Building Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Choosing a chain saw

By Steven Gregersen Issue #119 •September/October, 2009 Winter will be here soon and along with winter comes cold weather and high heating bills. Obviously there's nothing new about any of this but with the current economic...

Building David’s Cabin, Part One

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #172 • July/August, 2018 Like most young folks today, our son David graduated high school, got a job, and went to college (accumulating student loans in the process). After that, he worked...

Build a Vertical Storage Rack for Cans

By Monika Williams Issue #155 • September/October, 2015 I am always trying to come up with different ways to utilize the small space I have to store food. Then there is the problem of rotating my...

Vise Dremel Moto Tool mount

By Dana Martin Batory Issue #84 • November/December, 2003 Sometimes it seems two hands are not enough—three would be nice, four even better. This economical, easy to build jig solves that common workshop problem. Designed to...

Build an attached solar greenhouse

By David Lee Issue #125 • September/October, 2010 We planned it to be permanent, well built, and able to withstand the extremes of temperature, humidity, and weather a greenhouse must tolerate inside and out for many...

Renovating old walls

By David Lee Issue #106 • July/August, 2007 Some years ago my wife and I were out searching for a new building lot when we fell into The Trap. We had recently built and sold a...

We built John Silveira’s chicken coop/garden

By Suzy Lowry Geno Website Exclusive • April, 2007 I have what seems like mountains of great "fertilizer" from my barn full of English Angora rabbits. But between my work as a newspaper editor and caring...

Build a pizza oven

By Mike Lorenzen Issue #143 • September/October, 2013 About a year ago, my wife and I traveled around Italy by car. We had lots of wood-fired pizza. Italians make their pizza very thin with some sauce,...

Yurt Magic — Building an Enchanting Instant House

By Claire Wolfe Issue #76 • July/August, 2002 I awoke last night to a circle of moonlight reflected on a wall. It was so vivid I could almost see the dark-and-light patterns of the moonface in...

A simple backwoods hay baler

By Rev. J.D. Hooker Issue #82 • July/August, 2003 During the winter months, Steve and his wife Tandy feed between 120 and 150 bales of hay to a herd of pretty high-quality dairy goats on their...

Build a holz hausen to dry firewood

By Doug Fluckiger Issue #132 • November/December, 2011 My secret passion is tall, dark, and handsome. I may find her lying luxuriantly among a dark grove of firs. She may be standing proudly on a sunny...

Make a fully functional cold storage pit/mound and enjoy your garden’s production all winter

By Armand O. Deblois Issue #47 • September/October, 1997 Cold stored fruits and vegetables are the next best thing to fresh-picked. Flavor and texture change little and nutritional value remains high. They keep for an amazingly...

Build your own portable forge

By Corcceigh Green Issue #51 • May/June, 1998 Looking for a handy summer project while building skills, supplies, and knowledge to put away for a rainy future? Here's one to consider: try making your own forge....

Build a deluxe barrel stove

By David Lee Issue #108 • November/December, 2007 Winter is coming again, pretty much on schedule in spite of global warming, and it will be cold, just like always. Having a reliable heating system makes winter...

Build a Trail

By Claire Wolfe Standing near the top of the trail, looking down. The bright sunny spot in the middle distance will be the site of my future camping "pagoda;" it will...

Build a Simple, Inexpensive Greenhouse

By Jennifer Poindexter Issue #157 • January/February, 2016 Since my family is homesteading on a budget, the task of building a greenhouse had to be done as inexpensively as possible. Luckily, my husband is extremely crafty;...