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A Backwoods Home Anthology — The Thirteenth Year
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DEPARTMENTS
6  Publisher’s Note

7  Editorial: Which is better: a small town or city?

73  Ask Jackie: Canning safety, vertical log homes, achieving independence, cast-iron cookware, homesteading books, and more

62  Ayoob on Firearms: What’s this “Glock” thing all about?

19  Living the outlaw life: Soothed into losing: Politicians, lies, and the Second Amendment

58   Poem: Jim Thomas

60  Irreverent joke page

43  The gee-whiz! page

78  Book Review The Ballad of Carl Drega

80  Letters

86   Advertiser Index

82  Classified ads (pdf)

82  Classified ad form

91-97   BHM anthologies, CD_ROMs, & books

88-89  Order form/Subscription Info

79  The last word: Fixing a broken jury system

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Cover 78
ABOUT THE COVER
This issue’s cover was shot by O.E. MacDougal while he was on a recent visit to Gold Beach.

The bread and rolls were baked by Dave Duffy’s wife, Ilene, and his newly married daughter, Annie Tuttle. The two women spent a large portion of a Saturday baking the bread. The men and Dave’s three boys ate it while showing virtually no gratitude. That’s men for you.

Mac’s camera is a 4-megapixel Canon G2 digital camera and, as he always has it with him, we’re liable to see more covers from him.

FEATURES

Farm and garden

8  Planting fruit, nut & shade trees   By Alice B. Yeager

Choosing and using trees can improve the quality of life on the homestead. Alice Yeager provides an overview along with hints of what might grow best for you in your area and includes some great recipes for using the bounty from fruit and nut trees.

Self-reliance

30  Build a portable woodstove for $30   By David Scott Matthews

44  Fix your feet – preventing and treating walking-related injuries    By Dr. Gary F. Arnet

34  Stay warm in emergencies, at home, outdoors & in your car   By Don Fallick

If a disaster occurs in winter, staying warm is likely the most urgent non-medical problem we may face.

39  Homemade walnut stain    By Dana Martin Batory

67  Three ways to preserve your pumpkin   By Tom R. Kovach

70  Naturally colorful    By Marcella Shaffer

“Natural dyes have a certain character that commercial dyes lack,” says Marcella Shaffer and she tells you how to create your own dye stuffs from natural materials you’ll find around your home and your homestead.

Independent energy

24  Phantom solar — the crucial invisible system needed before you install solar   By Jeff Yago

The heart of a practical solar system is conservation, and if you install energy-saving devices first, you will begin saving money that will make the more expensive components of a good system affordable.

Recipes

50  Bread: the staff of life   By Jackie Clay

“Full of nutrients, satisfying and comforting, good bread truly is the staff of life, being the basis for many great meals—if not the meal itself during hard times.”

68  Making baby food at home   By Michele Lightfoot

Country living

40  Drawing the line on timber trespass   By Paul Lamble

Country living can cease to be fun when neighbors don’t know where the property lines are and you find your homestead damaged as a result.

59  Horseshoe projects    By Clay Sawyer