Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Animals

Redworm farming

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

Bottle-raise a calf

Llamas guarding sheep? — Not such a far-fetched idea

Building

A recycled dresser makes a useful bathroom vanity

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson Issue #152 • March/April, 2015 Here's the finished vanity with our unfinished dresser that will store our extra towels and linens. We've had our log...

Making and using a solar cooker

Build a lean-to greenhouse

We built John Silveira’s chicken coop/garden

Radiant floor heating — Alternative to forced-air heating is solar-powered, too...

Farm and Garden

For Extra Production, Try Mound Gardening

By Edward Love Johnson Issue #44 • March/April, 1997 I began experimenting with mound gardening several years ago, due to limited garden space. Then as time...

The Potato Hole

Start a Self-Sufficiency Garden Even in a Cramped Apartment

Meat For the Homestead

How to become a backyard beekeeper

Americana and History

Presidents’ wives of the past Part 3

By John Silveira Issue #34 • July/August, 1995 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) Do I...

Emancipation Proclamation by Historical Document

Farm baseball … with ghost runners!

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

The vanishing outhouse

Food and recipes

Crabapple jelly

Salmon candy and pickles — Two unique ways to enjoy your next catch

Grilled Steak with Olive-Blue Cheese Sauce

Wheat

Self-reliance

I heat my house by burning corn

Teaching the joy of reading

Teach speed reading to your children even if you can’t speed read yourself

Food security 101: part 2

Energy

Energy class: Part 1

Solar Power 101: Inverters

Solar power trailer Part 1

Amateur Ham Radio – The Ultimate Tool for Survival Communications

Guns and Hunting

Firearms handling refresher Part I: Handguns

By Massad Ayoob Website Exclusive • December, 2003 One of our readers e-mailed John Silveira to tell him that taking a handgun afield after a long...

How to shoot a handgun accurately

How long should your gun’s barrel length be?

Hiding a gun — The rules of three

Understanding the gun debate, part 3

Science

Gee-Whiz: Insects

By O. E. MacDougal November/December 2015, Backwoods Home Some 400 million years ago, in the Devonian Period, insects evolved from crustaceans. Since that time, they have...