Small Farm humour column

Did any of you read the last page of the July/August Small Farm Canada magazine? Used to be you found Dan Needles in the same spot, last page, of Harrowsmith, which is sadly no longer with us (moment of reflective silence). Seems Mr. Needles has brought his wit to Small Farm, I was happy to see. This was a humorous column on searching for the perfect white egg. It was a good chuckle. Wonder if anyone else saw it?

I saw it too and enjoyed the column. The many hang ups we all have about eggs.... Although I did think Harrowsmith responsible for its own demise, becoming very upper class and weekend farmerish I thought. I gave up reading it years ago. Small Farm is Ok, mostly because it is Canadian and has Canadian ads, but some issues seem very empty on real content.

heda gobbler wrote:I saw it too and enjoyed the column. The many hang ups we all have about eggs.... Although I did think Harrowsmith responsible for its own demise, becoming very upper class and weekend farmerish I thought. I gave up reading it years ago.

Totally agree. I stopped getting it too. I still have older issues that I look through. It used to be a great read once upon a time.

I used to only dabble in Harrowsmith and now and then Mother Earth News.

Small Farm...I have to give a great deal of credit to anyone trying to break into print media. But I agree Heda, they need more meaty content. They try so hard to be politically correct that they lack a voice, a stance, a mission statement. Sometimes the editor's front page has some punch to it (Tom Henry) but the rest of it is somewhat insipid.

I guess it is aimed at those who have perhaps never farmed before so it tried to cover a large variety of topics with not too much in-depth information. Having said that, I subscribe, read it cover to cover and share it with friends.

Had to chuckle at a recent article on how to easily and safely move farm buildings. Ha ha ha, they have obviously never sent their reporters around here when Hubby decides to toss a cable around some building and give it a yank with the old Allis Chalmers. Safe my foot!

I read that column as well and got a good laugh too.
I also find it lacking, and aimed at the novice, but, on occasion, have pulled some useful info out of it. (Think hugelbate Uno).

Well maybe we should all be writing in and sending photos.

I do like the man who writes about grazing and pasture management. And again, the ads, being Canadian, are interesting. I get so tired of American magazines where nothing in the ads is easily available here.

And yes, I give them credit for trying to start a magazine in Canada - and like their choice of paper. I subscribe too, just to be supportive.

Mother Earth News makes me laugh because any issue is good any time - they only have a few topics they revisit every year. But in some ways that's good - the issues never really date!

I have been missing Dan Needles. I may just buy the magazine to read the inside back cover page. Some of the articles I have read do not fit my definition of "small".

Good point, HillBilly! I have two hugelbates, or as the kid calls them, burial mounds. I am rather impressed with them, considering my bedrock and shade.

I always recall the Mother Earth News that said to make a deer fence around the garden 4 feet tall. WHAT? Yup, make two runs of fencing 4 or 5 feet away from each other and if a deer does not feel it can safely land in and exit an area safely and quickly, they avoid it. Thus that thin slice of landing strip between the two runs of fencing will deter them. Not tall, just not safe for landing in. That was the theory. Never tried it. Sounded good. THen let the chickens run in the fenced area, patrolling for bugs. THey called it The Chicken Moat.