Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Animals

Bovine basics for beginners

Animal disease traceability

Bottle-raise a calf

Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead

Building

Rural Building

By Martin Harris Issue #63 • May/June, 2000 Q. We have just purchased 15 acres, and our question is how to install our septic system, how...

This coop is for the birds

Build a ski sled

Install rafters alone the easy way

Make your own lumber with a chainsaw mill

Farm and Garden

Blueberry Cash Crop

By Ed Mashburn Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 My almost two-year-old grandson loves blueberries. Put a bowl of those round blue jewels in front of him,...

For Extra Production, Try Mound Gardening

Saving Seeds

Tea for the garden

Your Manure Pile — For Fuel, Fertilizer, and Maybe Even Improved...

Americana and History

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

By Don Lewis Issue #176 • April/May/June, 2019 The year was 1834, a year that didn’t really stand out as all that particularly important in American...

James Polk — A model for modern presidents

Grandpa’s justice

Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an unsung...

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

Food and recipes

Cool dishes for formal summer dining

Dublin Coddle

Homemade healthy soba noodles

More tips and tricks for the kitchen

Self-reliance

Preparing for winter

Power Up

Building and stocking your pantry

Pysanki — You can make those biddies pay!

Energy

Water pumping windmills

Dim bulbs in California

Emergency solar power for $950

Phantom solar — The crucial invisible system needed before you install solar

Guns and Hunting

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

By Massad Ayoob Issue #136 • July/August, 2012 The person new to guns is like the person new to timepieces. "How many of these things are...

Sight and sound enhancement

Building the coyote rifle

Inexpensive retired Russian military rifles can be the ideal backwoods meat...

How to shoot a handgun accurately

Science

The world is ending! … Again?

By John Silveira Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 People love to talk about scary stuff. Especially when it's end-of-the-world scary, such as the big asteroid recently...