Home canning safety tips
By Liz Case
Issue #66 • November/December, 2000
Like many who were born shortly after World War II, I grew up in a family with a solidly "city" lifestyle. My mother saw canning as drudgery. For...
Moving to the wilderness — Turning the dream to reality
By Jackie Clay
Issue #36 • November/December, 1995
The Dream An increasing number of folks are having the same dream today: get a piece of land isolated from the stress and pollution of civilization, and...
Buy your country place from the government
By Dorothy Cady
Issue #54 • November/December, 1998
While looking for your place in the country, you've probably been researching real estate books, newspaper ads, and maybe even using the Internet. You may have even considered...
Everybody talks about lightning and yes, there are things you can do about it
By Albert H. Carlson
Issue #37 • January/February, 1996
What was a beautiful sunny day with large white billowing clouds low on the horizon has turned progressively darker. The clouds are now almost black, and the...
How to use those leftovers
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #58 • July/August, 1999
Congratulations! You've worked hard and have enough food stored away to feed your family, possibly for a year or more. Now, go to your store room, pick up...
Reflecting on a life in the woods, and looking ahead
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #60 • November/December, 1999
It is a good life here on the old homestead. We've worked hard, and we are enjoying the fruits of our labor. It was tough digging the holes...
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...
Remembering what grandma used
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
My grandmother, Mary Etta Dillman Graham, was one of those frontier women who took life as it came; extremely practical, resourceful and inventive, she was always, always ready...
Here are some tasty ways to use those end-of-season green tomatoes
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #41 • September/October, 1996
That gentle nip in the autumn air feels pleasant to your cheeks, but it also means that one more tomato season is about to come to an end....
Ambidextrous chainsaw filing
By Thomas Brewer
Issue #57 • May/June, 1999
I am not ambidextrous. My wife, Judith, uses chopsticks with either hand or even both hands at once. She is ambidextrous. I can barely write with my right...
Some thoughts on growing older in the backwoods
By Marjorie Burris
Issue #16 • July/August, 1992
"Just how long are you going to be able to live in the backwoods like that?" my friend, Pat, asked. "You're not getting any younger, you know!"
I've known...
Based on years of personal experience, here are 10 good tips for homeschooling your...
By Mary Jo Bratton
Issue #41 • September/October, 1996
Are you considering homeschooling your children, but don't know where to start? The following 10 tips will help answer some of your questions.
Read, read, read
But don't read...
Free pallet wood and birdhouses add up to big country dollars
By Rick Brentlinger
Issue #53 • September/October, 1998
If I could show you how to manufacture a product anywhere in the country and if I offered to find you the raw materials free, would you be...
CHILI MANIA — This all-American food came out of Texas to conquer the whole...
By Richard Blunt
Issue #64 • July/August, 2000
Whenever you discuss peppery issues like religion or politics your emotions and blood pressure are at risk of running high. This is because the conversation is likely doomed...
Grandma will love this personal ‘Helping Hands’ wall hanging
By Sally Boulding
Issue #46 • July/August, 1997
Here's a relatively easy gift that you and your child can make together. The instructions here are to make a wall hanging or a lap blanket, but consider...
More tips and tricks for the kitchen
By Richard Blunt
Issue #62 • March/April, 2000
(This is a follow-up to Richard Blunt's article, Tips and tricks for the kitchen, Issue #60, Nov/Dec. 1999.)
After years of watching my mother prepare thousands of wonderful foods...