A Republic vs. A Democracy
By John Silveira
Issue #90 • November/December, 2004
He was in the other office when I heard his voice. But he was getting closer and closer and then he came through the door into the editorial...
Energy class: Part 1
By Jeffrey Yago, P.E., CEM
Issue #111 • May/June, 2008
Each fall when my dad took us to the State Fair, we could always count on this fast-talking salesman standing next to his car with a...
Biological & chemical terrorism
By Dave Duffy
Issue #73 • January/February, 2002
More than 5,000 American civilians lay entombed in the World Trade Center wreckage and more than 20,000 are taking antibiotics to fight off anthrax. America wages war against...
Couponing, refunding, and stockpiling will make your money stretch
By Mary Kenyon
Issue #92 • March/April, 2005
Seven years ago, when my brother John helped us move into our current country home, he commented wryly, "If you ever fill those cupboards upstairs I don't want...
How to shoot a handgun accurately
By Massad Ayoob
Issue #85 • January/February, 2004
"I want you to do an article on how to shoot a handgun accurately," Dave Duffy told me. "Make it 2,500 or 3,000 words."
Long ago, I would have...
Pistachios — Historic and healthy nuts
By Habeeb Salloum
Issue #125 • September/October, 2010
Pistachios (Pistacia vera), whose name derives from the Persian word pisteh, is believed to have originated in Iran. For thousands of years they thrived in western Asia, in...
Raising your own beef for your family
By Charles Sanders
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
For most homesteaders, the raising of livestock plays a crucial role in the home based economy. The types of livestock which you choose to include on your own...
Elderberries — Hospitality, Health, And Beauty
By Gail Butler
Issue #124 • July/August, 2010
When friends stop by for a visit I like to offer them a hospitable and healthful libation of elderberry cordial. When served in a small aperitif glass or...
Shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and creating with Margaret Boos
By Annie Duffy
Issue #52 • July/August, 1998
"If you're going to make something that you want to last, why not start with good quality material," says Margaret Boos who raises and spins her own wool....
Chilies rellenos
Recipe of the Week
Chilies rellenos
Courtesy of
Jackie Clay
You'll find this recipe and over 400 more in Backwoods Home Cooking.Click Here
Ingredients
8 large Big Jim, Poblano, or Relleno chilies, green and roasted
1 16-oz. can tomatoes
1 small onion,...
Canning chickens for the pantry
By Samantha Biggers
Issue #135 • May/June, 2012
For the past three years my husband and I have raised Cornish Cross broilers in chicken tractors on our farm in western North Carolina. This past year we...
Reaching for the stars during a recession
By Dave Duffy
Issue #125 • September/October, 2010
Toby is the volunteer assistant golf coach for the team this magazine sponsors, the Gold Beach High School Panthers. He has spent hundreds of hours of his own...
Why oil and other fossil fuels are good
By John Silveira
Issue #152 • March/April, 2015
Last issue I concluded The Last Word saying I'd "... talk about the myth of oil destroying the environment." But between issues I thought about it and realized...
Bread — The staff of life
By Jackie Clay
Issue #78 • November/December, 2002
In today's hurry-up, prosperous world, bread has come to mean that white, pasty stuff you buy in the store and slap together into boring, equally tasteless sandwiches. Or...
Lenie in the kitchen: Lemon scones, pound cake, and pie
Lenie in the kitchen
Lemon scones, pound cake, and pie
By Ilene Duffy
Issue #165 • May/June, 2017
How did 28 years go by so quickly? It was a beautiful fall evening in November 1989 when I took...
Creating and maintaining your own sourdough starter
By Emily Buehler
Issue #97 • January/February, 2006
Most people know about sourdough starter—it can be used instead of yeast to make bread rise, resulting in bread with a sour flavor and a chewier texture. Bakers...