Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

How to buy your first sheep without getting shorn

Dorothy Ainsworth update: Out of the ashes

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #38 • March/April, 1996 I got the dreadful call from my son Eric at 2 p.m. on June 29th, 1995, an hour...

Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute

Five building tricks for super strong framing

Companion Planting

By Beverly Mettot Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 Companion planting is nothing new, and yet in recent years it has made an extraordinary comeback, not only...

Starting a Roadside Farm Stand

Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

By Robert L. Williams Issue #19 • January/February, 1993 Many years ago, before I came to my senses and left public education for good, I was...

Quilts — Masterpieces of the heart and windows into women’s history

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

Canning 101 — Pickles, fruits, jams, jellies, etc.

In the classroom and at home, this system will help you grow self-reliant kids

Boost your income by adding a processing step to what you sell

Homeschooling through high school

Just for Kids: Killing some time (Create an afternoon time warp)

Converting a Gasoline-Powered Rototiller to Electric

Use the right ammunition!

By Massad Ayoob Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 The purpose of the gun is to fire ammunition. It follows that the ammunition should be the correct...

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home

The coming ice age

By John Silveira Issue #86 • March/April, 2004 As little as 30 years ago the talk wasn't about global warming, it was about an imminent ice...

Avian Flu — How afraid of this

Science and truth. Are they related?

A doomsday scenario to sleep on

Activists on both the left and the right spotlight a broken federal government

Losing our rights as we watch television

Reaching for the stars during a recession

Goat birthing and raising kids

By Jackie Clay Issue #112 • July/August, 2008 Dairy goats form one of the cornerstones of our homestead. Not only do they provide milk, cheese, ice...

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...

Chickens — The most valuable animal on the homestead

Mountain lions — Attacks are still rare, but just in case…

Raising your own beef for your family

Cash in on your household junk

How to organize an outdoor canning party

Clover — From Livestock Forage to Medicinal Tea, This Humble Plant is One of...

By Eugene Mitchell Issue #130 • July/August, 2011 Whether young or old, lying in the grass and searching for four-leafed clovers is timeless fun. Sometimes they're so elusive, like the leprechaun, it seems they don't exist....

Growing Potatoes in Straw

By Habeeb Salloum Issue #100 • July/August, 2006 Virtually unknown to people in other parts of the world, the inhabitants in the Northern European countries have for hundreds of years grown potatoes above ground in straw...