Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

Goat birthing and raising kids

Eye-catching signs with mirrors

By David Lee Issue #144 • November/December, 2013 The reflected image in the mirrored letters give a "see-through" illusion to the sign and the tree. Stained glass...

How to Resurrect Old, Rusted Tools

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,...

Grow Open Pollinated Seeds for Self-Reliant Gardening

Biological and chemical weapons through history

By John Silveira Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 The weather here on the coast of Oregon is nice almost all year-round, and there almost always seems...

The Great Depression — A reminiscence

Greens and rhubarb are spring tonics

Your kitchen pharmacy — How common culinary herbs and spices can help you feel better

Starting a Roadside Farm Stand

A solar primer — How it works, how it’s made, what it costs

Make your own biodiesel for 80¢ per gallon

Of guns and snakes

By Massad Ayoob Issue #151 • January/February, 2015 Mas safely kills a rattlesnake in a populated area. (Note angle of gun and trajectory.) Pistol is a...

Get a piece of history — An M1 Garand rifle

A used shotgun bargain: The Browning Auto-5

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

By John Silveira (aka O.E. MacDougal) May/June 2017 Backwoods Home The greatest inventions in history are the ones we now take for granted. Fire and the...

The gee-whiz! page — Cats: Why they rule our world

Three more ways the world can end … and I’m not...

The MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

The Newtown atrocity and “gun control”

Which is better, a small town or city?

My View: Gaining an Appreciation for Risk

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

By Kristina Seleshanko Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Something we heard a lot when we first started raising chickens in the suburbs was, “For the cost...

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...

Goat birthing and raising kids

Raising quail — A home grown delicacy

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

The coffee mug knife sharpener

Protein — The Cornerstone of a Survival Diet

Emergency planning beyond the bug-out bag

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, and he's a happy little man. He's not alone. Many...

Gardening the Year ‘Round

By Alice B. Yeager Website Exclusive • September, 2006 Normally, we gardeners tend to make plans to begin planting our gardens during early spring. We select vegetables such as garden peas, lettuce, mustard, radishes, onions, and...