Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

The art of living in small spaces

Tips for finding your affordable home

James Polk — A model for modern presidents

Turn your passion into a business

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...

Grow some winter squash this year

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

How to Grow Garlic

By Melissa Souza Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 Garlic is easy and rewarding to grow. I use it throughout the year, as it is extremely easy...

Use Plastic to Get a Head Start on Corn in the...

Green or Yellow: Grow Your Best Bush Beans Ever

A Child’s Garden — More than Child’s Play

Leafy Green Vegetables — The Underrated Heroes of the Garden

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

Woodbarrow

Here’s how to make a musical bamboo flute

Build a cold smoker so you can make delicious squaw candy

A river rock shower

Self-Reliance

Lessons learned from an ice storm

Cut your grocery bill in half

By C. M. Hudman Issue #53 • September/October, 1998 There was a time when I despised grocery shopping. Every time I walked into a grocery store...

Garden injuries Part 2

By Joseph Alton, M.D. Issue #141 • May/June, 2013 In the last issue of Backwoods Home, we discussed some of the hazards encountered by the homesteading...

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 MTHFR mutation and why it may matter to you

The ‘risks’ with Swine Flu

Zombie Apocalypse

The coming ice age

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

From Martha and Abigail to Dolley and Louisa, America’s earliest First Ladies were fascinating

Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an unsung colonial heroine?

Fried chicken for breakfast

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

Firearms

An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home

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,...

The M1A — A rifle that makes a statement

By Massad Ayoob Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 I take the Springfield Armory rifle out of the box, and savor it. I seldom do that with...

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

Frostbite — Don’t flirt with this sneaky danger

The 7 core areas of preparedness

Caring for wounds in the field

Survival storeroom

Moving on: A small town can be a haven during a depression

10 day survival pack for your vehicle for just $25

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...