Backwoods Home Magazine - Practical Self-Reliance

How we found our remote backwoods home

Drive your own freshwater well

Boost your immune system with fast and easy fish dishes

By Linda Gabris When I was growing up in the rural woods, Grandpa and I did a lot of fishing from spring through fall so...

Vitamins D and K — way more important than you thought

Grow some winter squash this year

How to Grow Garlic

By Melissa Souza Issue #167 • September/October, 2017 Garlic is easy and rewarding to grow. I use it throughout the year, as it is extremely easy...

Want More Fruit From Less Space? Espalier Your Trees!

Plant Your Trees in the Spring

Follow Jackie Clay-Atkinson and her husband, Will, as they homestead a 120-acre piece of northern Minnesotan woods entirely off-grid. Sharing their homestead are horses, beef cattle, a milk cow, dairy goats, chickens and turkeys.

Massad Ayoob on Guns

This blog, from a retired police captain and self-defense instructor, covers the use of different firearms, political musings, and self-defense tactics.

Building

Rural Building

Trusses — Low cost marvels to roof over most large spaces

Five building tricks for super strong framing

For summertime baking needs, build yourself an outdoor horno

Self-Reliance

Survival firebuilding skills

Disaster preparation!

By Gary F. Arnet, D.D.S. Issue #74 • March/April, 2002 Are you prepared for a disaster that could affect the daily function of your life or...

Preparedness for travelers

By Brad Rohdenburg Issue #81 • May/June, 2003 When the subject of preparedness comes up, do you think of having a stock of supplies in your...

Animals

The homestead cat

By Jackie Clay-Atkinson We have had at least one cat in our home ever since I was a young child. So it’s no wonder we...

Cheaper than Store-Bought Eggs

Raising your own beef

Fermenting Chicken Feed

Keeping homestead animals healthy

Science and Education

Gee-Whiz: Coffee

Gee-Whiz: Ice Ages, Past and Future

A doomsday scenario to sleep on

The many benefits of garlic

Energy

Solar power for farm and ranch

By Jeffrey R. Yago, P.E. It may be surprising to learn that there are now all kinds of do-it-yourself solar powered devices specifically designed to...

Power-up bag

Amateur Ham Radio – The Ultimate Tool for Survival Communications

Keep the Ice On

Power Up

Americana and History

President George Washington’s Farewell Address

The barnyard scramble

Habeeb Salloum — Poet, Traveler, Recipe Writer

From Martha and Abigail to Dolley and Louisa, America’s earliest First Ladies were fascinating

Firearms

Moderate power firearms

The M1A — A rifle that makes a statement

By Massad Ayoob Issue #45 • May/June, 1997 I take the Springfield Armory rifle out of the box, and savor it. I seldom do that with...

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...

Canning game meat

By Linda Gabris Issue #166 • July/August, 2017 Attempting to can meat (or any other low acid food, for that matter) without the use of a...

Preparedness

Preparing for civil unrest

Frostbite — Don’t flirt with this sneaky danger

Survival infection control

Food security 101, part 3: Why I love my vacuum sealer (and more)

Start your food storage on $10 a week

Start a fire in any weather

Articles By Dave Duffy

My View: Call Me Miracle Man!

By Dave Duffy Issue #177 • July/August/September, 2019 Superheroes are the rage these days at movie theaters. Even I am fascinated by them. Old style heroes...