Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Raising quail — A home grown delicacy

Hog butchering — Using everything but the squeal

Goat birthing and raising kids

A salvaged oak floor for $5

By Robert L. Williams Issue #59 • September/October, 1999 Several months ago we decided we did not want to install a traditional bedroom floor of plywood...

Adventures with a portable sawmill

Build a 6500-gallon concrete water tank for $1500

How safe is your electric fence?

The poor man’s ceramic knife sharpener

Time to Forget About Snail and Slug Bait

By Lyle Dykes Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 Years ago when traveling on business, I looked out of the window of my motel one morning in...

Tomatoes, the Essential Garden Crop

Solar-Powered Electric Fencing

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...

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

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

My garden — A springboard of food, pleasure, and history

Water development for the homestead: Ponds, cisterns, and tanks

10 ways to make money on your land

Pysanki — You can make those biddies pay!

Design calculations for no-head, low-head waterwheels

Make your own biodiesel for 80¢ per gallon

Big boomer guns

By Massad Ayoob Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 For you long time readers, I know what you're thinkin'"Hey, isn't this the guy who within the last...

Firearms and cold weather considerations

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

Can we make a Tyrannosaurus rex from a chicken?

By John Silveira Issue #169 • January/February, 2018 Do you have chickens, ducks, turkeys, or geese in your yard? They’re not “just birds” because scientists now...

Science and truth. Are they related?

A brief history of health and medicine

Armed citizens: the deterrent factor

Planning the lives of generations to come

Here are some answers to often-asked questions of anti-gunners

Perspectives on the George Zimmerman/Trayvon Martin shooting

Build a poultry killing cone

By Allen Easterly Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 You've worked hard and spent many hours raising your pretty flock of meat chickens from eggs or chicks...

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...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Build a chicken feeder on the cheep cheep cheep

For safety’s sake, homestead fuel storage must be handled properly

Plant Your Trees in the Spring

By Tom Kovach Issue #61 • January/February, 2000 Winter is a good time to plan your spring tree plantings, deciding what and where you want to plant. When spring arrives you'll be ready. Spring is the best...

Vermicomposting — Raise Worms to Consume Waste, Amend Soil, and Earn Income

By Rebekah L. Cowell Photos by Amanda Egdorf-Sand Issue #124 • July/August, 2010 Vermicomposting takes composting to another level using Eisenia foetida (commonly known as red wiggler, brandling, or manure worms) to break down organic matter such...