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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How long could the Nearings harvest their fall garden?
(a) Throughout the winter.
(b) For about 2 weeks.
(c) For 2 or 3 days.
(d) For 2 to 3 months until night frosts were sufficiently severe.

2. Other than the wood on the land, what other sources did the Nearings use for wood?
(a) Driftwood that would come in with the tides.
(b) The old barn.
(c) Ship wood.
(d) The Neighbors forest.

3. Who did all the pointing work on the house in Maine?
(a) Helen.
(b) Scott.
(c) Bretton,
(d) Keith.

4. What did the Nearings call their formula for the good life?
(a) The country farmer.
(b) The living with little difficulty life.
(c) The urban farmer.
(d) The four-four-four formula.

5. When did the Nearings use bagged commercial fertililzer commonly sold to farmers?
(a) Once a year in the spring.
(b) Twice a year at planting and harvest.
(c) Once every 5 years to replenish the soil.
(d) They never touched it.

6. What were "cold frames?"
(a) Wooden frames glazed by glass near ground level.
(b) Refrigerators.
(c) Cloth covers over ground plants.
(d) Plastic covers over ground plants.

7. How far apart were the Nearing's compost piles?
(a) 2 feet.
(b) 1 foot.
(c) 18 inches.
(d) 10 inches.

8. In Maine, what would an average family of 4 or 5 adults and children require to produce a minimum amount of vegetables?
(a) 70 acres.
(b) A half-acre.
(c) A quarter-acre.
(d) An acre.

9. What are the disadvantages to pit growing in a greenhouse, according to the Nearings?
(a) The ground is too hard.
(b) The soil is not good.
(c) The step down out of the house.
(d) Dampness.

10. What is most impressive about bed gardening?
(a) Its lack of weeds.
(b) Its lack of work.
(c) Its high yield.
(d) Its color.

11. How long do rhubarb and asparagus beds last before they must be rotated?
(a) A decade or more.
(b) Two growing seasons.
(c) One year.
(d) Three months.

12. Why did the Nearings want a pond?
(a) For swimming and ice skating and as a source of irrigation for the garden.
(b) For bathing.
(c) For fishing.
(d) For fresh water.

13. How did the Nearings plant their greenhouse?
(a) Plants on the ground level.
(b) Plants on a sloping hill.
(c) Plants at waist level.
(d) Plants below ground level.

14. What, according to the Nearings, did frogs like?
(a) Shallow water and mud.
(b) The cool area under the porch.
(c) The ocean.
(d) Deep blue pond water.

15. What did the Nearings build in the corner of the walled-in vegetable garden?
(a) A barn.
(b) A greenhouse.
(c) A rabbit hutch.
(d) A chicken coop.

Short Answer Questions

1. How did the Nearings harvest Chinese cabbage in the cold weather?

2. What were colonists who moved from England to New England not concerned with?

3. How many blueberry plants did the Nearings plant their first spring in Maine?

4. What were Helen's parents?

5. How many days was frost possible on the Vermont homestead?

(see the answer keys)

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