Home - Backwoods Home Magazine

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

Commonsense preparedness just makes sense

Practical Ideas for Self-Reliant Living

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

By Linda Gabris When I was growing up in the rural woods, Grandpa and I did a lot of fishing from spring through fall so...

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Grow some winter squash this year

Garden Seeds — A Great Winter Pastime

By Jackie Clay Issue #67 • January/February, 2001 Start your garden this year while the snow is still on the ground. I start all of my...

Growing and Using Bamboo on the Homestead

Exotic Plants for the Homestead

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

This coop is for the birds

Dorothy Ainsworth update: Out of the ashes

Choosing a chain saw

Build a lean-to greenhouse

Self-Reliance

With commonsense planning, you can survive hard times

An Introduction to Small-Scale Home Hydroponics

By Ben Richards Issue #154 • July/August, 2015 As most people are already aware, hydroponics is the practice of growing plants without soil. This is done...

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

By Brent Stainer These firefighters fought hard to save this house, but the best...

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?

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

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

The world is coming to an end… and this time, I’m not kidding

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

Biological and chemical weapons through history

Catfish Biscuits

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

Oregon Trail preparedness: What supplies did the settlers carry?

Firearms

Frontier style handguns for the modern backwoods home

Firearms handling refresher Part II: Shotguns

By Massad Ayoob Website Exclusive • December, 2003 In Part I, we began a series of refreshers on safety and proper handling of firearms. This time,...

Savage Model 110 — A proven economical backwoods rifle

By Massad Ayoob Website Exclusive • July, 2008 Fifty years ago, Savage Arms introduced a new bolt-action sporting rifle. In the gun world, this was news....

Choose your ammo… police style

By Massad Ayoob Issue #93 • May/June, 2005 One of our greatest modern gun experts, Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper, USMC, Ret., once made the observation that...

Preparedness

The Five “P”s: A fire evacuation grab ‘n’ go kit

Avoiding heat illness

Preparing for a Temporary Catastrophe

No dentist? Oh, no!

Build a community assistance recharging station

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

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...