Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

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

Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute

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...

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Mid-season planting

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson As the saying goes “Life happens…” Maybe events have kept you from getting your garden planted early in the spring. When we...

Gardening in the Desert Using Only Rainwater

Put Your Garden to Bed for the Winter

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 an inexpensive but durable jackleg fence

Determined woman builds distinctive vertical log studio

Adventures with a portable sawmill

Yurt Magic — Building an Enchanting Instant House

Self-Reliance

Shopping to beat inflation

Make a Quick and Easy Tipi

By Bob Van Putten Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 The native peoples of North America were a very practical lot. Over the centuries they developed some...

Harvesting the wild: Acorns

By Jackie Clay Issue #79 • January/February, 2003 When I was just a little girl, I used to collect acorns by the boxfull as they fell...

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

Gee-Whiz: Ice Ages, Past and Future

Science and truth. Are they related?

A doomsday scenario to sleep on

The many benefits of garlic

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

The Great Depression — A reminiscence

Fried chicken for breakfast

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 4 — Cunning, vindictive, and one may have been a murderess

Firearms

Just because

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

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,...

Teaching a 10-year-old to shoot

By John Moody Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 In my youth, I remember my dad dragging my brother and me out of bed in the middle...

BHM hosts Appleseed marksmanship event

By Massad Ayoob Issue #139 • January/February, 2013 Long a supporter of the Appleseed concept, Backwoods Home Magazine hosted one in Gold Beach, Oregon, in second...

Preparedness

7 Mistakes of food storage

Keep the Ice On

Building and stocking your pantry

Start a fire in any weather

The fire wick fire starter

Avoiding heat illness

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...