Articles - Backwoods Home Magazine

Animals

Shearing, carding, spinning, weaving and creating with Margaret Boos

Protein — The Cornerstone of a Survival Diet

Slaughtering and Butchering

Are aliens stealing our honeybees?

Building

Build a compost tumbler

By Joe Mooney Issue #151 • January/February, 2015 A few years back, I caught myself becoming a bit frustrated with my compost pile. It seemed that...

Build your own log home in the woods

Build a poultry killing cone

For summertime baking needs, build yourself an outdoor horno

A Kid-Friendly Chicken Coop

Farm and Garden

Secure and Economical Livestock Feed

By Sherry Willis Issue #145 • January/February, 2014 The recent droughts in the midwest have meant hard times for many livestock owners. Areas without irrigation saw...

Home-Grown Eggs

Growing Productive Strawberries

Garden Seeds — A Great Winter Pastime

Companion Planting

Americana and History

Former first ladies — Beautiful, brilliant, crazy

By John Silveira Issue #30 • November/December, 1994 (This is a four-part series. Click the links to navigate to parts one, two, three, and four.) (When we...

Quilts — Masterpieces of the heart and windows into women’s history

James Polk — A model for modern presidents

Was the first government gun confiscation attempt foiled by an unsung...

Emancipation Proclamation by Historical Document

Food and recipes

Greens and rhubarb are spring tonics

Baked Cod with Summer Squash

Canning 101 — Pickles, fruits, jams, jellies, etc.

Bologna sandwiches and roasted rabbit

Self-reliance

Stashing Junk Silver for Bad Times

Make a quilt out of Levis

Roger Clark: Cane syrup maker

10 country do’s and don’ts

Energy

Grid-tie solar-powered farm

Solar Power 101: Inverters

Solar charge controllers — myths, hype, and facts

Dim bulbs in California

Guns and Hunting

Picking a holster

By Massad Ayoob Issue #69 • May/June, 2001 One good thing about being out in the boonies by yourself is that you can carry a gun...

Firearms handling refresher Part III: Rifles

Tailoring guns to females

Women and guns

Reload your own brass

Science

Testing Soil

By Tom Kovach Issue #119 • September/October, 2009 Testing the soil content of a garden is very important and is quite easy to do. Soil tests...

Gee-Whiz: Presidents

Gee-Whiz: Insects

The world is ending! … Again?

Subduction zone tsunami — What the residents of the Pacific Northwest...

Politics and Commentary

Putting it all on the Amtrak line for Self-Reliance magazine

Getting rich through generosity

My View: Jury duty: The charge was rape

How to fix your aching back using the McKenzie Method

Animals

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...

Brooder in a box

By Sylvia Gist Issue #80 • March/April, 2003 It's spring and the farm store has a tempting variety of baby chicks begging for you to take...

Once a day milking

Build a chicken feeder on the cheep cheep cheep

Forget the dog, chicken is man’s best friend

Is that a good pig?

Self-Reliance

Get out of debt, stay out of debt

How to Resurrect Old, Rusted Tools

Start a post-construction cleaning business

Woodstove cooking

Farm and Garden

Use Non-Hybrid Seeds and Save Big Bucks in This Year’s Garden

By Jackie Clay Issue #51 • May/June, 1998 Every person who is striving for self-reliance should, and most do, plant a garden from which to raise a good portion of their own food. But how many...

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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...

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