Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

Livestock fencing for the small homesteader, part 2

the gee-whiz! page: Animals, humans, extraterrestrials, and tools

Mountain lions — Attacks are still rare, but just in case…

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

Fruit Trees

By Alice B. Yeager Fall winds down with the ripening of a Japanese persimmon known as the Fuyugaki...

Gardening in the Desert Using Only Rainwater

The ‘Chocolate Tree’ Isn’t Just for Kids

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

A river rock shower

Build a graceful footbridge

A salvaged oak floor for $5

Building David’s Cabin, Part One

Self-Reliance

Breastfeeding — Babies love it, and for good reason

SARS — Is this a glimpse of the future?

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Website Exclusive • March, 2003 Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, SARS, is a new respiratory disease that has recently infected people in...

Power Up

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P. E., C.E.M. Spring, 2019 During any emergency or related power outage, the most important electronic device you need to keep operating...

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: Sleep

Subduction zone tsunami — What the residents of the Pacific Northwest have to fear

Can we make a Tyrannosaurus rex from a chicken?

A brief history of health and medicine

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 gee-whiz! page: Animals, humans, extraterrestrials, and tools

Doesn’t anyone remember Tom Paine

Habeeb Salloum — Poet, Traveler, Recipe Writer

President George Washington’s Farewell Address

Firearms

Catch your own bait

An economical battery of guns for the backwoods home

By Massad Ayoob Issue #114 • November/December, 2008 Everything's getting more expensive. Food. Gasoline. Guns and ammunition. Not everyone who appreciates the rural lifestyle was "born...

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

By Claire Wolfe Issue #140 • March/April, 2013 My friend Jack pulled the car into a grassy clearing. We donned rubber boots, fetched a metal detector...

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,...

Preparedness

Disaster preparation!

Help your home survive in the path of a wildfire

Changing the odds in home fire protection

Power-up bag

Storm survivors

Medical kits for self-reliant families

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...