Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Goat birthing and raising kids

Yurt Magic — Building an Enchanting Instant House

By Claire Wolfe Issue #76 • July/August, 2002 I awoke last night to a circle of moonlight reflected on a wall. It was so vivid I...

Gabion walls for form and function

Build a cold smoker so you can make delicious squaw candy

Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute

Sweet Potato Greens

By Tim Scullen Issue #168 • November/December, 2017 By now, you’ve no doubt figured out how good chard, spinach, and kale are for you. But did...

For Extra Production, Try Mound Gardening

Save Time and Energy with the Fenced Chicken Coop/Garden

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

By O.E. MacDougal November/December 2016, Backwoods Home I could spend all day coming up with interesting trivia about the Presidents and those who surround them —...

Farm baseball … with ghost runners!

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Paring down for off-grid living

The adventures of a first-time homesteader

Finding wealth you can wear at yard sales

7 Solar Water Heating System Designs

Solar system codes — Build it right!

Keeping your food cold — Solutions to refrigeration when electricity is scarce

Firearms — Tools of rural living

By Massad Ayoob Issue #91 • January/February, 2005 So, editor Dave Duffy and I got to talking about guns. We agreed that for some people they...

Understanding the gun debate, part 3

A used shotgun bargain: The Browning Auto-5

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

Issue #97 • January/February, 2006 There's been a lot of talk in the mass media...

A brief history of health and medicine

How to fix your aching back using the McKenzie Method

Terrorism in America — The armed citizen’s view

Hog butchering — Using everything but the squeal

By Charles Sanders Issue #142 • July/August, 2013 A 450-pound hog will provide a lot of delicious meat. Hogs are raised throughout our neighboring Amish community for...

Raising your own beef for your family

By Charles Sanders Issue #57 • May/June, 1999 For most homesteaders, the raising of livestock plays a crucial role in the home based economy. The types...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Where our farm animals come from

Are aliens stealing our honeybees?

Kinder goats — A small breed for milk and meat

Getting out of Dodge — 10 Things I am doing to prepare for the move to the country

Leafy Green Vegetables — The Underrated Heroes of the Garden

By Jackie Clay Issue #104 • March/April, 2007 When you mention "garden," everybody immediately thinks of sweet corn, green beans, and tomatoes, with a few peppers and cucumbers thrown in. But a whole lot of folks,...

Testing Soil

By Tom Kovach Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests are needed because some plants prefer slightly acidic soil, while...