Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Build a chicken feeder on the cheep cheep cheep

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

Build a graceful footbridge

By Harrison Stone Issue #77 • September/October, 2002 Tap your heels together three times and repeat after me, "There is no place like homeThere is no...

For summertime baking needs, build yourself an outdoor horno

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

Build your own repeating mouse trap

Home-Grown Eggs

By Allen Easterly Issue #165 • May/June, 2017 Maybe you’ve thought about keeping a few chickens for their eggs but didn’t want to be awakened at...

Rotten Luck: The Skinny on Composting

Grow some winter squash this year

The time-travel ad

By John Silveira Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 It's become a minor Internet phenomenon. The ad reads: It's also been read by Jay Leno on his late...

Declaration of Independence: The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States...

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

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

Energy class: Part 2 — Understanding your electric bill

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

Keep those gadgets working after the power goes out

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

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 Like many another rural person, I've often found a firearm to be my most important tool. No,...

How to shoot a handgun accurately

The M1A — A rifle that makes a statement

Science and truth. Are they related?

By John Silveira Issue #46 • July/August, 1997 It was an argument about science. Dave and I were on one side, Dave's friends Tom and Bill,...

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

The MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

The world’s least-free country

ID cards are an idea whose time should never come

Training for the Boston Marathon

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...

Raising quail — A home grown delicacy

By Allen Easterly Issue #101 • September/October, 2006 Raising quail is inexpensive, easy, provides very healthy low-fat white meat, and supplies the fertilizer you need for...

Protein — The Cornerstone of a Survival Diet

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...

Exotic Plants for the Homestead

By Corcceigh Green Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Isn't it funny how even the things we step on while walking on the lawn have value? I learned this first hand last summer as I discovered some...