Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead

Three Raised Bed Designs

By Joe Mooney Issue #150 • November/December, 2014 When it comes to gardening, almost anything can be used to create a raised bed. Tires, blocks, rocks,...

Adventures with a portable sawmill

Build A Hybrid Go-Kart For Kids For $150

Build an attached solar greenhouse

Okra — Not Just for the South

By Alice B. Yeager Photos by James O. Yeager Issue #58 • July/August, 1999 No one is quite sure about how okra seeds came to this country....

The greatest American who was never President

By John Silveira Issue #60a • November/December, 1999 "The election's next year, right?" I asked. Dave Duffy, the publisher of Backwoods Home Magazine, was editing a rather...

George Washington Carver — He wrote the book on self-reliance

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

Just for Kids: Some farinaceous folly

Just for Kids: Life in the forest

A view of self-reliance from a more timid perspective — A woman’s opinion

Just for Kids: Sun-kabobs and solar sizzle

Build your own solar-powered water pumping station

Are hydrogen-fueled cars pie-in-the-sky?

Firearms and cold weather considerations

By Massad Ayoob Issue #79 • January/February, 2003 Many of our readers have established their abodes in places which, during the winter months, do not exactly...

A used shotgun bargain: The Browning Auto-5

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

The world is coming to an end… and this time, I’m...

By John Silveira Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 If you haven't already heard, on September 10, 2008, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), located on the border...

Subduction zone tsunami — What the residents of the Pacific Northwest...

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

Let’s stop apologizing for guns

Biological & chemical terrorism

Reflections on the Second Amendment

How to buy your first sheep without getting shorn

By Anita Evangelista Issue #32 • March/April, 1995 Multimillionaire J. Paul Getty was once asked the secret of becoming rich. He's reported to have said, "I...

Goat birthing and raising kids

By Jackie Clay Issue #112 • July/August, 2008 Dairy goats form one of the cornerstones of our homestead. Not only do they provide milk, cheese, ice...

Llamas guarding sheep? — Not such a far-fetched idea

A contrary guide to feeding animals

Protein — The Cornerstone of a Survival Diet

Learning to love the high desert

Frostbite — Don’t flirt with this sneaky danger

Save Time and Energy with the Fenced Chicken Coop/Garden

By John Silveira Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 My engineer father was not fond of wasting time or energy. He was always searching for a better, more efficient way to perform chores, especially chores that reoccurred...

Meat For the Homestead

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 Meat is often the most expensive portion of our grocery bill, and it is getting more and more expensive every day. I've seen steaks "on sale" for more...