Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

Winter in the High Desert — Understanding the music

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Grow some winter squash this year

By Lisa Nourse I love summertime — I love the green of the trees, the warm weather, and growing my own food. I especially love...

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Testing Soil

By Tom Kovach Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests...

Build an Old-Fashioned Hotbed and Start Your Seeds in Style

Solar-Powered Electric Fencing

An Introduction to Small-Scale Home Hydroponics

Secure and Economical Livestock Feed

Follow Jackie Clay-Atkinson and her husband, Will, as they homestead a 120-acre piece of northern Minnesotan woods entirely off-grid. Sharing their homestead are horses, beef cattle, a milk cow, dairy goats, chickens and turkeys.

Massad Ayoob on Guns

This blog, from a retired police captain and self-defense instructor, covers the use of different firearms, political musings, and self-defense tactics.

Building

Build a barrel stove

Build your own home in two years — Get a PhD in homebuilding

Easy awnings

Build your own repeating mouse trap

Self-Reliance

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

Everybody talks about lightning and yes, there are things you can do about it

By Albert H. Carlson Issue #37 • January/February, 1996 What was a beautiful sunny day with large white billowing clouds low on the horizon has turned...

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

By Harry Styron Issue #36 • November/December, 1995 Three boys spent several raw November days picking up black walnuts. We hoped to get a nice bit...

Animals

The homestead cat

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Raising your own beef

Fermenting Chicken Feed

Keeping homestead animals healthy

Science and Education

The world is ending! … Again?

The coming ice age

The MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

How big is the solar system?

Energy

Solar power for farm and ranch

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E. It may be surprising to learn that there are now all kinds of do-it-yourself solar powered devices specifically designed to...

Power-up bag

Amateur Ham Radio – The Ultimate Tool for Survival Communications

Keep the Ice On

Power Up

Americana and History

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Feeling nostalgic? Now you’ll rave! Here’s the story of Burma Shave.

Habeeb Salloum — Poet, Traveler, Recipe Writer

Remembering what grandma used

Firearms

1911: The classic homeland security pistol

The time for modern; the time for traditional

By Massad Ayoob Issue #137 • September/October, 2012 Traditional "old skool" guns, or the most modern and efficient ballistic hardware that money can buy? I asked...

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...

Thoughts on ammunition

By Massad Ayoob Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 Ammunition is to firearms as gasoline is to automobiles. However, with guns and ammo, the fit isn't quite...

Preparedness

10 day survival pack for your vehicle for just $25

Food security 101

Gee-Whiz: From Paper to Canning

A survival key ring — Your everyday tool for emergency preparedness

Food security 101, part 3: Why I love my vacuum sealer (and more)

Circle of friends

Articles By Dave Duffy

My View: Call Me Miracle Man!

By Dave Duffy Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Superheroes are the rage these days at movie theaters. Even I am fascinated by them. Old style heroes...