Hi everyone at Backwoods home!

I just received my first editions of your magazine and Emergency Preparedeness guide. I could not put them down. I absolutely love your ideas.

What caught my attention to order this was the [Emergency Preparedness and Survival Guide]. I had just taught a class on Emergency Preparedness at our church. Also our local sherrif Department heard about what I was doing and asked me to speak at a local neighborhood watch meeting. This just happened to be right before the “500 year flood” that hit our area .(Nashville and Hohenwald, TN).

I wanted to let you know that your book is so much more detailed than what I got from the FEMA website. Although they have good information. You had the info that I was looking for, like [preparing for bombs and nuclear attack], food storage, and long term survival. I am glad to know that I am not the only one out there that thinks about these things.

I have basic survival preparations: kit, plan, info, chickens, garden etc., but you have certianly lit a fire under me! I have sent info to all my family and encourage everyone to be prepared. I will definately tell them about you guys.

I am reading your magazine cover to cover with great excitement.Thank you for your work! There are lots of people who don’t give these things a second thought.

Keep up the good job!

David Carroll

I’m a bit more traditional then Mas. [Big boomer guns by Massad Ayoob; Sept/Oct, 2010]

My beside the bed rifle is a Rossi model 92 in 45 Colt, loaded with ten 300 grain cast slugs. I think of it as 45-70 lite.

The handgun for flash lighting around the house is a S&W mod 25 45 Colt filled with Speer Gold Dots. Yes, I realize that I’m not real imaginative sticking with a 45 Colt for after hours socializing.

Cordially,

Jim McCool

Why I do study self-reliance, alternate gardening, homesteading, or what ever you want to call it?

I was chatting with a friend earlier and she said there is nothing good going on, I had to strongly disagree. You and I, my Chicken Little friends are very positive. We are doing and learning things everyday. We study how to grown fresh vegetables in the dead of winter, with only the heat of our compost; making our own dirt. We put up food so when things go wrong we can give a hand up instead of needing a hand out, be it a lost job or a flood. Some of us believe like our mascot “Chicken Little” the sky is falling, but until then we will plant our gardens, convert to solar and wind power, put up our food, and learn a million things that are positive and we will make Mother Earth a better place.

So my wild eyed friends remember when you pick that fruit off your tree, help that child plant his/her first tomato plant, pick that salad out of your garden, or sharing the extra from your garden with someone in need. YOU are being positive and have the right to smile about it.

Thank You for Your time,

Mike Saucer

Just had to comment on this article in the September/October 2010 issue: it is not really necessary to use two-by-x lumber; one-by-x will do nicely if it’s braced properly and there is no more than a four-foot span between supports. I always add at lest a 1″ x 2″ support edge at the front and back of each pantry shelf. I have also built shelves using front-to-back bracing but I have to admit that doesn’t seem as good.

The author experienced a collapse of a set of metal shelving. I have to wonder what gage the metal happened to be. I have had great success with the heavier-duty metal shelf units, and with office-type storage cabinets. The light-duty metal shelving sold in many hardware and discount stores is weak and flimsy; as a 67-year-young disabled veteran I do not have much strength in my hands, but even I can bend one of those 18-gage shelves!

Currently, our “pantry” consists of a built-in closet-style shelf set about 28 inches wide by 24 inches deep, where we keep the canned meats and sauces; a nice tan steel office cabinet with a locking door where I keep boxes of cereal, pasta, and other goods (I cover the bottom of this one and the backs of each shelf with fresh bay leaves each spring), and a nice 24″ x 36″ Edsal industrial shelving unit that holds canned goods, jellies, jams, and jugs and bottles of water and juices. The metal units have flanged shelves and are 12-gage steel. Over the years I have collected gallon jars and popcorn tins to hold wheat, barley, millet, whole oats, tapioca — and of course sugar. We do not store flour; in our climate even with the best of care it tends to turn rancid. We swap for or buy honey at the farmers markets as we need it. We have two chest-style deep freezers: an 18-cubic-foot in the barn and a smaller five-cube here in the house. Excess non-perishable foods that won’t be affected by heat and cold are stored outside in an old mobile home in four more office cabinets and two sets of shelves built of 1″ x 6″ and 1″ x 10″ lumber. We use the deep-mulch method to preserve cabbage, potatoes, rutabagas, and turnips over the winter, and simply rake back the straw covering or the snow when we need a root vegetable or a head of cabbage for a meal. We have a cold frame for spinach, chard, and other hardy, leafy greens.

All that works for us. We’ve been here for 22 years, most of those as subscribers to Backwoods Home. We appreciate the articles and the letters from readers, and always get a chuckle out of the Irreverent Jokes page.

Your faithful subscriber,

Joyce Eikenberry
Ohio

Howdy Claire,

I pray this finds you well and healthy.

I always enjoy your articles whenever I run across them and this was no exception.

I was thinking about the value of nickel and copper when you mentioned it. I usually roll my coins stashing the nickels and pennies in an ammo box and trading the rolled dimes and quarters for rolls of more nickels and pennies at the bank to throw into the ammo can. I always pay for things with a larger bill and try to never spend coinage but add it to my collection. I like your idea about stashing the smaller bills in envelopes for the various and sundry expenses that arise. Thank you.

Since the fed has been putting the RFID strips in [Federal Reserve Notes] you can be tracked by any store with a reader at the entrances and exits. This isn’t universal yet but I wouldn’t be surprised if it becomes so. I like to withdraw a large sum of cash from the bank, go home and send the bills six or  seven at a time for a minute or two through the microwave oven. It fries the RFID chip and renders the bills useless for tracking my comings and goings and expenditures. I realize many products have RFID chips in or on them somewhere but at least it is now more difficult to trace the purchases to me. I have also purchased reader proof insulated envelopes for my debit cards. I even use them for reloadable Dollar General, grocery and restaurant cards. While it doesn’t make me completely invisible at least it gives me the satisfaction of knowing I’m doing SOMETHING to stay under the radar.

Thanks again and God bless,

Dick Crockett

Editor:

The three-part series on Emergency and backwoods water treatment was excellent! [ Emergency and backwoods water treatment: Part 1 - Issue 122, Mar/Apr 2010; Emergency and backwoods water treatment: Part 2 — "The practice" - Issue 124, Jul/Aug 2010; Emergency and backwoods water treatment: Part 3 — "Taking it to the field" - Issue 125, Sept/Oct 2010 ]

Tim Thorstonson is to be commended for its preparation, as it is so comprehensive and so useful in these times.

William R. Rick-Brigham

Claire,

About a month ago I bought The Freedom Outlaw’s Handbook. In the online catalog I saw what, to me, promised to be a whimsical and possibly spotty-useful resource.

As of today, since I tend to read two or three books at a time, I’m not even a quarter of the way through. I was taken from the beginning by the quality of your writing, your style, your great and biting sense of humor, your obvious depth of knowledge and experience, and the strengths of your conviction and your passion. And your orneriness. This is a powerful read.

This is not a book of whimsy, either. It is very well thought out. Pursuing more of your writing brought me back to Backwoods Home Magazine. While I’d been there before it wasn’t something I dwelt on much but I see now what a great resource it is.  Hardyville is great stuff.

Despite my observation that I am waaaaay ahead of the average Great American Ostrich in understanding the times and our history I have learned a lot from you, a different approach, and I wanted to thank you and encourage you. So thank you. Your spirit is appreciated.

Best wishes,

Bob Gleason
Colorado

Hi there.

I wanted to let you know that I absolutely LOVED the article by Jackie Clay on acorns. It is the most thorough piece I’ve found on acorns! I am now so psyched about my ‘volunteer’ oak tree and can’t wait to leach.  ;)

So happy I happened upon your website. I’m looking forward to exploring it more!

Eve
North Hollywood, CA

Just wanted to drop a short line.

I happened across your magazine articles online while researching alternative energy.  I wish you were a little easier to happen across. More people need to see what you’re working on.

Great info on the articles I’ve had a chance to read.  Keep up the great work, I’ll be referencing you in my classes from now on for sure.

Mike Dieckman

Dear Dr. Arnet:

I cannot begin to tell you how I am feeling after finding your article (The Informed Juror, Issue No. 82).

I’ve been a court reporter for 34 years and have felt sick about it for 34 years.

I’ve ostracized my reporter colleagues as I am the only one who is sensitive to defendant rights and have always found the jury system as it exists today to be fraught with deception and trickery.

I see prosecutors and courts in a conspiracy to deprive Americans of their rights in today’s system of meting out justice in order to fill the already overflowing private/public prisons with free labor for rich and powerful corporations and to “get rid of” people who are not white and not wealthy.

I feel sick when I see a jury given scant evidence, untruthful evidence, and the jury returns with a guilty verdict because of it.

I feel sick when I juries are given absurdly written, incomprehensible, idiotic jury instructions read at a pace so fast many times the words are misheard.

It’s ghastly that juries are not allowed to take the written instructions, as incomprehensible as they may be, back to the jury room.

Juries are always prohibited from having the evidence in the jury room.

Juries are so unaware that they are being hoodwinked from the get-go.  Every time a recess is called, all manner of proceedings take place on the record out of the presence of the jury so that the jury deliberates the case never knowing the phenomenal amount of evidence they didn’t get to hear.

In every trial I ever reported, the jury is told they must return a verdict of guilty if they find so and so, even though they do not agree with the law.

Juries don’t understand that once they pronounce the defendant guilty a sentence is then passed by a court that more than likely has a prosecutorial background and prosecutorial leanings.  They don’t understand that lobbyists in the country representing rich and powerful corporations lobby the courts for severe, stiff, long, harsh, inhumane sentences and that it is likely that the defendant they find guilty will serve such a sentence.

On and on and on and on.

And the statement by the court I hate to hear the most is, “Members of the jury, our systems is not perfect, but it is the best in the world.”

It’s not the best in the world.  It’s by far one of the worst.

The U.S. has more prisoners than any other country in the world.

The U.S. still has the death penalty.

A jury of one’s peers in America is a very scary proposition in this time in the world.  I dare say very, very few Americans are my peers.

I found your article while in search of the very information I was looking for for an article I am putting together called “The Enlightened Juror – Serving on a criminal jury in the U.S.”  I had no idea that what I have been intuiting all of these many years actually existed until now.

I am writing the article as part of a support group for Jose Barco, railroaded by the Colorado Springs Police Department into one of the “Filthy Four” courts in Colorado, El Paso County, Judge Larry Schwartz.  He was given a 52 year sentence that he is presently serving in the BVCF in Colorado.  He’s 24 and won’t be eligible for parole until he is 56 years old.

The jury filed an affidavit with the court immediately after their deliberations stating their confusion about the instructions given and that two of the jurors demanded to leave so they could return to work the next day.  The prosecutor manipulated the facts in closing and through state’s witnesses who should be charged with perjury.

You can learn about Jose at www.veteransresourceforjustice.org or going to Frontline’s “The Wounded Platoon” where his story is chronicled.

Kind regards,

Terri S.

I want to thank you for being there.

My mother hen hatched 3 chicks. Both her and  my first experience with this. I was so excited. When I told people at work they looked at me like I had just landed from Mars.  It is nice to read your magazine and blogs and know that I am not alone in this world.

Other people  out there still get excited about first chickens, tomatoes and wonder what to do with all that zucchini.

Thank you again.

Rebecca Boitnott
Virginia

Just read your article [The art of living in small spaces by Claire Wolfe] and getting lots of good ideas. I just purchased, The small house book, by Jay Shafer.

I am impressed that you share this space with your loving pets too. I feel if I try one of these small spaces, I will have to start out with it being a weekend place. I don’t think I could convince my husband to live that small and I don’t think I would want to live in too tight of quarters with him. LOL. Maybe we should have a his and hers and join them in the hallways.

Thanks again. Also pics say a thousand words.

Eileen Janes

Colorado

Dear Sir,

I appreciate your opinion in general regarding the legalization issue. Unfortunately I must disagree with you on the positive spin you have given the upcoming “The Regulate, Control, and Tax Cannabis Act of 2010″.

Reading the specifics of the legislation I’m sure you would agree that this is a far cry from a freedom-based initiative. You made some very sound arguments in the article but did not address some of my main concerns. Specifically the regulation aspect limits the amount that can be grown and possessed, which begs the question of just how the authorities would monitor the plants grown on an individual’s private property; will the authorities be inspecting homes? I cannot in good conscience support this initiative because it doesn’t decriminalize marijuana, it simply changes the terms of what is considered criminal activity according to the law. Furthermore, collecting taxes on something that is grown and consumed privately seems quite impossible to me.

The skeptic in me also is extremely leery of any “step” the government takes in any direction. More often than not, legislation is bastardized through endless amendments and adjustments as time goes on. Rarely do these actions result in less intrusion on individual rights.

Best Regards,

Kevin

I just got my new issue of BHM and I noticed several nasty letters canceling subscriptions because of right wing thinking. Keep up the right wing thinking! If anything, you are not right enough! I have been a subscriber for years, have most of the anthologies, several of your books and all of my back issues. I love Jackie! She is my absolute favorite. My sister, Linda, who is also a subscriber, and I often talk about Jackie’s articles.

My husband and I moved back to our home in Tennessee a little over a year ago, having moved to Illinois approximately 8 years prior for fortune not fame. Unfortunately, there was not much fortune to be had there either. Ha! Ha!

We are trying diligently to get as prepared as we can for whatever is coming without going completely nuts. Most of our friends and family think we are crazy. I am sure there are more of “us” in the area, we just haven’t talked to many yet.

LOVE BHM !!!

Virginia Weathers
Tennessee

Thank you for a great magazine, full of tips and advice on how to live an independent, self-reliant life–without making it seem “criminal” to be Conservative!  Keep it up.

Jane Brown
Umpqua, Oregon

I appreciated the article in the current issue of BWH about tub gardening.

I purchased three 18-gallon tubs, added potting soil, and am very pleased with the results: tomatoes, bush beans, assorted peppers, lettuce & sorrel. Excellent recommendation for those of us with small urban garden space. Plus the barrels are inaccessible to digging by our puppies.

Thanks again!

Julia Morgan
Pasadena, CA

Dear Editor,

I found your site from a link from survivalblog.com and somehow ran across the article of the Animal Rights Activists ruining what must be a totally hysterical event at your local fair.

I do understand their point but I do realize there are limits on what an activist group can do. Caving into to them only gives them power, but since that has already happened…I have a better idea!

For a close knit town, you can starve them out. As a retailer, you can refuse to sell anything to anyone and not have to justify it. Gas stations can refuse to sell fuels, grocers refuse to sell them food. You get the picture.

As Jim Rawles says, if you don’t like what is going on around you, vote with your feet and move. When all the town gets behind this movement, the activist will get the idea that he or she is no longer welcomed and move on. It wouldn’t hurt for someone in a restaurant to take away their fried chicken special stating they are contibuting to animal cruelty. If they got half a brain….they will leave, probably just before the local police or sheriff decides to join the unwelcome wagon.

Ken

Hello,

I found your website while taking a break from planting corn.

The article “Grow Open Pollinated Seeds for Self-Reliant Gardening” by Jackie Clay is excellent!!

I’ve read hundreds of pages on the net about gardening and this is probably the most helpful I’ve seen.

I just wanted to let Jackie know and to say thank you very much for posting it. I’ll be reading more of your articles on my next break.

Patty Wisniewski

Dave

You guys have a great magazine, dare I say the best!  I like every part of it. I like John Silveria, Massad Ayoob, your editorials, and all the wonderful info I have learned.

I canned meat because of your magazine, never thought I would do that. I have a Libertarian viewpoint like a few of you do, and wish more people did. I read “Can America be saved from stupid people”, and no I don’t think it can, without some type of revolution, bloody or peaceful.

I read your articles online and in print, I’d say your magazine is the easiest to find, and use in all media formats.

Thanks and keep up the great work!!

Todd Lange
Nebraska

I just wanted to say thank you to all of the writers and staff of Backwoods Home Magazine.  You have inspired me to finally get off my duff and create a website and a new business.  I was disappointed in the writing and opinion of other magazines that promote independent living.  Sorry, but if I have to surrender my Second Amendment rights or be told I can’t criticize an entrenched politician, then I don’t care how far off the grid you are, you are not living free.

I know there are those who want you to drop your political views.  But to what end?  America has been and always will be political.  It’s part of who we are and what made us so great.  But it’s always a SMALL group who stand up and actually shout their opposition to tyranny and ultimately take action.  The majority either side with the tyrants out of fear and wanting to be on the “winning” side or, like the vast majority of Americans, they simply don’t care and don’t want to hear about it.  Like a child, they believe all that is necessary for evil to stop is to close your eyes and ignore it.  This was very much like the American Revolution, when a relatively small handful of citizens actually participated on the side of the Revolution.

BHM is doing it right.  You may not be as slick as the big money magazine (I’ll denote here as M.E.N). but you are far better, far more down-to-earth and serve a real and growing group of Americans who have come to the realization that America does not reside in Washington D.C., it resides in the hearts and souls of those who can reach across time and touch the meaning of what our founders really wanted.

Americans should be free to live quietly.  To raise those chickens and goats.  To have a garden.  To tap energy from flowing water, the wind or the sun.  They should also be happy in the knowledge that their government is working with them in their endeavors and not singling them out for heavy handed fines, threats, or worse, an armed attack to seize their property.

I am going to recommend  BHM to those who will be coming to my website.  I also intend to become an advertiser.  Thanks again for inspiring me to stand up and start using those rights that we all talk about, but few actually use.

Jim Harris