Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

Goat birthing and raising kids

Build a Groundhog Snare

By Allen Easterly Issue #98 • March/April, 2006 In just a few minutes your completed snare is ready to put an end to your groundhog woes....

Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars

Here’s an Easier (and Cheaper) Way to Make Wooden Beams

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....

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

From Martha and Abigail to Dolley and Louisa, America’s earliest First...

By John Silveira Issue #29 • September/October, 1994 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) It was...

Farm baseball … with ghost runners!

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

the gee-whiz! page: Animals, humans, extraterrestrials, and tools

Canning chickens for the pantry

Easy-to-make reusable coffee filters

Get out of debt, stay out of debt

Stashing Junk Silver for Bad Times

Battery powered weekend retreat

Get the most out of your vehicle and your maintenance dollar

Choose your ammo… police style

By Massad Ayoob Issue #93 • May/June, 2005 One of our greatest modern gun experts, Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, Ret., once made the observation that...

The subtleties of safe firearms handling

Firearms handling refresher Part I: Handguns

Gee-Whiz: Alcohol

By O.E. MacDougal Backwoods Home Did early man first cultivate grains just to get drunk? The brewing of beer is older than civilization and goes back at...

The threat of electromagnetic pulse!

The MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

Planning the lives of generations to come

Lessons for My Children, Chapter 2: Statistics, history, and the rise of the Underground Economy

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

By Karen McGeorge Sanders Issue #19 • January/February, 1993 It seems that farmers always need an extra pair of hands, but finding the money to pay...

Broody biddies make sense on the homestead

By James Kash Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 Broodiness is an avian behavior that is frowned upon in the world of agriculture. All industrial agriculturalists cull...

Raising cattle on your own place

Dorper sheep — Revolutionizing the meat sheep industry

Shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and creating with Margaret Boos

Water: a safe supply when you’re off the grid

I heat my house by burning corn

Tips for finding your affordable home

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...

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, and scrap lumber are just a few of the most...