Farm and garden Archives - Backwoods Home Magazine

Time to Forget About Snail and Slug Bait

By Lyle Dykes Issue #135 • May/June, 2012 Years ago when traveling on business, I looked out of the window of my motel one morning in Newport, Oregon, and noticed a little Chinese lady flipping over...

Build a Heated Germination Bed

By Charles Sanders Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 Many of us who garden have learned the benefits of starting our own vegetable and flower plants. There are several benefits to having a spot to start your...

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 own plants from seeds. One of my favorite winter pastimes...

Swiss Chard — The Leaf Vegetable That Keeps on Giving!

By Raymond Nones Issue #92 • March/April, 2005 For years every spring I planted spinach in my garden. For those who have never tasted home grown spinach, there is a world of difference between its taste...

Garden Spaces for Small Places

By Dorothy Ainsworth Issue #116 • March/April, 2009 When the world wearies and society ceases to satisfy, there is always the garden. Minnie Aumonier Yes, and if your budget is lean and you want something green, there's...

Fermenting Chicken Feed

By Melissa Souza Issue #174 • November/December, 2018 On our homestead, we eat yogurt, kombucha (fermented tea), sauerkraut, and kimchi to add probiotics to our diet. These beneficial bacteria promote good digestive health, strengthen the immune...

Prevent Foodborne Illness with Safe Gardening Methods

By Donna Insco  Issue #158 March/April, 2016 According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website, "CDC estimates that each year roughly 1 in 6 Americans (or 48 million people) get sick, 128,000 are hospitalized, and...

No Worrying About Fire Blight with Orient and Kieffer Pears

By Alice B. Yeager Issue #52 • July/August, 1998 Everyone likes a good success story, and if I were called upon to name the most successful tree in our small orchard I'd have to say it's...

Gardening the Year ‘Round

By Alice B. Yeager Website Exclusive • September, 2006 Normally, we gardeners tend to make plans to begin planting our gardens during early spring. We select vegetables such as garden peas, lettuce, mustard, radishes, onions, and...

Tea for the garden

By Lisa Nourse We have poor soil and do our best to amend it with compost and manure every year. However, we feel our plants still need a boost throughout the growing season. We like...

Gardening for Treasure

By Alice B. Yeager Tomatoes are a boon to mankind in health benefits. It doesn't matter whether they are the large or small varieties. Issue #93 • May/June, 2005 When we dig in...

Sweet Potato Greens

By Tim Scullen Issue #168 • November/December, 2017 By now, you’ve no doubt figured out how good chard, spinach, and kale are for you. But did you know that sweet potato leaves are loaded with vitamins...

Exotic Plants for the Homestead

By Corcceigh Green Issue #85 • January/February, 2004 Isn't it funny how even the things we step on while walking on the lawn have value? I learned this first hand last summer as I discovered some...

Making Apple Cider with a Homemade Press

By Robert Van Putten Issue #170 • March/April, 2018 Apples are an important food resource for us. Every year we store hundreds of pounds in our root cellar where they will keep for up to six...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

By Kristina Seleshanko Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Something we heard a lot when we first started raising chickens in the suburbs was, “For the cost of raising those birds, you could buy an awful lot...

Tomatoes, the Essential Garden Crop

By Charles Sanders Issue #123 • May/June, 2010 Tomatoes are one of the most favored of all garden crops. They originated in South America, but in the early 1500s were taken back to Italy. Today, many...