Turning a $10,000 House into a Home — Part 1: Salvaging the Wreck
By Claire Wolfe
Issue #155 • September/October, 2015
December 2012. Welcome to my house as I first saw it.
The door opens onto a dirt-floored room. It's not a garage, not a storeroom, not a laundry room,...
Build this sturdy large-capacity food dehydrator
By Charles Sanders
Issue #63 • May/June, 2000
Drying of food as a means of preservation has been around for a long time. Populations in suitably dry climates all around the globe have dried meat, fish,...
Build a barrel stove
By Nick Weston
Issue #133 • January/February, 2012
This stove kept me warm and provided an excellent cooking surface for more than six months while I lived in my treehouse.
With a bit of nip and tuck...
Build a cold smoker so you can make delicious squaw candy
By Jane Duquette
Issue #148 • July/August, 2014
For delicious squaw candy, start with the freshest fish.
One fresh July evening at our summer cabin in Soldotna, Alaska, my husband, Tom, and I sat with friends around...
Livestock fencing for the small homesteader
By Don Lewis
In 1874, a United States patent (#157,124) was issued to Joseph F. Glidden, a long-serving sheriff in DeKalb County, Illinois. His invention — possibly one of the simplest ever recorded by the...
Here’s an Easier (and Cheaper) Way to Make Wooden Beams
By Rev. J.D. Hooker
Issue #43 • January/February, 1997
I know that there are a lot of really fine products available for turning logs into lumber, from bandsaw sawmills to chainsaw attachments. I've seen a lot...
How to Install a Steel Roof
By Morgan Barker
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Issue #159 • May/June, 2016
Steel roofing isn't just for factories and barns anymore. The choice to go steel is fast gaining popularity...
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...
Shelves and benches
By David Lee
Issue #107 • September/October, 2007
Money doesn't buy happiness but it sure does buy a lot of stuff. If it is nice stuff then you need a place to display it. If it...
Gabion walls for form and function
By Joe Mooney
Issue #153 • May/June, 2015
I think there has to be something ingrained in the human brain that loves things built of stone. Maybe it's our desire for strength and safety or the...
Adventures with a portable sawmill
By Pat Barden
Issue #104 • March/April, 2007
I was raised in the suburbs and spent most of my adult life living in apartments and houses in the suburbs. Dad was career civil service and had...
How to maintain a dirt road
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #48 • November/December, 1997
It is our job to maintain two and one half miles of dirt road if we want to get into our property. We are completely surrounded by forest...
Build a homestead Copy Cart
By Charles Sanders
Issue #45 • July/August, 1997
I don't know too many homesteaders, gardeners, or small farmers who haven't at one time or another wished for one of those fancy big-wheeled garden carts. It seems...
Stairs — The next level
By Skip Thomsen
Website Exclusive • August, 2004
Any good carpenter can build a staircase. What we're talking about here is taking that staircase to the next level: beyond just a means to get from one...
Never underestimate a woman
By Dorothy Ainsworth
Issue #32 Mar/Apr 1998
(In the May/June issue , we published an article by Dorothy Ainsworth titled "Determined woman builds distinctive vertical log studio," in which Dorothy detailed how she built a beautiful...
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...































