 1 cup corn flour 1 cup rice flour 1 cup buckwheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt 1/4 cup corn germ oil 2 1/2 cups water (approximate) Saute onions in oil until transparent. Combine sauteed onions, flour and salt. Thoroughly blend in oil. Add water slowly with one hand while blending with the other. Knead well until dough is elastic and shiny. Lightly flour board and roll out dough very thin. Cut out large rounds of dough and roll from end to end. For a glossy finish, brush tops with beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. DESSERTS It is unnecessary to use sugar, honey or any other sweetener when making desserts. All fruits and many vegetables, such as onions, carrots and squash, are very sweet when prepared properly. The following recipes are just a few examples of the many delicious desserts that are possible with natural foods. PIES Soft, flaky pie crust is really quite easy to make when you remember these simple points: 1) Never knead your dough for a long period of time. The less you handle the dough the better. 2) When combining oil with flour and salt, work it in quickly with the tips of your fingers. 3) The more oil you use in the crust, the flakier it will be. Be careful not to use too much. 4) Your dough should be soft and flaky. 5) After laying bottom crust in pie plate, prick tiny holes with a fork to let steam through. 6) Slit top crust to allow steam to escape. 7) For a professional glaze, brush top crust lightly with a beaten egg yolk mixed with a little water. PIE CRUST 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/3 cup corn germ oil 3/4 cup water (approximate) Combine flour and salt. Add corn germ oil and work in quickly with the tips of your fingers. Add water gradually and blend into mixture until it forms a soft dough of earlobe consistency. Roll out thin and line pie plate. After filling, preheat oven to 375 and bake 40 minutes or until crust is golden. Variations: A) Add 1/4 tsp. cinnamon and 2 tsp. grated orange rind. B) Substitute sesame butter or Tahini for oil to give crust a nutty taste. C) Roast almonds, chop very fine and add to dough. D) Use whole wheat flour instead of whole wheat pastry flour. E) 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour. 1 cup buckwheat flour 1 Tbs. sesame oil Pinch of salt Water to form dough CHERRY PIE 4 lbs. fresh cherries (pitted) 1 tsp. salt 4 Tbs. arrowroot or corn starch Pie dough Pit 4 lbs. of cherries. Cook in a covered pot with 1 tsp. salt for 1 hour. Dilute starch in a small amount of water and add to the cooked cherries. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens. Pour in pie crust and cover with criss-cross strips of crust. Brush lightly with beaten egg yolk. Preheat oven. Bake 40 minutes at 375. APPLE CUSTARD PIE

Crust: Pie dough 2 small red apples (cored and sliced, but not peeled) 2 tsp. corn germ oil Slice apples and saute in oil until golden. Let cool. Line bottom of pie crust with sauteed apple slices and sprinkle with salt. Set aside. Custard filling: 1/4 cup rice flour 2 cups water Pinch of salt 1 tsp. corn germ oil Vanilla bean 2 eggs Combine flour and salt, Add water and vanilla bean. Bring ingredients to a boil while stirring. Remove vanilla bean and let cool. Add beaten eggs. Mix vigorously. Add oil and blend thoroughly. Pour custard over apple slices. Preheat oven and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes until crust is golden. Variations: Add roasted almonds, currants and/or grated orange or lemon rind. Use half apple juice and half water. BREAD PUDDING Stale bread Currants Roasted almonds or other nuts Grated orange rind Pinch of cinnamon Cut bread into 1 inch cubes. Soak in boiling water to cover about 1 hour. Mash with a fork. Add remaining ingredients and enough whole wheat or rice flour to make a thick batter. Pour into oiled baking pan and bake at 350 until surface is golden (about 1 hour). This can also be steamed for about 2 hours. Variations: Mix sauteed onions, chopped parsley, diluted Miso soy bean paste or other vegetables with soaked bread and flour. Bake as above. Can be eaten hot or cold, with or without a sauce. You can also cut into slices and pan fry. BUCKWHEAT COOKIES 1 1/4 cups buckwheat groats (roasted) 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (partially cooked) 1 cup sweet rice flour 1/4 cup corn germ oil Roasted sunflower seeds Roasted sesame seeds 1 tsp. salt 2-2 1/2 cups water Bring 1-1 1/2 cups of water to a boil. Add rolled oats and cook 1-2 minutes. Combine dry ingredients and add partially cooked oats. Blend in oil thoroughly. Gradually add water to form a fairly thin batter that holds together. Spoon onto oiled cookie sheets. If the batter separates, thicken it with sweet rice flour. Bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. OATMEAL COOKIES 2 cups whole wheat flour (sifted) 1 1/2 cups rolled oats (roasted) 1/2 cup rice flour 1 1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 cup sesame seeds (roasted) Small handful of almonds (roasted and chopped) Currants 1/4 cup corn germ oil 2-2 1/2 cups water Add ingredients, one at a time, in the above order. Mix well. Dough should be thin but it should not separate when placed on the cookie sheet. Spoon batter onto an oiled cookie sheet and bake at 375 for 30-40 minutes. These taste great even a week later when heated up under the broiler! Variations: Try adding roasted sunflower seeds, chopped apples, different kinds of roasted nuts or sesame butter. Vary the combination of flour. For instance, use 2 cups rolled oats and 2 cups chestnut flour. STRAWBERRY TEMPURA Wash fresh strawberries. Sprinkle with salt and dust with whole wheat or rice flour. Make tempura batter from flour and water to form a thin paste. Dip strawberries into batter and deep fry until golden. Drain on absorbent paper and serve. APPLE STRUDEL Filling: 3 apples Salt Chopped almonds Grated orange or lemon peel Pinch of cinnamon (optional) Crust: 2 cups whole wheat flour 1/3 cup corn germ oil 3/4 cup water (approximate) 1/2 tsp. salt Wash, core and slice apples. Do not peel. To make strudel easier to roll, it's a good idea to cut apple slices in half. Combine dry ingredients for crust and then work in oil thoroughly. Add water slowly and blend in with your fingertips. Roll out on a pastry cloth. Place a layer of apples on the dough and sprinkle with salt, almonds, grated orange or lemon rind and a pinch of cinnamon. Roll strudel and seal edges. ake a slit on the top to let the steam escape and brush lightly with oil or 1 beaten egg yolk for a nice crust. Bake 40 minutes at 425. BREAD AND APPLE SAUCE LAYER CAKE Whole grain bread Fresh apple sauce Cut whole grain bread into bite size pieces. Put a layer of apple sauce in a flat baking dish and then a layer of bread. Repeat and top with a layer of apple sauce. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with chopped roasted nuts and serve hot. Variations: Sprinkle with cinnamon topping or cookie crumbs and bake. BEVERAGES There are many delicious natural teas, but of all the varieties, we find that we enjoy grain tea the most. BARLEY TEA Roast 1 Tbs. barley in a dry pan until it turns dark brown. Shake the pan constantly so the barley will roll and roast evenly. Add roasted barley and a pinch of salt to 4 cups hot water. Bring to a rolling boil, cover and simmer 1 hour. Strain and serve. Reserve barley and store in the refrigerator. You can use it in soups, breads, tempura

batter or casseroles. Hint: If the tea is weak it's because you didn't roast the barley long enough. Remember, it must be very dark before you use it. Variations: All of the grains make good teas. Try them all. As you can see, the varieties and possibilities for natural recipes with good quality, fresh, natural food are nearly endless. A superior cook can make even the simplest meal of brown rice and vegetables into a work of art. Please use these recipes as a base for learning and experimenting, and go on from here to invent many new and delicious dishes of your own. The joys of natural cooking and health are infinite!

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

DON DYSON:

Rambling Painter
by BRIAN N. MARI
Reprinted with permission of MOTORHOME LIFE

A studio motorhome started its travels from Selby, North Dakota, with artist Don Dyson, a landscape painter, at the wheel. Mrs. Dyson and seven children, ranging in age from 9 to 17, accompanied him, in the converted Oneida bus. The 66-passenger bus was purchased in Superior, Wisconsin, and remodeled by the Dysons. Don needed changes of scenes for his work; the rest of the family was delighted to go along. As a roving artist, Don soon found sales coming from fellow travelers on the road. Neighbors in overnight campgrounds or at scenic highway pullouts invariably seemed to be attracted by the sight of a painter at work. When they discovered they could buy an original showing the view where they had stayed or stopped, many ordered a painting on the spot. Don works at top speed, can turn out a 2x4-foot panel in 30 minutes or less. While his customer watches, or takes time out for a cup of coffee, Don can have. a land - or seascape ready for framing. He can also create a mural in any blank space in a customer's RecV.* When the Dysons pulled up their North Dakota stakes, they had no idea that business would develop among RecV enthusiasts like themselves. They found that most areas required no city or county licenses for this type of enterprise, thus the only expense was cost of materials. Today Don works any hours he chooses, never has to dress up to impress his prospects. Anyone who wants a painting makes up has mind quickly since both he and the artist are on the move. Don's prices reflect his low overhead and most potential customers jump at this unique opportunity to own an "original Dyson." Fifteen years of RecV experience in other types of rigs gave the Dyson family a working background for becoming full time motorhomers. Mrs. Dyson mastered both living in and driving the 12-ton, 10-shift bus. When this "studio" moves to a new location, the kids enjoy changing schools. However, they have more fun during vacation periods when there are no restrictions on the Dysons' roaming instincts. Special expenses relating to the motorhome have proved surprisingly low. Insurance premiums have been comparable to average car coverage while the license for a North Dakota "housecar" is only $19.70 a year. Don works on the theory of preventive maintenance through regular servicing and this has kept repairs to a minimum. As far as 53-year old Don Dyson is concerned, there are emphatically no drawbacks to being an itinerant painter if you have a motorhome for a studio and room to take the family along.
* RecV = Recreational Value

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

NEW MEXICO
Rebecca Cecily St. John from ATHANESIA by way of Helix

We don't have magic wands in New Mexico. If we could make it all beautiful, we would start with what we have. We would give the land peace and give the land water. The snow pack in the mountains here this year is bad news. It is from 35 percent to 38 percent below average. Even in a normal year, this is one of the driest states in the country. Water will be short this summer. There will be only enough for the people here and for the towns and farms we already have. The Navy says it takes a minimum of seven gallons of water per day to sustain a man. In New Mexico, labor camps by law must allow 35 gallons per man, per day for survival. It takes more water here to survive. This year, there will be barely enough. With a dry summer, the government - which owns about 75 percent of the land here - closes the forest because of fire hazard. Even in wet years, there is a fourteen day camping limit for everyone. During the dry years when the fire hazard is high, no camping is allowed. Some years all but the paved roads on government lands are closed. That happened in '67. This means camping will be limited, which is a hangup because it's hard to find a place to live, and there's nothing available for rent. Most places are full, and the ones that aren't rented are $125 and up a month. There's no place to crash. The communes have mostly closed their doors, and the rest of the heads won't take anyone but friends. If you're coming, at least don't be like the teeny boppers and the trippers that came before. Be able to take care of yourself so you won't put the locals up by being stupid. The nights are cold, even in the summer. Bring heavy work clothes, a warm sleeping bag, and some heavy work boots or shoes. Bring staples like rice and other food that won't spoil. The markets are limited. Bring implements like a shovel and axe so you can help yourself when you have trouble. You can use the shovel to dig latrines. Bring a tent or a canvas tarp for shelter when you can't find a place to sleep or live. Bring halizone tablets to purify the water so you won't get sick, and bring your own eating and cooking utensils. Bring bread. There aren't any jobs. There's not much bread. Almost everyone trades for what he wants. Bring a kerosene-type stove. If the fire hazard is bad, no one is going to let you light a fire. Before you come (if you come), learn about the locals. There are three cultures here and you are not in the majority. Here, you're in the minority like every other Anglo. The Spanish Americans value respect and dignity. They are insulted by newcomers, especially heads, making remarks and not understanding the way things are. Mother, church, home and family are the important things, and you should never insult them. Most important, they are Spanish Americans, not Mexicans. Don't call them Mexicans, because they aren't. If you are trying to buy land, you should be cool about it with the Spanish-Americans. They are poor people and they resent someone waving around a lot of bread. And remember, there's not much land left here to buy. The Indians are another piece. Just because you have beads and feathers they are not inclined to accept you as their long lost brothers and sisters. It's very insulting to the Indians to see hips dressed like Indians. Don't steal other peoples' customs. It's ridiculous and maudlin to them.

The basis of the entire Indian culture is tradition. Change comes slowly if at all. Remember, you've come to learn something - not to teach - and you learn on their time, at their speed. Don't trespass on Indian land, and don't visit sacred Indian shrines unless you are invited by a sober Indian. The Anglos here are all new people, even the straight. We all got here last, but the straights have most of the bread and a lot of them won't serve hips in their restaurants and won't sell to the hips. The communes are almost all closed to newcomers. They are overcrowded and most places don't welcome new people. There is a 1-day visit limitation currently in effect. They have been burned. Most of them came here to do something, and it's hard to work around people trying to crash. If you want to do something, do it yourself. Don't shoulder in on someone else's thing. You can do the same thing they've done in Montana, Utah, Nevada and other places on your own. If you have an infectious disease, don't come. There are two hospitals to serve a county as big as L.A. county, and they are understaffed and they don't have any money. A lot of doctors turn hips away. People out here don't have much bread. Even the doctors, who treat a lot of the Spanish-Americans free. Don't burn people. If you don't have the money, don't take their goods. Be cool in everything, everywhere.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

How To Get Plans for a 30 foot Dome


Reprinted courtesy of Popular Science Monthly 1966, by Popular Science Publishing Co., Inc.

Can't wait until spring warms up enough for you to break out the swimming pool? Reluctant to close it in the fall when the air starts getting chilly? Here's a perfect solution: a plastic-covered sun dome over your pool. It's the cheapest, simplest way to extend your summer activities. You'll be able to swim nine months of the year in most locations; all year, with extra heat. And you can build one like the big one above for as little as $60. On a sunny day, the temperature inside the dome is 20 to 30 degrees warmer than outside. And the heat's free; it comes from trapped solar heat, the same way as in a greenhouse. With 'a pool, the water will absorb heat from the sun during the day and give it off at night. This keeps it 10 to 15 degrees warmer inside the dome for swims at night and on cloudy days. A pool- or space-heater makes it still warmer. But the benefits of an expanded summer aren't limited to pools. With a sun dome, you can start your outdoor barbecues earlier and continue them later in the season. As a greenhouse, it lets you grow colorful flowers the year round, or start tomato and other plants early. It's a fine outdoor winter playroom for the kids: There's room for a Ping-Pong table, picnic table, chairs. Cover the dome with screening and it's a screenhouse. Put this over your pool, or over your picnic table and charcoal grill, and the delights of a summer's evening outdoors won't be spoiled by mosquitoes and other things that fly in the night. The principle that gives this dome (it's called a geodesic dome) its remarkable strength was discovered by Buckminster Fuller. It's a patented design of interlocking tetrahedrons and icosahedrons that distributes forces evenly throughout the entire framework so that tension and compression forces are balanced. You could say that

mathematics holds it up. That's why you can build it with slim sticks and plastic film.

The domes you see here were built by Ernest Muehlmatt of Xledia, Pa. They're made of 1/2"-by-3/4' strips of clear pine formed into triangles and covered with polyethylene film. There are only two sizes of triangles and everything is put together with a stapling gun. No nails or screws are used except on the door frame and hinges. You can build it in a weekend, and you can take it down in just a few hours for storage. First one: a greenhouse. Muehlmatt, a professional florist, built his first dome as a greenhouse. It is 16 1/2" in diameter. Excited by its possibilities, the editors of POPULAR SCIENCE asked him to build one big enough to go over a large swimming pool. We sent him one of the new Doughboy Silverline vinyl pools with interlocking steel framework. It is 18' in diameter and 4' deep. He made the dome big enough to give room to walk around the sides of the pool. It's 25' across and 8'9" high. But it can be made even larger rising the same techniques. Polyethylene is the cheapest material to use for covering the dome. It costs less than one cent a square foot in fourmil thickness. Vinyl the same thickness costs nearly five cents. Vinyl has more strength and clarity, and lasts several seasons outdoors. Polyethylene lasts only about one season when exposed to the sun. But since re-covering is fast and easy, you can keep costs down by using polyethylene film and re-covering the dome when necessary. For a screenhouse, you use fiberglass screening. The cost: about seven cents a square foot. Using four-mil polyethylene, Muehlmatt spent about $30 for materials for the smaller dome, and about $60 for the larger one. The sun dome will leak some along the joints of the triangles during rain. This is not important if the dome covers a swimming pool. But it can be made waterproof by putting polyethylene tape on the outside of the joints. Waterproof joints can also be made by putting thin strips of foam rubber between each joint as the dome is assembled. Another way is to caulk the joints. It's an easy job to repair sections of the plastic that have been damaged or torn. Using a screwdriver, you pop out the staples that hold the damaged panel in place, and take it down for repairs or re-covering. Polyethylene tape can be put over minor splits in the plastic film. When hot weather comes, you'll want to take the dome off the pool. Three men can lift it and set it aside until you're ready to use it again. Or one man can easily take it apart and store it. You just pull out the staples that hold the sections together. Another idea: When hot weather comes and you don't want the pool covered, convert the dome into a screenhouse. Just replace a dozen or so of the plastic-covered panels with screen-covered ones. How to get plans. Since Fuller has a patent (No. 2,682,235) on the design, he gets royalties on every geodesic dome built. But POPULAR SCIENCE makes it easy for you. Send a check or money order for $5, as described on a previous page. You'll get plans and step-by-step instructions on how to build the dome shown here. And you get a license from Fuller to build one. The royalty fee is included in the cost of the plans. You get a choice of sizes (16 1/2' , 25', and 30' diameter), and information about how to put up your dome, repair it, and take it down for storage.
For $5 you can get complete plans, building instructions, and a license from R.

HOW TO GET Buckminster Fuller, the patent holder, to construct one dome. Send your $5 (check or YOUR SUN-DOME money order) to Sun Dome, POPULAR SCIENCE, 355 Lexington Ave., New York, PLANS N. Y. 10017. Print your name and address. Plans cover all three dome sizes: 16 1/2',
25', or 30' diameter.

As a lot of would-be dome builders have found, it's more than somewhat difficult to get a handle on the mathematics of geodesic

design . . . and the companies selling the prefabbed bubbles ain't talkin' . What we'd all like to see, of course, is an easy-to-understand set of plans (with chord lengths and angles figured) for about a 30-foot dome. Well, be of good cheer. Such plans are available. We can't print 'em but we can tell you where to get 'em: POPULAR SCIENCE. And we CAN reprint the article that introduced the plans. Note that the construction called out here is wood strips and polyethelene. Don't let that put you off. Once you get the plans, you can substitute plywood, car tops or any suitable material of your choice. Entryway is made by leaving the plastic covering off one of the triangular panels, or by covering the section and hinging it to the dome on one edge. Stapling together stapled triangles, stapled above. gun puts everything fast. Plastic film is to the wood-strip and the triangles are together as shown

ABOUT FULLER AND HIS DOMES Silver-haired, 70-year-old R. Buckminster Fuller keeps his home base at Carbondale, III, where he is a professor at Southern Illinois University and lives in a plywood geodesic dome. But most of the time he is jetting about the world explaining his new design science to eager audiences. Fuller's geodesic dome has brought him fame and fortune, but it's only one of his many inventions. One of his systems makes what he calls "tensegrity" structures. It uses discontinuous compression and continuous tension. The compression struts do not touch one another, but are held apart by a network of tension cables. It's like having a brick building in which the bricks (compression members) do not touch, but are held apart by tension members in such a manner that a stress exerted on the building is immediately distributed throughout the entire structure.

Solar heat is trapped the same way as in a greenhouse. On sunny days, the temperature inside the dome is 20 to 30 degrees warmer than outside. On cloudy days and at night, the water gives off heat.

Smaller dome (above) is used as a greenhouse. Hinged panels make the doorway and the vents. The dome has weathered two seasons of windstorms and heavy snows without damage. It is shown at left with 8" of snow on top. The total load was estimated at over 1,000 pounds.

Another system, which he calls "aspension," uses the principle of the catenary cables of a suspension bridge to produce an upward-arched dome. These strange structures had their beginning way back in 1917 when Fuller began working out a completely new branch of mathematics which he calls "energeticsynergetic" geometry. Although radical, his mathematics, when applied to structures such as the geodesic dome, is unquestionably practical. His dome is recognized by many experts as the strongest, lightest, and most efficient means

of enclosing space yet devised by man. Thousands of Fuller's domes have been built, from one of 36' diameter made entirely of paperboard to a 384'diameter giant made of alumimum. Now several companies make prefabricated domes under license. The U. S. Marine Corps uses geodesic-dome shelters that can be carried to the front line by helicopter, and the U.S. Weather Bureau uses a plastic dome to house instruments atop Mount Washington where 200-m.p.h. winds buffet it. Fuller has even proposed to control the climate in mid-Manhattan by putting a two-mile-diameter dome across the island. The bigger the domes, he says, the stronger they are.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

FOREST FIRE LOOKOUT


G. SCOTT
WIN , $5.00/YEAR, 339 Lafayette St., N.Y., N.Y. 10012

Although the back-to-the-land movement means getting away from people and moving in with trees and grass, many potential nature lovers are terrorized by thoughts of the loneliness and isolation which may be experienced. It's a real love-hate relationship. We love nature, but we feel secure in the crowds of the big cities. Communes are an answer. But if members of a commune are afraid to be alone, I feel this may break up the very commune they want to form. May I suggest, as one solution to facing yourself alone, the job of forest fire lookout. True, you will be trapped on a mountain with primitive facilities, but you will also know that your time there is limited, and that you are in constant radio communication with other lookouts. You will also be living in the woods during the most pleasant part of the year and you will make a substantial sum of money because you can't spend any while you're there! Here's how you make it happen: Write the U.S. Forest Service, Washington, D.C. and request a list of all forests which need lookouts. The west coast has the largest need and the office for all west coast forests is in Portland, Oregon. I don't know the exact address but a letter should get to the proper place if you write U.S. Forest Service, Portland, Oregon. After you get your list of forests, write to each one and request the name of each ranger station and the fire control officer in charge. Now, fill out the miserable Civil Service Form No. 57 which you can get at your local post office (it's 4 pages!?) and write a personal letter (NOT a carbon copy) to the officer at every station that interests you. Tell, in the letter, whether or not you have a car (it is not essential, but helps). If you want to bring a mate, say so (they love couples but you'll have to lightly refer to your partner as a wife or husband even if she or he isn't). Anything personal you can do will help. My mate and I even telephoned a ranger. Tell them you've fought a fire somewhere. I don't know if this is general, but they even asked to see my man's discharge papers from the army. Then you sit back and wait. If you do all the red tape, you're bound to get several offers! Just don't wait until too late in the season: The deadline for applications is about the end of March or middle of April. One word of warning: There are hangups. The Forest Service is organized along para-military discipline. Probably they are in favor of the Vietnam War. If you're into trying to change people's heads, though, you'll have a lot of time for rapping and persuading your fellow lookouts. And, if your superiors are distasteful, you'll - at least - be 40 miles away from them! There are other pluses: As lookouts, we met some mighty nice individuals, tending a forest is an honorable job (although some folks have ulterior motives) and living and working in natural surroundings can bring a person's best qualities to the surface.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

Getting Along With Mother Nature

KR. SMITH, M.D.


Willamette Bridge 522 W. Burnside Portland Oregon 97209

The first few pleasant days of spring always bring thousands of pale, moldy humans bursting from their caves to renew an acquaintance with Ma Nature. For most people, this is a relatively nontraumatic experience. But for some - especially the hard-core urbanites and those with short memories - the adventure may be akin to crossing a freeway blindfolded. You have only to spend an idle hour or two in any hospital emergency room on Sunday afternoon from mid-May through August to get an idea of the scope of the problem. Therefore, we offer some general guides of what to do (or, often, what not to do) when Nature retaliates. Most of this is well covered in any standard first-aid manual, but we will try to condense some of the important information into a few paragraphs. The following is, necessarily, highly selective . . . so if your favorite injury or poisoning is not covered, you are invited to look it up yourself. FLYING AND CRAWLING THINGS Bees (including wasps, hornets, yellowjackets, etc.) scare many people half to death but only rarely are their stings really dangerous. For the vast majority, bee stings are painful and sometimes swell quite badly but - once the sting has occurred - there is little or nothing to do. Nothing that you rub or spray on the skin, swallow or say to the bee is going to make much difference. If a honey bee stings and leaves the stinger sticking in you (which is usually what happens), try to remove it promptly without squeezing the little poison sacs attached to the stinger. That will inject more of the venom and make the sting worse. Occasionally people faint, and - very unusually - may go into anaphylactic shock (severe shock, convulsions and even death) after a sting. This shock should be treated like any other shock or severe injury: Protect the individual from further injury, keep him warm, provide shade if he is in direct sunlight, help him breathe if necessary and GET HELP. People who react to stings with very severe swelling or other severe symptoms should take a potent antihistimine immediately upon being stung. For this reason, the antihistimine should, obviously, be carried at all times. Ticks are found almost everywhere, but - with rare exceptions - they carry disease only in the drier areas like eastern Oregon and Washington, Montana, etc. When people or animals walk through brush, the ticks drop off leaves and burrow into the skin of the victim until only their rear ends stick out. If you try to pull them out they break, leaving part of the tick buried. The best way to remove ticks is to wave a match or lighted cigarette very close to them. Occasionally, they back out. If not, they can be killed by covering them with mineral oil, alcohol, etc. Once this is done, they can be easily removed . . . sometimes. Often, however, they are stuck so tightly that a chunk of skin has to be removed with them in it. Obviously this should be done, preferably with local anesthesia, by someone who knows what he is doing. There are rattlesnakes in some areas of the country and, every once in a while, they kill someone. When traveling in those areas, keep your eyes and ears open, watch where you walk, don't reach blindly into holes or under rocks and don't panic. A rattle snake will rattle if it gets the chance and, given an opportunity, will leave. It's nonaggressive by nature. Only if it's trapped or stepped on or otherwise threatened will a rattlesnake strike. And when

it does strike, it's only a few feet at most: Usually not much over half its length. One additional suggestion: Look before you reach into boxes, knapsacks, etc. that have been standing on the ground and don't climb into sleeping bags that have been left unrolled without looking in or shaking them first. Treatment of a rattlesnake bite must be started promptly. First, put a tourniquet between the bite and the heart and tighten the tourniquet to block the veins, but not the artery. Then make small 1/4 inch-deep cuts through the bite marks and suck out as much blood, serum and poison as possible for 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, with the tourniquet still in place and being careful to move the bitten part as little as possible, get the victim to medical help. Actually, all of these first-aid measures are of doubtful value. The real treatment is antivenom and there should be as little delay as possible in getting it. There are small leeches in some wilderness streams and ponds. If they get on your skin, gently pick them off. Scorpions, black widow spiders and brown recluse spiders occur in the southwest, including Southern California. Anyone who goes there by choice deserves what he gets. Most flies, gnats, fleas, mosquitoes and ants are mainly nuisances. Deer flies, black flies, horse flies and a few others may cause painful bites, but they are not dangerous. CUTS, SCRAPES AND BURNS The cardinal rule is: DON'T OVERTREAT. It is possible to turn a minor injury into a major problem in a few minutes with the contents of the average medicine chest and a few well-meaning friends. For bleeding, put something clean over the wound and press firmly. Don't use tourniquets. If a finger is bleeding, put the hand high overhead and the bleeding will decrease or stop. Wash dirt from wounds with soap and water if soap is available. If soap is not available, use plain water. Then either leave the wound open (preferably) or cover it with something clean if it is likely to get dirty or bleed and make a mess. Antiseptics are seldom of any value. Alcoholic solutions may further damage newly-injured tissues and it may take thirty painful minutes to remove a congealed mixture of blood and the antiseptic powder that has been dumped on an abrasion or burn. If wounds are large; if bleeding is persistent and heavy; if wounds need suturing; or if tendons, bones, joints or internal organs may have been injured, GET HELP. This will probably necessitate going to a hospital emergency room. Suturing of wounds is often desirable to decrease bleeding, speed healing and reduce the size of a scar but it is not necessary for survival. Our ancestors got by for thousands of generations either leaving cuts alone or improvising ways of pulling the edges together. If a wound is wide open and it will be impossible to have it sutured within 24 hours, clean it thoroughly and place strips of tape perpendicular to the cut to pull the edges together. In an emergency this is an adequate substitute for stitches. In the case of all wounds, particularly dirty or contaminated ones, proper tetanus innoculation is necessary and should be done with a minimum of delay. Small burns can usually be ignored. Once the burn has occurred, the damage is done and, from then on, healing takes place. Ice, cold water, vaseline or one of the burn ointments will reduce pain. Larger burns - especially if there is blistering or charring of the skin - probably need special treatment, so GET HELP. Sunburn is surprisingly easy to acquire and its seriousness tends to be underrated. After a long, dark winter it doesn't take long to get a bad first degree burn - especially on water, snow or sand where there is the additional factor of reflection. A few hours of exposure can lead to blistering of the skin, vomiting, shock and high fever.

Mild to moderate sunburn is treated with nothing or with one of the commercially available sunburn lotions. More severe burns - especially with such systemic symptoms as fever, vomiting or signs of shock - require special care and, probably, hospitalization. GET HELP. SOMETHING IN THE EYE If it flew in, blew in or fell in, the foreign object probably is not embedded and can be removed by someone else with a little patience. Don't be afraid to try. Use the rolled corner of a piece of clean, soft cloth or tissue to lift it out. If the foreign object entered the eye with some force, it might be embedded. If it cannot be lifted out easily, leave it alone and GET HELP. More severe eye injuries - especially if there is bleeding or fluid leaking from the eye - obviously need immediate help. In no case should the eye be rubbed or pressed. The best protection for an injured eye is to keep the lid closed gently until help can be found. Irritating liquids, acids, alkalis (lye), gasoline, solvents, etc. should be washed out thoroughly and immediately with large amounts of water. The eye should then be examined. WILDLIFE No healthy wild animal will sit or lie still and allow a human to approach, touch or pick it up. If the animal is injured, it may suddenly bite or scratch when touched. An animal that seems sick, weak or crippled may have rabies. If disturbed, it will likely bite and transmit its disease. Treatment of rabies is a prolonged, uncomfortable and expensive process with less than perfect results. Untreated rabies is always fatal. So leave all the cute little mice, squirrels, 'possums, bats, etc. strictly alone. If you do get bitten, try to capture and keep the animal alive. Consult a physician or the nearest health department as soon as possible. This includes bites by stray dogs and cats, too. PREVENTION Try to learn in advance about the area you plan to visit. You may need boots or heavy shoes for walking in rocks; long sleeves and trousers if you will be in brush or the sun for along time; and warm clothing at night in some places . . . even in the summer. You may need to carry water, since it is better to assume that all ground water (streams and ponds) in habitated areas are polluted and contaminated. If you will be where you may be cut, burned or otherwise hurt, make up your own first-aid kit stocked with clean pieces of cloth for simple dressings, some gauze and tape and ajar or tube of vaseline or burn ointment. If you are going into some areas of the west, it may be advisable to be vaccinated against Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Find out from the Health Department before you go. Keep tetanus immunization up to date: A booster every five years to age 12, then every ten years. If you react violently to bee stings either stay home or carry an antihistimine and take it - and your chances - if stung. There is no preventative for poison oak or nettles: Just learn to recognize and avoid them.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

THE FAMILY THAT FORAGES TOGETHER ...won't go hungry!


ERNEST J. KARHU
PHOTOS BY AUTHOR. LINE DRAWINGS, EXCEPT FOR WILD GRAPE AND QUEEN ANNE'S-LACE, COURTESY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA PROVINCIAL MUSEUM.

I learned at an early age that our home in the country was surrounded by groceries "free for the picking". Wild strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, dewberries, elderberries and wild grapes contributed to my summer fare. The aroma of fresh berry pie and canned wild fruits remains quite vivid in my memory of those days. I especially recall the nearby field of wild asparagus so abundant that most of the spears grew into seed stalks before they could be cut. Still, although I've stalked the wild asparagus since age four, I've just begun to really appreciate the value of foraged food. Over the years, except for an occasional trip into the country to hunt walnuts, I'd almost forgotten about the wild foods of my childhood. A recent job transfer, however, enabled me to purchase a home near an abandoned vineyard overgrown with several varities of wild berries. Furthermore, our new house is within a few miles of THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS. This fortunate coincidence has opened a new experience of foraging wild foods for my entire family. Most folks view wild vegetation with contempt and as an enemy of the lawn and garden. That which is not a planned part of the suburban development is viewed as being worthless; as an eyesore which detracts from a wellmanicured environment. A wide variety of dangerous chemicals has been developed to eliminate such "worthless weeds". Unfortunately, I've seen many a fine wild strawberry patch succumb to chemicals and the lawn mower. Countless vacant lots, once lushly overgrown with a live supply of wild foods, have been transformed into wastelands of barren stubble. I'd like to suggest with this article that our so-called "weeds" may serve some fundamental purpose - not only to a balanced ecology - but also to human nutrition. Additionally, although the experience of foraging for wild food may not be a panacea for our times, it may yield some positive alternatives to our present system of control. WILD STRAWBERRIES Few people will dispute the fact that wild strawberries are superior to cultivated varieties. They're a valued prize for the wild food forager. I've located a number of fine patches of this luscious fruit within a few hundred yards of my suburban home. One patch is nearly an acre in size and its berries are exceptionally good. Although the wild strawberry is small and filling a pail with clean berries is a painstaking task, my family and I usually have been able to pick enough for several dessert treats in a half hour. Our children enjoy harvesting wild fruit and always look forward to an excursion to the strawberry patch. Sometimes our two-year-old Betsy picks more than six-year-old John. Betsy, however, is usually unwilling to share her treasure and prefers to have it served with milk as soon as she returns home.

Wild Strawberry / Fragaria Species

Wild Strawberries

Not many folks realize that wild strawberry leaves are one of the richest natural sources of vitamin C. The leaves can be eaten raw, in a salad, or as a garnish for camp stew. Since their taste and texture may not be totally pleasing to everyone's palate, a mild-tasting extract can be made by placing the leaves in a blender with a little water. This mixture can then be used to dilute frozen juice concentrates. It can also be boiled and served with a little honey as a nutritious tea. BLACKBERRIES The blackberry and related dewberry grow in abundance throughout nearly all the United States. Blackberries are probably the most valued and used wild fruit in the country. A hedge of them, mixed with wild grape vines, grows at the rear of our lot. More blackberries surround the nearby strawberry patches, grow wild in the vineyard, along fence rows and in the edge of the closest woods. When the strawberry crop is gone, our children eagerly await blackberry picking time. In the past two summers, we've made use of this wild crop in pies, cobblers, jams, jellies, juices and wines. We've added blackberries to other foods and canned them. For some reason, we've never tired of this abundant crop and we never seem to have enough of the highly nutritious fruit. Blackberries contain a good amount of protein, calcium, phosphorus, iron and vitamins A and C. Their overall nutritional value is higher than orchard fruits. As a child, I looked forward to blackberry picking each summer. In the late afternoon of a picking day, I carried my harvest to the nearby highway and set up a little stand. Within an hour, all my berries would be sold. Sometimes sales were so fast that I had to disappoint my regular customers.

Blue Violets

Blackberries / Rubus species

VIOLETS On our first family forage for wild foods, we were introduced to eating blue violets. At first, the thought of eating flowers seemed rather strange, but after a few tries it became quite natural. Both the flowers and the leaves of the common blue violet are edible. A half-cup of violet greens provides more than the daily adult requirement of vitamins A and C. Although the taste of the greens is rather bland, they're not at all bad and the experience of eating wild violets was an enjoyable one for our two children. My wife and I, however, experienced some momentary anxiety when we thought that Betsy had eaten some of the poison ivy growing alongside a cluster of violets (although we know some people who claim that eating poison ivy produces an immunity - and I've seen it done - we do not recommend this practice). Fortunately, our little daughter had learned to identify the wild foods we've eaten and, apparently, has not experimented on her own. Our new interest in blue violets encouraged us to attempt transplanting some from the nearby woods to our flower garden. The operation was successful and we should have an abundant crop next year. One of the best things about the violet, by the way, is that it's not harmed by picking the blossoms. The more you pick, the more the plant produces.

Dandelion/ Taraxacum species

Queen Anne's - Lace

For those who enjoy experimenting with alternative methods of preparing wild foods, the violet - in addition to the standard wild salad - can be used to make jam, jelly, syrup and confections. When one considers the numerous alleged conditions cured by violet syrup (according to the old time herbalists), who knows what may be discovered! DANDELION The dandelion is a favorite of many people throughout the world and is one of the easiest plants to identify: Just ask anyone with a lawn. I prefer to pick dandelions as soon as they begin to grow, when the leaves are young and tender. Others wait until the plants are more substantial but still pick the leaves before blossoms develop. The mature dandelion leaves have a strong, characteristically bitter taste that can be reduced by boiling the plant in lightly salted water for about five minutes.

The dandelion bud has been found to contain a fair amount of vitamins A and C and a rather high quantity of protein. Dandelions should be considered an essential part of any survival diet because of the plant's nutritional value, its abundance and variety of uses. Even the roots - diced and roasted for about four hours - make a good coffee substitute. Dandelion blossoms, of course, are famous for their use in making wine. I prefer to pick dandelions as soon as they begin to grow, when the leaves are young and tender. Others wait until the plants are more substantial but still pick the leaves before blossoms develop. The mature dandelion leaves have a strong, characteristically bitter taste that can be reduced by boiling the plant in lightly salted water for about five minutes. After the plant blooms it is usually considered too bitter to eat. I think the younger leaves are a fine addition to a salad; the more mature greens can be eaten cooked like spinach and seasoned with butter. The developing yellow blossoms, which form as crowns, provide another vegetable for the table. Cover them with boiling water and cook for about three minutes. Drain and season with salt and butter. The crowns are edible until they mature into blossoms, although - as they approach this change - they must be cooked longer and the water changed once before eating. Euell Gibbons reminds us that the botanical name for the dandelion, Taraxacum officinale , suggests that it is the "official remedy for disorders". An ancient name for dandelion was "scurvey plant", derived from its use in curing or preventing that disease. The dandelion bud has been found to contain a fair amount of vitamins A and C and a rather high quantity of protein. Dandelions should be considered an essential part of any survival diet because of the plant's nutritional value, its abundance and variety of uses. Even the roots - diced and roasted for about four hours - make a good coffee subsitute. Dandelion blossoms, of course, are famous for their use in making wine.

May Apple

May Apple

WILD CARROT While clearing some "unwanted weeds" from my garden this spring, I discovered that most of the plants were wild carrot (Queen Anne's-lace). Many had sizeable roots and, within a short time, I gathered a full pail. The plant is

easily identified by its delicate feathery leaves, tall slender stalks topped by white flowering umbels - some of which are flattened like saucers - and a characteristic carrot odor. The edible roots are white, rather than yelloworange. Wild carrots should be washed, scraped and boiled for about twenty minutes. Before serving, season with butter and salt. The tough pulpy cores can be removed quite easily before eating. Wild carrots can also be used to flavor camp stew or soup. It is said that the best part of the plant is the seeds. They can be used to make tea (mixed with a little spearmint or peppermint), as a spice for cooking and as an herbal medicine (for flatulence, coughs and hiccups). PLANTAIN The lowly lawn and garden pest known as plantain ranks near the top of the list of nutritional greens. Plantain is said to outrank garden greens in nutrients because it grows more slowly and, thus, has more time to store vitamins and minerals. The early pioneers used plantain extensively in their diets and the plant is still an important food in certain sections of the U.S. Plantain is available almost everywhere and its appearance is readily discernible: Ribbed, long, broad oval leaves and slender seed stalks growing out of the center of the leaf cluster. Its bland taste makes plantain a palatable addition to any salad. I much prefer it to dandelion greens. It isn't as tender as head lettuce but plantain can be chopped and made tender enough to suit any taste. As a general rule the young, smaller, rather shiny broad-oval leaves are best. These small plantain leaves are available all summer because new leaves continue to form throughout the season. CLOVER The reddish-purple blossom heads of the ordinary wild clover are rated high on the list of survival foods. They are a tasty addition to any salad and they can be eaten alone. The heads can be gathered throughout June and July and dried indoors at room temperature for later use as tea. A small amount of dried spearmint and peppermint leaves added to the clover is said to make a healthful brew. The blossoms should be gathered from undisturbed fields rather than from the lawn. The large blossoms from the fields are distinctly tastier than the small yard-variety clover blooms. I find myself nibbling clover blossoms every time I take a hike. MAY APPLE After the first few warm days of spring, our closest woods seems to be filled with umbrella-like plants growing in dense clusters. Each of these May apple plants, with a stem that forks into two of the characteristic umbrellas, will develop a waxy-white blossom at the "V" of the stem. The blossom is soon followed by a single, smooth, yellow fruit about the size and shape of an egg. When the May apples are ripe, in late summer, they may be picked and eaten. The taste of the musky May apple is difficult to describe: It has been likened to the guava and the passion fruit. Those who may not appreciate the flavor can liquify May apples in a blender and add the juice to lemonade or mix it half and half with a table wine. The wild food gourmet should also consider making May apple Marmalade. It's reputed to be the finest product of this fruit. SORREL

MAMA KARHU'S RECIPES


Another tasty green that grows abundantly in our nearby fields is sorrel. The spearhead-shaped leaf, one-half to two inches in length, BLACKBERRY JAM grows in clumps and sometimes virtually covers the ground in STRAWBERRY JAM overgrown and unused pastures. Of all the wild greens I've eaten, I prefer sorrel. It's very tender and has a slightly sour taste that some 4 cups prepared fruit describe as lemony (which suggests using the blender to make 7 cups sugar sorrelade). 1/2 bottle Certo Fruit Pectin

Wash about 2 quarts fully ripe fruit. Crush completely, one layer at a time. (If desired, sieve half the pulp to remove some of the seeds.) Measure 4 cups into a very large pan. Scald about 10 medium sized jelly glasses in soapy water. Rinse, scald again, then drain. Keep the jars warm by placing on a cookie sheet in a warm oven.
Sheep Sorrel / Rumex acetosella

To the fruit in the pan, add exactly the There is an old axiom that "the better the taste, the higher the nutritive amount of sugar stated in recipe. Mix value". I've found this true when comparing wild foods and, although I well. haven't seen an analysis of sorrel, I believe the plant has sufficient Place over high heat, bring to a full value to justify my preference for this salad green. rolling boil, and boil hard 1 minute, There are more than enough vitamins and minerals in wild foods to stirring constantly. Remove from heat; sustain health. Indeed, many uncultivated plants contain more food at once stir in Certo. Skim off foam with value than the best garden vegetables and fruits. Freshness is one rather metal spoon. Then stir and skim for 5 obvious reason why wild foods outscore grocery store produce but, minutes to cool and to prevent floating beyond that, analysis has shown many wild plants to be vastly superior fruit. to the garden variety. Pour jam into half of the glasses. Place Unfortunately, our palates have become accustomed to certain foods for lid on one jar at a time, screw on band reasons other than nutrition. Few people will ever become ecstatic over tightly, invert jar. Fill the remaining jars a strict diet of wild foods but, thanks to my recent relatively short but in the same manner. When finished, turn intense exposure to foraging, I am no longer impressed by shelves of jars upright. Jars should seal within a processed garbage in the supermarket. I am sure that we could, with few minutes. If they don't, press down benefit to our health and well-being, forget the grocery store altogether, with the thumb on the center of the lid until you hear it buckle. Don't worry if in preference to that which grows wild in the fields. they take about 15 or 20 minutes to seal. I'm amazed at how eagerly our children have responded to our foraging Keep working with them. The jam won't experiments. They have been quite willing to try every new wild food spoil that quickly. we've selected and they have not rejected any of these unfamiliar taste sensations. They've also come to know our Mother Earth to be a GRAPE JAM provider of abundant resources which may suggest to them that some of the finest things of life are still free. 5 cups prepared fruit Although this article does not exhaust my own experience with wild 7 1/2 cups sugar eats, my knowledge is vastly limited compared to what I have yet to 1/2 bottle Certo Fruit Pectin learn. Some of the more experienced foragers could find hundreds of Follow the instructions for the above valuable crops in the territory I've walked. A few even suggest that recipe. Makes about 12 medium jelly practically every plant can be eaten and contains some food value. glasses. As a general rule, for those who attempt survival living, any plant that tastes good is edible. If you want to experiment, then, don't swallow HOMEMADE SHORTCAKE anything that is particularly bitter. And, when you do swallow, always first try just a tiny bite of the new plant. If you don't experience any 3 cups flour nausea or upset within eight to ten hours, chances are that your 1/2 teaspoon salt 4 teaspoons baking powder potential food source is edible. 1/4 cup sugar I would further recommend that the neophyte forager carry the field 1/2 cup shortening guide edition of Euell Gibbons' Stalking the Wild Asparagus. It is also 1 1/4 cups milk well to be accompanied by an experienced guide but almost anyone can 1 egg, beaten

easily identify the foods recommended in this article and those suggested by James Churchill in the last issue of THE MOTHER Sift together the flour, salt and baking powder. Cut in shortening until it is well EARTH NEWS. blended with the flour. Add beaten egg to the milk; then add all at once to the flour. Mix lightly until flour is thoroughly moistened, then pat into 10x15 baking pan and sprinkle with the sugar. Bake 12-15 minutes at 400. Serve in soup plates, surrounded with plenty of crushed, sweetened berries. Top with cream. I make cream by chilling a can of evaporated milk in the freezer until it is the consistency of soft sherbet. Then very quickly beat the milk and add vanilla extract and sugar to suit your own taste. The leftover cream does not keep.

Issue 4 - July/August 1970

ADVENTURES WITH HOME BREW


CLARK HINKLE
NOTE: The Justice Department of the Federal Government long ago announced that it would pursue a hands-off policy on any beer made for home consumption and not for sale. In recent years, however, the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax Division of the Treasury Department has informally attempted to enforce commercial laws on home brewers and, thereby, discourage another time honored, down home, do-it-yourself activity. Lawyers say the Feds argument would never hold up in court. Nevertheless, we do not encourage anyone to brew any beer until he is thoroughly satisfied that such activities are completely within the law and that he has complied with all applicable federal, state and local regulations.

The first time I encountered home brew, I was eight years old and didn't know what it was. I found a crock of evil smelling, scummy brown liquid that was bubbling furiously and attracting clouds of flies. The flies, by the way, were regularly drowning in the froth. At the time, it seemed inconceivable that my father and uncle were bottling and drinking this awful looking stuff. In later years, however, I learned that my uncle would guzzle anything from bay rum to vanilla extract. After a while, I screwed up my courage and asked to try the home brew. My uncle said no. From that point on, the operation was kept a secret since this was during prohibition and the family brewers were afraid I might accidently rat out to a cop. Later I found a bar that made a good grade of home brew and, once in a while to celebrate, I put away a few pitchers. I didn't think too much about do-it-yourself beer while in the Air Force (the store-bought variety was both plentiful and cheap) but once I was discharged and had settled down to the sordid business of earning a living, I became disgusted with the high price of beer and began picking the brains of all living relatives in a desperate attempt to find the formula for making my own. Finally, I gathered enough information to start. I bought a bottle capper, caps, some thin flexible hose (about the same as on an old fashioned douche bag) and a five gallon jug. I purchased my malt extract, sugar and yeast and began with a mixture that would make the strongest beer possible. After the proper incantations, I set the jug in the bedroom with the rubber hose running to a pan of water. This was a scientific improvement. No flies were going to get in my brew. Also, as the gas from the fermented malt rose to the top of the jug it was sent through the rubber hose to the pan of water where it bubbled furiously. The amount of bubbles from the hose told me when to bottle. This is important: If you bottle too soon, your beer will blow up the bottles. If you bottle too late, the beer may never have a head when you pour it. For the first few days, the great experiment fermented rapidly. It was pleasant to go to bed at night and listen to the brew bubbling away in the pan of water. Then the activity began to slow. At last (about four days) the fermentation dropped to about three bubbles per minute. I stole the baby's bottle brush, scrubbed 48 twelve ounce bottles, moved the jug into the kitchen and put it on the counter. As I began bottling, I also began sampling. By the time I was ready to clean the jug and start a new batch, I was not as clear headed as I should have been. The residue from the old batch did not want to come out of the jug so I added a new batch to the old yeast and malt in the bottom of the jug. I later met a dentist who had been doing this for years and had created his own strain of yeast bacteria which he felt accounted for the excellent taste of his beer. The freshly-capped bottles should age for seven days but, like all rules, you can break this one, too. You'll have a

beer with hardly any head by drinking it early. I tried out my brew on some friends. I didn't get any bad remarks but, then again, I didn't get any good ones either. The beer was dark, heavy and bitter. It had a whallop that was astounding. A couple of quarts and you were set for the evening. I began to experiment and found that the amount of malt extract regulated the color and taste while the sugar controlled the whallop. After a while, I began to brew beer that was light, in color, pleasant to taste and held a head well after pouring. Then one night . . . disaster! I had had a few too many and I had forgotten to mark the calendar when I mixed the batch. My bubble system had been loaned to a friend who was making his first try at brewing and, to keep out the bugs, I had put a ball on the neck of the jug. To make a long story short, I bottled too soon, put the beer in the utility room and went to bed. During the night, the explosions began. After the third muffled blast, I decided to investigate. A stream of beer trickled from under the door of the utility room and, as I stood there, another bottle blew. I went back to bed and tried to forget the whole thing. After a day of thinking, I donned a long pair of gloves and a welders mask and armed myself with a can opener. I took each bottle, opened it and put the beer in a jug to continue working. I was lucky and got away with disarming the whole batch. Now that I know better, I wouldn't advise anyone else to try such a stunt. The strength of the explosions amazed me. Some bottles had exploded in the case and the top half of the bottle was driven up through the bottom of a styrofoam cooler that had been placed on top of them. Later I viewed a kitchen where one hardy individual had capped a five gallon water jug, allowing no escape for the fermenting gas. There was glass and homebrew everywhere, including the ceiling. As my friends began making beer, the age of experiments began. One added ginger; a second, cracked corn; one man threw in raisins and still another included a bag of corn meal. The results were potent. Of course they no longer had beer but a high octaine mixture similar to mead. Some of these formulas laid out respectable beer drinkers like they were schoolboys and had to be treated with respect. If you ignored the rule, you slept where you fell. During the summer and hot months, the brew works off rather rapidly. Four to six days and it's ready to bottle, but in the winter, the action takes twice as long. One rule never to ignore is: Count the bubbles. The fermentation time will vary with temperature but the bubbles will tell when the brew has reached the correct specific gravity to bottle. I went to the expense ($10.00) of buying a specific gravity hydrometer to exactly determine the bottling time but I found the bubble system just as accurate and more uniform. (To use the hydrometer correctly, you need a temperature correction chart for the temperature of the liquid in the jug.) At approximately that time, I got curious about the law and called the beverage commission to ask about my operation. The commissioner told me it was illegal. I thought he had made a mistake and continued my inquiries. I was soon convinced that the beverage commissioner was right. That gentleman did point out, though, that in order to convict me, they would need a search warrant to gether evidence that would hold up in court. He also pointed out that if I was drinking my output and not selling it, I was safe from arrest. The basic mixture I've found best is built around one three pound can of Blue Ribbon Malt Extract. This sells in A & P and other supermarkets for $1.25. The cans I buy are labeled Light. I had never seen one labeled Dark. I am not sure what Dark would be like, since Light is about the color and consistency of chocolate syrup. Use whatever you can obtain
T his

malt extract is added to five gallons of water. I tried distilled water and demineralized water, but I couldn't detect any difference between that beer and batches made with plain tap water. I even used water from a well a few times and the beer still came out exactly the same. For the sugar, any granulated brand will do. Five pounds, or approximately one pound for a gallon of water. The yeast is dry Fleischmann's and is obtained in packets of 1/4 ounce. Five cents for a packet. I had a chemist run an alcohol-content test on a sample of this brew. It came out an even 10% as opposed to the

3.23.9% of most commercial beer. A bottle capper will cost about $7.00. If you can't find one at your local hardware store, go to the Sears Roebuck order catalog. The bottle capper will also be handy when putting up root beer for the kids and your wife can use it to can and preserve chili sauce made from fresh garden vegetables, so you'll get a good return on this investment. A hundred caps should cost about 40 cents. On bottling day, throw the required number of caps into a pan of water and soak them. Most caps for home use are lined with cork and produce a much better seal if they are soaked. On the day you start your first batch of beer, put the contents of one package of yeast in a cup. Add warm water. Not hot. Warm water. If you can't hold your finger in it, it's too hot. Add one spoon of sugar and stir the yeast, water and sugar together. After a short while, it will began to foam. It's important that you start the yeast before you add it to the mixture. Put about two gallons of water on the stove and heat almost to the point of boiling. Dissolve your malt into this hot water. Add the sugar and dissolve it. When the malt and sugar are dissolved, pour the mixture into a five gallon jug. Add about a gallon of cold water. Shake gently, add your yeast mixture and fill the jug almost to the top with more cold water. Leave about six inches of room for the froth and bubbles at the top of the jug as the mixture begins to work. The best brew vat is one of those five gallon jugs on which there is a two dollar deposit. If you buy a crock it is yours and you never get your money back. If you don't break the jug and you someday find yourself dead broke, you can always return it temporarily and get the two dollars. I know. Find a metal cap that will fit the jug and insert a small peice of tubing through a hole in the cap. Make sure the cap and tubing is air tight. I soldered mine. If you use modeling clay for a seal, make sure it is absolutely gas tight. From this cap, run a rubber hose to the pan of water and you will have bug-free beer that tells you (three bubbles per minute) when to bottle. Pick a hose at least five or six feet long and you can use it later to siphon beer from the jug into the bottles for capping. Keep in mind that the siphon only works when the bottle you are filling is a couple of feet lower than the jug from which you are siphoning. Put a quarter of a teaspoon of sugar into each bottle before you cap it. This will help assure a creamy head that will hold and properly carbonate your beer. Store the bottled brew in a cool dark place for around seven days and then start drinking. The five gallon jug will yield two cases of beer at a cost to you of about three cents a battle after you amortize the cost of the capper. Since taste is an individual thing, try some experiments. During the summer I make a mixture of one half can of malt, three pounds of sugar and a packet of yeast to five gallons of water. In the winter, for a more robust brew, I double everything except the water. Keep a record of when you mix each batch and how much malt, sugar and yeast you put in. I now make a slip and drop it in the case as I bottle so I can duplicate the mix if I like. I have used both throw away bottles and deposit bottles. The deposit bottles are a little more rugged but either one will blow up it you bottle too early, so be careful!

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