Whole Earth Catalogues - good advice from the 70s

I suppose its true that there is nothing new under the sun, but now I have proof. Its in the form of a series of large books, A2 size actually, called Whole Earth Catalogues. My parents gave them to me recently to show me that they were once “hippies” too, back in the 70s. I am now the proud owner of “The last Whole Earth Catalog” (from the US) and the first and third editions of the New Zealand version “The New Zealand Whole Earth Catalogue”. The US catalogues were designed to list all sorts of products for sale (clothing, books, tools, machines, seeds – things useful for a creative or self-sustainable lifestyle). They were not sold by the catalogue and the information wasn’t advertising, more just a list of things that might be useful to other people, with the suppliers listed. It was a source of information for people wanted to live differently, pre-internet connections. The NZ catalogues are a little different again, with more articles and cartoons, containing information about self-sufficiency and social issues, and fewer “products” described.

I haven’t read all of them in detail yet, but having flicked through and read a few articles from each, I was amazed at the content and how similar it is to all the blogs that I’m reading today. The issues that were discussed include, growing veges, making beer, butchering meat, as well as social issues like recycling/reusing resources, and protesting against big industry and manufacturers, even articles about starting your own printing press (the equivalent to a blog these days?). Reading these catalogues - the language, the illustrations and the subject-matter - really gave me an insight into life in the 70s, it seemed to be a time of hope for these “hippies” that their alternative life-style might one day become mainstream and that they might be able to change the world.

Then I started to think how sad it was that we’ve clearly made no progress in the last 40 years! If these issues were recognised in the 70s and written about then, why are we still working on the same things now? In fact, things seem to have gotten worse, industries are bigger and have more control over our lives, resources are wasted to an even greater extent, and society is even more disconnected from food production that ever.

While looking for more information on the books, I found a few for sale on the net, one was only $25! Considering that they were $10 when new, they should be worth up to $100 now. If you’re interested, have a look for them. I can’t find an Australian equivalent, but maybe Grass Roots has been around for so long, there was no need, can someone who was around at the time confirm that for me please?

I'll write more about the articles in these catalogues as I get time to read more, I think there's some great old ideas in them that we could benefit from revisiting now.......

Farm update - August 2017

Its been cold this month, and very nice to have the fire going every night. Here's a photo of my boy in his cape, great for late night woofing at things. Most of July we were either preparing for the butcher to come or putting meat away. Its always a big job, but its only once a year, and its all done now. My lovely neighbour came over to help, so it was fun to have the company and work together. Taz was a champion once again as she helped us to move cattle in the yards ready to load for the market. Gus is not at that level yet and had to stay home (he cries when he gets left behind, but he just gets in the way and scatters the cattle). We have had a few sprinkles of rain here and there, but also plenty of cold nights, so the grass is mostly dead and dry, waiting for the warmer weather to revive our summer-active pasture. Gus in his cape Taz after she helped to move cattle Food and cooking It was all about beef in July and we are v...

Cooking and eating beans

When I was growing up, my family never ate many dried beans, they just weren't something that was used much in NZ cuisine. If I did eat beans, it was always from a can (and most likely baked beans). And until recently I was still using beans from a can, but it can be difficult to get organic beans, and to find cans not lined with BPA. Then I had an opportunity to buy some organic dry goods in bulk, so I bought 5kg of kidney beans, 5kg of adzuki beans and 5kg of chickpea (garbanzo beans). I know, that is a lot of beans. And then I didn't really know what to do with them! Not just what dishes to put them in, but how to prepare them, I just didn't know what method to use. So I decided it was time to learn how to use all these beans that I bought, here's what I found out. I started with an excellent ebook called The Everything Beans Book , from Katie at Kitchen Stewardship, which has lots of bean recipes, but more importantly, an explanation of h...

Guest post: Is there a place for power tools in the garden?

One of my regular readers and commenters offered to write a guest post about a horticulture course, its quite a funny read, with some serious insights into our technology obsession. If you'd like to submit a guest post, email me at eight.acres.liz {at} gmail.com. While I am always happy to share links back to your blog or website, this contributor preferred to remain anonymous. I hope you enjoy their story.... -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- -**- Just a few days ago our daily horticulture classes were interrupted by an invitation to review some new gardening gadgets. The idea was to open half a dozen of electric hand trimmers , test them and fill in some review about their goods and bads. As nothing is more dear to a student – even a “hort “ one - to escape routine and mess around till lunchtime, we opened the boxes and got down to business. What did we...

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