Create your own self-reliant homestead with the help of the Spring 2016 MOTHER EARTH NEWS Premium: Modern Homesteading issue! There are more than 100 pages in this colorful guide filled with MOTHER EARTH NEWS homesteading articles that cover garden beds, livestock, easy recipes, DIY projects, and more.

This premium issue of Mother Earth News will give you all the know-how to grow your own quick and simple organic garden! With over 100 pages of content, this guide will give you everything you need to know start to finish. Starting with a guide for beginners, the guide will take you through thorough instructions for maintaining your garden naturally, and even teach you how to store the end product. Get all the knowledge with articles including:

• Maintain a Weedless Organic Garden
• Build Better Soil with Free Organic Fertilizer
• Poultry: Secret Weapon for Organic Pest Control
• Expert Tips for Growing Early Tomatoes
• How to Store Fresh Vegetables
• Grow Great Salads Year Round
• DIY Greenhouse for Winter Growing
• And more!

Whether you’re looking to begin the process from scratch or you’re an experienced gardener looking for more hacks and tips, this guide will give you all the knowledge to be a successful, natural, organic home gardener!

The Mother Earth News Premium Issue will help you live off your land and save money! Inside you’ll find the top tools for a half-acre homestead; learn to pressure can meat; source truly high-quality garden seeds; read how to raise sheep; and more.

Learn the most important self-reliance skill ever by mastering six habits to getting the right work done, the right way. Read the best staple crops for building food self-sufficiency, and fill your pantry and boost your food security by growing 10 space-efficient, calorie-rich staple crops that return high yields and store easily sans fossil fuels. Discover the benefits of the American Guinea hog; a perfect size for smaller homesteads, this heritage breed is easy to manage and provides choice meat and lard.

Other articles include:

• Winter’s Glowing Root Vegetables – Brilliant beets and cold-hardy carrots can help light up your winter meals.
• How to Make Compost – Choose from the many easy ways to make compost for increased garden productivity.
• Expert Advice for Greenhouse Growing – Build a greenhouse in your backyard and you’ll be amazed at its many use.
• Raise Sheep: Low-Maintenance Livestock – Requiring less space and capital than cattle, sheep can provide homegrown, pastured meat with terrific flavor and a powerful nutrient profile. Many sheep breeds can also help turn rocky, dry hillsides into productive pasture.
• 5 Delicious Wild Greens – Give up the war on weeds and embrace the fortifying vegetables right outside your door.

Mother Earth News Winter Comfort Foods is packed full of comfort food recipes that are wholesome and hearty. Sharing a meal with loved ones is not only a simple pleasure, but also one of the most meaningful. This issue will definitely bring the family closer together. In addition to warm and hearty meals to beat the cold, with this book you can make seasonal soups and stews, bake the best homemade pies, and much more!

Spring, summer, fall, winter! This regional guide is loaded with expert-recommended techniques as well as crop varieties so that you can break through seasonal barriers in your climate and eat from your own garden all year.

Plus: • Grow Shiitake Mushrooms

• Smoky Barbecued Onions

• 5 Delicious Wild Greens

• Craft Backyard Apple Cider

• Winter Soups from the Cellar

• Savory and Satisfying Venison

Make the most of the fall season with the help this guide offers! You will find out how to grow your best fall garden, taking advantage of the cooler temperatures that will make your vegetables taste crisp and sweet. If you protect your vegetables, you can continue harvesting fresh, crisp produce through several fall and winter months! Speaking of cooler temperatures, choose the best wood-burning stove for your home with the expert advice contained in this guide, and find the best firewood types for your needs! Other articles include: • Eight easy projects for instant energy savings – Implement these inexpensive strategies to reduce your carbon footprint and slash your energy bills. • Choose Fermented foods for health and flavor – Humans have used fermentation for centuries to preserve food. Today, we know that fermentation also makes some foods more nutritious. • Outdoor root cellars – Try these five ways to store fresh food for winter right in your garden. • Brew your own beer – Home brewing is kettles of fun, and it’s the perfect way to make your own uniquely flavored, affordable drinks. • Sweet cider roundup – Make delicious cider with this advice on the best apples and how to press them. • Emergency power options – With the right generator, you’ll be prepared when storms or blackouts leave you without electricity.

This first Best of Grit edition covers a wide range of topics, including the best articles on gardening, comfort food recipes, livestock, tools and equipment, do-it-yourself projects, wildlife and country life. Nearly 30 articles make up this 113-page guide. Read how to earn a living on a farm by growing vegetables and raising animals for market. Discover an easy, no-knead artisan bread recipe guaranteed to make everyone a baker. Learn how to hatch a flock with insider tips on incubating eggs and more. Enjoy your best hunting season yet by following our guide to hunting deer, turkeys, dove, pheasant and more.

Mother Earth News has released a special double issue, The Best of Mother Earth News Collector Series! This new collector series is 192 pages of expertly written articles covering building and DIY projects, real food and cooking, gardening, homesteading, raising livestock, and natural health. The guide is filled from cover to cover with beautiful color photographs, detailed step-by-step illustrations for building projects, valuable resources, easy-to-follow recipes, and more.

Learn how you can turn that unused grain bin into a perfect house, backyard retreat, storage shed, and more. With the easy-to-follow, step-by-step directions inside this special guide, you can build a fire pit or assemble a clay-pot smoker in just one weekend. If you are a good baker and have the right kitchen setup, look into starting your own food business with the expert advice found here! Discover how vertical gardening techniques can maximum your vegetable returns by producing bigger, better cukes, beans, tomatoes, and cantaloupes. Read how to raise livestock on your homestead; the article inside this guide contains information and advice on housing, feeding, and slaughtering pigs. Ready your yard for spring and summer by discovering which naturally mosquito-repellent plants and homemade mosquito traps will help you have a less buggy summer.

Other articles include:

• Build a Basement Root Cellar – While a spare refrigerator may work in a pinch, a real root cellar is better and even more spacious for preserving foods.
• Drying Herbs: Easier Than You Think – You’ll never buy dried herbs again after you try one or more of these six methods for drying your own herbs at home.
• How to Raise Honey bees – If the draw of fresh honey has given you bees on the brain, learn how to raise honey bees for excitement and sweetness for years to come. Become a beekeeper for fun and profit.
• Start a Self-Sufficient, 1-Acre Homestead – Live off the land with these strategies for establishing self-sufficient food production, including tips on crop rotations and raising livestock.
• Fish Farming – It’s a lot like vegetable gardening, only wetter.
• Make Your Own Homemade Soap – Follow along as we make decorative bars of soap using herbs and flowers. Use these simple steps to create beautiful works of art for your home or for gifts.

This first Best of Mother Earth News edition covers a wide range of topics, including the best articles on organic gardening, renewable energy, self-reliance, do-it-yourself projects, delicious recipes, raising livestock and so much more.

The more than 100 pages of articles capture exactly what Mother Earth News stands for. Whether you are a new reader to the magazine or a loyal subscriber, you will find helpful, interesting and intriguing articles in this premium edition. It’s perfect for anyone who wants to save money on groceries by growing a bountiful garden and raising livestock, or for those who have chosen to live completely off the grid.

Articles include:
• Chickens in the Garden – You can “recoop” much of the expense of raising chickens by putting their manure to work in your garden, and by enlisting your birds for organic pest control.
• Rainwater Harvesting: A Better System – Think beyond the rain barrel: This simpler, cheaper approach will help you harvest much more free water for your garden!
• Craft These Fresh, Easy Cheeses – Learn how to make fresh cheese, and get easy recipes for paneer, mascarpone, chèvre and fromage blanc.
• 65 Self-Reliance Tips That Will Save You Money – Apply a DIY approach to any facet of your life, and you can start saving big today.
• Organic Pest Control: What Works, What Doesn’t – Our nationwide reader survey reveals the best methods for managing common garden pests.
• Build an All-in-One Outdoor Oven, Stove, Grill and Smoker – For about $350, you can build Mother’s versatile and durable cooking unit.

The Winter 2015 edition of The Best of Mother Earth News includes more than 25 articles that cover a range of topics from food and cooking to organic gardening, from beekeeping to renewable energy. With more than 100 pages, this is the ultimate self-sufficient guide for any modern homesteader.