A vacationing American businessman was standing on the pier of a quaint coastal fishing village in southern Mexico when a small boat with just one young fisherman pulled into the dock. Inside the small boat were several large yellowfin tuna. The American complimented the Mexican on the quality of his fish.


"How long did it take you to catch them?" the American casually asked.


"Oh, a few hours," the Mexican replied.


"Why don't you stay out longer and catch more fish?" the American businessman then asked.


The Mexican warmly replied, "With this I have more than enough to support my family's needs."


The businessman then became serious, "But what do you do with the rest of your time?"


Responding with a smile, the Mexican fisherman answered, "I sleep late, play with my children, watch ballgames, and take siesta with my wife. Sometimes in the evenings I take a stroll into the village to see my friends, play the guitar, sing a few songs..."


The American businessman impatiently interrupted, "Look, I have an MBA from Harvard, and I can help you to be more profitable. You can start by fishing several hours longer every day. You can then sell the extra fish you catch. With the extra money, you can buy a bigger boat. With the additional income that larger boat will bring, you can then buy a second boat, a third one, and so on, until you have an entire fleet of fishing boats.


"Then, instead of selling your catch to a middleman you'll be able to sell your fish directly to the processor, or even open your own cannery. Eventually, you could control the product, processing and distribution. You could leave this tiny coastal village and move to Mexico City, or possibly even Los Angeles or New York City, where you could even further expand your enterprise."


Having never thought of such things, the Mexican fisherman asked, "But how long will all this take?"


After a rapid mental calculation, the businessman pronounced, "Probably about 15-20 years, maybe less if you work really hard."


"And then what, senor?" asked the fisherman.


"Why, that's the best part!" answered the businessman with a laugh. "When the time is right, you would sell your company stock to the public and become very rich. You would make millions."


"Millions? Really? What could I do with it all?" asked the young fisherman in disbelief.


The businessman boasted, "Then you could happily retire with all the money you've made."


"Then what?" asked the young fisherman.


"Well then," The businessman continued, "You could move to a quaint coastal fishing village where you could sleep late, play with your grandchildren, watch ballgames, take siesta with your wife, and stroll to the village in the evenings where you could play the guitar and sing with your friends and....................." 

For years people have relied on hundreds of recipes, instructions, and county lore of homestead best practices, healthy living and preparing food. This site was created to share with you the resources and tools that have been tried and proven true on such topics of food, health, gardening, and self-sufficient living. 

Reminiscent in the spirit of the beloved Whole Earth Catalog, Country Wisdom.com will be a collection of information on thousands of individual topics of country lore and self-sustained living.

This site is organized by three simple categories–HOME, HEALTH and GARDEN. If you could gather up the wisdom of the many generations of farmers, ranchers, outdoorsmen, homesteaders, and mountain-men and put it into a book you would end up with this website.

Parsley contains three times as much vitamin C as oranges, twice as much iron as spinach, is rich in vitamin A and contains folate, potassium and calcium. What’s more, parsley is also recognized for its cancer-fighting potential. 


Here is a quick and easy drink I make that uses parsley:




Blend well the following ingredients in your blender. 


    * Two large apples 
    * ½ bunch (or one cup) parsley


Yields 2 cups
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Did you know bleach has to sit on a surface for 30 minutes before it works? Did you also know bleach is a pesticide? And it doesn't work if the surface is dirty. Women that work at home have a much higher risk of cancer than those that work at home and repeated exposure to cleaning products is a big factor in this. Pretty scary...


So why eat organic food when you are cleaning your home with a pesticide? A pesticide that cause all kinds of health problems from asthma to hormone imbalances that can cause cancer. There are tons of products out there to get rid of your "need" to use bleach. I'm sure this post will only show a few of them.


Laundry:
This should be a very easy one. My favorite way to "bleach" clothes is sun bleaching. It's free and works great on a lot of stains. All you do is dry the stained item in the sun. (It can yellow some whites.) You can also make your own color safe bleach. This is another way to save money. Seventh Generation makes a chlorine free bleach. In addition to other stain fighters, Biokleen also sells a chlorine-free bleach. And many other eco-friendly companies make safe chlorine-free bleaches.


Cleaning:
Bleach doesn't clean, it removes stains and kills everything. So clean with good old hot water and soap, or an eco-friendly all purpose cleaner. For stain removal what you use depends on the stain, but hydrogen peroxide is a pretty good bet for most stains you will encounter on a daily basis.


Disinfecting:
Vinegar Of Four Thieves is a great natural disinfectant that even was shown in tests to kill MRSA! Plain old vinegar disinfects too, and guess what, so does hot water and soap! Here is a recipe to make your own disinfectant:


Grapefruit Seed Extract
1 gallon warm water
20 drops grapefruit seed extract
Mix and pour in a spray bottle


Cleaning Mold:
Tea tree oil will kill even toxic molds! Just use 2 teaspoons tea tree oil mixed with 2 cups water. The above grapefruit seed extract recipe about will also kill mold, and vinegar does, too.


Try a natural approach and you will see the difference!

Planting a hummingbird garden is no different than creating a perennial border, mixed container, or any other garden. There are dozens of annuals, perennials, trees and shrubs from which hummingbirds feed. Which ones should you choose? It's easier than you think!


People often associate hummingbirds with the color red, and for good reason. These inquisitive birds can see red from a great distance, so offering a patch of red flowers to hummingbirds is like a neon "EAT" sign on a lonely highway.Annuals ensure long-blooming flowers that immediately produce nectar. From the time the migratory hummingbirds return north from their tropical winter grounds until they leave in the fall, the birds are sure to stay well fed.Plant in clusters to get the attention of hummingbirds, cluster blooms together so they shout, "Dinnertime!" Combining plants with staggered heights will bring depth to your garden, as well as providing hummers with a nectar buffet.


Here are our top 10 picks, to get you started...




1. Bee Balm (Monarda didyma)
    • Perennial; Zones 4 to 10.
    • Color: Red.
    • Blooms: Summer.
    • Size: 3 to 5 feet tall; spreads 18 to 36 inches.
    • Care: Moist, moderately fertile soil; light shade to full sun. Deadhead flowers to keep them blooming and to limit reseeding.


2. Cardinal Flower (Lobelia cardinalis)
    • Perennial; Zones 2 to 8.
    • Color: Red.
    • Blooms: Summer.
    • Size: 3 to 4 feet tall; 2 feet wide.
    • Care: Fertile and moist soil, partial shade to full sun. Works beautifully with other native plantings.


3. Butterfly Bush (Buddleja species)
    • Shrub; Zones 4 to 9.
    • Color: Purple, pink, and white.
    • Blooms: Summer to fall.
    • Size: 6 to 15 feet tall; 4 to 10 feet wide.
    • Care: Grow in sun to light shade. Considered invasive in some regions.


4. Trumpet Vine (Campsis radicans)
    • Perennial; Zones 4 to 9.
    • Color: Orange-red.
    • Blooms: Summer.
    • Size: Climbs to 40 feet.
    • Care: Grow in full sun in moist to dry soil. Tolerates poor soil. Blooms better with little or no fertilizer.


5. Snapdragon (Antirrhinum)
    • Annual.
    • Color: Varies with variety.
    • Blooms: Until frost.
    • Size: 6 inches to 4 feet tall; 6 inches to 2 feet wide.
    • Care: Grows in full sun to part shade in moist soil. Regular deadheading needed.


6. Salvia (Salvia spledens)
    • Annual.
    • Color: Red, purple.
    • Blooms: Until frost.
    • Size: 1 to 3 inches tall; 9 to 14 inches wide.
    • Care: Keep soil at roots cool and moist; grow in full sun or part shade in southern regions.
Deadhead flowers to keep blooming.


7. Fuchsia (Fuchsia species)
    • Perennial; Zones 10 and 11; annual to north.
    • Color: Red, pinks, purple, white.
    • Blooms: Until frost.
    • Size: Trailing to 3 feet or available in shrub form.
    • Care: Requires moist soil: check pots twice a day in hot weather. Pinch back flowers.


8. Columbine (Aquilegia species)
    • Perennial; Zones 3 to 9.
    • Color: Red, pink, blue, purple.
    • Blooms: Spring to early summer.
    • Size: 1 to 3 feet tall; 6 to 24 inches wide.
    • Care: Low-maintenance plants that prefer moist, but not wet, soil. Reseeds itself.


9. Phlox (Phlox species)
    • Perennial; Zones 3 to 8.
    • Color: Pink, red, blue, and purple.
    • Blooms: Spring to fall.
    • Size: Up to 3 feet tall; 12 to 24 inches wide.
    • Care: Needs well-draining soil in full sun. Deadhead to extend their bloom time.


10. Butterfly Weed (Asclepias tuberosa)
    • Perennial; Zones 4 to 9.
    • Color: Orange.
    • Blooms: Summer to fall.
    • Size: 1-1/2 to 3 feet tall; spreads 12 inches wide.
    • Care: Well-drained soil; full sun. These plants will wander to where they're best suited in your garden.

Adapted from Jim Lahey, Sullivan Street Bakery
Time: About 1½ hours plus 14 to 20 hours’ rising


3 cups all-purpose or bread flour, more for dusting
¼ teaspoon instant yeast
1¼ teaspoons salt
Cornmeal or wheat bran as needed.


1. In a large bowl combine flour, yeast and salt. Add 1 5/8 cups water, and stir until blended; dough will be shaggy and sticky. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Let dough rest at least 12 hours, preferably about 18, at warm room temperature, about 70 degrees.


2. Dough is ready when its surface is dotted with bubbles. Lightly flour a work surface and place dough on it; sprinkle it with a little more flour and fold it over on itself once or twice. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let rest about 15 minutes.


3. Using just enough flour to keep dough from sticking to work surface or to your fingers, gently and quickly shape dough into a ball. Generously coat a cotton towel (not terry cloth) with flour, wheat bran or cornmeal; put dough seam side down on towel and dust with more flour, bran or cornmeal. Cover with another cotton towel and let rise for about 2 hours. When it is ready, dough will be more than double in size and will not readily spring back when poked with a finger.


4. At least a half-hour before dough is ready, heat oven to 450 degrees. Put a 6- to 8-quart heavy covered pot (cast iron, enamel, Pyrex or ceramic) in oven as it heats. When dough is ready, carefully remove pot from oven. Slide your hand under towel and turn dough over into pot, seam side up; it may look like a mess, but that is O.K. Shake pan once or twice if dough is unevenly distributed; it will straighten out as it bakes. Cover with lid and bake 30 minutes, then remove lid and bake another 15 to 30 minutes, until loaf is beautifully browned. Cool on a rack.


Yield: One 1½-pound loaf.
​