Lehman’s Country Life

The farm I live on, World Hunger Relief, Inc. in Waco, Texas, uses composting toilets rather than flushing toilets.  I had heard about them before I came and thought it was just a quirky thing that they did, having a toilet that didn’t require plumbing, but I quickly realized upon my arrival that every toilet in common use on the property uses sawdust instead of water.

I remember my first tour of the place—I arrived at night and was given a quick tour of the dorm by Melody.  We walked into the bathroom, with two sinks and a small shower and a teal-colored door in the back.  Melody worked up a bit of theatrics for us:  “And this,” she said as she opened the door, revealing a teal staircase with teal walls leading up to a bench with a toilet lid on it, “is the throne.”
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See Musings From Mom School’s blog – she recently tested (well, her two boys tested) and reviewed our new recycled plastic dump truck and tool set. One of her readers has a  chance to win one of these great toys. Will it be you? Hurry – the contest ends Nov. 5th.

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Article by Tim Matson, author of The Book of Non-Electric Lighting,

Earth Ponds A to Z and the Earth Ponds Sourcebook

Here it comes: heavy fall rain, the lights are flickering, and there’s a tree on the power line a mile up the road  the utility company hasn’t fixed in over a month. Put ‘em together and what have you got? Firelight time. Check the lamp fuel supply, trim the wicks, clean the chimneys, restock the candles.

But aside from the practical value of having a reliable stash of emergency lamps and candles at hand, I like firelight whether the power works or not. Evenings, it’s a pleasant way to dial down the go-go pace of the workday and relax. Turning out the electric lights and lighting a few candles is like meditation. Or maybe it’s nostalgia. Walking into a room lit by lanterns or candles is a way to step into the past, perhaps a distant century you can use your imagination to conjur up, or a past you may have lived, in a cabin or a house off the grid.
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Autumn is a busy season of squirreling away the garden’s bounty for winter nourishment. These days it seems that every waking moment is consumed by picking, preparing or preserving food. However, to be honest, standing over a hot stove is not my favorite place to be when the weather is gorgeous outdoors. So although we do have plenty of beans in the freezer and tomatoes on the canning shelves, I am also contributing to our winter food storage by doing more planting in the garden.

A number of years back I purchased Eliot Coleman’s book “Four Season Harvest” from Lehman’s, and it has transformed our winter food plan. Eliot is an innovative organic gardener from Maine who runs his gourmet salad business during the winter months using various cold frames and high tunnels. I decided that if he can do it in Maine, I can surely do it in Ohio and the past seven years our family has eaten fresh salad greens all winter long out of my cold frames.
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Following are Prevention Tips to minimize getting H1N1 (Swine Flu)…

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB  (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist) having clinical experience of over 20 years. He has worked in institutions like Hinduja Hospital, Bombay Hospital,  Saifee Hospital, Tata Memorial etc. Presently, he is heading the Nuclear Medicine Department and Thyroid clinic at Riddhivinayak Cardiac and Critical Centre, Malad (W). The following is a message given by him:
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At Lehman’s, we believe that old fashioned, proven solutions often work better than the latest fad. Just because something is new doesn’t make it better.

This means that we get to give ourselves a special pat on the back every time we save something from being lost to forgotten memories and lost skills. Some of our proudest moments have crystallized around such events. For example, we saved the 1878 Reading Apple Peeler from extinction. Here it is 130 years later and we are still making it the same way…mostly by hand using the same patterns. (If you have an antique one that’s not working, let us know. We can fix it.)

In another success story, we imitated the design of the old Dazey butter churn
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The wire skeletons of old lampshades can be transformed into olive oil chandeliers using common canning jars.

Monday, Sept. 7, 2009
United Feature Syndicate

MARYJANE’S EVERYDAY ORGANIC

There’s something about gazing up into a starry night sky that is deeply soul stirring. The sight of all that infinite diamond-studded darkness has the power to erase the trappings of modern life, bringing us back to a more primal part of ourselves, a part that is still exuberantly wild.

Not so long ago, you could simply drive a few miles out of town after dark and find nighttime as nature intended it — silent shadows draping the landscape, a black canopy of limitless stars arching overhead.
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Even if cold weather is little more than a dream for some of you while you’re still having searing temperatures, it will come! For some of us, cold weather really never left this year, but either way, cooler or colder weather is coming and we need to prepare for it. It may seem early to be thinking about it, but better a little early than a little late.

Have you made a list of what needs to be done? Here’s mine:

• Check furnace or chimney and stove closures, seals and seams, etc. Replace filters on furnaces.

• Clean out coat closets. See what needs to be replaced before cold weather. If your household is like mine, cold weather gear is gratefully dumped on the first warm day of spring and heaven knows what kind of condition it’s in.
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Too many tomatoes? Here’s a quick and easy salsa recipe, along with an amazing way to take out all the work:

Ingredients
3 large tomatoes, quartered
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, chopped
2 tablespoons red win vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt
fresh lime juice

Separates and removes skin and seeds. Pulps, purees or chops any soft fruit FAST!

Here’s the amazing work-saving part: Run the tomatoes, peppers and onion through the Lehman’s Best Food Strainer with the optional Salsa screen. (To see the Strainer and optional Salsa screen, click here.)

After you run the tomatoes, peppers and onion through the strainer, add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and cilantro to mixture and stir. Add sale and lime juice to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Want to see more? Check out our YouTube video, shot in our store last week by clicking here.

Galen Lehman, President, Lehman’s


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This is a true story: One afternoon, I wandered out toward the road that came in behind the house and there was a baby duck (okay, a duckling) walking along the road, quacking and crying with every step. Momma duck was nowhere to be found, and I felt sorry for the little guy, so it wasn’t long before he was quietly settled in a cardboard box in a corner of the kitchen.

We lived not far from a feedlot and flyswatters are a basic necessity to that kind of area. It didn’t take long for the little duck to realize that a flyswatter meant food. It got to the point that when he saw us pick up one, he would march right up and wait for his snack. If you ever wanted to find him, all you had to do was take down a flyswatter and smack the floor with it and he’d come running. He ate so many flies, that’s what we named him  – Flies.

I never had to call the kids to come and swat flies because
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