Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Animals

Keeping homestead animals healthy

Goat birthing and raising kids

Finding, buying, milking, and living with the family milk cow

Redworm farming

Building

Radiant floor heating — Alternative to forced-air heating is solar-powered, too...

By Michael Hackleman Issue #64 • July/August, 2000 Hydronic, or radiant floor heating is a method of heating a home, shop, or other building with the...

Install rafters alone the easy way

Build a log crib

Build a ski sled

Herb Boxes from Fence Boards

Farm and Garden

Seven tactics for planning next year’s garden

By Kristina Seleshanko There are few things I enjoy more than snuggling up next to the woodstove with a cup of coffee and my garden...

Naughty Peppers

Grow Open-Pollinated Tomatoes

Caring for your chickens in winter

Plant Your Trees in the Spring

Americana and History

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

By John Silveira Issue #30 • November/December, 1994 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) (When we...

Catfish Biscuits

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

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

The vanishing outhouse

Food and recipes

Canning meat plus how to use your canned meat

Turning to turmeric

Chicken and dumpling stew

Basic chicken broth

Self-reliance

Foraging for wild berries

Make elderberry syrup for flu season

Stashing Junk Silver for Bad Times

Make a quilt out of Levis

Energy

Grid-tied, Grid-connected, Off-grid. What’s the difference?

Solar hot water systems

Design calculations for overshot waterwheels

Standby battery charging techniques can ensure engine startups

Guns and Hunting

Air power superiority

When a well-placed shot is required, when stealth and quiet are called for, an air rifle may be the best option. By Gary Lewis Issue #151 • January/February,...

Of guns and snakes

Canning game meat

Military surplus and military “clone” rifles

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

Science

How big is the solar system?

By John Silveira Issue #60 • November/December, 1999 In artists' renderings of the solar system we often see the sun represented by a small sphere with...